Archive for the 'Brandan Kearney' Category

Recruiting Roundup (12-22-2008)

Published
by
Dylan
on December 22, 2008
in Brandan Kearney, Cameron Ayers, Darius Morris, Moses Morgan and Recruits
. 4 Comments

A bit of an abbreviated version due to holidays and a Monday night game.

Commits

Darius Morris

Windward cruised through the Windward Classic with wins over Sierra Canyon (56-39), Cleveland (51-38), Price, and Vista (76-62). More scouting from commenter WTHEF:

Darius’ team won their own tournament by beating Price on Friday (not sure on score - they were up about 15 heading into the 4th) and Vista on Saturday, 76-62. Darius made the All-Tournament team - Denzel’s son, Malcolm was MVP which would be akin to Grady being called our MVP of the non-conf season. While you could see Darius’ ability on Wednesday - he was finishing those same moves on Friday against Price. I would guess he ended up with 20+ points.

In the Championship game they played Vista who I saw destroy a team Wednesday, 74-36, and was fairly merciless in doing so. They have 2 very athletic guys that are 6′6 and 6′4 and a fast 5′9 guard that can fill it up from deep - 24 on Wednesday and 19 on Friday. Darius was primarily covered by the 6′4 guy and had responsibility for covering the 5′9 guy - who ran him all over the court. He stayed with him though and held the kid to 5-17 shooting and 12 points (most of which came when Darius wasn’t in the game). They were running a lot and Darius often led the break and made some nice passes - several to their 6′5 sophomore forward, Wesley Saunders - who did a great job of finishing and had 19 points at the half. In the second half, Darius asserted himself more offensively - mainly with drives to the hoop and he finished with 21 points. The highlight of the game was a brilliant alley-oop he threw to UCLA-bound teammate, Anthony Stover for a nasty dunk. The PA announcer called it as “Michigan to UCLA for the alley-oop” - quite a bit better than the “the Wright stuff” call that we are used to in Ann Arbor.

After having seen Darius play in three games now - my thoughts are similar to when I saw him the first time. He is an excellent ball handler and distributor. When he drives he is looking to pass but with his size, he is effective at finishing. He is athletic and acrobatic in the air and makes some difficult finishes look easy. He has a great looking shot and plenty of range from 3. I only saw him take 2 shots in the 3 games that weren’t from 3 or within 3 feet of the basket, so he might need work on his mid-range game. My guess is its more of a function of him being able to get to the basket at will so there is no need to pull up. He picked up a couple offensive fouls that I think had more to do with the level of the competition (ex. setting a screen he knocks over a 140 pound kid and the ref calls it). I would have also liked to have seen him dunk the ball on the break or when finishing (he had only one dunk attempt - it went off the back off rim). For his athleticism, I wonder if he isn’t a great leaper or it could be that he needs to get back into basketball shape - or just he prefers to lay it in. I think the upcoming tournaments against top competition - Max Prep and Pangos Classic - will reveal more about his game.

Matt Vogrich

Matt Vogrich led Lake Forest through a couple of easy wins over Mundelein (72-52) and Stevenson (57-33). Matt had 26 points and 8 boards against Mundelein and also led Lake Forest with 14 over Stevenson. Don’t miss the Matt Vogrich scouting report from posted last week.

Lake Forest is 7-2 thus far and has the State Farm Holiday Classic coming up after Christmas.

Blake McLimans

Worcester had a busy week that included a win over Tabor Academy as well as a big upset of St. Marks. McLimans had 13 points including three triples in the 65-41 win over Tabor.

Worcester just edged St. Marks and former Michigan recruit Nate Lubick in a 90-87 thriller.  2010 shooting guard target Austin Carroll added 29 points (5 threes) in the win over St. Marks.  Blake posted 8 points in the game while St. Marks stars Erik Murphy (Florida) and Nate Lubick (Georgetown) posted 26 and 20 respectively.

Worcester is on break over the holidays and won’t be in action again until 1/10/09.

