ESPN Men's Basketball Recruiting

Coach Bob Huggins has West Virginia involved with quite a few excellent prospects in the national 2010 and 2011 classes, and among the best is forward Rod Odom of Middlesex School in Concord, Mass. Odom, a multi-skilled 6-foot-9, 210-pound prospect, recently visited West Virginia and is inching closer to making his decision. Here's the latest.

Odom visited West Virginia a few weeks ago and followed that trip with visits to Louisville and Vanderbilt. He's also considering Arizona, Boston College, Georgia Tech and Harvard. All of the above have offered scholarships to Odom, a native of Long Island, N.Y., who is rated the No. 14 small forward and No. 77 overall prospect in the Class of 2010 by ESPN.com's Scouts Inc."I would say they're all even just because I just cut my list to get to that," said Odom, who recently eliminated Michigan, Miami and UConn from his list.

Odom didn't know what to expect heading into his recent visit to Morgantown, but left town seriously considering a future as a Mountaineer.

"It went very well. It was really good. I'm definitely glad I went down there because I got to look at the university and see what my place in the program would be. Coach Huggins does a great job of developing pros and he said I fit the system," he said. "They just really said that I fit their program because I play the way they play and I would be able to get playing time from the beginning."

"I talked to the school president and watched individual workouts. I spent most of the time with Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones. They told me a lot of good things and talked about how coach Huggins really gets the most out of your ability," Odom said.

Odom is a versatile player who would fit an immediate need with the graduation of Da'Sean Butler and anticipated NBA departure of Devin Ebanks. He averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists last season.

"I would say my strength as that I tend not to have many weaknesses. As a 6-9 player I can shoot well, dribble well, pass well. What I probably do best out of all of those things is probably shooting, but my biggest strength is that I don't really have a weakness," he said.

Here's what ESPN.com had to say about Odom's game after watching him in June: "Odom has a very high basketball I.Q. and plays the game above the shoulders very effectively. He has to continue to add strength and muscle to his very thin frame, as he has tendency to allow defenders to get into his chest and knock him off his path when he tries to go to the bucket. He also has to continue to uses his basketball smarts to overcome his lack of explosion and quickness, though he could work on his ball-handling skills and moves to become more efficient off the dribble. He passes the ball very well and has a decent jumper, though he could become a little more consistent from the perimeter, especially from 3-point range."

Odom is a strong student -- hence the interest in Harvard, which may actually be in serious contention. Several of his family members are educators as well. He's looking for a good mix of academics and hoops. He'll visit Arizona on the 18th, Harvard on the 25th and Boston College Oct. 3.

"Harvard is doing a lot of things with their program right now," he said.

He's looking for "Some place that I can go and play right away, be comfortable with the coaching staff and a place with a good mix of academics and basketball," he said.

Odom is wasting no time getting in all of his officials because he'd like to make his commitment late this month or in October. While he maintains that he has no favorites, it seems the Mountaineers are very much in the mix. Stay tuned.

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Maryland Terrapins (Insidemdsports.com)

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