Archive for the 'Darius Morris' Category

Darius Morris Video: Windward vs. Crossroads

Published
by
Dylan
on January 8, 2009
in Darius Morris and Recruits
. 9 Comments

More Darius Morris video from Tom, this one is from a blow win over Crossroads. Here are Tom’s comments on the game:

This was Windward’s first conference game of the season and Crossroads didn’t offer much resistance as Windward won 61-35.  Crossroads has a 6′10 center who provided a big body but was not that skilled.  The game was close in the first quarter as Darius got off to a slow start but he got hot in the 2nd quarter and they pulled away.  By the 4th quarter it was a 30 point game and Darius sat out most of it.  After missing his first 5 shots, he hit 10-12 (the two misses came on the same play) from the field and 1-2 from the line to finish with 21 points.  He probably could have put 40 on the board but he only had 4 field goal attempts in the second half (3 on fast breaks) and was content to set up his teammates.  I continue to be impressed by not only his ability on the court but also the way that he carries himself.  After having guys like Avery Queen, Mo Searight, Dom Ingerson, etc. in the program - it’s great that we were able to get somebody that is not only a top-100 talent but also a great kid who will represent the program well on and off the floor.

Windward has a HUGE game against conference rival and LA Times’ 11th ranked team, Campbell Hall, at Windward this Saturday at 7pm.  If any Michigan fans in the area are interested in seeing Darius play, that would be a great game to attend.

9 Comments

Game 15: Michigan at Indiana Post Game

Published
by
Dylan
on January 7, 2009
in 2008-2009 Season and Darius Morris
. 42 Comments


Disaster averted. It definitely wasn’t pretty but Michigan escaped Assembly Hall with their first win since 1995. The first thirty minutes or so it looked like every other game at Assembly Hall, everything that could go wrong went wrong.  I’m not even quite sure how it happened but somehow Michigan pulled out a win. You can talk about how bad Indiana is or what an ugly win it was but in the end a win is a win, especially on the road in the Big Ten. One thing I’m not going to do is excuse any poor performances because of last year. This is a different team and if we are serious about making the NCAA tournament this year there is no room for moral victories; losing this game would have been devastating to this season.

The first half was hard to watch. Devon Dumes couldn’t miss, Matt Roth hit a three pointer from about half court, and Michigan was down 17 at the half. Indiana shot 50% from the field and 62.5% from long range in the first half while Michigan shot just 25% from the field and 16.7% (3-18) from behind the arc.

The second half was a different story. Statistically Michigan dominated the second half but it still seemed like they wouldn’t have enough to win the game. Michigan shot 51.9% from the field (41.7% 3pt) and held Indiana to 36% (22% 3pt) and 20 points in the second half. Michigan needed several breaks down the stretch and finally got a friendly roll on a Laval Lucas-Perry three to tie the game. In overtime Michigan got out to just a big enough lead that they could hold on for the win.

My game ball goes to CJ Lee. The captain came in and made some huge plays in the second half that helped get Michigan over the hump. CJ hit two three pointers and also broke up a 2 on 1 fast break that would have probably put the game away. CJ has bailed out this team several times and he made the plays that a captain is supposed to make, he is definitely a steadying force for this team.

I’m not sure how Michigan won three of the four factors to winning (eFG%, turnovers, and free throws) but they pulled it off. 40 of Michigan’s 61 field goal attempts from long range and they kept chucking away. I thought most of the shots in the first half were pretty good shots and Michigan got rattled because they were missing wide open shots. Of course there were several that were forced, DeShawn and Manny combined for 2-12 and definitely took some questionable shots. They shot a higher percentage inside the arc but their comeback was built on the same three point shots that dug them into a hole.  Live by the three, die by the three.

Defensively Michigan is really struggling in the first half. Through three Big Ten games opponents are averaging 40 ppg compared to only 25.3 ppg in the second half. I don’t know what it is but there just has to be better defensive intensity in the first half. You can’t let your opponents get out to that big of a lead and shoot over 50% every night because miracles don’t always happen.

A win is a win no matter how ugly and I’m sure a game like this will help bring the team together but it’s not going to get any easier from here on out.  This team has heart and there is something to be said for avoiding upsets and battling through tough times. Michigan isn’t good enough to dominate teams but they are good enough to beat anyone if they are hitting their shots. They are a team that can give up points in a hurry and also score points in a hurry. That means a lot more roller coaster games are likely in the future, it’s time to throw out the tape and move on to Iowa.

