Lansing Sexton wing Denzel Valentine has been solid this spring and summer with the Michigan Mustangs on the AAU circuit. It’s tough to peg Valentine into any specific position but it isn’t hard to tell that he knows how to play the game. We’re working on editing some Valentine highlights from the AAU circuit but someone spliced Joe’s interview together with some footage from Valentine’s high school campaign (above).
LifeInLansing.com’s Sam Hosey is now reporting that Valentine is on the verge of landing a Michigan offer. Hosey apparently spoke with Valentine’s father at the Moneyball Pro-Am in Lansing.
Denzel Valentine, 6-5 jr. Sexton – Denzel, a 3.5 student, has offers from Xavier, Drake, USC and once U-M headman John Beilein returns from Europe, the Wolverines will be offering. And as many have said, Valentine is the type of player that would do well at Michigan. His cerebral approach to the game and high level of skill make him a terrific prospect.
It’s unclear what trip to Europe is referenced in the blurb. The way the post is written infers that it is referring to some sort of recruiting trip rather than Michigan’s late August trip. 2011 wing forward Jonathan Gilling is the main European prospect that’s been discussed and his Denmark team will be playing on July 21st, 22nd, and 24th. The 22nd and 24th just happen to fall within the NCAA evaluation period. Could Beilein be headed to the FIBA Europe U20 Championships?
Michigan has already offered Matt Costello, Javontae Hawkins, Yogi Ferrell, and Gary Harris in the class of 2012. Now it appears that 2012 wings Denzel Valentine and Nick Stauskas are both on verge of receiving offers. At the very least it’s clear that Michigan is making a push for a wing in the class of 2012.
