UM Hoops.com

It has been a busy couple weeks for me but here is a little bit of catch-up information for the weekend. There is a little bit of everything thrown together in this post but it mostly focuses on recruiting.

AAU Heating Up

AAU season is finally upon us. The Boo Williams tourney tipped off last weekend and there is plenty of AAU ball on tap for this weekend. Here is a basic list of where relevant AAU teams and players will be playing this weekend. AAU teams are still pretty much in flux so some of these “rosters” may be a little off,  if you have a correction or addition shoot me an email at umhoops@gmail.com.

Pitt Jam Fest (17 U Schedule – pdf)

• Team Detroit – Trey Zeigler, Brandan Kearney, Percy Gibson, Corey Petros
• REACH – Maurice Jones, Keith Appling
• Mass Rivals – Evan Smotrycz

Real Deal in the Rock (Team List – pdf)

• Nashville Celtics – Casey Prather
• Florida Rams – Tim Hardaway Jr.

Grand Rapids Storm Classic (Schedule)

• Team Pride – Devin Oliver
• Michigan Mustangs – John Horford, Alex Gauna, LaDante Henton, Juwan Howard Jr.
• Michigan Hurricanes – Isaiah Sykes

The X-Factor is where Ray McCallum ends up, he could head to the Family with Amir Williams, Michael Talley, and Carlton Brundidge or play with Team Detroit and Trey Zeigler.  I’ll also be keeping a keen eye toward Indiana AAU programs because Beilein has already raided the state once.

The Double Pump Spring Classic (information here), Las Vegas Spring Explosion, and Arizona Preps Spring Classic (info pdf) will feature most of the talented West Coast prospects this weekend as well.

Last year I was pretty surprised to find out that you can stream AAU games live online and now the process has become even more ridiculous. You can still stream video from Grass Roots TV but now it appears that it might cost $25 per tournament (although there is an ad on the page that claims streaming video is free).

Moses Morgan

Morgan’s play was reportedly underwhelming last weekend at the Full Court Press Easter Classic:

One of the bigger disappointments of the event was the play of 6-5 junior Moses Morgan (Las Vegas/ Palo Verde). He can knock down shots from anywhere, but his ball skills need polishing and he needs to play with more urgency at both ends.

Richard Solomon

Solomon is a guy that I haven’t talked about that much. The 6-foot-9 California wing started picking up Michigan interest this winter. Here is a February scouting report that breaks down his game pretty well:

Very long body (his torso hints that he might yet reach 6’10” or 6’11”) with ability to the run the floor like a wing, Solomon is athletic around the rim at both ends and has real ability to knock down mid-range jump shots as well as displaying a soft jump hook.  Solomon also has good blood-lines as his father (Richard II) played hoops at Michigan for Johnny Orr while older sister Am’ra just finished her college career playing volleyball at Cal (helping the Golden Bears reach the NCAA Elite 8 last fall).   Solomon’s play as of late is starting to attract high-major attention with the likes of Oregon State and Michigan focusing their attention on this top West Coast 2010 sleeper.  The “sky is the limit” for Solomon who might just be a major surprise by the end of the July recruiting period

ESPN echoes those thoughts in this April 2009 report (Darius Morris’ teammate, Wesley Saunders, also impressed ESPN at the same tournament) Solomon is definitely intriguing. When a prospect “blows up” out west it can mean offers from some big fish like UCLA, USC, Arizona, and whoever else but he has the Michigan ties.

Rankings Redux

Rivals released their final 2009 individual rankings this week. Darius Morris finishes at #77 (4-star) and Matt Vogrich at #137 (3-star). What’s this mean? Not much in my book. Darius led his team to the state championship and Matt led his to one of their best seasons in recent history while putting up solid numbers. Both of those kids had great years and probably couldn’t have done much more. Morgan and McLimans (who is playing baseball this spring) appear to be wild cards at this point.

