Michigan basketball's 2013 recruiting class keeps rising, now rated No. 2 nationally by ESPN.com
There's no sense in ignoring it, John Beilein has some major momentum going on the recruiting trail.
That momentum was quantified Wednesday when Beilein's four-man 2013 Michigan basketball recruiting class climbed all the way up to No. 2 in ESPN.com's updated ranking.
Michigan basketball recruit Zak Irvin from Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Ind., is rated the No. 61 player in the country by ESPN.
"The Wolverines are not an upper-echelon, battle-with-the-blue-bloods-type of Big Ten power," the site explained when referencing Michigan's class. "But what John Beilein does -- maybe as well as anyone -- is identify players for his specific program.
"That means he lands character guys who play multiple positions and have high basketball IQs."
Presently, three of Michigan's four commits are ranked inside ESPN's Top 100 for 2013.
Harper Woods Chandler Park Academy point guard Derrick Walton, a four-star player, leads the way at No. 40 overall. Zak Irvin, a four-star wing from Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Ind., comes in at No. 61. Four-star power forward Mark Donnal from Anthony Wayne High Schools in Whitehouse, Ohio, is close behind at No. 65.
Michigan's fourth commit for 2013 is Fort Wayne, Ind. shooting guard Austin Hatch.
The Wolverines currently have the top class in the Big Ten for 2013, per ESPN, and trail only top-ranked North Carolina nationally.
Kansas, Marquette and Indiana round out the top five.
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
BillMK
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 4:13 a.m.
"(C)haracter guys who play multiple positions and have high basketball IQs." Amidst all the thugs, one-and-dones, and such who are too numerous in college sports, this is about the best thing I could hear!
81wolverine
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 11:44 a.m.
Congratulations to Coach Beilein and his staff for working hard and doing a great job with this class. Of course now with the great 2012 and 2013 classes, the expectations for Beilein's teams will be much higher. Either way, things should definitely be much more exciting at the Crisler Center for the next number of years.
Wolverine4Life
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 4:34 a.m.
Recruiting is the life line to the program without great recruiting we will never win a national championship. Especially in basketball where kids don't stay more than 2 yrs it's great to have back to back Top 5 classes we should be damn proud!!
cutty240
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 3:05 a.m.
I never cared about How High The Class coming in was rated.I cared about How High they were rated at The End of The year.How can your base Your Teams sucess on a Bunch 16 and 17 year Old Kids.
Veracity
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 2:13 a.m.
Pre-season rankings provide interest and conversation while waiting for official games to start. Although many bloggers consider rankings as meaningless I am sure that Michigan fans would rather see their recruits rated as #2 in the country then, say, #34 in the country.
Bogie
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 12:01 a.m.
Well, this year we have to see if the mayan calender lives up to it's hype. Next year? Will be the Wolverine calender! Will all the hype of Ann Arbor. com's stories of 2013 blue chips, live up to the hype? Will Michigan finally earn an unshared National title in football? Will the basketball team finally surpass the team, that really calls itself, OHIO? Stay tuned folks! LOL!
Ross
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 10:05 p.m.
Too early to care about these recruiting rankings. In fact maybe it's always too early to care what ranking a bunch of internet speculators want to give some 16 and 17 year old kids. Nonetheless, it certainly isn't _bad_ news. Good work Johnny! GO BLUE!