Player Bullets:

  • Manny Harris: 17 points (4-12), 11 boards, 3 assists, 4 turnovers, 2 blocks. Manny really struggled at times tonight, he feels like he has to be the one to make the big shots and takes some very poor three pointers.  Manny still hit a couple big threes, made most of his free throws, and pulled down a huge rebound late that iced the game. He has struggled in the early Big Ten season but he just has to realize he doesn’t have to do it all.
  • Zack Novak: Zack just plays hard. He didn’t shoot the ball that well today but he hit a huge three to start the comeback and was very vocal keeping guys involved. The play that stands out for me is Zack diving to tip a rebound away from an IU player, this is the kind of play that won’t show up in the box score but was so important. I am going to love watching every second that Zack plays for the next four years.
  • DeShawn Sims: The (forced) outside shot wasn’t falling for Peedi today but he played very well inside and was 7-11 on 2 point attempts for 14 points to go along with 2 blocks and 2 steals.
  • Laval Lucas-Perry: LLP missed some shots early on but he hit the big one to send the game to OT. Laval was 5-12 for 18 points with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. Michigan has to be thankful for Laval because he can get in the lane, he was the only player besides Manny Harris to shoot a free throw.
  • CJ Lee: As mentioned above, CJ Lee hit two huge threes in the second and broke up a 2 on 1 fast break late in the game. CJ likely posted great +/- numbers again and I think he is starting to show us why.
  • Kelvin Grady: Stepping out of bounds at the end really killed me but overall it was an ok game for Kelvin. Kelvin hit 2 threes and had 4 assists and 1 turnover as well as 5 rebounds.
  • Stu Douglass: Stu is in a slump but he is still a freshman, he also hit a three in Michigan’s comeback right after Novak’s as the shot clock was ticking down. 18 minutes, 3 points (1-4), 2 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers.
  • Zack Gibson: Gibson didn’t follow up his best performance of the year in a very impressive fashion. Zack traveled twice when he was in the game and really looked out of it.
  • Dave Merritt: The mostly clueless announcers mentioned that Dave had been under the weather and that probably explains his 2 minutes. Because of Zack and Dave playing only a few minutes, we saw probably the tightest rotation all year in a game where Michigan only played 7 guys for 10 minutes or more.
  • Tommy Amaker: I know he’s not a player but on a day when most people will probably point to this as a game that a Tommy Amaker’s team would have lost. I want to give Tommy his props for knocking off Boston College tonight.

Finally, thanks to everyone who showed up at the LiveBlog. Something like 900 people participated thanks mostly to Brian for posting it on MGoBlog. It was fun seeing the anger, excitement, frustration, and overreaction after every play.

42 Comments

Darius Morris Video: Windward vs. Leuzinger

Published
by
Dylan
on January 5, 2009
in Darius Morris and Recruits
. 9 Comments

This wasn’t the best night for Darius and his Windward team as they lost 59-49 and Darius Morris had 16 points. Luckily UMHoops correspondent and commenter WTHef was on hand and got some more video. Again this isn’t exactly a highlight film because it’s only one game but it’s another chance to see Darius in action. Make sure to play it in full screen because it’s very high quality, I would also classify the lyrics as not safe for work.

My typical Monday recruiting roundup will be on Tuesday this week but this should hold you over for now. Plus/Minus is also almost done, that’ll probably be posted Monday afternoon.

9 Comments

Recruiting Roundup (12-29-2008)

Published
by
Dylan
on December 29, 2008
in Cameron Ayers, Darius Morris, Jordan Morgan, Matt Vogrich and Recruits
. 7 Comments

Commits

Darius Morris

Darius led Windward to a 54-50 win over Bellarmine Prep. Morris had a game high 22 points including 2 free throws with 50 seconds left to give Windward the lead. In the next game of the Max Preps classic Windward fell to Bellevue (WA) by a score of 57-48, Morris had 18 in the loss [HIGHLIGHTS].