2010 Targets

Moses Morgan

See scouting report

Trey Zeigler

Mt. Pleasant went 0-2 this week but Zeigler still put up solid numbers. Trey had 26 points, 15 boards, and 3 assists in a 62-56 loss to Gaylord on Tuesday. Thursday night in a 76-63 loss to Saginaw Heritage Zeigler managed 28 points and 7 boards including 20 points in the second half.

Alex Dragicevich

Dragicevich is the newest wing on Michigan’s radar (see Rivals article $). The big two guard is a smooth player with a sweet stroke who attends the same high school as Duke’s Jon Scheyer.

Highland Park resorted to a box-and-one to shut Alex down on Friday and managed to hold him scoreless for the first quarter but Glenbrook North won the game 49-23. Dragicevich had only 8 points (short of his 24 ppg average) but added 8 rebounds.

Tim Hardaway Jr.

In a 4 point win over Miami Dade Hardaway Jr. had a monster game including 20 points with 4 three pointers and 15 boards. Hardaway Jr. also had 8 points including a triple in a 61-41 win over Miami Springs.

Palmetto plays next in the Hoopla @ Vero Beach on 12/27.

Cameron Ayers

Cameron AyersAyers had a quiet week with 9 points in a blowout win over Hatboro-Horsham.

Allen Payne

Payne had 13 points in Winton Woods’ 68-47 win over Harrison High School.

Michael Talley

Talley is a bit of a plan B for the class of 2009 but Mike Talley III had a monster game this weekend. Talley posted 44 points and 8 assists for Melvindale ABT in a 87-49 win.  The issue with Talley is that he is still limited by his 5-9 size.

Will Regan

Nichols was off this week but will be back in action 12/27 at the NHSCA High School Basketball Festival.

2011 Targets

Brandan Kearney & Percy Gibson

Brandan KearneyThe Southeastern duo took on Detroit Community and Providence bound big man James Still. Kearney played a typical all around game with 6 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals but it was Percy Gibson who stole the show:

Gibson was quiet for most of the first half but he came out in the second half aggressive and went right to work. The 12-0 run in the second, in which Gibson scored 7 straight, was the difference maker in the game. Gibson’s dunk was impressive- he squared up, took two hard dribbles, and elevated right over his defender for the two hand slam. The sophomore finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds.

Gibson and Kearney are only sophomores but are clearly establishing themselves as some of the top 2011 recruits in the state.

Matt Poches

The sophomore scorer had a solid week leading Hartland to two wins. Poches had 12 points and 10 rebounds in a 76-53 win over Adrian. His big game was Saturday against Dexter, Poches scored 27 points including 13 in the first quarter of a 82-58 Hartland win. Hartland got out to a 35-10 lead thanks to three early triples from Poches who also pulled down 12 rebounds.

4 Comments

Recruiting Roundup (12-15-2008)

Published
by
Dylan
on December 15, 2008
in Brandan Kearney, Cameron Ayers, Darius Morris, Eso Akunne, Jordan Morgan, Matt Vogrich, Moses Morgan, Recruits and Trey Zeigler
. 23 Comments

Commits

Darius Morris

Windward got off to a slow start with a 2-2 record but they bounced back with a 64-44 win over Inglewood last week. Morris seems to have really gotten going as well, he scored 31 points and added 5 assists and 3 steals for Windward.

I got an e-mail from the folks at Ball Is Life and they told me that the Westchester team that beat Windward has been dominant early on in California. Westchester is 9-0 with an average margin of victory over 25 points and has handled all challengers including Michael Snaer’s (#11 in class of 2009) Rancho Verde squad. Beyond the Westchester game people in California basketball circles feel that Darius has been playing better than last year thus far. Windward is also ranked #12 in the latest LA Times poll.

The holidays will be big for Darius and Windward as they head to two big tournaments, the Max Preps Classic at Torrey Pines as well as the always loaded Pangos Dream Classic.

Matt Vogrich

Matt Vogirch

As I touched on earlier this week, Vogrich had a huge game Wednesday, scoring 39 points and adding 9 rebounds against Illinois bound Brandon Paul.

Lake Forest rolled over Palatine Friday night with a 65-29 win. Palatine was not in the same league as Lake Forest and Vogrich put up an easy 20 points in the win. Matt and his teammate Mitch Hopfinger had every Lake Forest point until the 3 minute mark of the 3rd quarter.

