By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
Two of the state's top basketball prospects have already signed letters of intent to Michigan's two Big 10 schools. But in the meantime, Derrick Nix of Detroit Pershing and Jordan Morgan of Detroit Jesuit are hoping to help their high school teams win a state title.
Nix, a 6-foot-9, 275-pound center signed recently to play his college ball at Michigan State University.
Last season for Coach A.W. Canada's Pershing squad, Nix averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds game for a squad that was 22-5 and state runners-up. He had 29 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks in a regional title win over Detroit Northwestern. He's rated the No. 56 player in the country by Scout.com.
Canada expects Nix to be even better this winter.
“Derrick has great vision and a great feel for the game,” Canada said. “Those attributes really stand out.”
Nix is working to improve his shooting, Canada said. The Doughboys have plenty of weapons in addition to Nix.
“Hopefully we can do better than last year,” Canada said. “We came one game short. We want the state championship trophy this year.”
Canada said this year's team is different from the 22-5 squad of a year ago.
“We're bigger than we were last year when we were quicker. This year we're bigger and longer,” Canada said.
Pat Donnelly is coaching a Jesuit team that was 11-10 last season.
Morgan, Donnelly said, had eight points and six rebounds in his season debut and picked up a technical foul for arguing a call and another for hanging onto a rim.
Morgan, at 6-8, 235 pounds, has been a three-year starter at Detroit Jesuit High School. Morgan is a McDonald's All-American team nominee. He averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds as a junior and was invited to the 2008 NBA Players Top 100 Camp.
“I'm not looking for him to average anything but I think he's a kid capable of getting 20 points and 10 rebounds for us every night,” Donnelly, said. “If he stays out of foul trouble and continues to work and play as hard as he has since the summer then I think he can have a productive senior year.
Morgan's potential excites Donnelly and his future college coaches.
“He's very young still. He just turned 17 a month ago,” Donnelly said. “Certainly his best basketball is ahead of him. They're going to be very pleasant surprised with what they get out of Jordan.”
More Boys Basketball
* Alex Lyle, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, had a career-high 33 points last weekend in leading Wayland Union past Forest Hills Northern in a battle of Grand Rapids area schools. He had 18 points in the first quarter against FHN.
After two games, Lyle has an average of 27 points per game.
* Korey Vandussen scored 30 points over the weekend in leading Zeeland East to a 66-52 win over Hudsonville. He had four 3-pointers for the game.
Collin Voss had 16 rebounds plus 20 points, with 10 points from the free-throw line, in leading East Grand Rapids past Ottawa Hills 46-42.
Girls Basketball
Lakeview is off to a 5-0 start in girls basketball with the presence of Jentien Silvestro playing no small role in that success. Silvestro had 25 points in one performance against Howard City Tri County.
“I played on a Grand Rapids team this summer,” Silvestro said. “It definitely helped on my game. I feel my offensive game got a lot better, especially my post moves. I got a lot faster from it.”
Wrestling
Defending Division 2 state championship Greenville is 16-0 and so is its 152-pound freshman wrestler Jordan Thomas, who has been a frequent national champion on the junior level.
After his first nine victories, Thomas already had eight pins.
“I'm pretty happy with eight pins right now,” Thomas said. “It will keep getting harder as the year goes on.”
It didn't take long for Thomas to adjust to high school varsity wrestling.
“The transition has been pretty easy,” he said. “I've been working hard all summer in the practice room and weight room.”
