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Jeff Goodman and Fox Sports.com named Manny Harris to their 2nd team preseason All-American team.

He was the primary reason why the Wolverines jumped out to a quick start last season. The Detroit native thrived in John Beilein’s system and was able to show his versatile skill set.

Goodman’s list will definitely stir some discussion. His preseason player of the year is a freshman, John Wall. Goodman’s top two shooting guards, Willie Warren and Manny Harris, were both featured in Michigan’s 2nd round NCAA tournament game last year.

Harris (ranked 3rd in my B10 POTY handicapping post) is the the highest rated Big Ten player on the list.  Harris is rated higher than Kalin Lucas (3rd team), Robbie Hummel (4th team), and Evan Turner (5th). Some of this has to do with the fact that positions appear to be followed pretty strictly. Finally, I don’t care what position you put him at, Evan Turner deserves better than the fifth team.

Goodman named Matt Vogrich as one of his 25 players “you must know“, a list of sleeper types across the country. Vogrich checks in at #20:

John Beilein did as much as he could last season with limited talent. He has brought in a freshman class full of his type of guys — and Vogrich will instantly become the team’s top perimeter shooter. With Vogrich and Stu Douglass launching threes, it’ll make life easier for Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims.

• If you missed it: Tim Hardaway Jr. committed to Michigan yesterday and Jordan Morgan will miss 4 to 5 months with knee surgery.
• John Beilein was named U-M coach of the year by Wolverine Magazine as voted on by all the U-M coaches.
• Vogrich is pick to click as freshman at Michigan
  Local fluff on Matt Vogrich
• Bartelstein took scenic route to Ann Arbor
  And some more on Josh Bartelstein
• Student season ticket sales for U-M basketball takes huge jump
  Over 2000 student tickets sold after selling only 480 last year. The bandwagon is open, I still feel like the student section needs to be expanded.
• Palmetto’s Tim Hardaway Jr. headed to Michigan
  Miami Herald on the Tim Hardaway Jr. commit, averaged 25, 10, and 6 as a junior. The Wall Street Journal also mentions Tim’s commitment.
• Tim Hardaway Jr. named 2nd team all-state in Florida
• Regan Chooses Virginia
  This isn’t a shock, and Michigan cooling on Regan has been well documented, but this is a good fit for the New York big man.
• Richmond, Thomas star at skills camp
  Casey Prather named top defender at Vince Carter camp. No mention of Smotrycz but he reportedly played quite well. You have to remember that about 2/3 of these Nike camps are closed to the media.
• Knight, Selby on point at skills academy
  McCallum named the top “floor general” by ESPN at the Deron Williams camp.
• Sam Webb talks Hardaway, Recruiting (WTKA audio)
  Podcast
• Jeff Jordan leaving team for academics. A surprising player continues to surprise. – Hail to the Orange
  I’m late on this story, but good luck to Jeffery Jordan

Editors Note: Hot board updates should also be done this week (2010, 2011, and maybe 2012).

I didn’t make it up to Ann Arbor this weekend but plenty of other people did. I’ll try to mix in the reports that I received while throwing in links to other observers. Wolverine3, a commenter and friend of the blog, also was nice enough to share a very detailed report on the Saturday action at team camp.

Tim Hardaway Jr.

All eyes were on Hardaway Jr. this weekend as this was billed as his chance to “earn an offer.” With so many eyes focused on Hardaway there are naturally many differing opinions.

Wolverine3 sees Hardaway as a bit one dimensional:

One dimensional. Two if you count finishing its own aspect of the game. Kid can certainly finish, but he’s a shooter, and a streaky one at best. Just not efficient. He lets them fly, he misses a lot, makes a couple. Great LOOKING form. Does not take the ball to the hole. Not much of a handle. Is very long and finished very well on the break today. Potential I guess.

Next Generation Sports points to his length and ability to finish:

Tim Hardaway Jr. (2010)- struggled with his shot but showed why he is high on Beilein’s list of recruits by using his length and explosion to jump passing lanes and get to the basket.

Hardaway had his ups and downs over the weekend but exploded on Sunday to lead his team to the camp title ($). It’s clear that Hardaway is a shooter first a foremost and every shooter has an off day or two.

I think Hardaway appears to be much more of a 2-guard in Beilein’s system rather than a three. His length is intriguing for playing at the top of the 1-3-1. I think he’s a good fit with his length and shooting. While he might not be the star player that some other targets in this class are, you are stuck with the bird in hand vs. two in the bush mantra.

