Ranking the top players at Meijer Holiday Hoops
EAST LANSING – The Meijer Holiday Hoops Invitational, which took place on Dec. 29 at Breslin Center, is one of the top annual regular season showcases of high school basketball talent in the state.
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The following is our ranking of the top six Division I prospect performances at the four-game event.
The rankings were determined by a combination of Division I potential as well as the performances at Meijer Holiday Hoops in general. For instance, Michigan State commitment Durrell Summers did not have a strong game on the stat sheet at the Meijer Invitational, but the athleticism and talent that made him a national Top 50 recruit was readily apparent.
1. Kalin Lucas, Orchard Lake St. Mary's, Sr., (Michigan State): He caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 18 of his 21 points in the final period in a stirring comeback victory over 2006 Class B semifinalist Flint Southwestern Academy. He was quiet for the first two quarters, and then went 0-for-4 in the third quarter. Lucas had limited opportunities in the first half because after he passed the ball to trigger St. Mary's motion offense, a teammate usually gunned a shot before Lucas ever had a chance to get the ball back.
But in the fourth quarter, Lucas showed the whole package, with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo watching. Lucas shot off the dribble from range or medium range, scored from deep off the jab step, drove and dished. He is strong, fast and fundamentally sound with the dribble to either direction, and can stop, elevate and keep his mechanics together with the 15-foot pull-up.
On defense, Lucas volunteered to guard Anthony 'Noopy' Crater in the last five minutes. Lucas had the energy and passion in reserve to deny the passing lane and prevent Crater from getting the ball on a number of occasions. At crunch time, Crater had to work hard just to get the ball.
Crater could muster only one slashing drive attempt against Lucas. Lucas cut him off at the foul line and Crater missed a 16-footer.
For the game-winner, the 6-foot Lucas surveyed the situation on the fly, refused a high screen to the left, drove right and kicked out to John Tassin for a jumper in the corner. As hot as Lucas was in the late stages, Lucas had the wisdom and unselfishness to make the smart decision in finding a teammate who had a better shot opportunity.
2. Noopy Crater, Flint Southwestern Academy, Jr. (Ohio State): He only scored four points, but most of his high-major skills were there for all to see. And count Ohio State head coach Thad Matta among those who saw him on this night.
Crater's ball handling ability and vision are extraordinary. But is he becoming overly-enamored with the pass? He made only two field goals on 2-of-6 shooting.
Some critics question his shooting ability. He shot well at the MHSAA semifinals last year, but there is no question that he looks to pass first, second and third these days.
The magnetic 6-foot-1, 170-pound Crater delivered some excellent, entertaining passes, making his teammates better. Some of his best passes weren't converted for assists, otherwise he might have had more than a dozen. His unselfishness is obvious.
SpartanMag.com film showed Crater with 11 assists on the night. He probably played well enough to have 15.
Overall, Crater didn't stuff the stat sheet, but he still did enough to show that he has some tools that are possessed by few in his age group in the country.
3. Kelvin Grady, East Grand Rapids, Sr., (Michigan): He was electric in the first half of a blowout against a beleaguered Lansing Sexton team. He scored from range and off the drive. He had 20 at halftime, and could have made a run at 40 if he had felt like it. Instead, he used a comfortable lead in the third quarter as an opportunity to distribute the ball and allow his teammates to get in on the fun.
The 5-foot-10 Grady has proved a lot in the last two months. He was slowed by lower-body injuries as a junior. This year, he has been tough, quick and fast as a football running back and point guard. The sports gods don't make a lot of point guards or running backs. It's extremely rare to find a guy who can do both well enough to earn Division I scholarship attention.
There haven't been many running backs in the state of Michigan over the last five years as good as he was the night of East Grand Rapids' state title victory over Farmington Hills Harrison in November. The strength, toughness and burst that it takes to be a blue chip running back are very much evident when he is on the basketball court. Just watching him accelerate to chase down a loose ball is an eyebrow-raising performance.
I've compared a few players to Eric Snow over the years in terms of toughness, attitude and work ethic. But I've compared very few to Snow in terms of raw burst, and ability to go from zero to 100 on a basketball court. Grady has that kind of sports car horsepower. And he is a much better shooter than Snow was at the same age. But he is four or five inches shorter than Snow, who played a lot of power forward in high school.
Grady is an underrated shooter, and don't forget that he had 14 assists in the Class semifinals last year.
He wasn't always consistent at the AAU level. But if he has a few more performances this winter like he did at the Meijer Holiday Hoops Invitational, there will be fewer and fewer cynics. We will probably get another look at him at Breslin in March. We will be looking more closely at has ball handling and penetration skills at that time. He averaged 14 points and 9 assists in the semifinals and finals last year.
Grady is slated to focus on basketball in college at the University of Michigan.
4. Austin Thornton, Cedar Springs, Sr.: The 6-foot-5 point wing should be jotted down as the most underrated player in Michigan and one of the most underrated players in the Midwest. Central Michigan offered him a scholarship after his sophomore year. He committed to Central Michigan before CMU's coaching change. "But then the new coaching staff came in (for Central Michigan) and he wasn't in their plans," said Cedar Springs coach Andrew Secor.
