Huggins Gets Alexander's Replacement for West Virginia - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

He was once a jewel in a top recruiting class at Indiana. Then the Kelvin Sampson stuff started hitting the fan. Devin Ebanks became one of the hottest late signees out there after being released from his scholarship. Memphis, Texas, UConn and other top schools came calling for the 6-8 forward out of New York City. A consensus 5-star, top-15 player nationally available in the late signing period. Ebanks narrowed his choices to Memphis, Texas, a local choice in Rutgers and West Virginia.

After Tyreke Evans signed with Memphis, many expected Ebanks to join John Calipari's crew. Instead, he chose Bob Huggins and West Virginia.

The Mountaineers were the last team to jump into the Ebanks second-chance sweepstakes, but Huggins quickly impressed the youngster.

"He visited me, and he was in the right places," Ebanks said. "(Saturday night) he told me he'll really take care of me."

Huggins has the perfect role for Ebanks. After leading the Mountaineers to a surprise Elite Eight spot in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, [Joe] Alexander declared for the NBA draft, although he hasn't hired an agent and could potentially return.

Joe Alexander increasingly looks to be a top15 pick in the NBA Draft and most don't see him coming back at this point. Getting Ebanks now is a huge coup for Huggins and fills a big void in the middle. It also rekindles old recruiting battles between Huggins and Calipari that go back to the days when Calipari was at UMass and Huggins was in Cinci.