The Hoop Group has a great update on the Fall Jam Fest, an annual tournament which includes teams from across the northeast. There were quite a few Michigan targets in attendence including a few we have heard plenty about and a few who have been a little off the radar.Â
You can’t talk Michigan east-coast recruiting without Nate Lubick. Lubick’s New England Playaz team was in attendence at the Jam Fest however his play was restricted by an early ankle injury.  When talking schools Lubick listed Georgetown, Michigan Virginia, Stanford, and Wake Forest as the ones “coming on him the hardest”.
The most interesting quote for me is that when asked if Lubick had a “dream school” he answered  “not really“, of course he doesn’t say who but Lubick has been rumored a Michigan lean for a while now… The 2010 power forward is due on campus for the upcoming Wisconsin game.Â
Pennsylvania top 100 (2010) shooting guard Cameron Ayers also lists Michigan as one of his top 2:
 “I like Georgetown [and] Michigan so far. That’s really it.â€
Ayers is injured and didn’t play this weekend but Google stalking yielded some video of his Germantown high school team and a post game interview. Also an ESPN scouting report:
He doesn’t force shots, knows when to push tempo and protects the ball with his life. Newcomers will take notice of his range from the permiter, but followers will notice his mid-range game is great. A bonifide shooter, Ayers reads defenses well and comes off screens with a vengance.
Another guy mentioning U-M was Nate Lubick’s teammate, Austin Carroll. Carroll is a guard who plans to reclassify to the class of 2010.
“I’m [going to PG for] a year too, so I’ll be in the class of 2010 . . . somewhere in Class A in New England,†said Carroll, with his reasoning being that he has “been injured since March . . . [and] wants to get another year [and] it won’t hurt either.â€
Carroll listed Michigan and Davidson as his favorites and mentioned a late-September visit (planned for this weekend with Nate Lubick). Here is some jerky video of Carroll’s (#22) team against Devin Ebanks’ team. Here is what ESPN has to say on Carroll:
Austin, the son of former Celtics’ coach John Carroll, is an excellent spot shooter, especially coming off screens. His court IQ and passing ability makes him comfortable at either guard position. Plays his best in a structured offense although his transition game shows progress when he sees the floor on the move. Plays with a lot of determination and savvy.
Austin has a great basketball IQ and makes everyone on the floor better. This combo guard see’s the floor well and play’s hard. A real team player who is also a good shooter and displays great passing skills. He lacks explosiveness on moves to the glass but having said that he is not afraid to put it on the floor and take it to the hoop. Overall, a great teammate who is very unselfish.
Beilein has been hitting both coasts hard, the east coast makes sense because that is where his roots are all the way up the ladder from Erie CC, Nazareth, LeMoyne, Canisius, Richmond, to West Virginia. Beilein is also still working hard on the west coast including recruiting 2009 PF Anthony Stover ($) who just transferred to play with Darius Morris at Windward (he can dunk).
Hopefully the knock that he hasn’t been recruiting Michigan will start to wear off. Especially when you read the recent updates on in state players like Brandan Kearney ($) and Trey Zeigler ($) who are both due in for visits. The only bad news is that Darius Morris had to alter his visit schedule ($) and won’t be in this week with Zeigler and Lubick as was originally planned. Still there is no need to worry about Darius wavering because the kid is true blue.
And finally a don’t forget about me video, this is an interview with Matt Vogrich from this summer:
One more note, the hot board is being redesigned and will be back this week including a complete hot board for the 2010 class.