Here are some notes from a UMHoops reader who made it to Darius’ first game:

  • Anthony Stover (former UM recruit-headed to UCLA) looks shockingly similar to Greg Oden. Stover does not have an offensive game but had around 10 blocks. Big project on the next level.
  • They played against Bellarmine Prep from Northern Cal. Team had only one D1 player (Niyi Harrison) headed to Santa Clara.
  • Malcolm Washington (Denzel’s son) was a good scrappy player.
  • Steve Kerr was in the building watching. Gym 70% full.  It was close the entire game, Windward won 54-50.
  • Morris finished with 22 points on 9-22 shooting. The best thing was that he scored his points in a variety of ways, mostly drives. He had a beautiful separation fade-away to end the first quarter. He picked up his third foul with 4 minutes left in the second quarter. Great penetrator in the open court, made a lot of no look passes. Would have had around 10 assists if his teammates could make their layups. His on court demeanor was good, pretty positive with the rest of his teammates.
  • I feel that D-mo will be much better when he is surrounded by better players. In my opinion his coaching is subpar, his team has 3 D1 players and the game shouldn’t have been close.
  • The team ran a lot of these NBA sets to isolate D-Mo with the ball, but he would do nothing with it. I think D-Mo is a good penetrator but he doesn’t have a fast first step.
  • He will be much better in Michigan’s offense with much more running. If he were playing for Michigan today he would play 20 mins a game. Overall, D-mo was pretty much everything I expected; nothing great but everything solid.

Matt Vogrich

Lake Forest is off to a good start in the State Farm Holiday Classic with wins over Kankakee Bishop Mac (box) and Sterling (box).  Vogrich led all scorers in both wins with 27 and 24 point performances. Lake Forest plays Normal Community High School in the semi-finals today at 4:30 PM.

The folks at Scout.com were big fans of Matt’s play this week at the State Farm Classic. They mentioned that beyond his shooting he is a tough player who can get to the hole and also plays well away from the ball.

Jordan Morgan

Morgan bounced back after a frustrating start to his season with 28 points in a 72-63 win over Detroit Cass Tech.

Blake McLimans

Blake was listed as one of the top shooters in the NE area by the NERR. It’s been a transition for Blake at Worcester but his numbers seem to be going up as he gets more in the swing of things. I’ve only seen a little bit of video but you can see why Beilein loves the kid. Blake looks so comfortable putting the ball on the floor and shooting it that you wouldn’t believe he’s 6-10.

‘10 Recruits

Will Regan

Will Regan had 19 points 10 rebounds and six blocks in Nichols’ 53-46 win over Poly-Tech. Regan has been a monster early on for Nichols and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his stock continue to rise.

Alex Dragicevich

Glenbrook North beat Hillcrest (45-43) but fell to Morton (63-51). Dragicevich had 24 points and 6 rebounds against Hillcrest, but only had 7 points and 5 turnovers against Morton while shooting 1-8 from long range.

GBN will be in action again this afternoon in the consolation bracket.

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Hardaway Jr. had 25 points in Palmetto’s 69-55 win over Columbia at the Hoopla at Vero Beach.

Cameron Ayers

Germantown lost to Archibishop Carroll 63-52. Ayers had 17 points with three triples.

Germantown beat North Catholic 57-56 and Cameron Ayers scored 24 points with a triple and 10 made field goals.

Allen Payne

Winton Woods beat Seminole, FL 61-54 in the first round of the Seminole Classic. They will be in action Monday and Tuesday as well.

Ray McCallum

Ray McCallumThe talented point guard has been dominating the competition early on this year. McCallum is probably a long shot for U-M but his play is worth mentioning. McCallum had 18 in an overtime win against Chicago DeLaSalle and 27 in a blowout win over Grand Ledge.

‘11+ Recruits

Brandan Kearney & Percy Gibson

Detroit Southeastern beat Saginaw 65-61. Kearney and Gibson both had solid games. Kearney hit a couple triples for 9 points and 6 assists. Kearney hasn’t been putting up gaudy numbers but everything you read about Brandan points to his poise and being a smart player. Gibson had 8 points and 10 boards.

Matt Poches and Patrick Lucas-Perry

Flint Powers handled Hartland 94-71 at the Motor City Roundball Classic. PLP had 18 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals on 50% shooting. Poches had 20 points for Hartland. 

7 Comments

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

VIDEO: Darius Morris vs Cleveland High

Published
by
Dylan
on December 18, 2008
in Darius Morris and Recruits
. 2 Comments

To go along with the Darius Morris scouting report I posted this morning we have a short clip from the game. This isn’t really a highlight film and the video doesn’t start until about half time. It’s just a small sample of Darius’ game Wednesday night. Just don’t want people to be disappointed that it’s not a full fledged highlight film.
.

2 Comments

Scouting Darius Morris (12-18-2008)

Published
by
Dylan
on December 18, 2008
in Darius Morris and Recruits
. 8 Comments

One of our commenters, WTHEF, made it to Darius’ game last night. Here are his thoughts about Darius’ play and some video is here.

