By Mickey Furfari
MORGANTOWN — When West Virginia University star Joe Alexander decided to turn professional last month, coach Bob Huggins said he wasn’t certain that he would give out that scholarship because most recruits already were gobbled up.
But he announced Thursday afternoon that he has dipped into the junior college ranks and awarded the grant-in-aid to a 6-foot-10, 240-pound power forward.
He is Demetrius “Dee” Proby, who played the last two years at Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas. He averaged 14 points and six rebounds per game in the 2007-08 season as a sophomore.
The big man obviously showed significant improvement. As a freshman, he averaged only 6.7 points and 2.4 rebounds in 31 games for the Road Runners.
Huggins said, “He’s a skilled big man who will fit in extremely well with the way we play. He passes the ball well. He can make shots facing the basket, and he gives us a big body in the post that we are lacking.”
In addition to the 6-8, 230-pound Alexander, an NBA lottery pick of the Milwaukee Bucks, WVU lost 7-0, 265-pound senior center Jamie Smalligan.
Point guard Darris Nichols also graduated.
Proby, originally from Round Rock, Texas, a suburb of Austin, attended Stoney Point High School. He was named his team’s Most Valuable Player and made the all-district first team.
He also was named to play in the Austin All-Star Game in 2005.
Proby, who will have three years in which to complete his two years of eligibility, brings the number of players in WVU’s 2008-09 recruiting class to five.
He said he expects all of the incoming recruits to be immediate contributors.
