Just a couple links on the tail end of this Friday…
Michigan in the mix for Prather
Per Rivals’ Jerry Meyer, Casey Prather is expected to visit the second weekend of September. This would be huge because getting him on campus is a big step. Beilein and Mahoney have been pursuing Prather tirelessly over the summer.
That Strangely Benign New Three-Point Line
Gasaway examines the impact of the three point line move last season in a slightly more eloquent fashion than I managed, and decides that the move doesn’t seem to have effected POTs very much.
End of Summer Rankings: Class of 2011 P-Hoops State of Indiana rankings, some relevant names: Zeller 8, McGary 9, Etherington 10, Gant 11, Turner 14
End of Summer Rankings: Class of 2012 More from Indiana, I’m sure we’ll know a lot more of these names later but two relevant names are DeJuan Marrero (2) and Kellen Dunham (12)
Team Detroit security another AAU championship after beating D-One Sports 56-48 in the RBK Summer Championship. Team Detroit features a number of Michigan recruiting targets including 2010 prospects Trey Zeigler and Ray McCallum as well as 2011 prospects Brandan Kearney and Percy Gibson (5 star prospect Dominique Ferguson also played with Team Detroit this weekend). Zeigler led Team Detroit with 16 points and added 7 rebounds and 3 assists. McCallum had 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists while 2011 target Quincy Miller scored 16 points for the opposition.
Trey Zeigler: 5-Star Potential
Trey Zeigler seems to impress anyone that sees him play and this weekend was no different. Rivals already thought highly of him, but after seeing him in Vegas they are even more impressed.
Maybe we just didn’t see at first, but it looks like Zeigler’s is adding to his game. Whether it’s an extra gear or an added dose of confidence, Zeigler is continuously impacting the game. He is now in five-star discussion.
Zeigler has been a priority for Michigan for a very long time, and that will continue to be the case. Max Preps jumped on the Zeigler bandwagon as well after they saw him score 25 points in a game versus the New York Panthers. There is no doubt that Trey can score the ball as well as the best in the country.
The next step for Trey appears clear, he wants to trim his list to five schools by the end of August. It would be great if Trey wants to decide in the Fall but it’s also very possible that he waits until the spring.
Point Guard U, an Arizona basketball website, conducted a (slightly leading) video interview with Trey in Vegas.
For a little more Zeigler video, there is a nice little adidas Promo with a couple very short clips.
Casey Prather: Dancing and Singing
Memphis Roar caught up with Casey Prather for a video interview at a recent AAU tournament. Prather talks about his recruitment as well as his singing and dancing abilities.
Michael DeCourcy lists Prather as one to watch after seeing him play at the adidas Super 64 tournament this weekend in Vegas and mentions that roy Williams was there watching Prather. Here’s DeCourcy’s scouting report:
Prather is a solid ballhandler who effectively creates opportunities for himself. He tends to shoot the ball without arc, which causes him to be less accurate, but that could be corrected. Coaches from nearly a dozen schools would love to try: including Michigan, Clemson, Florida, Alabama and Vanderbilt.
Prather reportedly shot the ball with more confidence ($) over the weekend and with his length and athleticism, a consistent jumpshot would make him deadly. We all know that Beilein is one of the best shooting coaches in the country. I’m sure that has been a point of emphasis in his recruitment, his comments about skill development in the video interview are definitely encouraging.
Mentioning the filth that is associated with AAU basketball is becoming a broken record but it seems like there is always a new issue being pointed out. Pete Thamel wrote a New York Times piece this weekend about coaches being forced to buy a $295 roster packet at AAU tournaments. People that don’t think AAU basketball is a cesspool of corruption really need to open their eyes.
Ray McCallum continues to play well this summer as well. DeCourcy profiled McCallum over the weekend and MaxPreps is also a fan.
Patrick Lucas-Perry has flown under the national radar a bit this summer and he played in Orlando over the weekend ($). Here’s a recent scouting report from Slam Online: “This rising junior has good court vision and did a great job moving the ball up the floor. He made a couple of impressive entry passes and also found a way to get himself to the rim. Patrick can knock down the 3-ball and also does a nice job in getting to the free throw line. He is definitely a sleeper!”
Evan Derman got a chance to meet with Tim Hardaway Jr’s shooting coach. NBADraft.net also saw Hardaway Jr. in action: “Tony Wroten was guarded by 6′5″ shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr., the son of former all star point guard Tim Hardaway. Hardaway Jr. has a solid package of tools (decent athleticism ball handling, defensive abilities and a thin yet strong body), but his shooting ability is really the only thing that would allow us to consider him a pro prospect.”
Jonathan Arledge played well over the weekend but reports of a Michigan offer appear to have been false. In a recent Rivals update, Arledge lists offers from “George Mason, Temple, Penn State, Vermont, Tulane, Siena, Providence, Fairfield, Niagara, and Vanderbilt” and interest from Xavier, Boston College, Michigan, Michigan State, James Madison, VCU, and Georgetown.
Michigan (and surprisingly Dayton) didn’t make Adreian Payne‘slist of five.
There is endless coverage of this weekend’s AAU events on the internet and I was away all weekend. So if I missed something and you have seen other worthwhile articles or scouting reports, make sure to post them in the comments.
The Columbus Dispatch released a list of all of the “one plays” on next year’s Big Ten schedule. The list looks like good news for Michigan who will play Illinois and Purdue only once. Illinois will play at Ann Arbor while the Purdue game will be a re-match of Elbow-Gate back in West Lafayette. Michigan will play every other team in the conference twice.
This is a good draw because Michigan doesn’t have to worry about playing bottom feeders only once (Indiana last year). The Purdue home game was probably a chance for a quality win which may be a slight loss. However, it seems like Michigan never wins at Illinois so that’s definitely a positive.
Ohio State at Michigan State
Northwestern at Ohio State Illinois at Michigan
Minnesota at Illinois
Indiana at Penn State
Michigan State at Indiana
Iowa at Wisconsin
Penn State at Iowa Michigan at Purdue
Purdue at Northwestern
Wisconsin at Minnesota
Dick Vitale: The All-Rolls-Royce Team
Dickie V’s mid-summer all-Americans, Manny Harris makes the 6th team and DeShawn Sims gets honorable mention. Other Big Ten: Lucas (1st), Turner (3rd), Battle (4th), Hummel (6th), Morgan (Hon Mention)
NY2LA SUMMER JAM PLAYER REVIEW
NBE on Zeigler, Kearney, McCallum and Gibson. Trey definitely wants to visit Pitt and also wants to make it to LSU and Arizona State.
Geoff Larcom: We loved our town, we loved the news, and we loved bringing it to you every day
Today is the last day of the Ann Arbor News. This has been planned for a while but it’s still strange that the next time I go home I won’t be able to pick up the Ann Arbor News. I am very curious to see how Ann Arbor.com progresses, it’s an idea with a lot of potential but it could also go very wrong. I’m working on an off topic post about new media so I suppose I’ll share more then. (AP Story)
Without a doubt, the best site for March Madness betting is Sportsbetting3. com, which also offers great sports betting websites, reviews, and news. Like casino games? You're in luck: Jaxcasinos.com is the top online casino site, featuring lots of great information.
Photo Courtesy of 
Recent Comments