By JIM

LAISE

WVSports.com Staff Writer

RICHMOND--For a guard, WVU basketball

prospect Jarhon (pronounced "Ja-ron") Giddings is learning to play in

a forward's body.

"Jarhon Giddings has nothing but a

major upside," said Eastern basketball recruiting expert Bob Gibbons this

week at the NBA Players Association Top 100 High School Camp on the campus

of Virginia Commonwealth University. Giddings, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound combo

forward from Blacksburg (Va.) High School, is but one of at least four WVU

recruiting interests camping here. The others being 6-7, 245-pound power

forward Bombale Osby, a junior at Richmond's Benedictine High School; 6-8,

225-pound post-power forward Laurynas Mikalouskas of St. George (Va.) Blue Ridge

School and 6-11, 240-pound post Sasha Kaun of Melbourne (Fla.) Florida Air

Academy.

Both Osby, an Eastern European native who

plays at the same high school as Mountaineer sophomore shooting guard Patrick

Beilein, and Giddings, whose family is moving to Winston-Salem, N.C., play for

the Richmond Squires AAU team and therefore come under the supervision of coach

Kent Greenwall.

Greenwall, a stockbroker by day, coaches

the 16s team for the traveling Squires, and also oversees individual attention

on Giddings, named the Roanoke Timesland player of the year as a sophomore, and

Osby.

He perhaps knows better than anybody the

"upside" described by Gibbons, who recruited 84 of his Top 100

national players here to the Siegel Center this week.

"Jarhon is a guard trying to learn how

to go inside," said Greenwall who was on hand at what is being termed the

best summer prospects camp of 2003. The Players Association brings the

all-stars with family members to an "academy" atmosphere this week.

The athletes have fundamentals stations taught by high school and NBA staff in

the mornings and play two games daily. The rest of their time is spent in

academic and personal workshops led by a host of counselors, teachers, and

trainers. For instance, discussions of finances, SAT tests,

alcohol-drug-and-AIDS awareness is dished out along with the best competition

the country has to offer.

Greenwall compares Giddings to Shaun

Livingston who is here this week from Peoria, Ill. Livingston, 6-6, 180,

is considered by many to be the nation's No. 1 point guard for the class of

2004, but, according to Greenwall, a staff writer for squiresbball.com,

he is just learning the position.

"Shaun has been six-six for a

while," Greenwall said after watching Giddings play for his Pistons team

Thursday night. "So now he's learning to take the ball inside.

Before, he was pretty much of an inside player. Jarhon is just the

opposite."

Greenwall was not comparing the players

ability-wise. Livingston is a pro in the making and has Arizona and Kansas

calling him. Giddings has been a sleeper heretofore. Though Gibbons

insists the son of two Virginia Tech faculty members star is rising, to date WVU

and Tech are the only two Big East schools calling.

Greenwall's point has to do with size.

"Jarhon has been growing," he said. "He's just now reaching

six-eight, and learning to go inside." Indeed, in a game pitting him

against manchild Mohamed Tangara, 6-9, 225 of Durham (NC) Mount Zion Christian

Thursday, Giddings, who was giving away one inch, 15 pounds and seemingly a

couple of years of experience, appeared timid.

"That's to be expected,"

Greenwall said, "he's just learning the inside moves. When Jarhon

determines that 'Hey, I can play on this level, too,' he will be where Shaun

(Livingston) is now. It will happen."

Giddings, whose favorite NBA player is

Kevin Garnett, grew up just five minutes from the Tech campus; therefore, it

would seem he is signed, sealed, and delivered to new Hokie coach Seth Greenburg.

Not so.

"I haven't decided anything yet,"

he said. Richmond, VCU and North Carolina-Wilmington are also giving

chase.

Giddings, who will be playing later this

summer at the Five-Star Big Man camp in Coraopolis, Pa., listed several

qualities of each of the schools pursuing him at this point. But when

WVU's name came up, his eyes widened for a number of reasons.

Giddings said he would like to make his

college decision before the Class AA (midsize division in Virginia) season

begins in November and has not made a visit to Morgantown, but what turns him on

about the Mountaineers are two factors: The ability to play in Madison

Square Garden, site of the annual Big East basketball tournament, and Darris

Nichols.

Nichols, a 6-1 combo guard from Class A

Radford (Va.) High within miles of Blacksburg, is a Blacksburg High archrival.

