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Recruiting and other tidbits: Two Detroit area football players announce commitments; Old Redford gets new boys hoops coach
Football News
Two of the top cornerbacks in the state’s Class of 2019 were taken off the board over the weekend with the commitments of Detroit King’s Ahmad Gardner and Harper Woods’ Elija Griffin. They are both 3-star prospects. Gardner (6-2, 175 pounds) committed to Cincinnati and Griffin (5-11, 170 pounds) committed to Toledo.
One of the most undervalued recruits in the state regardless of grade, Gardner turned down offers from the Big Ten (Indiana), Big 12 (Iowa State), SEC (Kentucky) and ACC (Syracuse). Griffin transferred from Detroit East English Village to Harper Woods this past winter. Purdue and Syracuse were his most high-profile offers.
Boys Basketball News
Some big headlines out of Class D power Southfield Christian this last week, as Blue Chip guard Harlond Beverly announced he was heading to prep school for his senior year and assistant coach John White accepted the head coaching gig at Detroit Old Redford Academy.
The 6-4 Beverly led SCS to a state title last season and was considered a frontrunner in the 2019 Mr. Basketball race. He’ll venture down to Florida and enroll at Montverde Academy, the former home of NBA first-rounders Joel Embid, Ben Simmons, and D’Angelo Russell.
White takes over an Old Redford club that lost in the Class B regional finals and returns the best inside-outside combo in the state in point guard Mark (Rocket) Watts and power forward Isaiah Jackson. While at SCS, White was on the bench for all four state titles this decade. As a prepster himself, he won a Class B state championship playing out of the backcourt at now-closed Redford Bishop Borgess in 1998.
Girls Basketball News
Clarkston has hired John Weyer as its new coach in the wake of Christine Rogers resigning after a trip to the Class A quarterfinals in her final campaign. Weyer has been at the helm of The Pr1de AAU program the past five years, mentoring just-graduated Wolfpack hoopsters Kayla Luchenbach (Oakland) and Maddie Beck (Hawaii).
Baseball News
None of the three most-hyped prep baseball players in the state will end their respective high school careers with state titles. Detroit Country Day first baseman John Malcom’s Yellowjackets got bounced in districts. Detroit Western hurler Will English went out in the regional finals, falling 7-5 to U-D Jesuit, and Warren De La Salle third baseman Bryce Bush’s Pilots dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker to Macomb Dakota.
English is off to the pros, getting scooped up in the 5th round of the MLB Draft by the Anaheim Angles. Bush was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 33rd round last week, but will probably be at the college level next year with Mississippi State. Malcom wasn’t drafted because he was adamant about attending Vanderbilt.
Softball News
Junior Oakland University-bound pitcher Olivia Warrington won two from the circle for No. 1-ranked Clarkston over the weekend, fanning 16 in a Division 1 regional final victory over Rochester Hills Stoney Creek. Warrington is a golden 25-2 on the year so far. The Wolves will take on Hartland Tuesday in a quarterfinal hosted by Wayne State.
