Pre-Pre Season Michigan Top Teams

I will start to give you my Top 10 teams, in Michigan, in no order, two per day, starting with Saginaw High and Detroit Country Day.

Saginaw High- The two-time defending state champs are again talented enough to win the state championship. Mike Green, the 6'1 G is one of the top guards in the state for the 2009 class, and is a D1 recruit. Mike will be the leader of the 2008-2009 Trojans team. Jimmie Davis, a 6'1 2009 SG, may be the best shooter in Michigan, his range is unlimited. Two transfers, Demetrius Simmons a 2009 6'2 PG from San Antonio, TX and 2010 6'3 Wing Malcolm Shaw from Joliet, IL will also have a huge impact on the team. Simmons, is one of the premier, if not the premier guard in Michigan's 2009 class; high major coaches have called on him. Shaw is a powerful wing player, who is very hard to stop when driving, and especially in transition, he has big-time hops. Tink Sherman, a 5'10 2010 PG has also garnered the attention of colleges, including D1 Loyola-Chicago, while Tink needs to pick up some weight, he is a very good shooter, who plays hard, and is a point guard who knows his role and doesn't try to do too much. Also returning from last years varsity in the 2010 class is 6'1 G Greg Hayes and 6'3 Wing Taveon Whitson. In the 2011 class is where the Trojans talent lies. 6'7 F Tommie McCune is one of the top 5 players in Michigan and is being recruited by Michigan State, Michigan, Tennessee, Boston College, Wake Forest, Xavier, and others, he will be big-time. Trey Babers, a 6'4 SG has the potential to be just as good, if not better than his cousin Draymond Green, who is now at Michigan State. Other services have Babers ranked #1 in Michigan at his position. 6'1 CG Marquavis Ford, is the top shooter in Michigan in the 2011 class, and he will also be a D1 recruit, there isn't that many players better than him in Michigan in the 2011 class. DeAnthony Arnette, a 6'0 PG will go D1 in whichever sport he chooses, football or basketball. Arnette is the best athlete in the state for his class, although he is one of the top 2011's in the country for football, he also is really good at BBall, it just isn't too many PG's as athletic, quick, and fast as him, anywhere. In the 2012 class, 6'6 F Kevin Marshall, is one of the top 5 players in his class, since he wears close to a size 20 shoe, its a safe bet he grows some more, but if he doesn't he will still go D1, he is the next great Trojan down the line!

Detroit Country Day-Coach Keener has himself one of the most talented teams in America. I mean how many squads can say they have 3 players going to high major conferences in their senior class? The most talented player on the team is without a doubt 7'0 2009 C Dashonte Riley who is headed to Georgetown. Whenever the switch turns on for him, and he decides he wants to just flat-out dominate, he will be a lottery pick. 6'8 2009 PF Donnovan Kirk, is a workhorse on the blocks and is headed to Miami-FL of the ACC. Kirk has a sweet jump hook, and his best days are still in front of him. 6'6 2009 Wing Jordan Dumars has one of the best corner jumpers I have seen in a long time. Dumars, who is the son of Joe, GM of the Detroit Pistons, doesn't always play hard, but if he did, he could be a pretty decent player. Dumars is headed to South Florida of the Big East. The high major talent doesn't stop there... Ray McCallum, a 6'1 PG is a Top 50 player nationally in the 2010 class. Loads of high majors are on him, including defending national champ Kansas, but word is he will be going to University of Detroit, to play for his father; Ray, SR. 6'10 2011 C Amir Williams, will also be a high major recruit when his time comes. Amir has the luxury that no other young big in Michigan has and that is to practice against other good big-men everyday. Lee Bailey, a 5'10 2011 PG is also a D1 prospect. Lee is a very good football player as well, but on the hardwood, there are very few if any PG's in the state who controls the game like he does. I wouldn't be surprised to see McCallum and Lee to start in the backcourt for the Yellowjackets. 6'2 2009 Wing Bennie Fowler, is as athletic as they come, and will help out this team immensely, he is the energetic, team-first player that all teams need. Last but not least, don't forget 6'6 2011 PF Urban Bigham. Urban, most likely will be a D1 football player, but he isn't a slouch on the hardwood. Bigham started for Detroit's Top summer program, The Family, and also got minutes on last summers Top 15u travel team, the Michigan Mustangs. I expect Country Day, to win their second Class B State Title in 3 years.

Steve Haney Update-C/O 2013

-Steven Haney, a 6'4 Wing from Lansing, Michigan will be visiting Kentucky for Midnight Madness. Haney is a Top 3 8th grader in Michigan. Haney will most likely attend East Lansing for high school. Watch out for his progess throughout the years. He is also being watched very closely by Michigan State and Utah.