Jordan Morgan

I posted an update earlier in the week about Jordan’s first game, a matchup with Providence bound big man James Still. Morgan had a rough night and was ejected on a technical foul for hanging on the rim.

U-D Jesuit was back in action Saturday but took a loss to Renaissance, 77-62. Morgan was suspended from his ejection earlier in the week.

Blake McLimans

Worcester Academy lost to St Thomas Monday night by a score of 66-57 but came back and beat Brewster Academy on Thursday, 80-71.

Blake didn’t show up in the high scores but still seems to be adjusting to playing with a new team in a new system. The reports I have gotten are that Blake has played very good defense early on. I’m also working on getting some film so keep an eye out for that.

2009 Prospects

Michigan is out of scholarships in 2009 but I think they will keep recruiting a couple guys to some extent. Anything can happen and it’s worth it to keep options open. Riley is back on the market, Anali is a new name, and we have talked about Angus Brandt before. I think the odds are probably slim that any of these guys end up at Michigan but they are worth mentioning.

DaShonte Riley

DaShonte RileyRiley is a long shot in the class of 2009 but he’s worth mentioning. Country Day rolled past Ann Arbor Pioneer on Friday night by a score of 80-56 and Riley posted a career high 19 rebounds.

Anali Okoloji

Anali OkolojiNorthstar Basketball has an update on Anali Okoloji, a combo forward from New York. Okoloji seems to be a borderline high major player and his offers right now are from St. Bonaventure, La Salle, Albany, and Central Connecticut State. However Okoloji lists his favorite as Michigan and expects an offer:

“My favorite right now is Michigan. I am feeling [good about] Oregon State, Binghamton, and St. Bonaventure.”

Okoloji, who said his school “list is growing,” informed me that Oregon State, North Carolina State, Michigan, and Binghamton are the most recent schools starting to recruit him, and he added, “When I take my SAT and ACT, offers will start to flow.” Anali added that “Michigan is going to offer. They are just waiting on my SAT.” As well, he told me that there are more schools on his list, but he could not think of them all.”

Seems like a long shot, and maybe there is some outdated information in regards to the likely offer but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

2010 Prospects

Trey Zeigler

Trey ZeiglerThe talented wing is off to a great start this week and helped Mt. Pleasant knock off Bay City Western 63-61. Trey poured in 34 points as well as 15 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks. Next Gen Sports on Zeigler’s performance:

Defensively he completely took away the smaller but faster Arnold, Western’s point guard. Zeigler scored with dunks, 3-pointers, and variety of mid-rage jumpers from every angle.

Definitely a great start for Zeigler who will look to really take his game to the next level after putting in time in the weight room this summer. The Free Press named him the #1 player in the state along with plenty of fluff. He’s had a couple of freak injuries over the last couple years that have limited him but worked out all summer with Central Michigan and is ready to go. Here’s what his coach had to say:

“He’s a high-quality young man. An awesome kid; his family and school are important,” Taylor said. “He’s respectful to the people that are around him. He’s definitely a coach’s son in the way he acts. I think he has been raised and encouraged in the way of how to treat people. As a player, his basketball IQ is very high. He has an understanding of where he needs to be on the floor. We can play him anywhere from point guard to in the post.”

Mount Pleasant fell to Saginaw Arthur Hill Friday night by a score of 73-51 although Trey came close to a triple double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

Scout has an update with Trey on his recruitment ($) as well. Trey was in East Lansing for Michigan State’s blow out of Alcorn State.

Moses Morgan

Morgan had a solid outing Friday night with 32 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in a 78-71 win. Morgan hit all 16 of his free throw attempts including 6 in the last 30 seconds. Morgan’s solid play is not going unnoticed this year:

“You’ve got to live and die with a kid like that,” Palo Verde coach Jermone Riley said. “He means so much to the program and he means so much to the team with his leadership. Not only that, he’s just a great character kid. It’s always great to have a player like that.”

