We’re Live

College coaches make their way onto the AAU scene today for the first time this year. The NCAA scrapped all live evaluation periods in the Spring, making this the first chance for college coaches to get out and see recruits in person. This is the fun time when you can learn who’s recruiting who just by following where each coaching staff goes.

Here is the list of tournaments that take place over the next week or so:

July 5-8 LeBron James Skills Academy, Akron (Ohio)
July 6-8 adidas ItTakes5Classic, Cincinnati
July 6-9 Hoosier Shootout, Indianapolis
July 7-10 Reebok All-American Camp, Philadelphia
July 8-9 King City Classic, Cleveland (Ohio)
July 9-12 Kentucky HoopFest, Louisville
July 11-12 Peach State Summer Classic, N. Augusta, Ga.
July 12-15 Nike Peach Jam, North Augusta, S.C.

In celebration of the “live period”, the 2010 hotboard has been updated and a 2011 hot board is almost complete as well.

Many Michigan targets and players will be participating in the LeBron James Nike Skills Academy including: Manny Harris, DeShawn Sims, Evan Smotrycz, Trey Zeigler, Ray McCallum, and Adreian Payne.

True Heights and Weights

A benefit to the Nike camps that have been taking place over the last several weeks is that the rosters include true heights (with shoes), weights (without shoes), and wing spans for all participants.

DeShawn Sims – 6’8″ 230 lbs, 81″ wingspan
Evan Smotrycz – 6’9″ 212 lbs, 77″ wingspan
Casey Prather – 6’5″ 189 lbs, 77″ wingspan
Manny Harris – 6’5 1/2″ 183 lbs, 78.5″ wingspan
Trey Ziegler – 6’5″ 183 lbs, 81″ wingspan
Ray McCallum – 6’1 1/2″ 179 lbs, 73.5″ wingspan

Trey Zeigler’s measurables are definitely impressive. His arms are as long as DeShawn’s and he is essentially the same size as Manny. Evan Smotrycz’ wingspan is a bit underwhelming but he measured out at a legit 6’9″ in shoes.

Speaking of Smotrycz, Go Blue Wolverine posted Evan Smotrycz video from the NBPA Camp ($) and his ability to handle, run, and shoot is remarkable for a big guy. I am most impressed with his ability to handle and run the floor after grabbing a rebound. He is the perfect four-man in Beilein’s offense.

Memphis Confident with Prather

The Commercial Appeal posted a rundown of Memphis’ recruiting board before the live period and they appear confident in Memphis’ chances at landing Casey Prather.

The Tigers under Calipari didn’t target Prather, but Pastner has made up a lot of ground, to the point where Memphis might be one of the favorites right now along with Vanderbilt. In fact, after playing in the NBA Players’ Association Top 100 camp in Virginia, Prather flew back to Memphis with his mother and immediately came to campus to meet with the coaches and academic staff. Prather’s calling card on the camp circuit this summer has been his defense, but he scored 19 points in the championship game at the Top 100 camp. Besides Memphis and Vandy, Clemson has been mentioned a lot with Prather, who is ranked No. 57 by Rivals

Vanderbilt was thought to be the leader for sometime but Memphis appears to be making a big push. With UNC still yet to offer, it is important that Michigan continue to push to get Tennessee native on campus.

Rivalries

Pat Forde named Michigan-Purdue one of the top 10 “red hot rivalries” entering next year. I know all about the Manny elbow and the whooping that Michigan put on Purdue in Ann Arbor but is this really one of the top 10 rivalries in the NCAA. I am skeptical that it is one of Michigan’s top rivalries.

Why It’s Hot Now: Wolverines guard Manny Harris’ heat-seeking elbow that broke the nose of the Boilermakers’ Chris Kramer drew an ejection and — intentional or not — hasn’t been forgotten. With Kramer back in West Lafayette, Harris back in Ann Arbor and Michigan back on the radar under John Beilein, this matchup will be relevant in the Big Ten standings and worth watching nationally.

