It was a big weekend for Michigan incoming freshmen Darius Morris and Matt Vogrich. They both participated in the Feinberg Academic All-American Classic in Ontario, California. The four team event featured two games as well as a three point and dunk contest.
Players had to have a 3.0 GPA or higher to participate and judging by the number of Michigan commitments and former recruiting targets, it’s clear that Beilein values academics on the recruiting trail.
Morris played with the East alongside the UNC bound Wear twins, and Detroit Country Day big man DaShonte Riley among others. Vogrich played on the North with MSU bound big man Garrick Sherman, Minnesota bound Justin Cobbs, as well as former Michigan recruits Angus Brandt, Andy Brown, and Roger Franklin.
Darius’ East team was beaten pretty handily by the West but Morris played well. He finished with 16 points (7/16 shooting), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, and 3 steals. Matt’s team was a bit more successful as they rolled to an easy victory. He finished with 9 points on three made triples. Matt also participated in the three point contest, however Andrew Bock (Creighton) won the contest.
ESPN posted a lengthy write up from the event, and here are the highlights from each Michigan recruit.
Morris:
Led by the defensive intensity of Darius Morris (Windward, Los Angeles), the East All-Stars cut the lead to 15-10 on a free throw by the reigning Div. V State Player of the Year.
The East made their final push behind Morris and Travis Wear, who both finished with a team-high 16 points while David Wear finished with 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Morris executed a nice crossover dribble on Cunningham, who fouled him on the play. After the Michigan-bound guard converted the traditional three-point play, the West had an eight-point lead (77-69) with five minutes remaining.
Vogrich:
The North’s Matt Vogrich (Lake Forest, IL) nailed two clutch three-pointers late in the game to seal the deal, as both triples stretch the lead back to 15 points. The Michigan-bound guard made three shots from long range and finished with nine points, one of three North All-Stars to finish just one point shy of double figures.
Mark Snyder caught up with Darius and Matt after the game and it appears that both players had a good time and definitely felt like they belonged.
Morris:
“I’m really a creative player and like to include everybody, so in this game I kind of saw how the atmosphere was and took advantage,” he said. “I had a couple flashy moves and the crowd really got behind you. You could tell the way they liked it and I didn’t want to fell like I was too stiff in my last high school game.”
Morris said his highlights were a one-handed dunk and another time he broke down his defender, hit a shot and still got fouled.
Vogrich:
“I played pretty well and made four threes and our team won by 22,” said Vogrich, who added he was shooting deep threes, from a step or two behind the NBA line and threw a few alley-oops. “I wasn’t nervous. I thought I proved myself. Before I was excited to see where I was. Some kids were better than me and I was better than some of them. It was fun to see where I stack up.”
Max Preps also posted a nice photo gallery from the event.
