POCA, W.V. -- West Virginia isn’t known for producing great basketball players, yet Poca HS wing Elijah Cuffee is one of the nation’s best-kept secrets. Starring for the West Virginia class AA powerhouse Poca Dots, he has quickly established himself as one of the state’s best players early on into his career.

The 2017 wing is a phenomenal player, showing great game and potential in my first viewing at Nathan Conley’s Court XIV Exposure camp in June. Throughout the day, the lefty showed off a smooth game, and he has the ability to knockdown shots all over the court with a great looking jump-shot. The ability to get to the rim comes easy to him, along with great court vision that allows him to find open teammates.

He can be too ball dominant at times and needs to learn how to move without the ball, a skill that will help him as he gets older and plays against more stiff competition. Becoming a better on-ball defender would also help his game majorly, but there are not too many holes in the junior's game.

Cuffee is definitely a mid-major prospect right now, and in the early stages of his recruitment, he holds offers from Texas Tech, Winthrop, Liberty, Longwood, and Marshall.

Despite being well known in the state of West Virginia, and one of the main attractions at every Big Shots AAU event (he plays for their sponsored AAU team), he has yet to gain any traction as a serious player in the Midwest. He was one of the more intriguing players we saw this AAU season, and in time we expect him to blow up majorly as a major sleeper.

Photo: Dylan Thomas Photo