AAU Heating Up

AAU season is finally upon us. The Boo Williams tourney tipped off last weekend and there is plenty of AAU ball on tap for this weekend. Here is a basic list of where relevant AAU teams and players will be playing this weekend. AAU teams are still pretty much in flux so some of these “rosters” may be a little off,  if you have a correction or addition shoot me an email at umhoops@gmail.com.

Pitt Jam Fest (17 U Schedule – pdf)

• Team Detroit – Trey Zeigler, Brandan Kearney, Percy Gibson, Corey Petros
• REACH – Maurice Jones, Keith Appling
• Mass Rivals – Evan Smotrycz

Real Deal in the Rock (Team List – pdf)

• Nashville Celtics – Casey Prather
• Florida Rams – Tim Hardaway Jr.

Grand Rapids Storm Classic (Schedule)

• Team Pride – Devin Oliver
• Michigan Mustangs – John Horford, Alex Gauna, LaDante Henton, Juwan Howard Jr.
• Michigan Hurricanes – Isaiah Sykes

The X-Factor is where Ray McCallum ends up, he could head to the Family with Amir Williams, Michael Talley, and Carlton Brundidge or play with Team Detroit and Trey Zeigler.  I’ll also be keeping a keen eye toward Indiana AAU programs because Beilein has already raided the state once.

The Double Pump Spring Classic (information here), Las Vegas Spring Explosion, and Arizona Preps Spring Classic (info pdf) will feature most of the talented West Coast prospects this weekend as well.

Last year I was pretty surprised to find out that you can stream AAU games live online and now the process has become even more ridiculous. You can still stream video from Grass Roots TV but now it appears that it might cost $25 per tournament (although there is an ad on the page that claims streaming video is free).

Moses Morgan

Morgan’s play was reportedly underwhelming last weekend at the Full Court Press Easter Classic:

One of the bigger disappointments of the event was the play of 6-5 junior Moses Morgan (Las Vegas/ Palo Verde). He can knock down shots from anywhere, but his ball skills need polishing and he needs to play with more urgency at both ends.

Richard Solomon

Solomon is a guy that I haven’t talked about that much. The 6-foot-9 California wing started picking up Michigan interest this winter. Here is a February scouting report that breaks down his game pretty well:

Very long body (his torso hints that he might yet reach 6’10” or 6’11”) with ability to the run the floor like a wing, Solomon is athletic around the rim at both ends and has real ability to knock down mid-range jump shots as well as displaying a soft jump hook.  Solomon also has good blood-lines as his father (Richard II) played hoops at Michigan for Johnny Orr while older sister Am’ra just finished her college career playing volleyball at Cal (helping the Golden Bears reach the NCAA Elite 8 last fall).   Solomon’s play as of late is starting to attract high-major attention with the likes of Oregon State and Michigan focusing their attention on this top West Coast 2010 sleeper.  The “sky is the limit” for Solomon who might just be a major surprise by the end of the July recruiting period

ESPN echoes those thoughts in this April 2009 report (Darius Morris’ teammate, Wesley Saunders, also impressed ESPN at the same tournament) Solomon is definitely intriguing. When a prospect “blows up” out west it can mean offers from some big fish like UCLA, USC, Arizona, and whoever else but he has the Michigan ties.

Rankings Redux

Rivals released their final 2009 individual rankings this week. Darius Morris finishes at #77 (4-star) and Matt Vogrich at #137 (3-star). What’s this mean? Not much in my book. Darius led his team to the state championship and Matt led his to one of their best seasons in recent history while putting up solid numbers. Both of those kids had great years and probably couldn’t have done much more. Morgan and McLimans (who is playing baseball this spring) appear to be wild cards at this point.

The rankings process is flawed in many ways and seeing DaShonte Riley and Donovan Kirk at the bottom of the list shows just how questionable those sophomore rankings can be. Beyond the top 25 or so prospects it gets very hard to accurately differentiate between players. Because scouting companies only have so many scouts, AAU play is naturally emphasized. A huge AAU tournament can land you a spot in the top 50 but tearing up high school competition doesn’t do you much good if Jerry Meyer or another Rivals/Scout scout isn’t in the house.

