Angus Brandt’s commitment to Oregon State means that it is time to move on to the class of 2010 and even the class of 2011. I updated the scholarship breakdown to add Ben Cronin’s redshirt this year. That leaves two scholarships in 2010 and three more in 2011 without any further attrition. I’m not going to speculate about attrition but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we had three to give in 2010.
So what is the biggest need? There are two in my opinion: an athletic wing forward and a scoring big man. In a sense these guys have to be the replacements for Manny Harris (who will have senior eligibility) and DeShawn Sims (who will have just graduated). Looking up and down the roster there are a lot of guys who probably can play the three but there isn’t really a pure wing. If Michigan has one more to give then I think you go with the best available player, but preferably another wing guy.
So who fills these slots? Trey Zeigler and Will Regan seem to be the best case scenario. Zeigler is a perfect fit on the wing and Regan has been putting up monster numbers in the post. Ideally if there is a third spot I could see it going to someone like Moses Morgan or Tim Hardaway Jr., two guys who provide length, skill, and athleticism on the wing.
In the class of 2011 there are plenty of names out there including guys like Carlton Brundidge, Brandan Kearney, Amir Williams, Mitch McGary, and Percy Gibson. 2011 is still a while out but it is time to start paying attention. I am working on a 2011 hotboard and it should be good to go this week. Point guard is definitely a need in 2011 but other than that I’m not sure exactly where Beilein will focus, a lot of that depends on the final results on the 2010 class.
That’s a quick run down on the future direction of recruiting and now here is the typical weekly recap.
Commitments
Darius Morris
Windward opened up sectional play last week but they didn’t really run into any competition. Windward beat Bishop Diego 85-21 and then rolled by Yeshiva 79-46. The competition they are facing early on in sectional play seems to be a level or two below the competition they have played all year. Windward will face Sierra Canyon Tuesday night.
- Scouting Darius Morris vs Bishop Diego
Commenter Justin C made it out to see Darius play and shared his thoughts
Matt Vogrich
Matt Vogrich scored 19 points in an easy 71-44 win over Carmel but they fell to Zion Benton. Benton is the hot team in the area right now and they managed to knock off Lake Forest, 70-57. Vogrich had a game high 22 points in the loss. Lake Forest plays their final regular season game against Lakes High School on Tuesday before kicking off the IHSA playoffs on March 4th.
Jordan Morgan
Jordan Morgan had a couple of solid games in the last week. Jordan scored 23 points and pulled down 11 boards in a 70-56 win over Warren De La Salle. He followed that performance up with 22 points in a 72-56 win over Livonia Clarenceville in the Catholic League quarterfinals.
Blake McLimans
Blake has been picking up his play recently. He had 19 points against Hyde School (CT) including 5 three pointers. He played well again in a 77-73 win over Northfield, he only had 8 points or so but he has strung together a couple solid games in a row.
Worcester finishes up their regular season Friday night against Cushing Academy. The NEPSAC Tournament kicks off the next Wednesday and all games will be played at Endicott College. Worcester will likely be a 5 seed and plenty of college coaches are expected to be on hand.
Eso Akunne (pref. walkon)
Eso just keeps producing. Eso had 22 points and 12 rebounds in Gabriel Richard’s Catholic League quarterfinal win over Riverview Gabriel Richard.
Class of 2010
Will Regan
Nichols suffered a tough overtime loss to St Joe’s. It was Nichols’ second loss of the season and their first in league play but Regan had 36 points in the defeat. Nichols bounced back against Canisius and Regan posted a triple double with 32 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 blocks. Nichols will start their playoff action tonight.
- Scouting Will Regan ($)
The Wolverine was in the house to see Regan’s triple double and they came back with a great scouting report. - More coaches come out to see Regan ($)
- Regan growing as a player, says coach ($)
Trey Zeigler
Mount Pleasant rolled by Traverse City Central. Zeigler had 14 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks. The Oilers are back in action tonight against Bay City Central.