The rankings process is flawed in many ways and seeing DaShonte Riley and Donovan Kirk at the bottom of the list shows just how questionable those sophomore rankings can be. Beyond the top 25 or so prospects it gets very hard to accurately differentiate between players. Because scouting companies only have so many scouts, AAU play is naturally emphasized. A huge AAU tournament can land you a spot in the top 50 but tearing up high school competition doesn’t do you much good if Jerry Meyer or another Rivals/Scout scout isn’t in the house.

It’s worth mentioning that Indiana (10), Illinois (12), Minnesota (22) all made Rivals’ top 25 team rankings for the class of 2009.

Club Trillion

CJ Lee wrote his own blog on MGoBlue this year and it was a great feature that shared some insight into CJ’s life on the team. However, it wasn’t quite this entertaining. You’ve probably heard of Club Trillion by now but if you haven’t, it’s a blog run by Ohio State walk-on/manager Mark Titus. The name stems from the box score stat line that appears to look like one trillion.

The blog is amusing, even if it is run by a Buckeye, and it recently passed one millions hits which prompted a guest post by Evan Turner. Turner, the target of a lot of Club Trillion hate, makes the case that he is not the whitest player on the team in his rant.

Extras

• Michigan Turns up Heat on Zeigler ($)
  Latest on Zeigler from Sam Webb
• Dribble and Drives: Academics Accolades Roll In for Wolverines
  Academic fluff
• Legion arrested for driving on suspended license
  What’s next for Mr. Legion?
• Beilein Ceiling Five Times Fast
  Brian looks at the hoops program’s “ceiling”, something we’ll be able to discuss here over the next few weeks when I can gather my thoughts.
• New FIU coach Isiah Thomas raises hopes, concerns
  Is Isiah considering bringing Hardaway Sr. into the fold?
• We Are Legion
  PLP scored 26 points in the Mustang Motown Throwdown 16U championship
• No Aussies, yet
  Angus’ LOI hasn’t arrived in the OSU offices yet. This is probably moot but I guess it’s worth noting.
  

The 2009 class is in the books and I’m sure the Michigan staff will be excited to take this season’s momentum onto the recruiting trail. Right now there are technically two scholarships available but I would expect Michigan to take three in the class once everything works out. The biggest needs are at the wing and power forward positions — the debate would be what to do with the third scholarship.

High school seasons are pretty much in the book and that means it’s time for AAU ball. Kids like to put recruiting on the back-burner during their high-school season but AAU ball is all about recruiting. Things typically start to pick up and stock rises and falls quickly. The frustrating thing for Michigan is that a lot of the kids on the board are looking to make fall decisions rather than spring or summer.

Here is a quick run-down of who is on the board and how their high school seasons wrapped up. The list really hasn’t changed much since when I posted the 2010 hot-board a while back (will be updated soon). The main additions are Prather, Dragicevich, Payne, and Oliver. The three “firm offers” are Will Regan, Trey Zeigler, and Casey Prather but there is plenty of serious interest up and down the list. For more on every kid make sure to click through their category pages on the sidebar. You can find some video as well as the weekly recruiting wraps there.

Will Regan (6-foot-8, Nichols, NY)

Will Regan has emerged as Michigan’s premiere big-man target. The junior had a huge year for the Nichols School and he seemed to produce night in and night out. Nichols’ season came to a disappointing end against Canisius in the Manhattan Cup final but it there is no doubt that Regan is blowing up.

Michigan has been in good position with Regan for a long time. Academics are important to Regan and Michigan certainly fits the bill. A spring decision seemed imminent but several new schools including Villanova have started to show interest. Regardless, Regan has an offer and Michigan is in very good position.

Trey Zeigler (6-foot-5, Mount Pleasant, MI)

Trey Zeigler appears to have been the #1 wing forward on Michigan’s board for a long time. He is the son of a college coach and possesses all the tools including athleticism, basketball IQ, and shooting. Zeigler was named to the Class A all-state team and averaged 24 points and nine rebounds per game while shooting 48% from behind the arc.

