- Michigan
STATE CHAMPS! SCOUT TEAM: Basketball Recruiting Notebook — Baylis bets on Denver, Jackson to Ferris St.
Baby Nash is ready for some Rocky Mountain balling.
Flint Powers senior point guard Noah Baylis committed to University of Denver this week. Baylis was nicknamed “Baby Nash” as a freshman at Holly for the similarity of his game to retired NBA MVP floor general Steve Nash. While at Holly for his first two years of high school ball, he played for his dad, Lance, the architect of the Holly hoops resurgence of the late 2000s and 2010s. When Baby Nash was a sophomore, he led the Flint Metro Conference in scoring with 22 points per game. Last winter, he helped take Powers to a district title and a trip to the Class B regional finals.
Denver is a Division I program competing out of the Summit League. Rodney Billups, brother of Detroit Pistons all-time great Chauncey Billups, is the Pioneers head coach. His top assistant his former U-D Mercy head coach and University of Michigan assistant Bacari Alexander.
He’s going to be a Bulldog
Harper Woods senior wing Curtis Jackson recently committed to DII power Ferris State. The 6-foot-6 Jackson averaged 20 points and eight rebounds per game in 2020.
Taking their talents to the MIAA
Macomb Dakota shooting guard Joey Tocco will be playing his college hoops at Albion and Howell’s point guard Bobby Samples is ready to be a Hornet and committed to Kalamazoo. Tocco’s brother Mark (aka “the Magic Wand”) plays quarterback for the Albion football team. Samples and his Howell club made a run into the Division 1 final four last season, falling to eventual state-champion Ypsilanti Lincoln.
Offers of note
River Rouge forward Legend Geeter snagged a Georgetown offer last weekend. Geeter, a true workhorse of a hoopster, will be a Mr. Basketball candidate next year, and is a finalist for the STATE CHAMPS! All-Junior team.
Grand Rapids North Pointe Christian guard Sam Vasiu picked up an offer from Grand Valley State this week.
— SCOTT M. BURNSTEIN