Incoming Freshmen

Darius Morris

Darius Morris was the class of the weekend. He left just about everyone impressed. Wolverine 3 was no different:

Darius Morris- WOW. Grew a half inch. Legit 6′4 now. I saw him last year when he was,arguably the best player at the camp along with Lubick. Even with the limited action he saw today, he left NO QUESTION who top dog was on campus. These kids couldn’t even come close to stopping Darius. And as Sam said this was against a pretty stellar Clarkston team who BLEW OUT Will Regan’s Nichols team by 20 (30pt gap at times during the game).

Morris came out and scored the first 5-7 points for the Red Oxen vs. Clarkston. Hit a three, baseline drive and pull up J, fast break lay in. Probably had 13-16 in the game before getting injured. He locked down his man at the other end all game, just as he did last year vs Eso Akunne (who was now his teammate).

His first step is quick, he handles the ball with confidence and strength even more so then last year. He could go anywhere he wanted on the court at any given time. Fathers on the Clarkston team kept looking at each other like “are you kidding me right now? How do we compete?”

Lastly on Morris…. he is in GREAT shape. Last year he looked like a high school player, this year he looks straight D1. Put on at least 8-10 lbs of muscle over the past year, another reason for his straight dominance this weekend. I really am not over hyping him either…he was killer.

Darius was limiting by an ankle injury over the weekend but it shouldn’t be anything to worry about long term.

Continue reading ’2009 Michigan Camp Wrap-Up’

It was a big weekend for Michigan incoming freshmen Darius Morris and Matt Vogrich. They both participated in the Feinberg Academic All-American Classic in Ontario, California. The four team event featured two games as well as a three point and dunk contest.

Players had to have a 3.0 GPA or higher to participate and judging by the number of Michigan commitments and former recruiting targets, it’s clear that Beilein values academics on the recruiting trail.

Morris played with the East alongside the UNC bound Wear twins, and Detroit Country Day big man DaShonte Riley among others. Vogrich played on the North with MSU bound big man Garrick Sherman, Minnesota bound Justin Cobbs, as well as former Michigan recruits Angus Brandt, Andy Brown, and Roger Franklin.

Darius’ East team was beaten pretty handily by the West but Morris played well. He finished with 16 points (7/16 shooting), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, and 3 steals. Matt’s team was a bit more successful as they rolled to an easy victory. He finished with 9 points on three made triples. Matt also participated in the three point contest, however Andrew Bock (Creighton) won the contest.

ESPN posted a lengthy write up from the event, and here are the highlights from each Michigan recruit.

Morris:

Led by the defensive intensity of Darius Morris (Windward, Los Angeles), the East All-Stars cut the lead to 15-10 on a free throw by the reigning Div. V State Player of the Year.

The East made their final push behind Morris and Travis Wear, who both finished with a team-high 16 points while David Wear finished with 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Morris executed a nice crossover dribble on Cunningham, who fouled him on the play. After the Michigan-bound guard converted the traditional three-point play, the West had an eight-point lead (77-69) with five minutes remaining.

Vogrich:

The North’s Matt Vogrich (Lake Forest, IL) nailed two clutch three-pointers late in the game to seal the deal, as both triples stretch the lead back to 15 points. The Michigan-bound guard made three shots from long range and finished with nine points, one of three North All-Stars to finish just one point shy of double figures.

Mark Snyder caught up with Darius and Matt after the game and it appears that both players had a good time and definitely felt like they belonged.

Morris:

“I’m really a creative player and like to include everybody, so in this game I kind of saw how the atmosphere was and took advantage,” he said. “I had a couple flashy moves and the crowd really got behind you. You could tell the way they liked it and I didn’t want to fell like I was too stiff in my last high school game.”

Morris said his highlights were a one-handed dunk and another time he broke down his defender, hit a shot and still got fouled.

Vogrich:

“I played pretty well and made four threes and our team won by 22,” said Vogrich, who added he was shooting deep threes, from a step or two behind the NBA line and threw a few alley-oops. “I wasn’t nervous. I thought I proved myself. Before I was excited to see where I was. Some kids were better than me and I was better than some of them. It was fun to see where I stack up.”

Max Preps also posted a nice photo gallery from the event.