Will Regan

Will ReganWill Regan led Nichols Academy past Williamsville South in the AdPro Monsignor Martin-ECIC Challenge on Thursday. I’m not even going to try to explain the name. Regan had 21 points (10-11 FT) and 17 boards including two free throws with 35 seconds left that gave Nichols the win, 55-54.

Nichols Academy fell to Niagara Falls on Saturday night by a score of 57-56. Regan led Nichols with 21 points but they fell just short of pulling off the win. Regan hit a big three pointer that put Nichols ahead 56-55 with 1:48 remaining before missing a tough hook shot that would have won the game for Nichols in the closing seconds.

Cameron Ayers

Northstar Basketball has the latest on Cameron Ayers’ recruitment and it seems like he is still pretty open. Cameron says that he doesn’t have any offers yet but his favorite schools are:

I like Georgetown, Michigan, West Virginia, and Clemson probably the best, and I like Georgia Tech. I haven’t visited any yet though.” Ayers said he will take some visits, “whenever [he] gets some free time, which I hope is real soon” but he added, “but with basketball it gets pretty hectic, so whenever I get some available time.”

Ayers’ Germantown team was upset last week by Friends Central 53-40 but bounced back Saturday night with an overtime win over Mercersberg. Ayers had 17 points in the 60-53 victory.

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Hardaway Jr. had 23 in Palmetto’s 76-67 loss to Coral Reef on Tuesday night. Palmetto rebounded with a 74-58 win over Homestead on Thursday night (no stats).

Austin Carroll

See the above updates on McLimans and Worcester.

Josh Herbeck & Eso Akunne (pref. walk on)

Gabriel Richard is off to a hot start with wins over Divine Child (60-47) and Orchard Lake St. Marys (70-66).

Akunne was strong in both contests, he posted 22 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists, and blocks against Divine Child and managed to out do himself against OLSM. Eso matched Dion Sims’ scoring total is 23 points but added 16 rebounds and 10 assists for the triple double.

Josh Herbeck, another Michigan target at Gabriel Richard, posted 15 points against Divine Child and added 20 against Orchard Lake.

Gabriel Richard moved up a division after making it to the Breslin in division 3 last year and they are already off to a good start.

2011 + Younger

Brandan Kearney and Percy Gibson

Sophomores Brandan Kearney and Percy Gibson led Southeastern past Central HS on Tuesday by a score of 50-37. These kids are only sophomores but they are already proving that they are big time prospects. My favorite place for PSL hoops info, City Hoops, was on hand and they have plenty. Here are some highlights.

Brandan KearneyBrandan Kearney:

Kearney got to the basket on a nice dribble-drive for the first points of the night, then got his own shot a few times and missed, and was relatively quiet shooting the ball the rest of the night. That’s not to say he wasn’t active. Kearney was everywhere on both ends, feeding teammates (five assists), grabbing boards (six), blocking shots (three) and scooping up loose balls. On a night where his shot wasn’t dropping early, Kearney helped his team extend its margin by setting up his talented teammates.

Percy GibsonPercy Gibson:

Gibson, 6-foot-7, was nothing short of a monster against an undersized Central team, grabbing 15 boards and blocking four shots. He scored six, and while some hyped big men are flagged more on potential, Gibson will have no trouble producing this year for his team.

Kearney led Southeastern past 2012 PG sensation Ray Lee and Robichaud Friday night. Kearney had 19 points and Gibson added 16 as well as 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. Robichaud went with the zone early in the game and Kearney made them pay by hitting some 3 pointers.

Kearney and Gibson have been to numerous Michigan football games, basketball games, and camps and they are definitely two to keep close watch of in the class of 2011.

Matt Poches

Matt Poches

Poches was in Ann Arbor for the Duke game Saturday but he was ready to get to work when Hartland’s season tipped off last week against Linden. Hartland dominated the game and Poches finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 steals in only 20 minutes of work.

Patrick Lucas-Perry

Patrick Lucas-Perry

We talk plenty about Laval Lucas-Perry around here but one name that hasn’t gotten much play is Patrick Lucas-Perry. Laval’s younger brother helped Flint Powers to a win over Flint Northwestern last week. PLP added 18 points including 6 free throws in the final 31.5 seconds. Northwestern kept it close down the stretch and PLP kept his cool:

“I just tried to keep my composure out there, stay focused and just make sure I’m going to make these shots,” Lucas-Perry said. “I kept telling myself, ‘These are going in. These are going in.’”