Zeigler’s recruitment has been a bit of a roller-coaster in terms of speculation but the Zeigler family appears to have been true to their word in terms of time frame and plan. They have consistently stated that they want to take their time and not rush to a decision. The “big four” for Trey were Michigan, Michigan State, CMU, and UCLA but UCLA isn’t getting as much play of late. This will definitely be the recruitment to watch over the summer and you can bet that the rumors will be flying in every direction.

Casey Prather (6-foot-5, Jackson Northside, TN)

It’s hard to call Casey Prather anything but an athletic freak. The 6-foot-5 swingman was a finalist for Mr. Basketball in Tennessee as a junior and is garnering interest from high-majors across the country. Prather averaged 24.4 points and 11 rebounds per game but lost to Mr. Basketball award to Josh Jenkins who averaged over 40 points per game.

The odds of landing Prather are probably long but it appears there is some sincere interest. Vanderbilt appears to be the local school to watch out for but big dogs like UNC and Wake Forest have been in to watch Prather play.

Moses Morgan (6-foot-5, Palo Verde, NV)

Moses is a skilled wing forward from Nevada whose Palo Verde team fell just short of a state championship. Morgan appears to have bounds of talent but sometimes isn’t quite assertive enough on the offensive end. Commenter Ken in Vegas was at the game and produced this report.

Moses has been big on Michigan since he visited in the fall and his recruitment doesn’t seem to have moved much over the school year. Things should start moving a little more quickly over the summer AAU period.

Tim Hardaway Jr. (6-foot-5, Miami Palmetto, FL)

Hardaway Jr. is a wing guard from Palmetto High School in Miami. The son of NBA-star Tim Hardaway Jr., the three-star prospect visited Michigan this winter for the Duke game and Michigan appears to be in a pretty good spot. Hardaway has also received interest from Kansas State, Miami, Virginia Tech, and Florida State in recent months.

Continue reading ‘Recruiting Roundup: Class of 2010′

Commits

Darius Morris

Windward has rolled through their sectional without much of a challenge. Windward eased passed Sierra Canyon 63-39 and Buckley 60-49. They will face Lutheran in the sectional final this Friday, March 6th 4:30 PM, at Colony High School.

Matt Vogrich

Matt continues to step up in the big games. Vogrich netted 38 points including 28 in the second half and knocked down five three pointers in a conference championship win over North Chicago. Lake Forest head coach Phil LaScala agrees that Vogrich steps up when it counts:

“He’s a special player,” Lake Forest coach Phil LaScala said of Vogrich. “If you look at our big games – North Chicago, Zion-Benton, Warren – he’s come up big, 32 points, 33 points, 35 points…playing against some very tough players.

There is also a great Q&A with Matt after he was named player of the week by the Chicago Sun-Times. Some highlights include a 4.8/5.0 GPA and 31 ACT, speeding, and looking forward to playing at Crisler Arena. By all accounts Matt has taken Lake Forest to a new level and they look ready for the state tournament. Here is a quick highlight from the conference championship game:

Jordan Morgan

Detroit Jesuit suffered a tough loss to Catholic Central in the Catholic league semi-final game. U of D made a valiant effort to get back in the game but it wasn’t enough. Jordan had 10 points in the loss.

Blake McLimans

Worcester will play Winchendon in the second quarter final (4 PM) in the NESPAC Class A Tournament tomorrow at Endicott College in Beverly, MA. Blake has continued to play pretty well down the stretch and he has had some solid games while picking up his defense a bit as well.

Eso Akunne (pref. walk on)

Eso and 2010 target Josh Herbeck led Gabriel Richard to their fourth straight Catholic League C-D final. First, Richard knocked off Royal Oak Shrine, 67-48, in the semi-finals. Eso had 19 points and Herbeck had 21.

In the finals they managed the squeak by Detroit Loyola by a score of 58-56. Akunne had 19 points in the final despite struggling with foul trouble all game long.

2010 Recruits

Will Regan

Will Regan’s season came to a disappointing end with a playoff loss to Canisius. Nichols had beaten Canisius twice this year by 25 and 30 points. Regan was named to the all tournament team but only score 8 points in the loss.

