Fran Fraschilla is the latest Manny Harris fan. Fraschilla had the chance to work the Nike Skills Academies and listed Manny Harris as one of the three college players who impressed him.

Manny Harris at the Paul Pierce camp was very good. He has a very compact game that does not waste a lot of energy. He can shoot the ball obviously and that is a strength but has the quickness to get by you [opposing players].

What I like most about the college counselors is that they are all highly regarded by ESPN and the rest of the media. They come to a camp like this, check their egos at the door and they allow you to coach them. That is probably the greatest thing about the group of counselors every year is that they allow you to coach them.

This has been a successful summer for Manny and it seems like he is drawing the type of attention you would expect from scouts.

Brundidge Dominates Peach Jam

Carlton Brundidge tore up the 16-U Peach Jam bracket as he led the Family to a championship in Georgia. Brundidge is a scoring machine and once he gets going he scores points in a hurry. The only issue with Carlton is that he is a 6-foot-2 shooting guard more than a point guard. His abilities alone are too good to pass up, here’s ESPN:

2011 prospect Carlton Brundidge (Southfield, Mich.) slashed and shot his way to 27 big points in the U-16 final. Brundidge knifed through the defense to score on strong drives. He is a capable shooter from long range, but he is at his best punishing opponents on his way to the basket. When he gets a head of steam with the ball in his hands, the defense gets out of his way. He was able to get a lot done by sprinting the wing hard in transition. He plays with relentless energy and passion, and refuses to be denied when he wants to score — even gathering his own misses for putbacks. It is also important to point out that Brundidge continued to make plays on both ends of the floor even in a stretch during the first half when his shot was not falling.

Jonathan Arledge

Jonathan Arledge is a 6-foot-9 220 pound big man from the Washington, D.C. area. Arledge has apparently played his way onto Michigan’s recruiting radar this summer. The 2010 big man has played so well over the last few weeks that he has apparently earned a Michigan offer:

The race to get involved with Jonathan Arledge continues to pick up steam. Fresh off his eye-opening performance at the Reebok Summer Classic, the 6-foot-9 PF/C from KIMA near DC has received offers from Penn State and Michigan. Georgetown and Providence have also been taking an interest.

A little Google stalking of Mr. Arledge yields an article from ESPN RISE Mag that details his explosion onto the recruiting scene. Here’s what Jonathan had to say in the article:

“I want to play forward in college. I think I have the skills to play there, instead of center, even though I’m 6-9,” Arledge told ESPNRISE.com. “I’m working on my dribbling, shooting and my perimeter defense. I think I have a good basketball IQ, but I’ve only been playing basketball for a few years, so I’m still learning parts of the game. But I feel like I have improved a lot the last couple of years.”

“Academics, the college’s graduation rate for basketball players, those are two things I’m looking at,” Arledge added. ‘I’m also looking at the team’s style of play, the coach, does the coach care about his players, stuff like that too.”

RecruitRecon.com recently saw Arledge in action at the Hoop Group Summer Classic in Jersey and they came away very impressed.

The lefty’s all around ability was evident early on in the contest.  Jonathan caught everyone’s attention when he jammed the ball home after a quick move on the interior.  That showed just how athletic and explosive he can be.  Shortly after that, he went outside and hit a three pointer.  He continued to dominate from everywhere on the floor.  Jonathan finished very well inside, including a couple more athletic dunks.  His hands are outstanding too.

Jonathan’s wing skills are what were really surprising.  In addition to the early three pointer, he hit another jumper from beyond the arc and two more from just inside it.  He can handle the ball too and even hit a runner in the lane.  He battled on the boards and cleared a number of rebounds as well.  Defensively, Jonathan flashed his athletic ability one more time as he blocked a shot.

RecruitRecon also posted an older report as well.

Tyler Olander

The skilled big man who is headed to Worcester Academy continues to impress as well. RecrutingRecon got a chance to see him this week:

This skilled forward really impressed us.  Tyler is tough and looks to attack off the bounce.  He goes at the rim and isn’t afraid of contact.  On the interior, he hit a hook shot and crashed the boards and scored on several putbacks.  He can handle and had several excellent drives to the basket.  Tyler finished well with contact and that led to an old fashioned three point play on one occasion.  He stepped outside and nailed a three pointer as well, although he airballed another one from deep.  It was an outstanding day for Tyler though.

Sam Thompson

Sam Thompson is another new target who has apparently earned himself an offer ($). Thompson is a super-athletic 6-foot-7 class of 2011 wing forward from the Chicago area. Thompson plays AAU ball for the same Mac Irvin Fire club as recent Michigan commitment Tim Hardaway Jr (although they play in different age groups).

