MORGANTOWN - Officially, the NCAA's signing period for basketball ends today. That doesn't mean, however, that all the best prospects in the country will be off the board by then.
MORGANTOWN - Officially, the NCAA's signing period for basketball ends today. That doesn't mean, however, that all the best prospects in the country will be off the board by then.
West Virginia, with a scholarship to give, is apparently involved with one of the last holdouts.
Kyle Cain, a 6-foot-7 forward from Chicago who played last season at a New Hampshire prep school, visited Morgantown last weekend and West Virginia's coaches are hoping he commits to the Mountaineers this week. Cain has offers from many of the top schools in the country, but his final visit might have been to WVU.
After today, players can no longer sign a national letter of intent, but can sign a grant-in-aid. The letter of intent binds both sides, while the grant-in-aid only obligates the school to provide a scholarship.
The reason Cain is still available and such a hot commodity right now is that he committed to Rhode Island and signed a letter of intent during the fall signing period, but was released from it at his request this spring. He has been rather vague as to the reason he asked out of his commitment to URI.
"There were some things that were supposed to happen that wasn't going to happen so I was kind of unhappy and I asked for my letter of release,'' Cain told New York area basketball writer Adam Zagoria. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for [URI] Coach [Jim] Baron."
Since his release, Cain has been contacted by Arizona State, Illinois, Alabama and Kentucky, among other schools. He visited Illinois and West Virginia.
According to Zagoria, Cain likes West Virginia because of the way coach Bob Huggins develops forwards like him for the NBA.
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Prep star still on Mountaineer radar
MORGANTOWN - Officially, the NCAA's signing period for basketball ends today. That doesn't mean, however, that all the best prospects in the country will be off the board by then.
West Virginia, with a scholarship to give, is apparently involved with one of the last holdouts.
Kyle Cain, a 6-foot-7 forward from Chicago who played last season at a New Hampshire prep school, visited Morgantown last weekend and West Virginia's coaches are hoping he commits to the Mountaineers this week. Cain has offers from many of the top schools in the country, but his final visit might have been to WVU.
After today, players can no longer sign a national letter of intent, but can sign a grant-in-aid. The letter of intent binds both sides, while the grant-in-aid only obligates the school to provide a scholarship.
The reason Cain is still available and such a hot commodity right now is that he committed to Rhode Island and signed a letter of intent during the fall signing period, but was released from it at his request this spring. He has been rather vague as to the reason he asked out of his commitment to URI.
"There were some things that were supposed to happen that wasn't going to happen so I was kind of unhappy and I asked for my letter of release,'' Cain told New York area basketball writer Adam Zagoria. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for [URI] Coach [Jim] Baron."
Since his release, Cain has been contacted by Arizona State, Illinois, Alabama and Kentucky, among other schools. He visited Illinois and West Virginia.
According to Zagoria, Cain likes West Virginia because of the way coach Bob Huggins develops forwards like him for the NBA.
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MORGANTOWN - Officially, the NCAA's signing period for basketball ends today. That doesn't mean, however, that all the best prospects in the country will be off the board by then.
West Virginia, with a scholarship to give, is apparently involved with one of the last holdouts.
Kyle Cain, a 6-foot-7 forward from Chicago who played last season at a New Hampshire prep school, visited Morgantown last weekend and West Virginia's coaches are hoping he commits to the Mountaineers this week. Cain has offers from many of the top schools in the country, but his final visit might have been to WVU.
After today, players can no longer sign a national letter of intent, but can sign a grant-in-aid. The letter of intent binds both sides, while the grant-in-aid only obligates the school to provide a scholarship.
The reason Cain is still available and such a hot commodity right now is that he committed to Rhode Island and signed a letter of intent during the fall signing period, but was released from it at his request this spring. He has been rather vague as to the reason he asked out of his commitment to URI.
"There were some things that were supposed to happen that wasn't going to happen so I was kind of unhappy and I asked for my letter of release,'' Cain told New York area basketball writer Adam Zagoria. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for [URI] Coach [Jim] Baron."
Since his release, Cain has been contacted by Arizona State, Illinois, Alabama and Kentucky, among other schools. He visited Illinois and West Virginia.
According to Zagoria, Cain likes West Virginia because of the way coach Bob Huggins develops forwards like him for the NBA.
"Coach Huggins, he's made a living off of guys like me, long athletic forwards that can play multiple [positions]," Cain said. "One time Coach Huggins had played all forwards and Da'Sean Butler was running the one, a 6-7 guy. So that's pretty special to me. On top of that, Coach Huggins is a legendary coach."
Cain also talked about his contact with Kentucky.
"When Coach Huggins and them called me, I was like, 'OK, I'm interested in them a lot.' When Kentucky called me, I was excited, but at the same time, I'm like, 'Do I want to go to Kentucky and take a risk?' It could be a good risk or a bad risk for me.
"I could go to Kentucky and I could play well for my first year and maybe have a chance of going to the NBA or I can go to Kentucky and have a bad year and be under the bus with the fans and the coaches, so it's a risk that I [would] have to take."
Cain played his high school basketball at T.F. North High School in Calumet, Ill., before going to New Hampton School in New Hampshire. When he chose Rhode Island before his prep school year, he was being recruited only by the likes of Northern Illinois, Nevada and Wisconsin-Green Bay. He had given a verbal commitment to Detroit as a junior.
His stock rose significantly when he gained weight and strength and became a tougher rebounder in his prep school season and playing AAU basketball this spring.
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Prep star still on Mountaineer radar
MORGANTOWN - Officially, the NCAA's signing period for basketball ends today. That doesn't mean, however, that all the best prospects in the country will be off the board by then.
West Virginia, with a scholarship to give, is apparently involved with one of the last holdouts.
Kyle Cain, a 6-foot-7 forward from Chicago who played last season at a New Hampshire prep school, visited Morgantown last weekend and West Virginia's coaches are hoping he commits to the Mountaineers this week. Cain has offers from many of the top schools in the country, but his final visit might have been to WVU.
After today, players can no longer sign a national letter of intent, but can sign a grant-in-aid. The letter of intent binds both sides, while the grant-in-aid only obligates the school to provide a scholarship.
The reason Cain is still available and such a hot commodity right now is that he committed to Rhode Island and signed a letter of intent during the fall signing period, but was released from it at his request this spring. He has been rather vague as to the reason he asked out of his commitment to URI.
"There were some things that were supposed to happen that wasn't going to happen so I was kind of unhappy and I asked for my letter of release,'' Cain told New York area basketball writer Adam Zagoria. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for [URI] Coach [Jim] Baron."
Since his release, Cain has been contacted by Arizona State, Illinois, Alabama and Kentucky, among other schools. He visited Illinois and West Virginia.
According to Zagoria, Cain likes West Virginia because of the way coach Bob Huggins develops forwards like him for the NBA.