Updates-10/8/08

-Nate Lubick, a 6'8 2010 F from Southborough, MA/St. Marks has committed to Georgetown. Many people including me thought he was definitely headed to Michigan. This is a huge blow to Michigan, but one that John Belien and staff should be able to recover from. Michigan is still in on numerous 2010 prospects like 6'7 SG Russell Byrd from Ft. Wayne, IN/Blackhawk Christian, Cameron Ayers, a 6'4 SG from Germantown, PA/Academy who is also Top 150, Trey Ziegler, and names that have been mentioned in the past like Tommy Droney, Austin Carroll, and Alex Gauna.

-James Still, a 6'9 PF from Detroit, MI/Community has committed to Providence. He is a top 10 player in Michigan's 2009 class.

-Kallante Miller, a 6'4 SG from Oak Park, MI/High has committed to Central Michigan. He may be the top defensive player in Michigan. HUGE pickup for Ernie Ziegler and staff.

-Ben Simons, a 6'7 SG from Cadillac, MI/High has committed to Drake. Simons is a very good shooter, and has great size.

-Watch out for Colin Voss a 6'7 F from East Grand Rapids, MI/High his high school coach Jared Reddell thinks with continued improvement he could be a easy high major. Voss is the best CF in Michigan.

-Isaiah Sykes a 6'5 SG from Detroit, MI/Finney is blowing up! One high major assistant told me he may be one of Detroit's top talents in the last 10 years. Can flat out score!!!! Michigan State, Syracuse, and Tennessee are in on him.

-Michigan State, Michigan, Tennessee, Boston College, and Xavier and others are actively recruiting 6'7 Soph PF Tommie McCune from Saginaw, MI/High.

-Michigan State is really pushing for Trey Ziegler. They have offered him, but he is still waiting, but just know Michigan State and Michigan are REALLY pushing for Trey.

-Michigan's 2010 class is absolutely loaded. Some services have Trey Ziegler, Keith Appling, Ray McCallum, Alex Gauna, and John Horford ranked nationally. This class is DEEP with talent. My new top 5 is:

1. Trey Ziegler 6'5 SG Mt. Pleasant
2. Isaiah Sykes 6'5 SG Detroit Finney
3. Keith Appling 6'1 G Detroit Pershing MICHIGAN STATE
4. Ray McCallum, JR 6'1 PG Detroit Country Day
5. Alex Gauna 6'9 PF Eaton Rapids

All 5 have high majors recruiting them, Sykes stock is on the up and up, and I'm going to be safe for now and put him at #2. But remember Appling and McCallum are ranked Top 50 nationally as well as Ziegler. John Horford, 6'8 PF, Grand Ledge, Mike Talley, 5'9 PG, Melvindale B&T, Devin Olver, 6'5 SG, Kalamazoo Central, Terrell Clinton, 6'6 Wing, Benton Harbor, Colin Voss, 6'7 F, East Grand Rapids, Matt Kaminiecki, 6'8 F, Clarkston, Anthony Fields, 6'0 PG, Detroit Southeastern, and many others will get mid D1 interest.

-Expect Detroit Southeastern to be one of the more talented teams in Michigan this year. The teams best player, as well as a top player in his class nationally is 6'5 G Brandan Kearney a 2011 player, but the talent doesn't stop there. Kearney's god-brother 6'8 2011 PF Percy Gibson, is also being recruited by high majors, including Kentucky, 2011 6'10 C Darren Washington is also good, and improving. In the 2009 class, 6'1 G Kimani Boynton and 6'7 PF Kyle Bryant are have talent to play at the next level. 6'0 2010 PG Anthony Fields will be a D1 recruit. William Gholston a 6'7 2010 PF is among the best football players in his class nationally, and also a very good hoop player. 6'0 2011 G Davonte Carter is also one of the top players in his class. Mark White is also one of the top coaches in Michigan, be on the lookout for this team!

-6'7 2009 Wing Jamil Wilson from Racine, WI/Horlick visited Michigan State last weekend, and it looked like he had a blast! If I was a betting man, I would think he will end up at MSU! He's Top 30 nationally in his class.

-SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER. GET WHAT NUMEROUS D1 COLLEGE COACHES AND FANS ARE RECEIVING. RATES ARE ON THE SIDE OF THE PAGE! NO WEBSITE NEWSLETTER IS AS GOOD AS BOTBSCOUTING'S.

Top Players In State/Nation

We won't be updating the site as much as in the past. Alot of our attention will be putting on our subscribers for now on.