IllinoisHSBasketball.com recently profiled Thompson in a piece that will get you up to speed in a hurry. However Thompson is another guy who has taken his game to the next level in a hurry and his recruitment will undoubtedly heat up over the coming weeks and months.

Illinois Prep Bullseye reports that Thompson has made great strides in improving his shooting range and it has taken his game to a new level and also that Oregon State might be in the lead for Thompson’s services. The bad news for Michigan fans is that it appears that Michigan didn’t make the cut down to 14 teams according to a video update from Illinois HS Basketball:

Casey Prather was named MVP at the River City Showdown AAU tournament. This tidbit from the championship game should be enough to make you drool.

With six minutes or so remaining in the River City Showdown 17 and under championship game the 6′5 rising senior crossed up his defender and flew to the bucket for a two handed devastatingly nasty flush.

The momentum seemed to be the spark to propel the Nashville Celtics past the Louisiana Future 84-77 and bring home the ’ship from inaugural event.

Reading through TN Prep Hoops’ updates throughout the tournament, it seems like Prather routinely scored 20 points or so per game while carrying the Celtics. The mission is still to get Prather on campus and you can be sure that the Michigan staff is doing everything in their power to try to make that happen.

Latest on Patrick-Lucas-Perry

Full Court Preps caught up with 2011 point guard recruit Patrick Lucas-Perry for a nice video interview. PLP has visited Stanford and has plans to visit Wake Forest as well. PLP admits that Michigan has a little advantage because of his brother playing in Ann Arbor, he also mentions that he has offers from Michigan and Michigan State.

FCP also posted a recent interview with Austin Etherington as well.

Times Set for Big Ten/ACC Challenge

The times for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge have been announced. Michigan will take on Boston College on Wednesday, December 2nd at 7:30 PM on ESPN2. This appears to be good news all around. Michigan avoids ESPNU and they avoid a 9 P.M. tip off.

Tim Hardaway Jr. played very well in a Chicago AAU tournament. So well in fact that the Sun Times high school basketball writers think he would be the #3 prospect in Illinois.

Speaking of the Mac Irvin Fire, the Hoops Report continues to be impressed with Tim Hardaway, Jr. The Class of 2010 2-guard out of Miami will be a perfect fit at Michigan. If Hardaway were in the state of Illinois he would certainly be one of the top five prospects in the senior class and probably check in at No. 3 overall behind Richmond and Leonard.

For reference, here is a list of Rivals top 150 players from the state of Illinois:Jereme Richmond (22), Meyers Leonard (61),  Crandall Head (86), Anthony Johnson (88), Brandon Spearman (100), Lavonte Dority (115), Reggie Smith (117), Lenzelle Smith (118), Alex Rossi (129).  Saying that Hardaway would be the #3 prospect in the state is quite impressive with that company.

Bullets

• Trey Zeigler was named to ESPN’s first team after the LeBron James events.  He was chosen ahead of Harrison Barnes, the nation’s #1 player, who ended up on the 2nd team.
• Spencer Turner continues to play well on the AAU circuit, he earned his first D1 offer over the weekend from IPFW.
• Justin Gant looked good at the Kentucky HoopFest, Etherington didn’t do much but still is drawing plenty of interest.
• The Michigan staff was at the Summer Classic East in New Jersey and watched Dwaun Anderson play twice. Northstar BBall has been impressed with Anderson, calling him one of the most exciting players at the Hoop Group camp. Anderson lists offers from Utah and Central Michigan as well as interest from Michigan and Michigan State however he lists his dream school at MSU.
  
• Go Blue Wolverine posted a series of videos from Elite/Team Camp (all premium): Matt Vogrich, Darius Morris, Blake McLimans, Eso Akunne.
• Allen Payne played very well at the Kentucky Hoop Fest, he scored over 20 points in an overtime win over Common Bond.
• Inside the Hall caught up with the Indiana duo of younger brothers Marshall Plumlee and Cody Zeller.
• John Beilein was at the Basketbull Invitational in Springfield, Mass on Sunday. He was reportedly checking out 6-foot-8 wing man Tyler Olander. Olander’s brother attends Fairfield and Olander attends Worcester Academy and is apparently repeating his junior year and will become a 2011 recruit (recent ESPN scouting report).
• Terry Mills wants to get into coaching college hoops.
• The Free Press has a nice article about the organization required to successfully cover the entire AAU circuit on the recruiting trail.