- T.C. Central at Mt. Pleasant
Next Generation Sports recap
Moses Morgan
Moses and his Palo Verde team got passed Durango in the first round of the Sunset League playoffs, 88-62. Moses had 24 points including 14 in the second half. Palo Verde took care of business in semi final as well, Morgan led Palo Verde to a 64-47 win over Western with 16 points.
Morgan couldn’t quite lead his team to the Sunset Championship, Palo Verde suffered a 5 point defeat in the championship to Gorman High. Morgan struggled all game and was plagued by foul trouble, he took only six shots for seven points and fouled out midway through the fourth quarter. Palo Verde has a shot to make the state playoffs with a play-in game on Monday.
Tim Hardaway Jr.
Palmetto fell in the regional quarter finals to South Miami. Hardaway had 19 points in the 48-47 loss including 4 triples down the stretch.
Cameron Ayers
Cameron Ayers was named the MVP of the Inter-Ac League. Germantown won their league title a couple weeks ago with a big win over Chesnut Hill, Ayers 14 points, three steals and five assists. But they fell against Friends Central in a very disappointing fashion in the Independent Schools title game. Ayers had 14 in the loss and missed a desperation three pointer at the end of the game that would have given Germantown the win.
Alex Dragicevich
Illinois Prep Bulls-eye reports that Alex Dragicevich has a visit planned to Ann Arbor in the very near future. The one thing that we have learned from Beilein is that visits are typically pretty serious. If he brings you in on a recruiting visit it means you are at the very least firmly on the radar.
Glenbrook North knocked off McKinney 76-69 on Friday night and Alex had 17 points and five rebounds in the win.
Casey Prather
Casey Prather was named a finalist for Mr. Basketball in Tennessee, the athletic junior is averaging 23 points and 11 rebounds per game. Prather is definitely blowing up this season and seems to be gaining plenty of high major interest, the latest team on the list appears to be UNC.
Allen Payne
Allen had 32 points on 12 of 15 (2-4 3pt) shooting to go along with five rebounds, six assists, and two steals in a 69-55 win over Glen Estie. Earlier in the week he posted 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting, with 10 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks, a steal, and seven turnovers.
Ray McCallum
The junior point guard was in Ann Arbor for the Minnesota game and then back in action Saturday night against Bloomington South back in his old stomping grounds. Country Day fell to the undefeated Bloomington squad 73-67 and was outscored 24-13 in the fourth quarter. McCallum led Country Day with 17 points and Amir Williams (a 2011 target) had 12 rebounds. Indiana bound Jordan Hulls led the way for Bloomington with 27 points.
2011 and Beyond
As I mentioned over the weekend, Southeastern fell to Pershing in the PSL Championship (SpartanMag highlights $). The sophomore duo of Brandan Kearney and Percy Gibson are going to be great players down the line but they weren’t enough for the talented Pershing team featuring MSU bound Keith Appling and Derrick Nix. Juwan Howard Jr. also stole the show for Pershing.
This post is long already so I’m not really going to focus on 2011 kids that much. I will hopefully get into a little more when I get the 2011 hotboard completed.
After all the positive Michigan talk this is a 
Say Hello to Isaiah Sykes. Sykes scored 25 points Tuesday against Denby but his first big test was Friday’s battle with Detroit Southeastern. Sykes wasn’t the start but he led Finney to a 
For those wondering about 2009 big man DaShonte Riley, Inside Prep Sports 
Kearney had 12 points in an easy 63-38 win over Osborn. From what I can tell neither Kearney or Gibson were particularly spectacular in the disappointing loss to Finney (see Isaiah Sykes above).
Mount Pleasant rolled over Flint Northern 
Casey Prather continues to put up monster numbers. Prather had 31 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks in a 71-59 win over Jackson Central-Merry. Coaches from Michigan, Virginia, and Clemson were in attendance. 
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