CMU may live to regret that decision. Meanwhile, others are getting involved. Saint Louis, of the Atlantic 10, had an assistant coach at Breslin scouting Thornton and speaking with him after the game. Butler is increasingly serious about him. Marquette is snooping around, as they should.
Oakland and Fairfield have offered.
"Kent State and Toledo offered in the summer and said, 'Take it or it's gone.' But he wasn't ready," Secor said.
Thornton can shoot from deep, shoot off the dribble, drive and dish. He plays like a watered down Steve Smith, which is a compliment. Translated: He looks like a Big Ten player.
His defense? It's hard to get a read on him when he is playing in the middle of a zone. But that was the smart defense for Cedar Springs to play, avoiding one-on-one matchups with MSU commitment Durrell Summers.
Thornton scored 24 against Redford Covenant Christian in a 67-37 victory.
Thornton was unselfish as a passer, with good court vision and feel for the game. For four years, Izzo tried to get Paul Davis to talk and communicate as a back-line defender as well as Thornton does right now. Thornton is a team guy, a leader, a 4.0 student and a good communicator.
If Thornton is patient, some major conference program will come along and gladly snap him up the way Wake Forest snared Kyle Visser.
5. LaVonte Davis, Flint Southwestern Academy, Sr.: He was an unknown prior to the summer, due partly to past problems with academic eligibility. But SpartanMag.com ushered Davis into the in-state Top 20 at No. 17 heading into the fall due partly to a dominant performance at the Izzo Shootout in June.
He followed it up with a fine showing at the Meijer Holiday Hoops Invitational. He scored 20-plus against Orchard Lake St. Mary's, but missed four free throws in the late going, which aided St. Mary's comeback. Flint SWA had to take him out of the game in order to prevent more hack-a-Shaq tactics.
If Davis had been able to hit free throws, he probably would have scored 30.
Voting for team MVP was done before the free throw problems, and media selected Davis over Crater as Flint SWA's top player on the night. But Davis understandably accepted the award without a smile, still seething about the free throws.
But the rest of his game is strong. He has great feet for a 6-foot-6, 280-pounder. He has great feet for anybody. He gathers the ball, explodes quickly, and goes strong to the rim in an instant, daring anyone to get in his way.
Get in his way if you like, but you probably need a sledge hammer to slow him down.
He is built like former George Mason problem-maker Jai Lewis, but plays more like a high school version of Charles Barkley in terms of style. We're not saying he can elevate like Sir Charles.
Lewis was able to carve out what became a legendary role for himself at George Mason. However, Davis doesn't shoot from the outside like Lewis, nor does he pass like him.
But he is a high-energy brute in the paint and along the baseline.
D-1 coaches can put off evaluating him for now. Academically, he is probably a junior college guy. Judging by his outstanding defensive slide, and I mean outstanding, I can only imagine what he would be like as an offensive lineman or tight end in football. He has an interest in football, but academics have kept him sidelined.
I wouldn't be shocked if he vanished for a few years and then came back somewhere for somebody in some sport, like Antonio Gates did at Kent State, after stints at MSU, EMU and a junior college. I don't think he would be a star in basketball at the college level like Gates was. But Davis could be a quality role player somewhere.
Whereas Gates had the face-up, off-the-dribble, medium range skills to make him a star for Kent State, Davis doesn't have those dimensions. But Davis has enough size, feet, talent and aggression to help somebody somewhere.
It would make sense for him to go to a school where he could play football for a year and then join basketball at mid-season.
For now, Davis is a force at the high school level. He could help lift Flint SWA over the top against the usual crop of top Class B contenders such as Detroit Renaissance and East Grand Rapids.
6. Durrell Summers, Redford Covenant Christian, Sr., (Michigan State): Summers might be a better prospect than anyone on the list, with the possible exception of Lucas. But he had a frustrating game against Cedar Springs. He doesn't have any help from point guards or perimeter shooters and his team is low on inside players.
But he displayed the high-end horsepower a time or two on the break and in the rebounding department. The rare air is enough to land him on this list, despite a difficult night on the scoreboard.
Summers has to do it all for Covenant Christian. But he really isn't a due-it-all type of player right now. He can handle the ball, but like a young Jason Richardson, he isn't the type of guy who can put it on the floor and go 1-on-3.
He can shoot, and has shot well from range in the past, but at this point – again like a young J.R. – he isn't a guy who can space out deeper and deeper and get points from the ozone.
He can face up and slash with a deceptively quick first step. He is moving faster than you think he is, based on how easily he can go past people when they play man-to-man, as campers found out at NIKE in Indianapolis this past summer. But he's so graceful with that move that his speed is deceptive.
Summers was 4-of-16 from the field against Cedar Springs for 14 points in a 67-37 loss while going against a zone that became three-on-Durrell when he caught the ball on the wing and faced up.