• Video Feature: Will Regan ($)

Casey Prather

The athletic wing man from Tennessee received an offer ($) this week and that tells you all you need to know about his abilities. Prather’s team lost in the district finals but was not eliminated, Prather had 36 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocks in the loss. Casey scored 34 points in a regional quarterfinal win to reach the 1,500 point mark for his career. This dunk was the highlight of the win:

Prather stole the ball and quickly took it up the court. Leaping from a good distance to the right of the lane, he put down a one-handed dunk, his second big dunk of the game.

• Junior Season A Success For Prather ($)
• Spotlight intense on Prather for 2010 ($)
• Wickedly Athletic ($)

Trey Zeigler

Mount Pleasant beat Bay City Central but they were without the services of Trey Zeigler who sat out for disciplinary reasons.

Moses Morgan

Moses’ Palo Verde squad suffered a heartbreaking loss in the Nevada State Championship game. Ken in Vegas was there and posted this recap.

Alex Dragicevich

Dragicevich is still very much on the radar. Dragicevich scored 20 points and added seven rebounds and five assists to lead Glenbrook North to a surprising 76-71 overtime win over Waukegan in the Central Suburban League championship.

Allen Payne

12 points and three assists in a 65-49 win over Anderson.

• Hoops: Two stand out for Payne ($)

Tim Hardaway Jr. & Cameron Ayers

Their season’s are over.

Links & Notes

• Southfield cager shining brightly in sophomore season
  Profile of Carlton Brundidge, a 2011 guard who is a key target in 2011.
• Hoops: U-M watching another ’10 big man ($)
• If I missed a good article or game story, let me know in the comments or send me an e-mail.

Ken in Vegas, a frequent commenter on the site, made it out to see Moses Morgan play in the Nevada Class 4A State Championship game. Moses and his Palo Verde squad were taking on Bishop Gorman, a team that had beaten them just a week earlier. Moses had 10 points and 9 rebounds in the loss and it sounds like he never really got going on offense. Ken’s thoughts on the game are below and there are also some links video clips and photo galleries after the story.

—-

When a final full-court desperation shot was blocked and the buzzer sounded, a dejected Moses Morgan knew he had let a state championship slip through his fingers and the young junior couldn’t help but show emotion.  Morgan walked back to the bench in disbelief, which eventually turned to anger as he punched a folding chair and ripped his jersey off. Palo Verde parents screamed obscenities at the refs, who had arguably cost them the game. The coaches clutched their heads in shock, before finally sulking over to congratulate an uproarious opponent.

Palo Verde and Bishop Gorman battled it out for the Class 4A  Nevada State Championship on Friday night at The Orleans Hotel and Casino.  The final score was 56-55 in favor of Gorman, and the final 2 minutes were absolutely heartbreaking.  The game had been sloppy and unimpressive throughout, another indicator of the level of talent in Nevada, but Palo Verde had control the entire way.  With 2 minutes left to go and a 6 point lead, all Palo had to do was control the ball, but a few turnovers later Gorman had tied the game with two clutch 3-point baskets.  Palo still had the upper hand, however, as they had the ball with 16 seconds left and a chance to take the final shot.  A streaky Palo guard drove through the lane and botched a contested lay-up with 3 seconds left on the ticker. What transpired next, was basically a replay of the Iowa game when DeShawn was called for a foul while trying to tie up a loose ball.  Instead of swallowing his whistle and sending a hard fought game to overtime, he called a reach-in foul on Palo Verde as they tried to secure a rebound.  With 7 team fouls, this sent Gorman to the line with 1 second left and a chance to ice the game with a free throw.  The crucial shot of a 1-1 fell, and the second one rimmed out, which conveniently gave Palo Verde no chance at a solid miracle attempt.

