Detroit Redford’s Dion Harris, Rivals.com’s No. 16 player overall and one of U-M’s three signees from the Class of 2003, has been named Mr. Basketball for the state of Michigan. Harris edged Detroit DePorres point guard (and MSU-bound) Brandon Cotton, earning 555 points to Cotton’s 503, to become Michigan’s first Mr. Basketball winner since Murray Wright’s Robert Traylor won the award in 1995.

Harris also became the first Mr. Basketball winner in five years to not have signed with Michigan State.

“I was surprised when Coach [Derrick McDowell] told me I’d won,” Harris told the Detroit Free Press. “There was talk out of the state and the city that Brandon Cotton was close. He won the Catholic League championship, and we didn’t win the PSL. So I was surprised and excited when I heard I won.”

Harris and Redford were beaten by 2004 U-M commitment Joe Crawford and Detroit Renaissance last month in the PSL final, then shocked in a state Class A regional game by PSL foe Detroit Mumford, a team it had beaten twice during the season.

Yet voters had seen enough to convince them that Harris was the choice as Michigan’s best high school basketball player. Harris averaged 24.6 points and 8.7 rebounds for Redford this season after leading his team to the state finals last year, where it lost to Lester Abram’s Pontiac Northern team in the championship game.

Harris led his school to its first ever PSL title as a sophomore, and has taken his game to another level each year since. Now, he’ll be U-M’s ninth player to have won the Hal Schram Mr. Basketball Award in the 23 years of its existence, joining Robert Henderson (1982, Lansing Eastern), Antoine Joubert (1983, Detroit Southwestern), Glen Rice (1985, Flint Northwestern), Terry Mills (1986, Romulus), Michael Talley (1989, Cooley), Chris Webber (1991, Country Day), Willie Mitchell (1994, Pershing), and Traylor (1995, Murray Wright).

Points for the Mr. Basketball award are dished out on a 5-3-1 basis; five points for a first-place vote, three points for second, and one for third. Harris captured 77 first place votes to 63 for Cotton, allowing both to outdistance third place Drew Naymick of North Muskegon (252 points). Flint Southwestern’s Brandon Bell and Flint Northwestern’s Olu Famutimi rounded out the top five.

McDowell said the award was much deserved, but added Harris will get even better as he continues to learn how to play harder.

“When I first saw him play in the eighth grade, I knew he had great potential,” said McDowell. “The only question would be how hard he would play. I knew my challenge wouldn’t be to improve his skill, but challenging him to play hard. He’s not quite there yet, but he’s getting better.”