But here is our #1 Ranked Player in the state/country for
2009-2012... Michigan
2009 Desheante Riley 7'0 C Country Day
2010Trey Ziegler 6'5 G Mt. Pleasant
2011 Brandan Kearney 6'5 G Detroit Southeastern
2012 Ray Lee 6'2 G Robichaud

National
2009- John Wall 6'4 PG Word of God (NC)
2010- Jared Sullinger 6'8 C Northland (OH)
2011- Tony Wroten 6'4 SG Garfield (WA)
2012- Perry Ellis 6'8 F Heights (KS)

Recent Commitments-Holden Griener 2009 6'8 F Traverse City Francis LEHIGH
Clarence Trent 2009 6'8 F Findlay Prep (NV) WASHINGTON
Avery Bradley 2009 6'4 SG Findlay Prep (NV) TEXAS
Brandon Triche 2009 6'3 G Jamesville-Dewitt (NY) SYRACUSE
Abdul Gaddy 2009 6'4 PG Bellarmine Prep (WA) ARIZONA
Steve Bjornstad 2009 6'11 C Columbia River (WA) NEVADA
David Brown 2009 6'4 SG Honoegah (IL) WESTERN MICHIGAN
Noel Johnson 2009 6'7 SG Fayette County (GA) USC
Lenzelle Smith 2010 6'4 G Zion-Benton (IL) OHIO STATE
DJ Cooper 2009 5'10 PG Seton Academy (IL) OHIO U
Reggie Keely 2009 6'7 PG Cleveland Heights (OH) OHIO U
Ari Stewart 2009 6'7 Wing Wheeler (GA) WAKE FOREST
Jordan McCrae 2010 6'5 SG Liberty County (GA) TENNESSEE
Josh Selby 2010 6'2 PG DeMatha (MD) TENNESSEE
Jordan Siebert 2010 6'4 SG PRINCETON (OH) OHIO STATE
Duke Monday 2009 6'4 CG GR Catholic Central (MI) PROVIDENCE
Tyler Brown 2009 6'7 PF Eau Claire North (WI) CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Recruiting News-Russell Byrd, a Top 100 2010 player from Ft. Wayne, IN/Blackhawk's Top 5 is Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, and Kentucky. Byrd may be the best shooter in his class -

Expect Syracuse and Ohio State to really turn up the heat in the Brandan Kearney race. The 6'5 2011 G from Detroit, MI/Southeastern is one of the top 20 players in the nation for 2011. Expect both to make a official offer very soon...U-M, Tennessee, Kentucky, MSU and others are also actively recruiting him -

The pick up Western Michigan got of David Brown was a big time one. The kid is one of the best players in the talent rich state of Illinois. And was one of the top NIKE players invited to the LeBron NIKE camp, a very hard invite to get! WMU got a good one. The kid can score in bunches! Played club ball with the Top summer program in IL, the Illinois Warriors. -

Expect Nate Lubick, Trey Ziegler, Brandan Kearney, Christian Vaughn, Percy Gibson, and a few others (will get complete list soon) at Michigan's football game this weekend -

Durand Scott, a Top 30 player nationally in the 2009 class who attends Manhattan, NY/Rice has a trimmed his list to five and it includes Tennessee, UCLA, Pittsburgh, UCONN, and Miami-FL, pretty surprising that Xavier didn't make it, as his former AAU coach Book Richardson is a assistant there. Scott can pretty much do everything, besides having a reliable jumpshot, and is one of the more versatile players in America. He's a coaches dream. -

Derrick Favors, BOTBScouting's #2 player in the country for 2009 has also announced his finalists and they are Georgia, Georgia Tech, UCONN, Memphis, Kentucky, and Florida State. Favors is a no-question one and done, and once he improves his face up game, will be pretty much unguardable.

News and Notes 9/7/08 8:04 PM

-Michigan's 2009 class now has 3 players going to the Big East. 7'0 Desheante Riley from Country Day was the first to commit, when he picked Georgetown then 6'6 Jordan Dumars from Country Day picked South Florida. Now 6'3 CG Duke Monday from Grand Rapids, MI/Catholic Central has committed to the Providence Friars. We told you in the past, that Duke may sneak up on some people and go high-major; and well he did.

Monday was the 17u Michigan Mustangs best player in Las Vegas, along with 6'5 Drew Valentine from Lansing, MI/Sexton and 6'6 Doug Anderson from Kalamazoo Central. He can shoot lights out from the perimeter, doesn't back down from anyone, and can flat out get buckets. Expect Providence to continue try to recruit Michigan as one of their assistants, Chris Davis, has been actively recruit Michigan for a long time. Ben Simons, a 6'7 Wing from Cadillac, MI/High is also considering Providence, some say Central Michigan is the leader though.