It’s worth mentioning that Indiana (10), Illinois (12), Minnesota (22) all made Rivals’ top 25 team rankings for the class of 2009.

Club Trillion

CJ Lee wrote his own blog on MGoBlue this year and it was a great feature that shared some insight into CJ’s life on the team. However, it wasn’t quite this entertaining. You’ve probably heard of Club Trillion by now but if you haven’t, it’s a blog run by Ohio State walk-on/manager Mark Titus. The name stems from the box score stat line that appears to look like one trillion.

The blog is amusing, even if it is run by a Buckeye, and it recently passed one millions hits which prompted a guest post by Evan Turner. Turner, the target of a lot of Club Trillion hate, makes the case that he is not the whitest player on the team in his rant.

Extras

• Michigan Turns up Heat on Zeigler ($)
  Latest on Zeigler from Sam Webb
• Dribble and Drives: Academics Accolades Roll In for Wolverines
  Academic fluff
• Legion arrested for driving on suspended license
  What’s next for Mr. Legion?
• Beilein Ceiling Five Times Fast
  Brian looks at the hoops program’s “ceiling”, something we’ll be able to discuss here over the next few weeks when I can gather my thoughts.
• New FIU coach Isiah Thomas raises hopes, concerns
  Is Isiah considering bringing Hardaway Sr. into the fold?
• We Are Legion
  PLP scored 26 points in the Mustang Motown Throwdown 16U championship
• No Aussies, yet
  Angus’ LOI hasn’t arrived in the OSU offices yet. This is probably moot but I guess it’s worth noting.
  

Scott Hazelton is reporting that Evan Smotrycz has recently been offered by Michigan.

On Monday, Michigan’s head coach Jim Beilein and Providence head coach Keno Davis visted New Hampton Prep to watch Smotrycz work out.   Coach Beilein has been followig Smotrycz from our summer trips to Las Vegas and California.  And after the workout Monday,  Coach Beilein assured Smotrycz that Michigan has a spot for him by offering the talented 6’9″ wingman a scholarship.

Michigan appears to have jumped headfirst into the middle of Evan’s recruitment and it seems like it could move quickly. Smotrycz did visit this fall so it’s not like his name came out of nowhere but I have to admit I hadn’t been following him that closely. Part of the reason is that it doesn’t seem like local newspapers tend to cover the NESPAC Prep league that well.

That being said it’s probably worth doing some preliminary reading. Home News Here recently posted a nice profile piece about Evan that breaks down this year, his history, and his recruitment.  You also might want to take a look at the ESPN scouting report if you skipped over it the last time that I linked it.

From what I have heard about Smotrycz, he has Beilein written all over him: Length, shooting, and ball handling ability in a 6-foot-9 body. That sounds like the perfect guy to play the four position or “power forward” in this offense. Beilein has been stingy in terms of who he offers and with limited scholarships; if he wants a kid you can bet that he really wants him.

Count the New England Recruiting Report as another fan:

One of the most accurate sayings we have ever heard about prep school basketball is this, “there is a fine line between exposure and exposed”.  So many players transfer to the NESCAC only to find their level of success reduced by the higher level of competition.  It was just the opposite for Smotrycz who raised his game to a new level in his first season at New Hampton.

The Coaching (and Recruiting) Carousel

John Calipari is headed to Kentucky for almost $4 million per year. Of course Calipari doesn’t come without “the most powerful man in basketball”, William Wesley. Not to mention the troop of recruits that will likely follow including John Wall (1), Xavier Henry (3), DeMarcus Cousins (2) and many others.  I guess for that much money, you expect more than just a coach.

Henry writes over on TrueHoop that there are essentially no clean college basketball programs which may be true to an extent. But there is no denying the fact that Calipari runs one of the most ethically challenged. I would also argue without hesitation that John Beilein runs arguably one of the cleanest programs in the nation. This hire reminds me of Indiana hiring Kelvin Sampson — desperation can force you into tough situations, especially when you try to take shortcuts.

