48 - Monday, February 5, 2007

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The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

RECRUITS - Amaker's future tied to Class of 2011

From page lB
to listen."
Legion, also 6-foot-4,is aslightly
different type of guard than Har-
ris. At 200 pounds, he's big enough
to handle contact inside, and he's
a deadly 3-point shooter. And he's
enjoying success at the highest
level of high school basketball.
Legion starred for local prep
school Detroit CountryDay his first
three years of high school, where
both Chris Webber and Shane Bat-
tier played high school basketball.
He then transferred to nationally
known Oak Hill Academy in Mouth
of Wilson, Va. Oak Hill is regard-
ed as the premier basketball prep
school in the country, and it's pro-
duced NBA stars Tracy McGrady
and Carmelo Anthony.
But in an environment where
most players are likely to move
onto Division-I college basketball,
Legion has continued to outshine
the rest. Earlier this season in a
nationally televised game, Legion
led Oak Hill with 23 points in a loss
te-Simeon High School (Ill.).
~The duo of Harris and Legion
could turn into one of the best
gooard combinations in college bas-
llOball. Jerry Meyer, the senior
brsketball analyst for Rivals.com,
believes Harris and Legion could
1i8 a perfect match on the basket-
bail court.
-"I think they have skills that
cImplement each other," Meyer
sVd. "Legion is a very good shoot-
er-and a very good shooter off the
d(ibble. He knows how to create

space, and he has the size to shoot
over his man.
"Corperryale, he's just one of
those guys who always seems to
be making an impact on the game
in a lot of different ways. He has a
knack for coming up with the ball
and scoring. He just has a great feel
for the game."
Things used to be different for
Michigan's basketball program.
During the 15 years preceding
the current eight-season drought,
the Wolverines were an NCAA
Tournament regular. Over that
stretch, Micbigan missed The
Dance just three times. And these
weren't one-and-done appearanc-
es. The Wolverines lost just twice
in the first round. They made it to
the Sweet 16 or further five times,
including two consecutive losses in
the championship game (1992 and
1993) and a national title in 1989.
There had to be some driv-
ing force behind those 15 years
of teams. It wasn't a legendary
coach; the 15-year run was made
under the guidance of three dif-
ferent head coaches. And it wasn't
a specific athletic director, because
Michigan had six of them in that
15-season span.
That driving force was NBA-cal-
iber talent.
Glance at the rosters of those 15
years, and it's a who's who of Mich-
igan basketball greats. Roy Tarpley,
Loy Vaught, Glen Rice, Chris Web-
ber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose,
Maurice Taylor and Robert Traylor
all played extensively in the NBA,

some to great acclaim.
Recent Wolverines are notice-
ably absent from the current NBA
landscape. During its eight-year
absence from the NCAA Tourna-
ment, Michigan has produced just
two players who currently grace
NBA rosters (New York Knicks
guard Jamal Crawford and Char-
lotte Bobcats guard Bernard Rob-
inson, Jr.).
To be fair, some of those NCAA
Tournament misses were due to
sanctions resulting from illegal
recruiting during that successful
15-year run. Those sanctions, and
even the probations that followed,
are now complete. They can't be
used as a crutch any longer for a
program that's clearly not even the
best in the state anymore. That dis-
tinction deservedly belongs to Tom
Izzo and Michigan State.
The Wolverines have been close
to breaking the run of postseason
failures, most recently with last
season's 22-11 squad. But without
a primetime performer to carry
the team down the stretch, Michi-
gan has found it troublesome to get
over that proverbial hump that is
the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Even during Michigan's current
drought, it hasn't been for a lack of
nationally ranked recruits donning
the maize and blue.
Current seniors Dion Harris and
Courtney Sims were highly regard-
ed high school players. And last
season's leading scorer, Daniel Hor-
ton, was considered a can't-miss
prospect out of Texas. But all three