Even though Radford and Blacksburg share two different classifications, they

play each other twice a year "because they're our big rivals,"

Giddings said with a grin. "Darris can play," he added of the

Mountaineer commitment. "He can really play. I like his game a

lot."

Nichols is the only Mountaineer announced

commitment thus far for Coach John Beilein and staff for the 2003-04 season.

As for the Garden, Giddings add, "I

would love to play there. My dad's a Knicks fan, and I love to watch the

Big East tournament. That place (MSG) is something else."

Giddings' parents--Valerie and Ronald--are

faculty members at Tech. Valerie Giddings is an Associate Professor of

Human Resources in the Hokie School of Education, while Ronald Giddings is an

instructor in Black Studies. The pair is moving to Winston-Salem State to

teach this fall, which is too bad for the Mountaineers. WVU administrator

Bill Lilly was a longtime aide at Radford University where he was friendly with

RHS coach Doug Day, a three-point shooting whiz with the Highlanders.

Obviously Jarhon will follow his folks,

although his school choice for his high-school senior year, is open.

Greenwall said that Middleburg (Va.) Notre Dame had been discussed.

Middleburg Notre Dame is the home of another WVU target, sweet-shooting Joe

Posey, a 6-4 swing guard.

Whatever he does, Giddings will keep

working on his game. Following his "soft" performance in

Thursday's late game, Giddings came back strong in Friday's noontime encounter.

He possesses a soft jumper from three and can handle. He says Richmond and

VCU project him as a small forward, but he thinks he can play "the

four" on a Big East level.

His game suits Beilein's, who looks for

five players actually who can run, shoot, handle and defend. "I would

like to think I can play at that level," he said.

Obviously WVU coaches cannot discuss

prospects until they arrive on campus. Division I college coaches cannot

evaluate players unless the players are involved in the coach's personal camps

until July 1, according to NCAA rules. When the slender shooter heads for

the Five-Star Big Man's Camp on the campus of Robert Morris University, plenty

of bigtime coaches will be on hand.

Meanwhile, Kaun, a highly recruited big man

who is being pursued by Duke and Kansas, among others may have suffered a stress

fracture of the foot at Billy Donavan's University of Florida camp earlier this

summer, and took part in only non-contact drills this week.

Adam Williams, a Kentucky swing man

commitment from St. Albans, W.Va., and the son of legendary coach Tex Williams,

also was reported to be at the site.

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The most intriguing candidate of all

happened to be the biggest. Glenn "Baby" Davis, 6-8, 345, who

cleared a large swathe under the boards, is a Mountaineer football prospect.

The problem is, he is on everybody else's list as well.

Davis is considered the No. 1 edge rusher

in the class of 2004 from his defensive end spot. Recruiting experts here

claimed he may become the first high school player ever drafted by the NFL.

One coach said though, "I doubt the NFL will do that."

Davis was asked about the rumor and

replied, "Yeah, I've heard it, too." Whatever he does--pretty

much what he wants, it appears--he might end up in politics or entertainment.

He had sections of players roaring in the stands on Thursday and Friday.

He attends the LSU Lab School on the LSU

camp in Baton Rouge, La. He kept asking one observer, "Am I on any

NBA lists? Am I on any NBA lists?" prior to Friday's noontime games.

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The legend of ex-WVU guard Jonathan Hargett

continues to live on--here in his hometown anyway.

Hargett played a problematic freshman

season for former coach Gale Catlett two years ago and then was booted from the

program by the WVU athletic department when Beilein arrived. One published

report said he was dealing with a non-WVU "mentor."

Anyway, Hargett first attended high school

in Richmond where he continues playing nightly on the campus of Virginia Union.

Several coaching sources at the NBA PA Top 100 camp said Hargett is hoping for a

run at the NBA.

Taking part in the pick up games with

Hargett is the aforementioned Posey, who Greenwall says is becoming a Richmond

legend with his jump shooting. "The kid can take it inside, but he

can flat shooot it," Greenwall said. "He needs to get better on

other parts of his game."

Beilein remains legendary in the city where

he once coached the University of Richmond Spiders. High school, AAU

coaches and Gibbons all praised the second year Mountaineer head man.

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WVU prospect C.J. Anderson of Cincinnati

Winton Woods will spend his final year prepping at Hargrave Military Academy in

Virginia. He is a 6-5 wing.

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