Huntington Prep has made great strides in program’s first three seasons under Rob Fulford

In the four years he coached at Mountain State Academy in Beckley, W.Va., Rob Fulford helped lead the Falcons to unprecedented success that included being ranked among some of the nation's best teams.

Mountain State was home to current West Virginia junior forward Deniz Kilicli for his senior season before he started playing for the Mountaineers, and Fulford coached other highly touted recruits – such as Noah Cottrill – in Beckley.

Then, before the 2009 season, Fulford left Mountain State to begin coaching at Huntington Prep in Huntington, W.Va. In Aug., 2010 ,Mountain State Academy closed due to ongoing financial losses.

"We knew Mountain State was going to close," Fulford said at the Mountaineer Shootout in Morgantown Saturday night. "Everyone thought I was dumb for leaving because we had a very good situation there, but I knew dealing with the finances of what they were dealing with that it was going to close soon."

As soon as Fulford got to Huntington, he hit the ground running.

In just his third season in Huntington Prep, the Express are arguably one of the deepest and most talented prep teams in the country.

And, to make what he's done at the school even more impressive, his first season at Huntington Prep was the first year for its basketball program.

"When I started it, that was the goal," he said. "When we went to Huntington, we already had the reputation for recruiting, so it was easy to get players there. We've gotten a little bit better players every year than what we had the year before. This is the best team we've had, and it just keeps evolving. And, now we're getting the national recognition and things like that."

The Express is currently ranked No. 6 by FiveStarBasketball.com and have gotten to play against some of the best teams and players in the nation.

Currently, there are four Huntington Prep players who have already signed National Letters of Intent to continue their careers at a high-major college next season, including WVU signee Elijah Macon. There are also other players who rank among the best prospects in the nation. This season, along with the addition of Macon, Fulford was also able to bring in Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1 recruit in the 2014 class.

"Once we started getting these kids like Elijah (Macon) and Wiggins, that set us up with the big boys," Fulford said. "To get the No. 1 player in the country to come to Huntington is a big deal, especially in our third year with the program.

"We're going to continue getting those types of players, and, I can't tell you names yet, but we'll have even more of them next year."

To get the players he gets, Fulford goes across the country recruiting just like a college coach would. During this time, he's looking for players who would benefit from playing the competition that Huntington will play.

"Those are the ones we look for the most – those kids that are high-major players but are playing what would be perceived as "A" or "AA" basketball in West Virginia," Fulford said. "There's just no benefit for them to play that and it's not necessarily the games that help them, it's the 180 days of practice that these guys get against eight other Division I players."

That was what Macon said was a big factor in his decision to attend the school when he transferred there from Marion-Franklin (Ohio). The boost in competition allowed him to continue preparing to start his career at West Virginia.

"It's obviously a privilege to be here, and I'm just taking full advantage of it to where I can come down here and make myself a way-better player than I was before I got here," Macon said. "Competing against those guys is definitely going to make me better because there's no slacking off in practice. You have to compete all the time."

With that many big names on one team, it could be easy to lose control of his players. But Fulford uses those highly competitive practices and games to help keep his team grounded.

"It's not easy here," he said. "They understand that if you don't show up every single day, you'll get embarrassed. They can't take any days off, and they know that."

As for helping his players get to the next level once they get to Huntington, Fulford plays an active role in the recruiting process. The entire coaching staff is always busy fielding calls from schools and looking at how the players could fit in there.

However, he makes sure he doesn't influence what the player does directly. That's why he goes to the parents to talk about the schools looking at their kids.

"Most of the kids we deal with, we try to get involved with the parents, and then we let them get involved," he said. "We look at the situations at the schools – like the coaches and the style of play – and I'll kind of give my two cents in that, but it's always to a parent.

"As coaches, we obviously just try to make sure the kids know what they're getting themselves into and make sure they're prepared for it once they get to that next level."