• Brandan Kearney played very well with Team Detroit at the Hoosier Shootout. Kearney hit a buzzer beating three point shot and foul to send Team Detroit’s semi-final game into overtime but they eventually fell in double overtime. Kearney impressed Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State coaches who were there. He impressed Ohio State so much that Thad Matta officially offered him a scholarship.
• Speaking of Kearney, both he and Percy Gibson received offers from Michigan State last week when they visited East Lansing.
• Spencer Turner is putting on a shooting clinic, the 6-foot-3 guard knocked down 8 triples en route to a 28 point game at the Kentucky HoopFest. According to Jody Demling, Turner said he is hearing most from Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan and noted his “relationship with Indiana is growing.”
• The Nate Lubick decommitment story is a wild one. Click here for the latest report from NBE. At this point it’s hard to believe that Lubick isn’t going to decommit at some point because these things typically come from somewhere.
• This is old news now but Roy Marble Jr. will play his college ball at Iowa.
• The Reebok All-American Camp and Kentucky HoopFest will continue this weekend before the Peach Jam kicks off Sunday in Georgia. The 2011 hot board will be posted this weekend as well, so check in for that.

There have been reports surfacing that Nate Lubick will open up his recruitment. He said, “That isn’t true.”

What gives? I would assume there will be more fall out from this, but at this point a quote from Lubick is pretty firm evidence that Nate is still committed at this point. But “that isn’t true” isn’t quite “I’m still firmly committed to Georgetown”. I wouldn’t be surprised if something more came of this.

I don’t expect Michigan to jump back into this recruitment but this is newsworthy none-the-less. As we all know, Nate Lubick was one of the top targets on Michigan’s recruiting board for a long time before his recruitment fizzled and he committed to Georgetown. With Evan Smotrycz in the fold and only one scholarship to give, I’m just not sure how much sense it makes for Michigan to pursue Lubick once again. I’m sure we will find out shortly as more news breaks.

In a related note, it’s pretty remarkable how far the Michigan basketball landscape has shifted since Lubick committed to Georgetown on October 7th, 2008. Recruits (Lubick and Byrd) were choosing other schools because Michigan hadn’t “proven” they could win. Matt Vogrich and Darius Morris had confidence and joined the party but Michigan was still coming off of a 22 loss season. 21 wins and a few commitments later, the picture looks lightyears better from top to bottom.

More recruiting talk for today because that’s the time of year… I think these bullet posts are the most efficient way to provide a rundown, especially with lots of scouting information on the internet. This can also serve as an open thread so feel free to post any links and comments. The 2011 hot board should be completed by this weekend.

• Sam Webb was in Ohio for the LeBron James festivities and posted a great update in the Detroit News. There is some Manny Harris and DeShawn talk as well as some Trey Zeigler and Evan Smotrycz information. The highlight is that Zeigler wants to cut his list to five this August and then take his five official visits. NBA Draft.net was also impressed with Manny’s abilities.
• Evan Smotrycz can play. Dave Telep knows it’s true ($), even Spartan Mag’s Jim Comparoni had kind words about Evan’s game. SpartanMag posted some video as well ($). NBE breaks down Evan’s game: “he showed off some nice range from beyond the arc. He looked like a member from of the Notre Dame basketball squad with his constant lining up on the three point line—but he did connect out there for the most part. Evan also dropped a few, pretty dimes, including a no look to Roscoe Smith for the easy layup early in the second half.”
• Trey Zeigler is also playing well at the LeBron camps. Trey is essentially the perfect Manny replacement, with his athleticism and offensive abilities he is the perfect fit on the wing. NBE called him an old school type of player and also described an impressive “and-1″ basket.  ESPN was impressed: “Trey Zeigler (Mount Pleasant, Mich.) was terrific in the open court; he made plays in the passing lanes that turned into easy fast-break baskets. Zeigler made excellent decisions on the break. He made great passes to teammates ahead of him, and when the defense approached out of control, he got to the rim and finished. Zeigler displayed the ability to see the entire court, and rebounded on the defensive glass, after which he was a threat to go coast-to-coast and finish above the rim.”
• The Indiana Elite lost in the 16U final of the adidas It Takes 5 but Spencer Turner posted 21 points (7 threes) in the 79-76 championship loss.
• Carlton Brundidge had his moments at King James but apparently was a little up and down. NBE reports: “Carlton showed a great stutter step one way and fooled his defender, then drove the other side for the easy layup. Also displayed a great fake pass and drive to the lane to draw the foul. He can be rather reckless on drives at times. Seems it’s either a turnover or great play for the basket.”
• Ray McCallum can “effect the game without scoring“.
• Moses Morgan still appears to be an Indiana lean and was reportedly up and down in Cleveland.
• Devin Oliver is playing in the Saginaw Hoopfest this weekend.
• The 2011 hot board is almost done, it will be up by this weekend.