have failed to live up to their repu-
tations out of high school. None has
played in the NCAA Tournament,
and none has reached All-Ameri-
can status.
According to Meyer, Legion
and Harris may be Amaker's best
recruits during his six-year tenure.
But will their potential translate to
college-level success?
"I think Harris and Legion are
ready to play and make an impact
right away," Meyer said. "I don't
think you're going to have to wait
around for those guys. It will be
interesting to see."
But what made Harris and
Legion pick Michigan over the
endless list of possible suitors? It
couldn't have been the Wolverines'
recent performance on the court.
And Amaker certainly isn't the best
at recruiting in-state talent.
This year's college basketball
powers are littered with players
from Michigan who are starring at
schools outside of the state. Flori-
da forward Al Horford, Kentucky
guard Joe Crawford and guards
Tajuan Porter and Malik Hairston of
Oregon were all heavily pursued by
Amaker and his staff in past years.
"You are going to get criticized if
you don't go after top players, and
then you get criticized when you
don't get them, when you try to get
guys that are out of your reach,"
Meyer said. "It is hard to recruit at
the level Michigan wants to recruit
at if you haven't been winning at a
high level. The type of kids you do
have to get when you are a strug-
gling program is the in-state guys."
For Harris, the desire to stay
close to home was the deciding
factor. He usually has 20 to 30
family members at each of his
games, and he wanted to make
sure they would all still be able
to watch him play at the next
level.
"We have a big family, and we
wanted him close to home," said
James Carter, Harris's father.
"Everybody likes to participate
and go to the games and show
support."
It also didn't hurt that current
Michigan senior Dion Harris, of
norelation,also starred at Detroit
Redford. The two have talked on
a regular basis about Michigan
and what it would be like.
"Manny used to go to (Michi-
gan) and talk to Dion, and Dion
came (to Redford) a couple of
times and talked to Manny,"
Carter said. "So Dion did have a
lot of impact on the decision."
Legion's decision was more
complicated. After originally
committing to Michigan during
his junior year, Legion backed
out immediately following the
Final Four last April. Recruiting
websites had him drawing seri-
ous interest from powerhouses
like North Carolina, Kansas and
UCLA. At that point, it seemed
inevitable that the Wolverines
would lose one of their most tal-
ented recruits.
But luckily for Michigan,
Harris's commitment convinced

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4
4

ALLISON GHAMAN/De
Michigan recruit Manny Harris will look to restore the past glory tothe Michigan
basketball program with the help of Oak Hill Academy star Alex Legion.

Legionthat the Wolverines were an
up-and-coming program - at least
in recruiting terms.
"They didn't really have anyone
in that class when I first commit-
ted," Legion said. "When Manny
committed, that gave me more
of a sense to go back because it's
another player who complements
my game real well."
Amaker has faced mounting
criticism recently concerning his
inability to lead the Wolverines
to an NCAA Tournament berth.
Following last Wednesday's loss
to Iowa, the media had a feeding
frenzy on the man who led Michi-
gan out of the dark days of NCAA
sanctions. Many were calling for
athletic director Bill Martin to fire
the coach.
But if he is fired or forced to
resign, the Wolverines could lose
out on two players who have the
talent to finally give Michigan the
NCAA Tournament berth it so
desires.
Even though both Harris and
Legion have signed National Let-
ters of Intent, they are allowed to
renege on those contracts if Amak-
er is not the coach. However, they
would both have to sit out next sea-
son if they took that path.
Harris said he's committed to
Michigan no matter who the coach
is. But with Legion, his agreement
may be contingent on Amaker still
holding the reigns.
"Coach Amaker had a lot to do
with me coming to Michigan,"
Legion said. "Him and my mom

are real close. His charisma and
his personality are what brought
me to Michigan. If he's not there,
it would kind of hard for me to stay
because he's one of the big reasons
why I decided to come there."
And in Amaker's defense, he has
shown the ability to recruit, espe-
cially with Harris and Legion, at a
high level while also steering clear
of NCAA violations. That is some-
thing the successful Michigan
teams of the past can't claim.
So the Wolverines face a big
dilemma. Fire Amaker because he
hasn't been successful on the court,
and Michigan faces the real pos-
sibility of losing out on a top-flight
in-state recruit. Keep Amaker, and
the team could wallow in contin-
ued mediocrity.
The Wolverines' class of 2007
recruits, which also includes Kel-
vin Grady, a point guard out of East
Grand Rapids, could turn out to be
the best thing for Michigan basket-
ball since the Fab Five arrived on
campus.
But with four seniors graduating
from this year's team, Michigan
fans will find out quickly if Corper-
ryale Harris and Alex Legion will
lead a basketball renaissance in
Ann Arbor.
"I want to bring the tradition
back," Legion said. "I think that's
why (Manny and I) decided to stay
in the state: to bring Michigan bas-
ketball back to the top."
Maybe then the Wolverines can
find a new home away from home
- on top of the national rankings.

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