Speaking of questionable recruiting, recent allegations aren’t slowing down UConn head coach Jim Calhoun on the recruiting trail. The Huskies landed a commitment from Chicago guard Darius Smith this week. The head scratcher is that Smith never visited UConn and Calhoun has never seen him play. The folks over at Illinois Prep Bullseye call the recruitment one of the strangest they have seen:

Throughout Smith’s entire recruiting process, reliable sources told us that the Huskies had not offered Smith a scholarship and were looking at him solely as a backup option.  Not only that, but Smith has never set foot on the UConn campus.  We also know for a fact that to this point Huskie head coach Jim Calhoun has not seen him play.  All of which makes us wonder exactly how the deal with Smith went down.  Of course, no one is talking (and no one will) when it comes to that.

You be the judge.

Back on the Market?

Tony Bennett is packing up his bags at Washington State and headed to Virginia.  One of Michigan’s top priorities from the class of 2008, Klay Thompson. Klay had a very solid freshman campaign at Washington State, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 41.2% from three point range — all of this was good for Pac 10 All-Freshman honors and numerous Washington State freshman records.

Klay is understandably a bit shaken by his coache’s departure. Here’s what he had to say about Tony’s decision:

“I was so shocked,” freshman guard Klay Thompson told the newspaper. “But it’s life. I’ll adjust. As far as my future, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ll see who they’re going to bring in.”

It appears like his father, former NBA star Mychal Thompson, put an end to any transfer talk:

“Klay’s fine. He’s calmed down after the initial shock,” Thompson said. “I told him, you’re not going to go anywhere. Why would you go and sit out a year [in transferring]? You’ve got a nice nucleus with Marcus Capers and DeAngelo Casto.

Klay would be a perfect fit on the wing, but it doesn’t look like it’s worth getting your hopes up.

Big Ten Bashing

Hearing Tom Izzo rip Digger Phelps and the rest of the national media made this one of the most enjoyable Tom Izzo clips I’ve ever watched.  He has a point and I think he lays it out pretty well. I’d love to go down the list a little bit more in detail but let’s just look at Michigan and Michigan State and how they performed in the tournament. Michigan isn’t really considered a defensive team but they held Clemson to 59 points, nearly twenty below their season average. Meanwhile Michigan State hasn’t given up 70 points yet in the NCAA tournament and just held Louisville to 52 points. Yes, my friends, defense is real and we play it in this conference.

In similar conference chest beating, Penn State manhandled Notre Dame in the NIT semifinal and they coincidentally held them to 59 points. Yes, this is the same Notre Dame team that was ranked #9 in both preseason polls and plays in the highly-esteemed Big East.

The Rivalry

I’ve written about the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry over at MGoBlog but I don’t have much of a problem with Beilein lending a helping hand, especially after listening to the Big Ten hate for the last two months. Beilein and his staff also shared their thoughts with the Free Press so it’s not like this is top secret information.

Warm and happy feelings aside, this kind of talk I could do without:

“We said we are the university in Michigan, and in six days we’re going to represent this entire state,” said Izzo, flanked by his wife and children.

I don’t know if Izzo just got a little excited in the midst of the victory celebrations in East Lansing but this statement is just foolish. There is no denying that Michigan State has the better basketball program but in no way are they the university in Michigan.

Apparently, Manny Harris wants to go to the Final Four, and he asked his old AAU teammates Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summer if they could help out:

Lucas and Durrell Summers both said a former teammate, Michigan’s Manny Harris, has been among the throng of friends asking for tickets.

“We’re definitely going to get him in there some kind of way,” Summers said. “If he wants a ticket, he has to throw on some Spartan gear.”

I don’t care if he gets some tickets but come on Manny, wear Maize and Blue.

Quick Notes

• Brian was featured on John U. Bacon’s show on WTKA and shared his 2-cents about the future of journalism, MVictors has a podcast.
• The Fab Five reunion event was canceled but now it is back on and has been moved.
• David Cone needs to freestyle battle Brent Petway.
• I need a name for everything in one posts like this one because I’m not completely sold on ’50 in 5′ (Beilein’s shooting drill) so let’s hear some suggestions in the comments.