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WVU basketball recruit Derek Culver off to prep school

By Matthew Peaslee

aMORGANTOWN, WV - FEBRUARY 20: The West Virginia Mountaineers huddle before the game against the Texas Longhorns at the WVU Coliseum on February 20, 2017 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
aMORGANTOWN, WV - FEBRUARY 20: The West Virginia Mountaineers huddle before the game against the Texas Longhorns at the WVU Coliseum on February 20, 2017 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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The WVU basketball team is one of the strongest programs in the country. The Mountaineers are in good shape for the 2017-18 season, but they have even more to look forward to a few years in the future.

Derek Culver out of Warren Harding High School in Ohio will be attending Brewster Academy in New Hampshire as opposed to West Virginia. This wasn’t originally the plan, but it’s where things stand for the better of both parties.

The Mountaineers were hot on Culver’s trail when he was still an underclassmen at Warren Harding. Because of head coach Bob Huggins’ inroads in Northeast Ohio, Culver was a natural recruit for the WVU basketball team. Esa Ahmad was a similar player to Culver and Ahmad has already been a solid player for the Mountaineers in his two years in Morgantown.

Culver has faced an up-and-down road just getting to this point of his career. Due to personal issues and a suspension from his high school coach, Culver sat out for much of his senior campaign at Warren Harding.

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Bob Huggins won’t allow any kind of funny business on his team. Once Culver gets to Morgantown, he will have to answer to the legendary authority of Huggins. There’s a treadmill with his name on it already in the WVU Coliseum. Hopefully, Culver can get his academic and personal issues straightened out at Brewster Academy.

The fact that Culver remains committed to the WVU basketball team shows that Huggins and Culver, alike, have mutual respect for each other. Because Huggins was one of the first to offer Culver a scholarship shows strong loyalty on both ends.

Culver was a big man who could have played right away had he arrived in Morgantown for his true freshman season. He would have filled the void left by Elijah Macon, who is forgoing his senior season with the WVU basketball team to try for a professional career.

Macon and Culver are similar figures, too. Like Ahmad and Culver, Macon was an Ohio native. Macon also had his issues in getting to Morgantown because of grade issues. That was all figured out and Macon had a productive stint with the WVU basketball team.

Even though the WVU basketball team is destined for great things this season, many fans won’t forget about Derek Culver. He was the top-rated player in this year’s recruiting class. He will still be developing into his full potential while in New Hampshire.

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Things will be great if it all comes together for Culver within the next two years. West Virginia is the best place for him. He needs Morgantown and Mountaineer Nation needs him.

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