Covenant Christian began flashing Summers to the low post against the zone later in the game, but the game was already out of reach by then.
Summers has the skill, height and talent to do damage against that type of zone when catching entry passes at the foul line area, but he didn't get a chance to do that on this day.
Although he had trouble making an impact on the stat sheet, there was one noticeable instance when Summers gathered a loose ball and pushed the break with a strong, fast left-handed dribble down the left wing. You can watch a lot of high school basketball and see only a handful of guys that can run and jump like Summers, and chances are that at age 18 they cannot push an off-handed dribble like he did on this occasion.
Summers has had some big scoring nights in his young career. It would be good to see him dust off his 3-point shooting stroke and see what he can do from range, although Redford Covenant Christian emphasizes higher-percentage shots as a program.
This should give Summers a chance to polish up his off-the-dribble scoring, especially off of one bounce, from 16 feet, a la Alan Anderson. If he can get defenders worrying about range shooting and medium-range pull-ups, that will open avenues to the rim for the type of high-wire dunking he has done in the past, like when he crammed it in over 6-foot-11 Spencer Hawes on two occasions at the 2005 NIKE Camp.
Summers was saddled with bad teammates at the 2006 NIKE Camp, including no point guard and two Chinese guys. And he isn't getting much support from his current high school teammates, although he is supportive of them vocally and otherwise.
On the AAU circuit last summer, he often deferred to uncommitted (at the time) players like Corperryale Harris. Harris, of Detroit Redford and a Michigan commitment, wasn't ranked in the national Top 50 at the time, but has vaulted to No. 36 in the Rivals.com rankings.
Summers is ranked No. 19 in the country by Dave Telep and No. 54 by Rivals.com.
Summers is doing what he can to try to help his team get set for a run in the Class D state tournament. In the process, it would be good to see him get a chance to flash some of the explosiveness that made him rise in the national rankings in the summer of 2005. He's probably not greedy enough.
But when it comes to raw horsepower, he has plenty. And that's a starting point few enjoy.
Others:
So it's no sin that Anyijong still has a lot of work to do. But based on his slope of improvement last winter and into mid-summer, some were expecting him to take it up a major level or two early this season. That hasn't quite happened yet.
Last March, he seemed to be improving by the hour. He averaged 16.5 points and 16 rebounds in two games at the MHSAA Final Four.
A good showing in some summer outings landed him a spot at No. 7 on our in-state Rivals.com rankings. But others, such as teammate Kelvin Grady, are threatening to pass him.
Anyijong is still an "upside" guy, similar to Oklahoma junior Longar Longar at the same stage, although Longar was about an inch taller. Longar is Oklahoma's leading scorer and rebounder this season.
He appeared to be the third-best guard on his team.
He showed a nice right-to-left crossover on a penetration move, although the dribble can get a little too high for this long-armed guard.
He is listed at 5-10, but seems to play taller than that. And he has time to grow.
He showed quick release and good form from deep.
Spirited is the best word I have for him. He seems to like to compete. He doesn't take vacations.
He reminds me of something between Louisville's Brandon Jenkins and Oakland's Johnny Jones, to use a pair of former in-state high schoolers as a barometer.
Searcy was an athletic, above-the-rim finisher prior to his junior year at the 2005 NIKE Camp. But he doesn't seem to display good timing or quality aggression.
Searcy has grown to 6-foot-10. He was around 6-foot-8 in 2005 when he made a few loud plays at the NIKE Camp. But he was quiet at the 2006 NIKE Camp, and didn't stand out at the Meijer Holiday Hoops Invitational.
Although he plays a different position with a different skill set, he is reminiscent of Mike Chappell in that he has become a more awkward player as he has gotten taller. Chappell was a better shooter and had better ball skills as a 6-7 high schooler than he was as a 6-9 college player early in his college career. Chappell might have been a better college player if he hadn't grown past 6-7. Instead, his skills seemed to have trouble keeping up with his growth spurts.
Searcy was never known for fundamental skills. And now that he has grown, the athleticism doesn't show up as much. He will need a redshirt year in college and a driving desire to improve in the gym on his own time.
Crosby commands space at 6-6 and somewhere in the neighborhood of 280. But he doesn't command and demand the ball like he could or should. He needs to be a hog in there at this level.
The intriguing promise he showed as a sophomore role player on Holt's Class A state title team in 2005 has leveled off. He has decent touch and there might be some good footwork in there if he drills and drills in college and reshapes his weight a little bit.
He doesn't get off the floor real good or real quick, but he can make good use of his girth. He has been a championship role player at the high school level in the past. He won't be a star in college. But he could be a serviceable bookend in the MAC if he becomes obsessive about improvement.
We will happily defer to Mr. Bell on Bunn.
Tassin is 6-foot-6 and plays long with a terrific wingspan. He moves okay. He shoots a lot, probably too much. But that mentality helped deliver the game-winning shot.
If he is as enthusiastic about working on his game during the off-season as a college player as he is when he gets a shot opportunity at the high school level, he could develop into a nice weapon. His mechanics will get some work in college.