Here’s what happened last night:
– East Lansing’s Steve Haney is probably the best freshman in the state. It might not be debatable anymore after the 6-5 wing prospect scored 31 points on Lansing Eastern on their home court last night. The reason some believe Haney is a better prospect than Eastern’s freshman point guard Charles Tucker is simple: He’s 6-5 and really good. You just don’t see that often. Eastern’s LaDontae Henton, himself a former freshman phenom, had 32 points in the game that the Quakers won by 13. The aforementioned Tucker had 10 points. How good is Lansing basketball right now?
– I’m starting to think my counterpart on this site, Gavin Raath, is actually a genius. His adopted team this year, Ithaca, just knocked off class B Bridgeport last night by seven. But, every time I think about him being a genuis I’m reminded of his Lansing Eastern prognostication. Bridgeport has been cracking some skulls of late, including a win over Flint Powers. Ithaca has to be among the favorites in class C this season. Ithaca is now 12-0.
– Flint Northern’s Shaquille Smith outdueled Flint Powers’ Patrick Lucas-Perry a battle of two of the state’s top 2011 guards. But, I’m sure you already read that here.
– Two of the state’s top big men, Grand Ledge’s Jon Horfod and Holt’s Cole Darling, matched up last night in Lansing. Darling poured in 29 points with eight rebounds in the 64-51 win. Horford, for his part, scored 18 points with seven rebounds and fouled out. Is Darling better? Yes. He has better skill an is a better all-around player. Horford is solid (and a tick bigger), but not as polished.
– Covert’s 6-3 senior Amere May scored 51 points. I’ve never seen this kid play, but even at the class D level that’s impressive. If memory serves, he scored over 40 points in a game just last month. So is this kid more Dustin Orns or Peter Bunn? That is the question.
– Mt. Pleasant senior wing Trey Zeigler is quietly destoying the SVL. He had 33 points in a win over Midland Dow last night. Seems like TZ is putting in that kind of work every game.
– Detroit Pershing proved that it could win without MSU-bound Keith Appling last night. The Doughboys clinched the PSL east title with a come-from-behind win over Detroit Denby. Juwan Howard had 27 points. Appling was out due to illness.
– Both our big in-state universities got trounced last night. MSU by a really good Wisconsin squad and Michigan by Northwestern, a pretty decent team. The big news, though, is with regard to each team’s top player: MSU’s Kalin Lucas sprained his ankle in the game and UM’s Manny Harris declared his intention to come back to Michigan next season. Honestly, who would leave school early to MAYBE getting drafted in the second round? (Oh, I know: Dar Tucker and Olu Famutimi.)
Some other good numbers from guys who don’t always get the press:
-Unheralded freshmen Eric Cooper (Beecher) and Cullen Turczyn (Lapeer East) had 12 and 14 pts. respectively.
-In Hamady’s big win over Genesee, Thaddeus williams broke out with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. In the same game Thomas Jean (Genesee) was a monster inside with 30 points, 9 rebounds, and a whopping 7 blocks (not sure what that says about Hamady’s post presences).
-For New Lothrop, DeAndre Johnson had 22 points and teammate Jared Crawford put in 23.
-Bendle’s Clarence Coleman dropped 18 in defeat.
-Jordan Groshe of Fowlerville scored 14, had 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Oh, did I mention he is playing with a torn ACL? Impressive…
-Holly’s Justin Fowler poured in a nice 19 in their win.
Haney’s a terrific prospect, but … LSJ had him for 29 and Tucker with nine assists, so that’s a wash, and Tucker’s team won by 13. Being the point guard on a top 10 team may be a tougher task for a freshman than scoring for a mediocre team. I’m glad Haney is looking for his shot though, because the other kids that size for EL – Efe and Bell — don’t have that kind of talent.
Charles Tucker is probably twice as good as any point guard in that class — and there are some good ones.
The deal with Haney is that 6-5 freshmen are supposed to be uncoordinated and goofy-looking.
In my mind this is a case of better player versus better prospect.
But man, Lansing basketball is going to be sweet for years to come.
Oh, no doubt. I think Jackson Lamb, 6-6 kid from Temperance Bedford, may be a top 5 freshman — and when I saw him he missed like 10 layups.
bro….Cha Cha twice as good as any point guard in that class? Cmon…I have seen him go up against Derick Walton from Detroit Superfriends (Haney’s AAU teamate) in the AAU tournament and get eaten alive. Cha Cha is very good, but in my opinion really no different than all those other smallish point guards including Derick Walton *(now at Chandler Park Academey starting as a Freshman) and Khalil Fielder (Starting at Pershing)….Not to mention if you are under 6’0 and cannot shoot the 3 (which right now Tucker cant…look at his season stats) your ceiling isnt very high. Im not saying he cant get a jumper, but to be honest he did not look good Tuesday night. East Lansing had a little guard, Sophmore Tracy Edmonds that was locking him up….just my opinion….keep working everyone.
Tucker’s skill level is absolutely out of this world. Fielder is good, but he’s not close to Tucker in my opinion. I’ve not seen Walton, so I will reserve judgement. Honestly, I’ve never seen a freshman point guard with his skill and poise.
And with all due respect, I’ve heard countless stories about this player or that player pulverizing a big name and, quite frankly, I always take it with a grain of salt. Trumpeting AAU results is fine unless you’ve got someone who’s getting it done as a freshman on the biggest stage like Tucker.
Re: Gorshe
I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I saw that happen a couple seasons ago with Patrick Ellison at Burton Bentley.
Thomas Jean was giving Hamady the BIZ.
Yeah, I had a girl play on hers when I was at Central. Docs say if they can tolerate the pain, then its no harm when it is already torn completely. I am not so sure if getting the surgery done now wouldn’t be the best way to try to be ready for next year…
Yeah, I was way off on Eastern. I’m just a hater at heart.
And I like Haney more than Tucker, but that might be because there are so many excellent freshmen point guards in the Flint area alone. Tucker is the tops at that spot, but I’ve never seen a freshman wing like Haney. In reference to those missed lay-ups by Bedford, if it were Haney, about half of those would have been dunks — the kid has hops. That’s not to say that down the line I won’t be singing a different tune, but right now I’m really impressed by Haney Jr.
lansing also got a very good freshman on jv named brian morton jr 6’1 point guard talk to the coaches he’s moving up next week,cha cha and dis kid is going to make a very good combonation watch out for the quakers
Where do you think Sanchez will end up?
Just remember this Name: 6’6″ LaClifford Kelly from Jackson, Mi via Chicago, Illinois. class of 2013 people….. The real deal but not playing on a center (inside post demanding) team at jackson, High which can be a problem. But makes himself known on the AAU circuit.