PLP was held to 6 points in a 76-70 Friday night loss to Flint Carman-Ainsworth.

Right now I would definitely put PLP on my ones to watch list.

23 Comments

Regrouping

Published
by
Dylan
on December 4, 2008
in 2008-2009 Season, Brandan Kearney, Recruits, Trey Zeigler and Uncategorized
. 22 Comments

We took one on the chin in College Park but it’s time to put that one to bed and move on.

Looking back…

The funny part about last nights game is looking at the reaction to the game from both sides. Maryland fans think Michigan will “likely be an NCAA tournament team” and most Michigan fans are under the impression that Maryland will make the tournament as well. I think that neutral observers as well as Michigan and Maryland fans themselves might be a little less optimistic about tournament chances.

The turning point in last night’s game was Maryland’s 16-3 run at the start of the second half. Looking back at it, Beilein wishes he called a quick timeout but hindsight is 20/20 but Beilein is still learning about this team:

“I’m learning they can’t fix things on their own early in the second half, but I won’t beat them up with the tape, and we’ll say that this is what happened (in a 16-3 Maryland run early in the second half) and this is the momentum change.”

I still give Michigan a lot of credit for weathering that run and coming back in the game but in the end they allowed Maryland to get comfortable and unleashed a whole new team than the one we saw in the first half.

Maryland big man Braxton Dupree didn’t play yesterday after missing class on Monday. Dupree’s play had been underwhelming for the Terrapins thus far and Lawrence Milbourne and Dino Gregory stepped up with arguably their best games of the season.

Moving on…

I don’t think the loss at Maryland should do much to dampen excitement over Saturday’s game against Duke. Duke is playing great basketball and just dismantled Purdue in front of an packed house at Mackey Arena. Duke took the crowd out of that game in the first 4 minutes when they took at 7-0 lead. Hopefully the crowd can stay involved from start to finish on Saturday.

As a fan I am more excited about this game than any game since #1 Ohio State and Greg Oden ventured into Crisler in 2007. It should be a fun time and this team deserves to finally play in front of a big crowd.

Beyond the game, this is a huge week for recruiting. Top flight underclassmen Trey Zeigler (2010, pictured), Tim Hardaway Jr. (2010), Allen Payne (2010), Brandan Kearney (2011), and Percy Gibson (2011) are expected to be at Crisler Arena on Saturday. These are all big time prospects and it should be a great environment in Crisler on Saturday.

I think the starting line up will be juggled around from now until at least the conference season. Michgan doesn’t have depth in the post and it’s going to be a weakness all year. I think Beilein is just playing with how to best minimize the damage at this point. People have talked about a 4-guard lineup, starting Jevohn Shepherd, sending Anthony Wright to the moon, moving player X to position Y, and whatever else. I’m sure Beilein has gone through 100 more situations than the rest of us so I’m going to sit back and see what he does next.

Looking even further down the road, Michigan has to win the games it should: Eastern Michigan, Oakland, FGCU, and North Carolina Central. These teams are a combined 4-21 and Michigan needs to handle every one of them headed into the Big Ten season. Last year Michigan struggled against bad teams, 6-7 against RPI 101-200, and 3-2 against 200+, so winning these games without mental lapses (Savannah State) would be just as impressive as a close loss at Maryland in my book.

Notes & Links: Everyone should root for UCLA over Texas tonight (ESPN2). Brian does a very good job looking at yesterday’s game and whether it is a step in the right direction. John Borton checks in on who’s stock is rising and falling ($). Big Ten Geeks asks whether this was the best Big Ten/ACC Challenge ever. Michigan State is licking their wounds after a 98-63 loss to the Tar Heels, Izzo blames tired legs (Suton is also out 2-4 weeks).

