West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has landed yet another commitment from a high-profile recruit.

On Tuesday, Mountain State Academy coach Rob Fulford confirmed reports that power forward Deniz Kilicli has decided to play for the Mountaineers beginning in 2009.

Kilicli, 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, is originally from Istanbul, Turkey. Fulford said the forward's father was looking for American academic and athletic opportunities for his son, which resulted in the move to Beckley.

"He has committed to West Virginia," Fulford said. "He committed over the weekend, but we wanted to make a couple courtesy calls to coaches before we released it.''

The courtesy calls were to high-level programs.

"He had offers from UCLA, Texas, Kentucky and North Carolina State," Fulford said. "But he didn't need to visit [the other schools] after going to Morgantown. He loved Huggins.''

The forward, who is now a Mountain State Academy teammate of another WVU recruit, ex-Poca standout Noah Cottrill, will have four years of eligibility in Morgantown.

"West Virginia is getting a very powerful, skilled power forward," Fulford said. "He has the ability to run the floor, shoot the 3, play with his back to the basket, shoot jump shots. ... He's just a very skilled player.''

Fulford said Kilicli has only been rated as a three-star recruit by some services.

"But if [Kilicli] had been here over the summer at AAU events, he'd be five stars,'' said the Mountain State coach. "He'd be a top-10 kid. West Virginia got an NBA player here.''

Reach Mitch Vingle at 348-4827 or mitchvin...@wvgazette.com.

West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has landed yet another commitment from a high-profile recruit.

On Tuesday, Mountain State Academy coach Rob Fulford confirmed reports that power forward Deniz Kilicli has decided to play for the Mountaineers beginning in 2009.

Kilicli, 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, is originally from Istanbul, Turkey. Fulford said the forward's father was looking for American academic and athletic opportunities for his son, which resulted in the move to Beckley.

"He has committed to West Virginia," Fulford said. "He committed over the weekend, but we wanted to make a couple courtesy calls to coaches before we released it.''

The courtesy calls were to high-level programs.

"He had offers from UCLA, Texas, Kentucky and North Carolina State," Fulford said. "But he didn't need to visit [the other schools] after going to Morgantown. He loved Huggins.''

The forward, who is now a Mountain State Academy teammate of another WVU recruit, ex-Poca standout Noah Cottrill, will have four years of eligibility in Morgantown.

"West Virginia is getting a very powerful, skilled power forward," Fulford said. "He has the ability to run the floor, shoot the 3, play with his back to the basket, shoot jump shots. ... He's just a very skilled player.''

Fulford said Kilicli has only been rated as a three-star recruit by some services.

"But if [Kilicli] had been here over the summer at AAU events, he'd be five stars,'' said the Mountain State coach. "He'd be a top-10 kid. West Virginia got an NBA player here.''

Reach Mitch Vingle at 348-4827 or mitchvin...@wvgazette.com.