Darius Morris

Saw Darius play tonight - below are a few thoughts from the game. Keep in mind that I don’t watch a lot (or normally any) high school basketball and am far from an expert. While I’ve been to a ton of Michigan games - I began following them just in time for the entire Ellerbe and Amaker tenures - so I may be dumber for having seen that.

Background:
Darius plays for a small private school (less than 500 total students in grade 7-12) that is in a nice part of West LA, fairly close to UCLA. There are only 3 players on their roster over 6’3 – Darius (looks to be a legit 6’3/6’4), Anthony Stover (6’10 going to UCLA) and a 6’5 sophomore. Their opponent, Cleveland High, had a lot of 6’2-6’3 guys but nobody taller than that so Morris was often one of the tallest guys on the court. He did often have a 6’2 defender on him though so it wasn’t a huge mismatch. A sidenote – Denzel Washington’s son, Malcolm, starts alongside Darius in the backcourt and Denzel was among the crowd of about 150.

Basics:
They won by a dozen or so and led by 20+ but the other team got it closer when Stover and Morris spent a stretch on the bench with foul trouble. Morris probably had about 15 points (ED: He might have had a few less. Morris and Stover combined for 13) – he could have been well over 20 but had some trouble finishing. Stover didn’t look impressive, especially since he had 7 inches on the biggest guy from Cleveland. I think with big guys you have to really know what to look for and if UCLA offered he must have it, but I wasn’t seeing it.

Observations:
I watched Darius in warm-ups when they took the court and he led all the drills and acted like the captain. Seemed relaxed and friendly with teammates but was still focused. After introductions, he took off his shooting shirt to reveal a Block M long sleeve t-shirt over his jersey.

All game I was trying to think of who to compare him to and I can’t really come up with anyone. Jamal Crawford or Sean Livingston was all I could come up with but he isn’t as rail thin or quite as tall as them and while his game is flashy – it’s not that flashy. He has a great handle and dribbled his way through a press and multiple defenders several times – but also had the awareness to pass it to get out of trouble at times instead of just putting his head down and forcing his way through. Denzel’s son who is about 5’9, shared the role of bringing the ball up.

Darius could get to the basket at will and made some incredibly athletic moves but a lot of them just didn’t fall. He had one sick move that he did finish – before I figured out how to record with the camera. Some of them looked a little forced but he’s so athletic that for him they could be high percentage shots. He also threw some beautiful passes off his drive but his teammates couldn’t always finish. I talked with him briefly after the game and he mentioned that he had been injured and had only been back for a couple weeks so he is probably a little rusty. He mentioned that he needs to get his conditioning back which may also have affected his ability to finish. His mechanics looked good on his shot and he knocked down a couple threes.

On defense he spent some time out front but also played down low a lot because of his size. I wonder if that will make him even better prepared to play along the baseline in the 1-3-1. I think he’ll be fast enough to play down there and his long arms and added height will be a real asset. He did a nice job challenging shots and his body control saved him from some fouls. He worked hard on defense and has all the tools to be an excellent individual defender.

Overall I think he will be a great complement to our current roster as there is nobody on our team that has his skill set. He brings athleticism, quickness, size, and he showed an ability to penetrate and finish it himself – but often looks to kick it out or drop it off to a big man. On top of that, he also seems to be a really nice kid that will fit in well and does not bring an ego or arrogance with him.

8 Comments

Holiday High School Hoops Guide

Published
by
Dylan
on December 17, 2008
in Darius Morris, Matt Vogrich and Recruits
. 7 Comments

There are plenty of opportunities to get out and see some of Michigan’s recruiting targets and commits over the Holidays. This is a list of some tournaments I dug up that have Michigan targets and/or good local teams. Shoot me an email or leave a note in the comments if I missed something. If you make it out to any of the games send me an email or leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Motor City Roundball Classic

Location: Chandler Park Academy, Harper Woods, MI
Dates: Dec 26th-Dec 30th
Schedule

There are ton’s of big name teams and players in this years Motor City Roundball Classic including Saginaw, Detroit Finney (Isaiah Sykes - ineligible), Detroit Country Day, Flint Powers Catholic (PLP), Hartland (Matt Poches), and Detroit Southeastern (Kearney and Gibson) among many others. Check out the schedule because there are tons of games worth checking out if you want to get an early look at some U-M prospects.

Meijer Holiday Hoops Invitational

Location: Breslin Center, East Lansing, MI
Date: Dec 27th
Information, Schedule, and Tickets

The highlight of the East Lansing tournament is Detroit Country Day. Country Day is the best team in the state this year and is loaded with high-major division one talent.

