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Another one off the board, this one is Country Day big man Donnovan Kirk who is headed down south ($) to University of Miami. Kirk was originally thought to be a good bet to attend MSU but after they took other big men (Nix and Sherman) that appeared much less likely in recent weeks. The much hyped 2009 in state recruiting class has been on the decline of late and Kirk to Miami is not the type of high major splash that was expected from this class. Interestingly enough the in-state schools took big men Nix and Jordan who were not originally considered the top big men in the class but have been drawing solid reports of late. One other quick link worth a mention, heres a profile ($) on 2010 Keith Appling who will likely be committing to MSU soon.

Also, Beilein has been busting out his check book to pay off his buy out.

Carl Jones made big strides on the national AAU circuit this weekend at the King James tournament in his hometown state of Ohio. Jones has long been on the radar for Michigan but has looked thus far to be someone right on the border between a top tier kid and a second tier kid. Jones is not the typical “Beilein guard recruit” at only 5-11 because it is said that Beilein loves big guards. Iowa and St. Joe’s have recently made a push for Jones and offered him and it would be a good bet that more high-majors will follow. Anyways here is some of the reports on Jones this weekend:

Rivals King James Top Suprises:

Coming into the April period, a number of Big Ten schools wanted to know if the 5-foot-11 floor general was a player that could succeed at the highest level. After a stellar weekend of work in his home state, Jones clearly answered the call.

He showed on different occasions that he could be a scorer when needed and a passer when needed. There were times in games when he mixed the two together nicely. Jones torched the Mean Streets team, one of the best defensive-minded clubs on the circuit, for nearly 30 points with silky smooth jumpers and heady plays to the basket.

Offensively, Jones showed the full arsenal of moves that he has up his sleeve. Defensively, he matched up well against the Mean Streets’ D.J. Cooper, a fine mid-level point guard, and held him to one made field goal.

Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Matta, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins and others were treated to a 31-point effort by Jones, a 5-11 guard. Jones, canning two 3-point shots and displaying a variety of moves to the basket, scored 21 of his points during a seven-minute span of the second half, then scored six more points in overtime as his Ohio Basketball Club edged The Family (Detroit), 59-55, in a 17-and-under game.

Rivals King James Sunday:

The Ohio Basketball Club enjoyed a deep run into the tournament bracket thanks to the steady play of 2009 guard Carl Jones.

Jones dropped a cool 29 points on the Mean Streets, scoring at will with an array of moves. The 5-foot-9 guard for the Ohio Basketball Club is a fine jump shooter. He knocked down three triples and got the line time and time again in the quarterfinals.

He was paired against D.J. Cooper, a fine mid-major target at the point guard spot. Jones won the battle and left little doubt about it. Cooper scored six quiet points. Jones is a crafty customer with the ball in his hands and put his staple on a great weekend for the Ohio Basketball Club.

Another recruit off the board, this one is 09 Tyler Koch who’s name had been thrown around a little bit lately. Koch committed to Wright State today. This is a fun time for 09 recruiting as there is lots of new names thrown around and being evaluated. At this point Wright was probably a plan b or c level recruit and there will be more names on the board as the summer progresses. Thanks to reader jrees for the tip.

“Everything it had to offer I liked,” said Koch, who has led the Golden Falcons to two consecutive Class 2A state runner-up finishes. “The location, the coaches, the academics, the size of the school. Everything.”

Michigan had not extended an offer to Koch, but Wolverines head coach John Beilein visited Winchester last week to watch the junior work out.

“In the end, the decision just came to me,” Koch said. “Being from a small town kid, I didn’t think I could see myself in a big school type of environment. Wright State isn’t too big or too small.”

The Citizen Times has an article about Plumlee being released from his LOI at Stanford. There are a couple of quotes worth noting:

Indiana, Miami, Northwestern, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Xavier were among the programs that initially offered Plumlee a scholarship before he committed to Stanford in June. But the Gamecocks and Hoosiers have changed coaches since then.

“There are about eight or nine schools that have contacted me, and they’re big-time programs you would know,” said Gaines (Plumlee’s HS coach), who would not get into specifics.

In regards to Duke assistants Johnny Dawkins getting the Stanford job:

Gaines said the Plumlees were aware for several days that Dawkins was likely to be named to that position but that didn’t change the decision to request a release. “Coach Dawkins knows that Miles wants his release,” said Gaines.

Is Duke a potential destination?

Perky Plumlee would not comment on whether Duke might be a possibility since Miles Plumlee’s younger brother, Christ School junior Mason Plumlee, committed to the Blue Devils in February. Duke didn’t originally offer Miles Plumlee a scholarship but has one available due to forward Taylor King’s transfer to Villanova.

This one looks like a long shot but Beilein did recruit Miles’ younger brother Mason hard and the whole family seemed very high on Beilein until Duke offered.

Johnny Jungle has announced that Quincy Roberts will hold a presser Tuesday (hat tip: East Coast Bias) to announce his intentions to attend St. Johns. It had appeared that the chances of Quincy ending up at Michigan were slim to none lately but this is news none the less. Congratulations to Quincy and I for one will be wishing him the best.

Nikola Kecman also signed his LOI with Ohio State, so you can cross him off the board as well. The only 08 target left on the board is Justin Watts and there is not much news coming out of that camp. He has been speculated to be waiting to see if UNC’s underclassmen enter the draft in hopes of a UNC offer. If Ekpe does transfer though the main need is a big man and not a guard/wing.