UM Hoops.com

No surprises here, Brandan Kearney verbally committed to Michigan State this morning. Kearney, a 2011 wing, was ranked 90th in the country by Rivals and chose Michigan State over Michigan, Kentucky, and Ohio State.

Although Kearney was considered a Michigan lean early this spring, the situation changed after Carlton Brundidge committed to Michigan. With limited scholarships in the class of 2011, it was clear that Michigan only had room for one backcourt player. The other remaining scholarship in the class of 2011 almost has to go to a big man (scholarship breakdown lives here).

In the class of 2010, the priority hasn’t changed: Trey Zeigler. Zeigler recently officially visited UCLA and Michigan and Michigan appears to have positioned themselves well. However, Zeigler’s spring decision means that there will be a long wait ahead.

This doesn’t appear to be official, but it’s not all that surprising either. Eric Lacy is reporting in the Detroit News that Brandan Kearney will choose Michigan State on November 3rd. When a recruit names a school the leader on Monday and announces a decision date on Wednesday, it’s not very hard to figure out their likely destination.

It’s tough to see a kid like Kearney, described as lifelong Michigan fan, commit to Michigan State but at this point Michigan is dealing with a major scholarship crunch. There was room to take one guard or wing early in the class of 2011 and Carlton Brundidge jumped at that opportunity.

The plan for Michigan is to add Trey Zeigler in the class of 2010 and a big man in the class of 2011.  If Zeigler falls through, they will likely look to add a wing player in 2011 as well. However, with Zeigler’s spring decision, that won’t be until next summer.

Detroit Southeastern wing guard Brandan Kearney decided today that he will announce his college choice on November 3rd. Next Generation Sports has a lengthy profile on Kearney’s career to date as well as information about his college choice.

Here is Kearney’s final list:

Florida International, Georgetown, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Syracuse.

The most recent national article on Kearney ($), from Scout.com, named Michigan State the favorite but NGS says that we will just have to wait.

Now everyone has read the articles stating that Michigan is the leader, or Michigan State is the leader, and even an article about Kentucky being in front.  How will BK handle the time up to November 3^rd?  “I’m just going to keep researching the situation at each school and go with the team that I feel the most comfortable with no matter where they are located,” said Kearney.

The full profile is definitely worth a read.

Now that Carlton Brundidge is in the fold, Michigan’s recruiting focus has shifted. Here is an attempt to figure out where Michigan goes next on the recruiting trail.

First, the scholarship situation:

Michigan has two more scholarships to give over the next two years. Manny Harris is obviously an NBA prospect and could leave early, this would give Michigan more room to maneuver in the class of 2010 but would not affect the situation in 2011.

Future roster positional breakdown, and a look at the classes of 2010, 2011, and 2012 after the jump.

Continue reading ‘Recruiting: Where Things Stand’

Casey Prather and Trey Zeigler will be visiting Ann Arbor this weekend

Recruiting Notes

Visitors

As previously mentioned, this weekend is huge not only for the football team but for Michigan basketball recruiting as well. Trey Zeigler and Casey Prather are the 2010 headliners but there are a number of underclassmen as well. For the full list, check out the updated expected visitors page. Additions include Justin Gant and Tommy McCune as well as a pair of underclassmen including 2012 point guard Ray Lee and Denzel Watts (2013, Flint CA). (Update: Added commitment Tim Hardaway Jr. as well)

Casey Prather

Rivals posted a pretty bland article ($) about Casey Prather’s visit to Clemson last weekend. Prather has consistently said the right things throughout his recruitment and seems to make sure to keep things close to the vest. The consensus from Prather was that Oliver Purnell and company “made a good impression”. This video is relevant enough to link.

Other Notes

Starting this week, coaches are allowed to make in-home visits and according to BOTB Scouting (they are rolling again), Tom Izzo made his way to the Zeigler household. Izzo also made it to see Tommy McCune, a 2011 Saginaw forward who has Michigan State high on his list but is expected in Ann Arbor this weekend.

Schedule Notes

The schedule page has been updated with time and TV information for a couple of the non-conference games. Kansas will be an early tip on ESPN and UConn is set for 4:30 PM on CBS (or 1:30). Here’s the full list of updates:

• Nov 20th –   Houston Baptist — 7 PM
• Dec 2nd –  Boston College — 7:30 PM — ESPN2
• Dec 9th –  at Utah — 9PM ET (7PM MT/Local) — CBS College Sports
• Dec 19th – at Kansas — Noon ET, (11 am CT/Local) — ESPN
• Jan 17th –  UConn — 1:30/4:30 PM — CBS

UPDATE: The full schedule has been released.

More Bullets

• Andy Katz talks AAU influence on recruiting and of course interviews Beilein. The refrain sounds similar: the ethics committee is not for enforcement. Beilein also talks about gifting tickets, summer packets, and Elite camps. (HT: MGoBlog)
• Indiana hired Drew Adams as their coordinator of basketball systems. Jody Demling notes that Adams was a coach for the Indiana Elite AAU program and coached Indiana commitment Austin Etherington and 2011 target Jerermiah Davis.
• Lebron James is John Calipari’s latest recruiting tool. Who’d have guessed? Maybe this guy.
• Q&A with Brandan Kearney ($) as well as a little video ($).
• KJ looks Delvon Roe’s season, Michigan fans became familiar with Roe during his recruitment and his big game in Ann Arbor but I expect him to become a national name this year.
• There is hope for Lions fans? After midnight on Sundays.