Moses Morgan was virtually a non-factor in this game.  He scored 10 points according to my tally on a poor shooting performance and never seemed to be in good positions to score.  My overall assessment of his play is nearly identical to my first scouting report.  In that report I said that I felt he had been overrated due to poor competition, and my opinion has not changed.  Moses never once created any offense for himself or tried to score off the dribble.  If we are recruiting him to replace Manny Harris, then we are going to be sorely disappointed.  He will have to gain a wealth of coordination and confidence in his senior year to be that kind of player.  He’s just not a good enough ball-handler to take it to the rack or find a crease yet.  90% of the points I have seen him score in the 3 games I have attended have been offensive rebounds or open jump shots.  That being said, he is a good shooter (although not last night) and has a great wing span.  At this point in time, he reminds me of Anthony Wright, and I would project him to be a slightly more athletic and productive version of him.  Again, this is only my assessment at this point in time.  I have no experience scouting high school talent and may just not have proper perspective, however I suspect that watching the likes of Zeigler or Hardaway Jr would have left a very different taste in my mouth. It will be interesting to see how Moses develops as a senior and I will certainly keep you updated.

More on the game:

• Official Box Score (pdf)
• 4A BOYS: Loyd breaks tie at foul line, lifts Gorman to title over Palo Verde
  Game story from NevadaPreps including a video and photo gallery
• Bishop Gorman pulls off miracle comeback for state championship
  Las Vegas Sun game story which also includes a video and photos.

Angus Brandt’s commitment to Oregon State means that it is time to move on to the class of 2010 and even the class of 2011. I updated the scholarship breakdown to add Ben Cronin’s redshirt this year. That leaves two scholarships in 2010 and three more in 2011 without any further attrition. I’m not going to speculate about attrition but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we had three to give in 2010.

So what is the biggest need? There are two in my opinion: an athletic wing forward and a scoring big man. In a sense these guys have to be the replacements for Manny Harris (who will have senior eligibility) and DeShawn Sims (who will have just graduated). Looking up and down the roster there are a lot of guys who probably can play the three but there isn’t really a pure wing. If Michigan has one more to give then I think you go with the best available player, but preferably another wing guy.

So who fills these slots? Trey Zeigler and Will Regan seem to be the best case scenario. Zeigler is a perfect fit on the wing and Regan has been putting up monster numbers in the post. Ideally if there is a third spot I could see it going to someone like Moses Morgan or Tim Hardaway Jr., two guys who provide length, skill, and athleticism on the wing.

In the class of 2011 there are plenty of names out there including guys like Carlton Brundidge, Brandan Kearney, Amir Williams, Mitch McGary, and Percy Gibson. 2011 is still a while out but it is time to start paying attention. I am working on a 2011 hotboard and it should be good to go this week. Point guard is definitely a need in 2011 but other than that I’m not sure exactly where Beilein will focus, a lot of that depends on the final results on the 2010 class.

That’s a quick run down on the future direction of recruiting and now here is the typical weekly recap.

Commitments

Darius Morris

Windward opened up sectional play last week but they didn’t really run into any competition. Windward beat Bishop Diego 85-21 and then rolled by Yeshiva 79-46. The competition they are facing early on in sectional play seems to be a level or two below the competition they have played all year. Windward will face Sierra Canyon Tuesday night.

• Scouting Darius Morris vs Bishop Diego
  Commenter Justin C made it out to see Darius play and shared his thoughts

Matt Vogrich

Matt Vogrich scored 19 points in an easy 71-44 win over Carmel but they fell to Zion Benton. Benton is the hot team in the area right now and they managed to knock off Lake Forest, 70-57. Vogrich had a game high 22 points in the loss. Lake Forest plays their final regular season game against Lakes High School on Tuesday before kicking off the IHSA playoffs on March 4th.

Jordan Morgan

Jordan Morgan had a couple of solid games in the last week. Jordan scored 23 points and pulled down 11 boards in a 70-56 win over Warren De La Salle. He followed that performance up with 22 points in a 72-56 win over Livonia Clarenceville in the Catholic League quarterfinals.

Blake McLimans

Blake has been picking up his play recently. He had 19 points against Hyde School (CT) including 5 three pointers. He played well again in a 77-73 win over Northfield, he only had 8 points or so but he has strung together a couple solid games in a row.

Worcester finishes up their regular season Friday night against Cushing Academy. The NEPSAC Tournament kicks off the next Wednesday and all games will be played at Endicott College. Worcester will likely be a 5 seed and plenty of college coaches are expected to be on hand.

