Notebook: Spiece Hensley Memorial Run-N-Slam Day One

LooneyKevon[1]FORT WAYNE, Ind. — 2014 big man Kevon Looney turned in the most outstanding performance of the opening night of the 2013 Spiece Run ‘n Slam in Fort Wayne on Friday.

Looney, who had the attention of nearly everyone in the gym, scored a game-high 28 points, leading his Milwaukee Rebels squad to a 92-86 win.

After the game, mobbed by members of the media, Looney talked about the schools toward the top of his list including Michigan, Duke, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Florida, and discussed his recent in-home visit with Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

“It was a great experience. I learned a lot from Coach K,” Looney said. “He seemed like he was very interested in me. It was a great home visit.”

Looney, who also had recent in-home visits with Florida and Wisconsin talked about his growing relationship with Michigan’s coaches as well.

“They wanted to come in for a home visit, but we already had scheduled all the days,” he said. “So I talked to (John) Beilein a couple times and Coach LaVall (Jordan), I talked to him a lot. We have a pretty good relationship.”

Looney projects to the four at the next level and is a perfect fit for that position at Michigan with his face-up game, jump shot and ability to create. The buzz around the gym was that Looney was cementing himself as a top-10 prospect in the class and he did little to disappoint. Michigan has gotten its foot in the door but still has work to do in Looney’s recruitment.

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imageThe Bill Hensley Memorial Run ‘N Slam Classic at Spiece Fieldhouse is the premiere AAU event in the Midwest year in and year out. While coaches won’t be on the road this weekend, the top talent in the Midwest will be playing at Spiece and UM Hoops will be in attendance throughout the weekend.

Two of Michigan’s three offered prospects in the class of 2014 will be in attendance – Trevon Bluiett and Vince Edwards – and a number of high priority 2014, 2015 and 2016 targets will also be in action. We also hope to watch top prospects like Kevon Looney, Hyron Edwards, AJ Turner, Jalen Coleman, Eric Davis and many others throughout the weekend.

Recruiting lists updated

We took some time to clean up our 2014 and 2015 recruiting boards and added a very early 2016 watch list.

  • 2014 Recruits
    • Not much has changed here. Booker, Bluiett and Edwards still hold offers with with AJ Turner, Kameron Chatman and Kevon Looney in the next tier. The only difference being that Turner appears to be playing for an offer while Chatman and Looney need to visit Ann Arbor.
  • 2015 Recruits
    • This is a list where we did some major sorting. The “target” group is the top group of prospects that are likely good enough to earn offers on June 15th, however the visit criteria was not followed in this group.
  • 2016 Recruits
    • This early list features some of the top prospects around the Midwest and West Coast. Obviously it’s still early in the process but these are some early names to make familiar.

For reference you can look back at all of our posted recruiting videos (dynamically searchable) or a scholarship breakdown of future classes.

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Top-5 2015 center Stephen Zimmerman sees himself in Mitch McGary


Stephen Zimmerman cemented his position as one of the very best class of 2015 prospects in the nation during both April live evaluation periods. Zimmerman – a consensus top five recruit – has been dominant throughout the spring.

The seven-footer possesses a scary good all-around game: Zimmerman can shoot it and is an adept ballhandler with a skilled back-to-the-basket game. While Zimmerman is looking to improve in all areas of his game, one area that has improved significantly is his aggressiveness.

“I would say that I improved a lot on being more aggressive,” Zimmerman said. Zimmerman’s Bishop Gorman high school took home a state championship last season. “That was a big thing for me to see and to move my game up a level. Just to see how aggressive I can get. That will help me in my overall game.”

For a player his size, Zimmerman’s improved assertiveness is a big deal. Many young big men lack the chutzpah to demand the ball and make their own opportunities. Zimmerman wants his new aggressiveness to rub off on his teammates.

“I think being a leader and bringing momentum to the games and stuff will not only help me but it’ll help everybody.”

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Scouting Video: Evan Boudreaux at King James Classic

Class of 2015 forward Evan Boudreaux had two solid weekends during the April live evaluation period and most recently added offers from Iowa and Iowa State. UM Hoops was in attendance to watch Boudreaux at the King James Classic in Akron, watch the footage in the embedded media player below.

Video: Trey Burke NBA Draft workout

Ty Kish and Slam Online’s Rodger Bohn were present at one of Trey Burke’s NBA Draft workouts last week. Burke, who opted to enter the draft after his sophomore season, is projected as a top five pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Chad Ford wrote this afternoon that multiple GMs have informed him that Burke could be the No. 1 pick in the draft if the Magic, Kings, Pelicans or Jazz end up with the first pick in the lottery.

Dwayne Bacon is receiving heavy Michigan interest and plans to visit, here’s footage of Bacon in action this spring via Home Team Hoops.

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