Hawkins Flying High
Javontae Hawkins has been high on the Michigan radar for quite some time now. The 2012 wing was told this winter that he was “Michigan’s #1 wing target in the class” and he’s beginning to show why. Hawkins made the switch from Team Pride to Team Detroit and his play appears to have improved. He drew rave reviews last weekend at the NY2LA tournament in Milwaukee and this weekend he continued to impress as Team Detroit swept the Michigan Memorial Classic. BankHoops was there and had this to say on Hawkins:
It was a 2012 prospect who stole the show, this time being 6-5 Team Detroit via Flint Powers sophomore Jovantae Hawkins. He dominated his draw for the second weekend in a row, after leading Team Detroit to the 16-under title of the NY2LA tournament in Milwaukee previously. No one in this most recent 16-under field could discourage his shooting or impede his drives. His release and range bring to mind some of the state’s best big guard jumpshooters of the past decade, like Darryl Garrett and Erik Kangas, with the smooth drives and above-the-rim play of Maurice Ager and a touch of Malik Hairston’s rebounding. So it’s no surprise Hawkins is being recruited by a wide array of schools including U-M, MSU, Indiana, Wake Forest, Arizona and Stanford. It should be exciting in July when Hawkins blows up nationally, doing so in his backyard at the Great Lakes Summer Championship in Swartz Creek.
As Bell says in the scouting excerpt, this summer is when things will likely take off for Hakwins. The “official offer date” is June 15th for 2012 recruits and the live AAU season begins in early July.
EYBL Notes
Amir Williams has drawn some mixed reviews on the AAU circuit this summer. One time you catch him he looks great and other times he doesn’t do much of note. CourtCred saw him this weekend’s EYBL session and was impressed:
Every time I see Williams he looks to have improved on something. Quickly emerging as one of the best bigs in the country, his recruiting continues to heat up as Duke has reportedly been in contact with him. One of the best things Williams does is establish great post position when he wants the ball, he also demands it by being vocal and giving his passer a good target. He has good hands, catching numerous passes and finishing strong after running the floor. When in a crowd he does a good job of gathering himself and powering up.
Jet quick Anthony Fields continues to garner praise and excepts a PSU offer soon. Tommy McCune played with All-Ohio Red and played well.
TOC Notes
Plumlee and Zeller were obviously featured in a number of articles because the TOC was hosted on Duke and UNC’s campuses. Here’s one such puff piece with a number of quotes from both prospects. As per the usual, Yogi Ferrell earned some praise from Rivals:
A sturdy and quick point guard, Ferrell was Indiana Elite’s most impressive performer in its close win over M33M. He knocked down three-pointers when open and created scoring opportunities off the dribble. His 16 points along with Cody Zeller’s 16 points led Indiana Elite.
A pair of St. Marks teammates played very well at TOC as well. Alex Murphy has officially blown up as he earned a Duke offer while Kaleb Tarczewski (Mich offer) was solid as well.
Anthony Wright
Anthony Wright will not be returning for a 5th year at Michigan but he still plans to play basketball elsewhere. Wright has an unofficial visit scheduled this Friday at Toledo. We will do our best to keep you up to date with Wright’s plans.
Draft Notes
Manny Harris comes in at only 67 on SI.com’s big draft board but John Hollinger’s PER predictions are much more favorable towards Harris, ranking him 18th (insider). Hollinger’s predictor has been very effective in the past so it is definitely interesting that Manny Harris would be so high on the list. A lot of this no doubt stems from Harris’ ability to stuff the stat sheet in a college game.
I did get a chuckle out of this HoopsWorld article where Harris claims that he thinks he can be a great defender. Defense was easily his biggest weakness in Ann Arbor:
“I think I’m a good defender and can be a great defender,” Harris told HOOPSWOLRD. “I told people in High School I never had to defend, we just pressed a lot, never played man-to-man. In college we played 1-3-1 most of the time, sometime man-to-man but it wasn’t a focus point. Coming into the draft I’ve focused on it a lot and think I can be a great defender because of it.”