22 Comments

Monday Links

Published
by
Dylan
on October 27, 2008
in 2008-2009 Season, Brandan Kearney, Recruits and Zack Novak
. 8 Comments

8 Comments

Recruiting Notes: Hot Board Updated

Published
by
Dylan
on October 10, 2008
in Brandan Kearney, Football Friday and Recruits
. 12 Comments

I finally updated to 2009 Hot Board, there aren’t a lot of names on it because we only have one scholarship left but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple more pop up over the high school season. It is also redesigned with a couple new features. First extra information is available if you click the “Show/Hide” link. Second, clicking the players picture will take you to all posts on UMHoops that are tagged in that particular category.. Let me know if you find any problems or have suggestions. I’ll have a full 2010 hot board next week, sorry for the delay.

Ohio State is bringing in a number of visitors from Michigan this weekend including Kearney:

The Buckeyes are planning to play host to 2011 prospects Brandan Kearney and Percy Gibson (both out of Detroit (Mich.) Southeastern), Matt Pouches from Hartland (Mich.) Hartland, Tommy McCune from Saginaw (Mich.) and Paul Honigford from Sugarcreek (Ohio) Garaway Local School this weekend. Class of 2012 prospects Columbus (Ohio) Marion Franklin wing Elijah Macon, Ray Lee and Traevon Crater are expected to be on campus this weekend.

Ohio State seems to be a year ahead of everyone else in recruiting. Some football stuff after the page split. Also mentioned in the article, Russell Byrd is in Kentucky for Midnight Madness.

Continue reading ‘Recruiting Notes: Hot Board Updated’

12 Comments

Football Friday: Wisconsin & Hoops Visits

Published
by
Dylan
on September 26, 2008
in Brandan Kearney, Football Friday, Nate Lubick, Recruits, Trey Zeigler and Uncategorized
. 8 Comments

I am more excited and hopefully about the basketball visitors this weekend than the game itself. So much so that I’m going to talk about the visitors more than the football game. First lets take a look at who is due in town and what we know:

  • Nate Lubick (PF - 2010)  - Big time power forward prospect has been to Ann Arbor several times and appears to be favoring the Maize and Blue.
  • Austin Carroll (SG - 2010) - Lubick’s teammate appears to be becoming a more serious target and will move to the class of ‘10.
  • Jordan Morgan (PF - 2009) - U-D big man and Michigan commit Jordan Morgan will be on hand selling Michigan to the other visitors.
  • Trey Ziegler (PG/SG/SF - 2010) - Dynamic 2010 guard is regarded in many circles as the best player in Michigan regardless of class. Already his second Michigan football visit this fall. Michigan, UCLA, CMUand Michigan State appear to be the main teams involved.
  • Brandan Kearney (PG - 2011) - Big 2011 point guard has been interested in Michigan for a while. Connection to the Edwards family. Tennessee, Kentucky, MSU, Syracuse, and Ohio State are all involved in his recruitment. 
  • Other young visitors like Christian Vaughn, and Percy Gibson are also going to be on campus in what should be a huge recruiting weekend for Michigan. 
  • I don’t think Lubick will drop this weekend but it’s still a huge weekend getting arguably the top three targets on the recruiting board on campus together. Maybe the dominos start falling but predicting that might be getting a little ahead of ourselves. Hopefully the atmosphere is great though, Big Ten opener, Michael Phelps, and maybe a win??
Now for some football links:
The Wolverines are huge underdogs at home against Wisconsin obviously but I think that the offense looked miles better against Notre Dame than the rest of the season. The defense… not so much. Hopefully the team can win one for the hoops squad but I’m going to have to go with Wisconsin 24 - Michigan 13. My player of the game: Travis Beckum. Let’s hear your predictions and thoughts about the hoops visitors.

8 Comments

Wednesday Notes

Published
by
Dylan
on September 24, 2008
in Brandan Kearney, John Beilein, Matt Vogrich, Nate Lubick, Recruits and Trey Zeigler
. 7 Comments

Beilein: Better days ahead for U-M men’s basketball

The Grand Rapids Press covers Beilein’s talk with local high school coaches on the west side of the state. There are a couple good quotes from Beilein as he talks about the future of the program.

