Donnovan Kirk to Miami (Florida)
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 Steps Up
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.
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.
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.
Tyler Koch to Wright State
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.”
More on Miles Plumlee
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.
Quincy Roberts to St. Johns, Kecman to OSU
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.
Keegan Bell to UTC
Keegan Bell has decided to attend the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. I talked about Bell having interest in Michigan but the talks seemed to sputter out because there was never much more written about him and U-M. Hopefully this is the only transfer news that breaks today.
One other note K’Len to GVSU is official. The popular rumor is that Jerret may follow him to GVSU.
AAU Notes 4-27-2008
Just a few notes from the AAU circuit this weekend from Rivals. The report is encouraging on Jordan Morgan and it is very hard to get a grip on the other Michigan instate big men. I’ll keep my eye out for other information on other prospects.
Jordan Morgan @ King James Tournament:
You have to like it when prospects find the right fit for college. That is clearly the case for Michigan bound forward Jordan Morgan. The 6-foot-9 forward should have a good career for the Wolverines because he’s not afraid to bang, can really pass from the post and when his number is called, he can knocked down the face-up jumper.
Appling is one to watch but looks like MSU green at this point:
Playing his third game in a row, Michigan guard Keith Appling didn’t have his best game in front of us. The locals have raved about his play and word is he went for 30-plus and 20-something in the two prior games to our viewing. He’s a scoring point guard with a wiry frame. Word is Michigan State is very strong with him. The Spartans just landed a commitment from his 2009 high school teammate Derrick Nix last week.
The Family on Friday, have to wonder what’s up with Kirk now that MSU has already taken two bigs:
The Family struggled to find much consistency from it’s team. Coming off a commitment to Michigan State, Nix showed some nice moves in the post but struggled to finish time and time again at the rim.
DaShonte Riley had one great move with a spin to the middle of the lane off a pivot and scored with a face up jumper. Other than that, he was quiet from a scoring standpoint. He and fellow big man Donnovan Kirk worked well with the high-low offense in the first half. Riley’s length played a factor, too. He was still far from doing what he’s capable of though.
Bye Bye Ekpe?
Lacy has the latest on Ekpe, nothing is official but Lacy caught up with Udoh’s AAU coach and it doesn’t sound good:
Udoh’s former AAU coach in Texas, and he might have given me a clue. When reached on his cell phone and asked to comment about the situation, Malone said, “I don’t care to comment until Monday.” What that means is anyone’s guess. I have somewhat of an idea, but as we know, in the strange world of collegiate athletics, it’s hard to speculate until something is official or at least on the record.
Lacy updated his blog and just sent me an email to tell me that Ekpe is in Ann Arbor according to his high school coach. I would think that this could mean one of two things: Ekpe is staying with the team or Ekpe is going to get his transfer papers signed and cleared away and make everything official. At this point I’d still guess the later. Although Ekpes coach explains it like this:
“He told me he’s in Michigan, but he didn’t want to tell me anything,” Hardaker said. “I asked him if he’s there looking to get a release (for a transfer) and he just said, ‘I’m just here chillin,’ just hanging out.”
One thing to note, Miles Plumlee might asked for his release ($) from Stanford and is back on the open market. He would probably play a lot immediately if Michigan were to land him. Beilein is familiar with the Plumlees from recruiting Miles’ little brother Mason.
Jordan Morgan Invited To NBAPA Top 100 Camp
Congrats to Jordan Morgan for receiving an invitation to the NBAPA camp which features the “top 100 juniors and sophomores in the country”. The camp is scheduled for June at the University of Virginia and will give Jordan a chance to keep working on his game and play against some of the best players in the country.
Nikola Kecman
A new recruit lists Michigan…. Link (halfway down the page). Did I mention that we need big men?
The 6-foot-9, 220-pound Kecman - who is from Belgrade, Serbia - averaged 13 points a game and helped Eastern Arizona to a fifth-place finish in the national junior college tournament. He’s also looking at Fresno State, Nebraska, Iowa, Nevada and Michigan.
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