When Rodney Crawford says Bob Huggins takes care of his players not only during their careers, but afterward, he’s not simply paying lip service. Last spring, Crawford found himself out of a job when the school at which he was coaching basketball -- Harmony Prep in Cincinnati -- closed its doors, and Huggins was one of the first people he spoke with.

“Coach Huggins called and let me know there was an opening down there” at Mountain State Academy in Beckley, W.V., said Crawford, who played for Huggins at Cincinnati in the early 90s. “He talked to some people down there, I went through the proper procedures and was fortunate enough to get the job.

“Coach Huggins is a loyal guy. There’s a lot of coaches who, once you’re done playing for them you never see or hear from them again. Coach Huggins makes sure he helps you out any way that he can. He makes sure you know that he cares. He’s a great guy,” he said.

Crawford is the new head coach at Mountain State, a burgeoning prep powerhouse that last year had two players commit to WVU -- guard Noah Cottrill and Denzil Kilicli. The school once again has several players that are being recruited by Division I college programs, and it’s safe to say WVU will have a chance to recruit any of them. Crawford also has known WVU assistant Larry Harrison “for my whole life, at least since my teenage years.”

“Oh yeah. I might not always be the guy that’s running their recruitment -- it might be the parents or the AAU coach -- but any layer that coach Huggins and them want, I’ll make sure they can get to the table. They ultimately will make their own decision, but I’ll make sure they get o the table,” he said.

Huggins and his staff were recently in town to check out Crawford’s players. West Virginia is eyeing 7-foot senior David Narsuk, a Sudanese native who also has interest from Virginia Tech and Wyoming. He doesn’t have any offers yet, but the potential to be a low-post factor for a high D-I program is there, Crawford said.

“He’s very active. He’s a shot-blocker and rebounded. He can’t score yet on the low-post, we have to work with him on that, but everything else is there,” he said. “Like with all the kids [who come from Africa] he just needs to get the test scores, and he will.”

The gem of Crawford’s program is 6-foot-7 sophomore Anthony Bennett, a native of Canada who has interest from big-time programs coast-to-coast. Needless to say, the Mounties staff has already expressed its interest.

“Anthony is a high-major, super talent. He’s a high-flier, can shoot the three and is going to be really good,” Crawford said.

Though Cottrill and Kilicli are no longer at Mountain State Academy, it’s safe to say the WVU basketball staff will be making plenty of appearances there and won’t have any trouble getting information about the program’s next  blue-chip prospect.