Failure is a fertilizer for growth, so we have to embrace failure,” Beilein said. “You will love the product we will eventually put out there. If you have one eye on yesterday and one eye on tomorrow, we will get cross-eyed today. You have to seize today.

It also appears that Beilein is happy coaching here, even after the rough start:

“I have finally come to a place that I love,” Beilein said. “I have said that there are only two places I would rather coach at. One is an orphanage, because I wouldn’t have their parents bothering me. And second, a prison, because I wouldn’t have to worry about the alumni coming back.”

There is more good stuff in the article so read the whole thing.

Hoops recruiting notebook: Several updates ($)

The Wolverine takes a look at Matt Vogrich’s recruitment and has updates on a couple new big men targets.

Big Visit Weekend

I’ve mentioned this recently but this weekend is setup to be a huge recruiting weekend for the hoops team. Lou Dawkins is reporting that Nate Lubick, Trey Ziegler, Brandan Kearney, Christian Vaughn, and Percy Gibson are all due in Ann Arbor this week (Austin Carroll will also visit with Lubick I believe). I had heard Kearney was due in for the Illinois game but he could be coming for both. It would have been great to have Darius on campus this weekend as was originally planned but we will have to settle for Michael Phelps to generate excitement. Hopefully the football team can win one for the hoops team.

Millen out as Lions president, GM

Finally.

7 Comments

Recruiting: East Coast Update

Published
by
Dylan
on September 21, 2008
in Brandan Kearney, Cameron Ayers, Matt Vogrich, Nate Lubick and Recruits
. 1 Comment

The Hoop Group has a great update on the Fall Jam Fest, an annual tournament which includes teams from across the northeast. There were quite a few Michigan targets in attendence including a few we have heard plenty about and a few who have been a little off the radar. 

You can’t talk Michigan east-coast recruiting without Nate Lubick. Lubick’s New England Playaz team was in attendence at the Jam Fest however his play was restricted by an early ankle injury.  When talking schools Lubick listed Georgetown, Michigan Virginia, Stanford, and Wake Forest as the ones “coming on him the hardest”.

The most interesting quote for me is that when asked if Lubick had a “dream school” he answered  “not really“, of course he doesn’t say who but Lubick has been rumored a Michigan lean for a while now… The 2010 power forward is due on campus for the upcoming Wisconsin game. 

Pennsylvania top 100 (2010) shooting guard Cameron Ayers also lists Michigan as one of his top 2:

 “I like Georgetown [and] Michigan so far. That’s really it.”

Ayers is injured and didn’t play this weekend but Google stalking yielded some video of his Germantown high school team and a post game interview. Also an ESPN scouting report:

He doesn’t force shots, knows when to push tempo and protects the ball with his life. Newcomers will take notice of his range from the permiter, but followers will notice his mid-range game is great. A bonifide shooter, Ayers reads defenses well and comes off screens with a vengance.

Austin CarrollAnother guy mentioning U-M was Nate Lubick’s teammate, Austin Carroll. Carroll is a guard who plans to reclassify to the class of 2010.

“I’m [going to PG for] a year too, so I’ll be in the class of 2010 . . . somewhere in Class A in New England,” said Carroll, with his reasoning being that he has “been injured since March . . . [and] wants to get another year [and] it won’t hurt either.”

Carroll listed Michigan and Davidson as his favorites and mentioned a late-September visit (planned for this weekend with Nate Lubick). Here is some jerky video of Carroll’s (#22) team against Devin Ebanks’ team. Here is what ESPN has to say on Carroll:

Austin, the son of former Celtics’ coach John Carroll, is an excellent spot shooter, especially coming off screens. His court IQ and passing ability makes him comfortable at either guard position. Plays his best in a structured offense although his transition game shows progress when he sees the floor on the move. Plays with a lot of determination and savvy.

Austin has a great basketball IQ and makes everyone on the floor better. This combo guard see’s the floor well and play’s hard. A real team player who is also a good shooter and displays great passing skills. He lacks explosiveness on moves to the glass but having said that he is not afraid to put it on the floor and take it to the hoop. Overall, a great teammate who is very unselfish.

