UM Hoops.com

According to his AAU coach, Givon Crump (PF/SF 2009) plans to officially visit Michigan in September.

Crump has already taken unofficial visits to Maryland and Rutgers, but he still plans to take officials in September to Michigan and Oregon State, said his AAU coach Mark Matthew of AZ Pump ’n’ Run.

His coach also talks about his defensive abilities:

“I think he’s an underrated defender,” Matthew said in a phone interview. “He can defend a two (shooting guard) to a four (power forward). I think he’s an underrated athlete. He’s more explosive than people think. He’s bouncy off one feet, he’s bouncy off two.

And has a top list of schools:

Michigan, Oregon State, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Maryland, DePaul, South Florida, Cal and Southern Methodist.

Getting Crump on campus would be a big step in his recruitment. He has already visited Maryland (no offer) and Rutgers unofficially and plans to make a decision after his September visits. Read more about Givon Crump.

Matt Vogrich (SG 2009). It looks like Vogrich is becoming one of the main targets on the board. According to this article, Vogrich has plans to visit Ann Arbor and pick up his “official offer on campus. Vogrich sounds like the perfect Beilein player but the depth chart in the backcourt would make this offer at least a little questionable.

Next, there are two fresh premium articles on Scout on Givon Crump (SF/PF 2009). First with the Rutgers site, and also with the Maryland site. A lot of east coast schools on the kid who plays prep ball out east and is a D.C. native. The big step for Michigan is getting him on campus.

Isaiah Philmore is a new combo forward on the board. Philmore is a Rivals 150 (barely at #148) four man from the east coast (Scout profile, Rivals profile). Here is what CollegeHoopsNet had to say on Philmore’s play at the Hoop Group Elite Camp:

Clearly one of the more talented players at the camp, Philmore does everything well but did not really dominate as much as he could have. Offensively, he has a versatile game, showing the ability to score in a variety of ways. He can post-up defenders, as well as take them off the dribble and finish around the rim. Philmore also had a nice mid-range game and has a decent stroke. In general, he is a major match-up problem for defenders. Defensively, he is a good shot-blocker that changes shots with his athleticism. He can rebound at both ends very well, and can also handle the ball and pass. He runs the floor well, is unselfish and hustles for loose balls.

Collegehoopsnet went on to list these schools for Isaiah:

Virginia Tech, Virginia, South Florida, Providence, Massachusetts, George Washington, Michigan, Temple, Saint Joseph’s, Auburn, Kansas State, Central Florida

Certainly a guy who hasn’t done much narrowing down of his list, but I think he definitely qualifies for the ones to watch list.

Two other players mentioning U-M at Hoop Group are Jason West and Tyree Harris according to HoopGroup.com. West lists Drake and USF as favorites but mentions that he is hearing a lot from Michigan. HoopGroup also listed Isaiah Philmore as one of the top performers of the camp.

Khalil Murphy (2009 SF) is another forward who seems to have caught Michigan’s eye. Murphy has offers from Stony Brook, NJIT, Rider and Fordham but has schools like Michigan, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Texas taking a look. The article I just linked was from pre-Vegas week, heres Rivals latest premium scoop.

More notes.

• Some other names that some heads up commenters brought up after my hot board updates are: Tony Nixon, Davonte Elliott ($), Kawhi Leonard, Keenan Hornbuckle, Jake Cohen (old link) and Thomas Daniels. I haven’t seen these names mentioned a lot but they are certainly worth keeping an eye on.
• Tucker Halpern (2009 PF) is off the board to Brown.
• I also forgot to mention Matt Kamieniecki on the list of future targets, the 2010 and 2011 lists need updating and Kamieniecki is definitely one to watch.
• As expected Keith Appling (2010 SG/PG) committed to MSU. Appling is a great get for MSU but Michigan really never had a shot at him.
• If you are looking for an alternate to Rivals and Scout for your local recruiting coverage you might want to check out Saginaw Head coach Lou Dawkin’s new service, Best of the Best Scouting. There are some free posts there with some good scouting info on some Michigan kids. The service will cost $100/year for fans.

The AD released the basketball prospectus today (read the whole thing here) and here are a couple things worth noting.

First we have the freshman numbers (and number changes):

• Cronin #35
• Novak #0
• Douglass #1
• Lucas-Perry #31
• Shepherd #22
• Merrit #15

CJ Lee and Dave Merritt are listed on the roster, there was speculation that one or both of them would not be returning. Once you add in Corey Person, there is a good amount of point guard depth on this team.

Cronin is listed at 7-0 and 265 pounds, 30 pounds heavier than the next heaviest player (DeShawn Sims). Gibson is still listed at 220 which is the same as last year, so it doesn’t appear he has been Barwis-ized (I know Barwis doesn’t work directly with the hoops team). The weights of returning players seem to be pretty much the same so maybe they just aren’t updated?. The other freshman heights and weights are notable though. Stu measures in at 6-3 and 175 pounds, while Novak is listed at 6-5, 210 pounds.

Here are a couple quotes from Beilein (full quotes after the break):

“We are a young team progressing right now. We had several players log major minutes last season. Guys like Manny Harris, DeShawn Sims and Kelvin Grady. Guys that we feel will be a big part of this team. Then there are the others who have never really played signifi cant minutes — Zack Gibson, Laval Lucas-Perry and Ben Cronin, just to name a few. They are going to have play and gain experience early. If you look at our roster, we lost one senior; we’re still going to be a young team.”

On DeShawn Sims’ improved play from a year ago

“He really understands some of the things he has to do. He was one of the most improved players in the country, going from one or two points a game to 12 points a game, not many people jump 10 points. He will be working on some things — consistency and some different things that are very important to him. I sense that he his extremely excited about the opportunity that is in front of him right now to lead our team”

Continue reading ‘Basketball Prospectus Released: Notes & Quotes’

Updated Crisler Pictures here.

Continue reading ‘Crisler Arena Floor Makeover Pictures’

The screen or backlight is apparently shot on my main computer. Might be a little hard to update while I’m getting this fixed for the next couple days. I am in the middle of a couple more posts but I wasn’t expecting my laptop to fry. Stay tuned.

For right now though let’s talk recruiting. What would your ideal use of the remaining 2009 scholarships be?