The five members of Michigan’s 2009 recruiting class have all wrapped up their seasons and their next destination is Ann Arbor. Here is a quick look at how they finished their seasons as well as how they may fit into the puzzle next year. Next, I’ll look at Michigan’s 2010 and 2011 targets and how they finished their seasons as well as what their recruitments look like at this point. Also, make sure to take a look at the recruiting videos section to see footage of Morris, Vogrich, Morgan, and McLimans.

Darius Morris

Darius finished his season on a high-note with a State Championship. Windward rolled through the Division V State Playoffs without much resistance. Darius scored 25 points, dished out four assists and pulled down a game high eight rebounds in the 69-53 win over St Joseph’s.

Darius had a great season and led Windward to a 29-6 record. He has a skill set that was largely absent from this year’s team with his ability to penetrate. There is certainly room for another creator on the floor and it always seemed like the offense ran best when Manny was driving and kicking to wide open shooters. There is plenty of playing time available at the point now that Merritt and Lee have graduated but point guard is one of the hardest positions to step into as a freshman. I think it’s safe to say that Darius is the most important recruit of the class of 2009.

• MitchMash: My Eight Minutes With Denzel
  Feature on Denzel’s son who plays for Windward including a nice pic of Denzel with Stover and Morris’ dads

Matt Vogrich

I mentioned this a couple days back but Matt pulled in some very nice awards over the last couple weeks. He was named First Team All-State as well as Gatorade Player of the Year in Illinois.  Vogrich also finished the season with very good numbers: 21.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Matt became the all-time leading scorer at Lake Forest this season and helped them to a 23-4 record including a Conference and Regional Championship.

His three point shooting percentage (32%) has been the subject of some criticism but I think that’s a bit unfair. Vogrich is the guy on Lake Forest and he is called on to do a lot more than shoot jump shots, that almost guarantees that he isn’t getting the best looks. I will side with the scouts that watched him play over the last year, they describe his three point shot as nothing short of phenomenal.

At 6-foot-4 Vogrich will add another weapon to Michigan’s offense. He seems to have more penetrating ability than last year’s freshmen and can still stroke it. The biggest issue is that Matt is very skinny and will have to work on getting into Big Ten shape. There is also a lot of depth at the 2-guard: Douglass, LLP, and Novak can all play the two but I think we could see a little of Stu at the point as well Novak backing up the three.

Jordan Morgan

It was an up and down year for Jordan Morgan. Over the last few years it seems like Jordan will have a great game on one day and then be invisible the next.  The great games show the flashes of potential and make you understand what Beilein sees in Jordan but the bad games raise just as many questions.

Morgan had 28 points and 11 rebounds in a 85-82 district win over Southfield but U-D Jesuit’s season came to a close against Detroit Pershing. U-D has been in a constant struggle to get past the Doughboys but they fell just short to Pershing yet again in a three point loss ($).

The way this team needs size I find it hard to believe that Jordan won’t get a shot. Throw the ball out there and see who wants to battle down low next year — that’s who should play. With Sims, Gibson, Cronin, Morgan, and McLimans there are certainly more bodies, that’s a start but big men tend to be projects rather than instant impact guys.

Blake McLimans

Blake wrapped up his season a while ago and production wise his season wasn’t much to write home about. It was a step up in terms of talent level for Blake, playing in NESPAC versus his old high school league, and that’s a tough transition. That’s also something that could help him down the road and make him more prepared to play at Michigan.

McLimans brings length and skill down low; he can dribble it pretty well and definitely shoot it.  Those are both traits that Beilein values so you can see why he got the offer. However I don’t know how effective he will be banging in the paint in the Big Ten without some added size. With the influx of big men I think at least one of them ends up red-shirting so Blake will certainly have some proving to do.

Eso Akunne (pref. walk-on)

Gabriel Richard lost to Inkster in the Class B regional final, 52-44. Akunne scored 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the loss which capped a remarkable season. Gabriel Richard finished 22-3 on the year and Eso finished 5th in Mr. Basketball voting.

The thing I love about Eso is that he has a mid-range game. Looking back at the season there is really no one that has a pull-up jumper on this whole team. Manny loves to take it all the way to the hoop, Peedi loves the turnaround jumper, but there is no one that can get in the lane, pull-up, and knock it down (coincidentally, Manny could really use some work on his mid-range game this summer). The problem with Eso is that he is still only 6-foot-3 and there’s nothing he can do about that. Over the course of his career I think Eso will be one of those guys that just finds his way onto the floor despite his size.