Beilein has been hitting both coasts hard, the east coast makes sense because that is where his roots are all the way up the ladder from Erie CC, Nazareth, LeMoyne, Canisius, Richmond, to West Virginia. Beilein is also still working hard on the west coast including recruiting 2009 PF Anthony Stover ($) who just transferred to play with Darius Morris at Windward (he can dunk).

Hopefully the knock that he hasn’t been recruiting Michigan will start to wear off. Especially when you read the recent updates on in state players like Brandan Kearney ($) and Trey Zeigler ($) who are both due in for visits. The only bad news is that Darius Morris had to alter his visit schedule ($) and won’t be in this week with Zeigler and Lubick as was originally planned. Still there is no need to worry about Darius wavering because the kid is true blue.

And finally a don’t forget about me video, this is an interview with Matt Vogrich from this summer:

One more note, the hot board is being redesigned and will be back this week including a complete hot board for the 2010 class.

1 Comment

Recruiting Notes: Introducing Will Barrett and Other Notes

Published
by
Dylan
on September 8, 2008
in Brandan Kearney, Matt Vogrich, Nate Lubick, Recruits, Trey Zeigler, Uncategorized and Will Barrett
. 17 Comments

Will BarrettA new name on the radar, Will Barrett, a 6-8 class of 2009 combo forward from Central Bucks South HS in Pennsylvania. According to CAAInsider, Barrett has an offer:

Barrett has now narrowed his list down to, Michigan, Princeton, Columbia, Davidson, Bucknell and William & Mary. All 5 schools have already extended scholarship offers.

Here is what Hoopville had to say on Barrett’s play at the Summer Classic East:

His stock probably rose more from this event than anyone else, and justifiably so as he had a solid day on Friday. The lanky combo forward showed some promise early, as he was active, blocked shots and showed ball skills and the ability to finish getting the ball off of a cut. Then he turned up the volume on each and scored on drives and from long range, going for 23 points in his last game of the day. Big East coaches are paying attention, although he might not quite be at that level as a high-major minus prospect.

ESPN also has a very positive opinion on Barrett’s game, giving him a 72 rating:

Barrett has effectively made the transition from a face-up four man to a true three man. He has tremendous size for the perimeter and is a huge mismatch problem for opposing defenses. Although his jump shot remains somewhat streaky with skewed mechanics, he has improved to the point where he is a legitimate threat from behind the three-point line when his feet are set, as well as off the dribble from 12-18 feet. His ability to handle the ball has also noticeably improved in recent months as he handles it in the open floor, is rarely rattled by pressure, and can put it on the deck to get to the rim. Although he isn’t explosively athletic he is very efficient getting to the basket, because he has a long first step and strides out all the way to the rim. His back to the basket pedigree is a huge advantage when guarded by smaller players as he can score over either shoulder on the low post. Barrett also does a number of the little things well on the offensive end as he shows his high I.Q. and good feel for the game by passing well and moving without the ball. His size and length makes him a solid defensive player, although he still has plenty of room for improvement. He also rebounds the ball very well from the perimeter. Physically, he has a cut body, but plenty of room on his frame for more muscle mass.

Barrett was on campus this weekend and reportedly had a great time. Looking at the offer list, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Barrett jump on the Michigan offer very soon. We will have to see in the next couple weeks if Barrett set’s any time frame for his decision.

Underclassmen. I also got an email from Jamal Richards who is starting a new scouting service in Michigan called We Fly High Ballers. They will be ranking the top kids in Michigan from 2009-2012. He also forwarded me a list of visitors from this weeks football game and tailgate which included: Brandan Kearney 6′4 CG 2011 Detroit Southeastern, Trey Ziegler 6′5 CG 2010 Mount Pleasant, Anthony Fields 6′0 PG 2010 Detroit Southeastern Transfer from Lake Orion, Percy Gibson 6′8 PF 2011 Detroit Southeastern, Carlton Brundidge 6′1 2G 2011 Southfield High, and Ray Lee 6′0 2G 2012 Robichuiad. Some big names in the list including Trey and Brandan who we have talked a lot about.

Continue reading ‘Recruiting Notes: Introducing Will Barrett and Other Notes’

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