Morgantown, West Virginia – Last May, I wrote an article about Isaiah Cottrell “the future of West Virginia basketball.” That was when he was a four star recruit from Las Vegas, before he moved to West Virginia to play his senior season at Huntington Prep, before he committed to play for the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Isaiah Cottrell is special. Cottrell, who chose West Virginia offers from virtually everyone, including Kansas, Texas Tech, Syracuse, Virginia, Florida, etc., was severely underrated as the 77th ranked player in the 2020 class. While Huntington Prep teammate and Duke commit Jaemyn Brakefield received most of the attention, Cottrell dominated against some of the best competition in the country.
Cottrell is everything Mountaineer fans want in a player: he’s unselfish, he’s insanely gifted athletically, he rebounds, he can shoot from the perimeter, he has a very high motor and most importantly, he’s a winner.
The Mountaineers are loaded with depth at every position this season, but Isaiah Cottrell is simply too good to not play consistently. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports spoke highly of Cottrell earlier today on social media, saying, “Well-embedded moles in Morgantown are extremely high on West Virginia freshman Isaiah Cottrell. Should complement both Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe with his skill level at 6’10. Cottrell is a name to remember.”
Junior Emmitt Matthews, Jr., the presumed starter alongside Culver and Tshiebwe in the frontcourt, played very inconsistently last season for the Mountaineers and will likely be pushed early by the ultra-talented Cottrell for playing time. In fact, don’t be surprised if Cottrell is in the starting lineup and making huge contributions before this season is over.
Well embedded moles in Morgantown are extremely high on West Virginia freshman Isaiah Cottrell.
Should complement both Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe with his skill level at 6-10.
A name to remember.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) August 21, 2020