-Reportedly the 2 leaders for 2010 6'8 PF Nate Lubick from Southborough, MA/St. Marks are Michigan and Georgetown.

News and Notes 9/4/08 7:53 PM

-It looks like a package deal is in the works for two top 10 2009 prospects. 6'3 SG Avery Bradley from Henderson, NV/Findlay Prep and 6'7 Wing Jordan Hamilton from Compton, CA/Dominguez should both be committing to Texas very soon. Rick Barnes and his staff should be pretty happy, because with Bradley you have not only one of the best players, but also the best defender in the 2009 class. Jordan Hamilton is also a superb wing scorer, who is very strong. Bradley's other top school is UCLA, while Hamilton's is UCONN. Bradley recently transferred from Bellarmine Prep (WA) where he teamed with Top 15 prospect Abdul Gaddy, a 6'3 PG to give Bellarmine the top backcourt in the country.

-It is looking like 6'9 PF Tiny Gallon will be going to Mouth of Wilson, VA/Oak Hill Academy again this year. He was rumored to have transferred with 6'4 PG John Wall, a top 2 player nationally in the 2009 class at Raleigh, NC/Word of God Academy. Obviously that didn't work. This gives Oak Hill one of the premier big men in the country yet again.

-Aaron Craft, a 6'2 2010 CG from Findlay, OH/Liberty Benton has committed to the Tennessee Volunteers. Craft who is a Top 150 player in the country, is the type of player that programs win national championships with. He does all the little things like hit free throws, play D, rebound, pass, that helps teams win big games. Bruce Pearl got a great one! Craft plays with the All Ohio Red 2010 team that is the best team in the country for the 2010 division. The adidas sponsored team features 6 Top 150 prospects on its roster, and they play like a flat out team. Craft, while a little under the radar, is just as good as some of the other top guards in Ohio and the Midwest.

-Expect Michigan State to have 5'10 JR PG Terrance "Tink" Sherman, 6'1 Soph SG Marquavis Ford, 6'4 CG Trey Babers, 6'8 Soph F Tommie McCune, 6'6 Fresh Wing Jordan Hare, and 6'6 Fresh F Kevin Marshall, JR all from Saginaw High to be at their football game next weekend. Also Expect Michigan to have 6'5 Soph Brandan Kearney, 6'10 Soph Darren Washington, and 6'8 Soph Percy Gibson all from Detroit Southeastern and 6'2 Fresh Ray Lee from Robichaud and 6'1 Fresh Cameron Fowler from U-D Jesuit at their football game. These lists aren't final, those will be put up at the end of the week.

-Former Saginaw High coach, Charlie Coles who is the head coach of Miami-OH, has possibly the best mid-major haul of prospects then any other mid-major in the country. Their 2009 class will include 6'9 PF/C Drew McGhee from North Ridgeville, OH/High, 6'3 Wing Allen Roberts from Middletown, OH/High, 6'8 C Drew Kelley from Franklin, TN/Centennial, and JUCO star 6'8 Wing Mark Anderson from Sinclair JC (OH), and 6'4 Orlando Williams Cincinnati, OH/Princeton.

News and Notes 9/2/08 12:53 PM

-Anthony Fields a Top 5 PG in the loaded Michigan 2010 class, is getting looks from some bigtime schools. The 6'0 Detroit Southeastern PG, has been talking to Marquette, Dayton, Central Michigan, and Oakland. He has interest from Arizona, Florida, Marquette, Dayton, CMU, EMU, Oakland, Detroit, and Bowling Green. This month he will take visits to Marquette and Dayton.

Fields played AAU basketball last year with Chicago Express. Fields transferred from Lake Orion to powerhouse Detroit Southeastern in the summer. In addition to fields Southeastern features 2009 prospects 6'7 Kyle Bryant and 6'1 Kimani Boynton, 2010 prospects 6'0 Carlos Carter and 6'6 William Gholston. But at Southeastern, the class of 2011 is where the talent lies. Michigan's top 2011 prospect 6'5 Brandan Kearney, Top 5 2011 prospect 6'8 Percy Gibson, and 6'10 Darren Washington, who has the potential to be a great player at Southeastern, and they also have transfer 6'0 G Davonte Carter, whom people are calling a Top 10 player in the 2011 class in Michigan. The Jungaleers should be a force in the Detroit PSL.

-Top 2011 prospect, Jamal Branch a 6'3 PG from Humble, TX/Atoscocita, has committed to the Texas A&M program, according to sources close to the program. Branch is a athletic PG, that is a great scorer, but can also get his teammates involved. He is a easy Top 20 player nationally. He plays in the summer with the Houston Swoosh program.