Sept. 27 Basketball Recruiting Updates
Michigan is one of three finalists for recruit Chris Hunter of Gary (Ind.) West Side, the 6-11 power forward/center recently told the Munster (Ind.) Times. The other two schools Hunter is considering are reportedly Ohio State and Seton Hall.
Earlier this month Hunter told The Wolverine that he was considering Illinois, Seton Hall, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Ohio State and, to a lesser extent, Indiana.
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"I see a better opportunity at some of these other schools," Hunter told the Times. "It's probably going to come down to which gives the best opportunity. Most of the schools are fairly equal in facilities and coaches and all that stuff."
Michigan has been after Hunter as long as any other school on his list, and had an in-home visit with him this week. Hunter is ranked No. 64 nationally by Prep Spotlight, No. 73 by the All-Star Report, No. 89 by Rivals Hoops, No. 92 by Blue Chip Hoops, No. 94 by School Sports, and No. 100 by Prep Stars Recruiter's Handbook.
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CNNSI.com recently published an update, courtesy of BlueChipHoops.com, on massive 6-11 center Julius Lamptey of Oklahoma City Northeast. Lamptey plans to take all five of his official visits, and Michigan is among the destinations he has selected.
In addition to U-M, Lamptey will also visit Illinois, Georgia, Cincinnati and Washington. Nearby Oklahoma State will receive an unofficial visit, due to the NCAA's limitation of five officials per player.
No decision is expected for quite some time, though. "I'll start making my official visits once basketball season starts," said Lamptey. "I should be finished up by March sometime."
In other words, Lamptey plans to wait until the spring signing period to ink with a school, passing over the increasingly popular early signing period in November.
Lamptey is ranked No. 61 nationally by Blue Chip Hoops, No. 61 by PrepStars.com, No. 68 by Hoop Scoop, No. 69 by SchoolSports.com, No. 97 by the All-Star Report, and No. 104 by PrepSpotlight.com.
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Last weekend at the Charlie Weber Invitational in Maryland, PrepStars.com spoke with Michigan target Travis Garrison. The 6-9 power forward from Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic told the publication that he has trimmed his list of schools.
"The final three are Maryland, Michigan and Miami (Fla.)," Garrison said. As he has told The Wolverine in the past, he stated that the Terrapins are his leader, but added that he is not quite ready to commit yet.
"I just need a little more time to think about it," Garrison explained. "I'm taking a visit (to Maryland) next weekend (i.e., Sept. 28-30) and going to get even more information."
Although Garrison has said that he will not commit during his Maryland visit, it could simply be a matter of time. He has unofficially visited Michigan and Miami, but has yet to schedule an official visit to either school.
The Wolverines remain interested in bringing Garrison to campus for an official visit, but his Maryland trip may prove to be his last.
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July was a breakout month for Brandon Cotton. The 6-1 junior point guard from Detroit DePorres had been rising in the esteem of Michigan talent evaluators for some time, but it was in July that he grabbed the attention of national recruiting services.
PrepSpotlight.com recently featured an interview it conducted with Cotton, who is ranked No. 12 in his class nationally by PrepStars.com, No. 13 by SchoolSports.com, and No. 18 by Prep Spotlight. "It's still real early to pick schools but I must say that I do like Michigan State a lot," Cotton said.
"I also like Michigan, Purdue, UNLV, Louisville, Iowa, Missouri, U of Detroit, North Carolina, Duke, and Miami (Fla.)."
Asked to discuss his game, Cotton said, "I think my quickness is a good part. I can really score almost any time I want so I would have to say my ability to score is the best part. That or my ball handling. My passing is getting better too." He identified defense and physical strength as two areas in which he would like to improve.
Also earlier this week, Michigan Preps made a couple of bold predictions as to the college choices of Cotton and the state's consensus No. 1 junior, 6-4 Dion Harris of Detroit Redford. "Harris will end up at Michigan, Cotton at Michigan State," wrote Michigan Preps' Steve Bell.
In the same article, Bell also cited recent comments by 2002 U-M commitment Lester Abram of Pontiac (Mich.) Northern. "He raved about future teammate Daniel Horton," the article said, "and, while he couldn't promise anything about the coming 2001-02 season, promised that in two years, it's on."
Harris and Cotton are both serious recruiting targets of Michigan's in the Class of 2003.
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