Arthur Hill Pre-Holiday Classic

Location: Saginaw Valley State University
Information

The Arthur Hill Classic is moving to Saginaw Valley this year and the marquee matchups are Arthur Hill vs Muskegon Heights and Saginaw vs Orchard Lake St Mary’s.

Across the Country

If you want to follow some other Michigan targets over the holidays there are plenty of opportunities.

Darius Morris’ Windward team will play in the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic (12/26-12/30) as well as the loaded Pangos Dream Classic (1/3). They are also hosting the Windward Winter Classic which is taking place right now and runs until Dec 20th.

Matt Vogrich will be playing in the State Farm Holiday Classic (12/26-12/30) in Bloomington, IL.

Will Regan and Nichols Academy will be playing in the NHSCA High School Basketball Festival (12/26-12/30) in Salisbury, MD.

Cameron Ayers and Germantown will be playing in the PBP Scholastic at Widener Unversity on Dec 27th.

7 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

Recruiting Roundup (12-08-2008)

Published
by
Dylan
on December 8, 2008
in Blake McLimans, Cameron Ayers, Darius Morris, Jordan Morgan, Matt Vogrich, Recruits and Terrelle Pryor
. 3 Comments

Commitments

Darius Morris

Darius and his Windward team are playing in the Westchester Tournament. They squeaked through their first contest on Tuesday 59-52 over Morningside.

Windward was knocked off by the host school, Westchester, 72-52. The LA Times reports that Darius struggled at times with Westchester’s pressure defense. Windward had a consolation match up with Bishop Montgomery and lost 62-61.

I can’t find any stats on Darius but it definitely seems like a rough start for a Windward team that includes Morris and UCLA bound Anthony Stover. Windward will face Inglewood this Wednesday.

Matt Vogrich

Lake Forest got off to a quick start with wins over Rich South (61-48) and Niles West (63-55). The Scouts have been led by Matt Vogrich in every game. Vogrich posted 20 and 13 aganst Rich South and 29 against Niles west before only managing 19 points in an overtime loss to Glenbrook North. Vogrich was also named to the Niles West Thanksgiving all tournament team.

Vogrich led the Scouts to a 48-36 win over Libertyville Friday night. Vogrich had 20 points and 6 rebounds as the Lake Forest escaped after nearly blowing a 36-18 lead.

Blake McLimans

McLimans’ Worcester Academy opened their season with a 106-95 win over Hotchkiss. McLimans posted 7 points in the win and looked like he was still adjusting to playing with a new team.

Worcester knocked off the New Hampton school Saturday by a score of 84-74. Blake put up 11 points and had some nice drives to the rack early and also had a couple blocks in the second half.

From what I understand, Worcester has four players 6′9″ and above including a returning player (Ben Crenca) so it seems like all of the big men are doing some adjusting. Another Michigan recruit, 2010 guard Austin Carroll had a big night on Saturday, going for 30 points while hitting 6 threes.

Worcester is in action this week on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Jordan Morgan

Morgan’s season tips off tonight against against Detroit Community (7:30 PM @ UofD).

Recruits

Allen Payne

Payne speaks on his visit ($) with Go Blue Wolverine. Payne’s season starts Tuesday with a game against Hughes High School (7:30PM @ Winton Woods HS).

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Hardaway was on campus Saturday but has also played several high school games already this year.

Hardaway Jr.’s Palmetto squad fell to Southridge Friday by a score of 59-55. They blew a 12 point halftime lead but Hardaway Jr. had 21 points and 2 three pointers.

Will Regan

Encouraging recruiting update from Rivals ($) and another update from Scout ($). Regan’s Nichols School team got off to a quick start with wins over Maryvale (71-49) and Grover (80-75 OT) to win the Al Pastor Tournament. Regan posted 23 points in Nichols’ easy victory over Maryvale. He was named the tournament MVP after scoring 26 points in the overtime final against Grover.

The Nichols School plays December 11th against Williamsville South and December 13th against Niagara Falls High.

Cameron Ayers

Cameron’s Germantown team won a pair of games this weekend, knocking off Gilman (55-26) and Landon (78-71).  Earlier in the week they also handled Perkiomen 72-33.  Here is a profile of Germantown’s loaded squad.

Germantown plays Wednesday versus Friends Central and tips off the Make A Wish Tournament Friday night.

Note: If you have a link or box score that I missed don’t hesitate to leave it in the comments or send me an email.

3 Comments