Michigan basketball's 2013 recruiting class ranked No. 4 in the country
Michigan basketball coach John Beilein polished off a highly touted 2012 recruiting class when he signed the country's top power forward in Mitch McGary.
And moving forward, Beilein's positive recruiting perception seems to have some staying power.
Scout.com released its early rankings for the top classes of 2013 earlier this week, and Michigan's current four-man crop was ranked No. 4.
Currently, Scout.com's top five classes are North Carolina, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan and Arkansas. Ohio State, Duke, UNLV, Marquette and DePaul round out the top 10.
The Wolverines' have received verbal commitments from Chandler Park Academy point guard Derrick Walton, Hamilton (Ind.) Southeastern shooting guard Zak Irvin, Wayne (Ohio) High School power forward Mark Donnal and Fort Wayne (Ind.) Canterbury guard Austin Hatch.
Walton is rated as the 57th-best prospect in the 2013 class, and holds a four-star rating from Scout.com. Irvin is rated as a four-star player by Rivals.com, but Scout has him with three stars. Both Donnal and Hatch are rated as three-star prospects.
Hatch's basketball status remains up in the air, though, as his family released a statement last month saying it's unlikely the 6-foot-6 guard will play for his high school this season.
After surviving a June plane crash that killed both his father and step mother, Hatch spent four months recovering from injuries at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. He was released from the hospital in October.
As an unsigned prospect, Beilein is prohibited from making public comment on Hatch per NCAA rule.
Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.
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Comments
azwolverine
Sat, Dec 10, 2011 : 6:09 p.m.
Apparently Michigan is set to dominate the B10 (again) in both football AND basketball. It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine...
braggslaw
Sat, Dec 10, 2011 : 3:27 a.m.
too early to really judge right now
johntithof@gmail.com
Sat, Dec 10, 2011 : 12:02 a.m.
To the king about his post. Is our little. brother getting upset. To bad
rocco
Fri, Dec 9, 2011 : 8:07 p.m.
These rankings are misleading for two reasons. Few top members of the 2013 class have made commitments. Of the top 10 ranked teams only North Carolina has two top 20 prospects. None of the other ranked teams has a top 20 player. Michigan has more player commits than any ranked team -- that's the good news. The bad news is that only one of their four commits are ranked among the top 100 players in the country. And, while we are at it, Michigan should stop all this player development stuff. We have very limited players in key positions due to speed, size and skill issues. Having watched Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke play over the holidays, I can see easily the difference between Michigan players and the players of top teams. Beilein has a long way to go.
zeeba
Fri, Dec 9, 2011 : 7:46 p.m.
So one 4-star, a 3.5 star and two 3-stars make up the #4 recruiting class? This says less about U-M's 2013 class and more about how early in the process it is. As things stand, that's good for about 20th unless they bring in some more players. Hopefully Hatch will be able to recover from his injuries and be a contributor, but right now this is shaping up as an ok class without much room for new additions.
Theking28
Fri, Dec 9, 2011 : 5:13 p.m.
Want to know how I know these rankings suck? There is no MSU in the top 10
Buster W.
Fri, Dec 9, 2011 : 8:10 p.m.
Well, then go find a national recognized ranking that has MSU in the their Top 10....let us know when you find it.
razzberry
Fri, Dec 9, 2011 : 5:17 p.m.
Maybe they don't have a top ten class coming in.