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BOYS BASKETBALL RECRUITING: Plummer chooses Youngstown State, gives Class A state-titlist Romulus four D1 signees
ROMULUS – Barely anyone knew the name Jalon Plummer before the start of the 2013 high school basketball season.
As the campaign progressed, he carved out a reputation on the court for national-power Romulus as a skilled and scary perimeter threat.
This week, he got himself to the next level, accepting a scholarship to a Division I college program, committing to Youngstown State of the Horizon League.
Plummer, a 6-foot-5 guard-forward, is the fourth player from the 2013 Class A state-champion Eagles to land at a Division I school, coming on the heels of Wes Clark going to Missouri, E.C. Matthews signing with Rhode Island and Leo Edwards heading off to Louisiana Tech.
Maxpreps.com recently had Romulus rated as a Top 10 team in the country in the website’s end-of-the-season rankings released less than a week ago.
Due to a back injury, Plummer didn’t play as a junior in 2012 and as a result he flew under the radar entering the year.
He’s a deadeye shooter and with long arms and an athletic frame, he does damage on defense and is a finisher in transition.
His “breakout game” was in the annual mega-clash between the Eagles and perennial Class B state-juggernaut Birmingham Detroit Country Day, when he led Romulus to the win on the road with a 24-point, 10-rebound effort, draining 5-of-7 from 3-point distance.
“Jalon put in so much work in the offseason, he was so relentless and to see it paying off now on the court is pretty special,” said Romulus head coach Nate Oats of Plummer. “I gave him the key to the gym and he’d be in there every morning before school working on his jumper. He might have put up more practice shots than any kid I’ve ever coached. That shows his heart and dedication.”
Youngstown State went 18-14 in 2013. The Penguins hold a connection to the Metro Detroit area in assistant coach Steve Hall and players Larry Johnson, Jr. (West Bloomfield) and Shawn Amiker (Ferndale), both set to be juniors in the fall.
Hall won three state titles as a head coach at the high school level with Detroit Rogers and then guided Class A Detroit Northwestern to a PSL crown in 2008, prior to moving up to the college ranks and taking jobs as an assistant at Duquesne and now YSU. Starring himself on the hardwood, first as a prepster in the PSL at Cass Tech and as a collegiate at Washington and Virginia Tech, Hall was Plummer’s primary recruiter.
Johnson, Jr., son of the former NCAA All-American and NBA All-Star of the 1990s, was an all-league pick at West Bloomfield in the late 2000s. Amiker was the leading-scorer and co-captain on a Ferndale club that captured a league championship in 2010.