Eso Akunne (pref. walkon)

Eso just keeps producing. Eso had 22 points and 12 rebounds in Gabriel Richard’s Catholic League quarterfinal win over Riverview Gabriel Richard.

Class of 2010

Will Regan

Nichols suffered a tough overtime loss to St Joe’s. It was Nichols’ second loss of the season and their first in league play but Regan had 36 points in the defeat. Nichols bounced back against Canisius and Regan posted a triple double with 32 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 blocks. Nichols will start their playoff action tonight.

• Scouting Will Regan ($)
  The Wolverine was in the house to see Regan’s triple double and they came back with a great scouting report.
• More coaches come out to see Regan ($)
• Regan growing as a player, says coach ($)

Trey Zeigler

Mount Pleasant rolled by Traverse City Central. Zeigler had 14 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks.  The Oilers are back in action tonight against Bay City Central.

• T.C. Central at Mt. Pleasant
  Next Generation Sports recap

Moses Morgan

Moses and his Palo Verde team got passed Durango in the first round of the Sunset League playoffs, 88-62. Moses had 24 points including 14 in the second half. Palo Verde took care of business in semi final as well, Morgan led Palo Verde to a 64-47 win over Western with 16 points.

Morgan couldn’t quite lead his team to the Sunset Championship, Palo Verde suffered a 5 point defeat in the championship to Gorman High. Morgan struggled all game and was plagued by foul trouble, he took only six shots for seven points and fouled out midway through the fourth quarter. Palo Verde has a shot to make the state playoffs with a play-in game on Monday.

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Palmetto fell in the regional quarter finals to South Miami. Hardaway had 19 points in the 48-47 loss including 4 triples down the stretch.

Cameron Ayers

Cameron Ayers was named the MVP of the Inter-Ac League. Germantown won their league title a couple weeks ago with a big win over Chesnut Hill, Ayers 14 points, three steals and five assists. But they fell against Friends Central in a very disappointing fashion in the Independent Schools title game. Ayers had 14 in the loss and missed a desperation three pointer at the end of the game that would have given Germantown the win.

Alex Dragicevich

Illinois Prep Bulls-eye reports that Alex Dragicevich has a visit planned to Ann Arbor in the very near future. The one thing that we have learned from Beilein is that visits are typically pretty serious. If he brings you in on a recruiting visit it means you are at the very least firmly on the radar.

Glenbrook North knocked off McKinney 76-69 on Friday night and Alex had 17 points and five rebounds in the win.

Casey Prather

Casey Prather was named a finalist for Mr. Basketball in Tennessee, the athletic junior is averaging 23 points and 11 rebounds per game. Prather is definitely blowing up this season and seems to be gaining plenty of high major interest, the latest team on the list appears to be UNC.

Allen Payne

Allen had 32 points on 12 of 15 (2-4 3pt) shooting to go along with five rebounds, six assists, and two steals in a 69-55 win over Glen Estie. Earlier in the week he posted 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting, with 10 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks, a steal, and seven turnovers.

Ray McCallum

The junior point guard was in Ann Arbor for the Minnesota game and then back in action Saturday night against Bloomington South back in his old stomping grounds. Country Day fell to the undefeated Bloomington squad 73-67 and was outscored 24-13 in the fourth quarter. McCallum led Country Day with 17 points and Amir Williams (a 2011 target) had 12 rebounds. Indiana bound Jordan Hulls led the way for Bloomington with 27 points.

2011 and Beyond

As I mentioned over the weekend, Southeastern fell to Pershing in the PSL Championship (SpartanMag highlights $). The sophomore duo of Brandan Kearney and Percy Gibson are going to be great players down the line but they weren’t enough for the talented Pershing team featuring MSU bound Keith Appling and Derrick Nix. Juwan Howard Jr. also stole the show for Pershing.

This post is long already so I’m not really going to focus on 2011 kids that much. I will hopefully get into a little more when I get the 2011 hotboard completed.