Recruiting Roundup: Consensus rankings, Looney, Stone, Zimmerman, Dickerson & more

Share

Tweet

Print

Email

Memorial Day weekend was a busy one on the circuit, here are a number of scouting reports, quotes and videos from around the internet.

Consensus rankings finalized

We posted our final Class of 2013 Big Ten Recruiting Rankings last week and the always reliable RSCIHoops.com also updated their consensus top 100. Two Michigan targets made the top 100 – Zak Irvin at No. 29 and Derrick Walton at No. 44.

247 Sports’ Composite Rankings, which are designed to accomplish a similar task, rank Michigan’s commitments similarly with Irvin 29th, Walton 45th and Mark Donnal 87th.

Notes on Kevon Looney, Diamond Stone, Stephen Zimmerman and a host of other top Wolverine prospects after the jump.

Looney staying the course

Looney updated his recruitment with Evan Flood of 247 Sports and NY2LA Sports and spoke on a number of his top schools in this video interview.

Looney has yet to officially trim his list but continues to mention the Wolverines are part of his top group. UCLA and UConn have entered the mix but Looney continued to say good things about the Wolverines.

“Actually Michigan has been there from the beginning, since my freshman year,” Looney explained. “I’ve been talking with coach Beilein, coach Vall [Jordan] a little bit. They are a great school, they were in the championship this year so they are a great school.”

Looney didn’t just update his recruitment in Texas, he also impressed on the court.

Looney used his size, 6-foot-9, and high-level athleticism all weekend to impact the game on the glass and on defense, and he focused on his perimeter skills to score on offense. Looney handled the ball more than he usually does on a Runnin’ Rebels team that has strong guard play, and he shot from deep more often and much more efficiently than we have seen him do in previous events this spring.

The five-star prospect didn’t have a ton of new information about his recruitment to share; however, he mentioned Connecticut and UCLA as new schools that he’s adding to his list. He denied rumors that he is a strong Duke lean.

Here’s footage of Looney in action from the weekend.

Zimmerman impresses on West Coast

Stephen Zimmerman had a big weekend at the Magic Memorial Tournament in Corona, California over Memorial Day weekend. ESPN’s Joel Francisco named Zimmerman one of the top performers at the event

Standout performer: Stephen Zimmerman (Las Vegas/Bishop Gorman), a 6-foot-10 sophomore center, continues to show why he is considered one of the top five prospects nationally in the Class of 2015. The rangy left-hander is multi-skilled, has savvy beyond his years and is very athletic. He can knock down 3s, face up his defender, and attack or deliver a number of high-level passes. Despite his already-impressive offensive arsenal, two other areas stood out at the Memorial Day Festival: his improvement on the defensive side of the floor and his willingness to compete no matter the score. After his team failed to win a game in pool play, Zimmerman put his Dream Vision squad on his shoulders and led it to the championship game before losing to Compton Magic Elite.

Dickerson continues strong spring

We profiled class of 2015 big man Noah Dickerson last week and the Georgia big man, who plans to attend Michigan’s College Practice Camp on Saturday, had another big weekend in Minnesota. ESPN’s Reggie Rankin watched Dickerson in Eagen over the weekend.

Offers: Auburn, Virginia, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Tennessee
Interest: Michigan, Georgetown, Texas and Arizona
Dickerson is a wide-body post who will seal and pound his opponents for low-post scoring position where he features a nice post package led by his baseline spin. Dickerson is a strong finisher at the rim as he’s virtually unstoppable once he gets a full head of steam. He pulls down rebounds in his area and simply wears down his opponent with his physical and aggressive approach.

Diamond Stone developing

ESPN’s Paul Biancardi watched Diamond Stone with the Young Legends this weekend and liked what he saw.

He is special at a young age because out his terrific set of hands, great touch around the rim along with range to make jumpers from the arc. His demeanor will enhance his development because he cares about his performance and his teammates. Playing and dominating Under 16 competition with some triple-doubles, it’s now time for Stone to compete at the Under 17 level.

Rivals.com reports that Stone’s recent improvement has been driven by a commitment to get in shape.

“I was 261 (last summer),” Stone said. “Now I’m 250. I lost some pounds.”

He’s been running more, eating better and playing more basketball. All of it has helped him get up and down the floor quicker, and helped his already-good flexibility.

“I’m working hard to get to the next level,” Stone said. “I’ve just been working constantly with my team.”

Next up for Stone is to add some muscle mass and get stronger in the paint. Maybe even get taller, too.

“I’m trying to beef it up,” Stone said. “I’m trying to get stronger and hopefully if I get taller that will help, too.”

Quick Hitters

• Lakeland, Florida duo Dwayne Bacon and Corey Sanders will not be able to attend Michigan’s College Practice Camp this weekend due to a commitment to attend a Reebok Camp.
• Luke Kennard is one of Rivals.com’s top 10 fastest rising prospects in the class of 2015.
• Derryck Thornton Jr., one of top point guards in the class of 2016, plans to visit Michigan.
• Trevon Bluiett reports that he “was supposed to go the Butler camp, or the Michigan camp, on June 1st but I have the SAT that day.”
• 2014 combo forward Justin Tillman, 2016 guard DJ Wilkins and 2015 guard Prentiss Nixon will be attending Michigan’s College Practice Camp.
• 2015 guard Jalen Coleman is transferring to La Lumiere.
• Devin Booker had 23 points in the South Mississippi All-Star game on Tuesday.