A lot of excitement always surrounds the Logan High School basketball team year in and year out.

You can now multiply that by 10 or 20.

Why?

Noah Cottrill’s coming.

That’s why.

Cottrill, a two-time all-state guard and WVU recruit, was in town on Friday morning to officially enroll for fall semester classes at LHS.

Cottrill comes to Logan from Mountain State Academy, a private prep school in Beckley, where he played last season.

Cottrill played his freshman and sophomore years at Poca High School, where he was first-team all-state both years for the Dots.

Coupled with returning players and 6-7 junior transfer center Gary Miller from Man, it’s believed Cottrill could instantly make the Wildcats into a Class AAA state championship contender.

Cottrill met up with the Logan Wildcats last season as Mountain State Academy routed LHS 99-67 in a game at the University of Charleston’s Eddie King Gym. In the game, Cottrill had 18 points and eight assists – three of which led to four of the Falcons’ dunks.

Cottrill was no stranger to Logan or Logan High School’s Willie Akers Arena in his two years at Poca as the Wildcats faced the Dots in home-and-home series both seasons as members of the Cardinal Conference.

Logan coach Mark Hatcher said he’s thrilled to have Cottrill join his team. Cottrill, a 6-1, 180-pound guard, was recently ranked as the 68th-best player in the nation on ESPNU’s Top 100 list.

“He’s going to be enrolling this morning,” Hatcher said of Cottrill. “We’re pretty excited, the whole team is excited and the coaching staff is excited. For the people who might have heard that he was coming I think they are excited, too.”

The versatile Cottrill can run the point or be the two-guard.

“He can play just about anywhere,” Hatcher said. “We got some great players coming back who we are excited about. We’ve had a great summer and I think Noah brings us a little bit more intensity and a lot more prestige. When you have him and Paul (Williamson) coming down on the wings together it’s going to be pretty hard to defend. All of our other guys can score, too. It’s going to be pretty fun. We should definitely be a high powered offense.”

Scouts.com praised Cottrill’s play this summer.

Said the website, “Cottrill’s confidence and presence on the floor was felt throughout the tournament (Triple S Jam Fest). He willed his team into the finals and onto a championship win. He had 32 points and eight assists in the finals as he pushed the tempo of the game and brought his entire team to a higher level.”

The website ranks Cottrill as one of the best in the country.

“This 2010 WVU commitment has a court presence unparalleled in the high school ranks this year. Noah has the ability to excite his teammates, coaches and fans and bring them to a higher level. He is a perfect fit for the Mountaineers and should be able to thrive under Bob Huggins. Between 3-pointers, which he knocked down, his aggressive mentality had him pushing the ball quickly up the floor and leading his teammates on many great passes that led directly to lay-ups. His speed with the ball is very impressive and Noah’s passing certainly kept his teammates aggressively playing a fast breaking game, but he also showed a great desire on the defensive end to harass the ball and take a charge on an out of control opponent.”

Back in May, Scouts.com praised Cottrill’s 3-point shooting.

“Cottrill has deep range on his jumper and can connect on jumpers from well beyond 3-point range. This can also hamper Cottrill’s efforts as he has a tendency to rely a little too heavily on the 3-pointer, sometimes launching ill-advised, deep 3s. However, his quick release make the shot incredibly difficult to defend for the opposition. Cottrill is a scoring lead guard that is constantly on the attack. He does a good job of advancing the ball in transition off the pass or dribble and if the defense fails too control him he can get to the rim or stop and pop with range behind the arc.

“Cottrill is also a good penetrator with deceptive speed and quickness. He can not only create a shot for himself but can drive, draw and kick to an open teammate with his excellent court vision. Cottrill is a good ball handler but tends to be a heavy right hand driver when being pressured. He plays with confidence and flare but at times he gets loose with the ball and likes to go for the home run play which results in a turnover. He is a decent athlete and must add strength but Cottrill has the talent and skill to a good career for the Mountaineers.”

Hatcher said he knew there was always something different about Cottrill.

“I always thought that he was a very special player,” he said. “I’ve been watching him play since he was in the fourth or fifth grade. He’s played AAU basketball with our kids and has grown up playing in the Logan area against us. We always brought out big crowds to watch him play. I think a lot of these things brought him to Logan. He knows about our environment and our tradition. Hopefully we can make it back to the state tournament again.”

Hatcher said Williamson, a 6-2 junior guard, will be returning to the Wildcats as well. With the hiring of Harry Kirk at Chapmanville Regional High School it was not clear if Williamson, a Harts native, could go back and play at home for his former middle school coach or stay at Logan.

Williamson averaged 18 points a game last season for 15-7 Logan and was named first-team all-state. The Cats were ousted in the first round of the Class AAA sectionals by Cabell Midland.

“Paul is staying with us,” Hatcher said. “We’ve also got back Deytona Coleman back, along with Jordan Canada, Bryce Dalton and Jamall Hairston. They all had great summers. Then we’ve got Gary Miller, who came to us in February and he had a great summer, too, playing basketball.

“We’ve got a great bunch and we’ve also got the bunch from the middle school who were undefeated a couple of years ago. They will be sophomores now and we are looking for big things from them.”

Hatcher said Cottrill puts the excitement level about Logan basketball into the stratosphere.

With Cottrill, the Wildcats are expected to draw big crowds – home and away.

“We were excited about the season anyway. We’ve been excited all summer. It was a little bit surprising because we didn’t know how things would go with Paul. This multiplies the excitement times 20,” Hatcher said. “It’s going to be fun playing in front of packed houses every night. I think that we’ll see Bob Huggins a few times, what do you think?”