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HOUSTON WRAPUP, MICHIGAN COMMITMENT; MORE NEWS

By Jeff Goodman and Rob Harrington
readermail@prepstars.com
April 29, 2002

HOUSTON -- On the final day of the Kingwood Classic, Houston Hoops defeated Ft. Sooy No Limit 83-69 to win the championship. We expected the hometowners to redeem themselves after a bad loss at the Boo Williams Invitational, and they did in emphatic fashion, surviving a very tough field and grueling schedule of games.

Tack Minor continued his stellar play for the Hoops, scoring 34 points to spearhead the win. Super soph Daniel Gibson added 17 points and Ndudi Ebi 10 for the champions.

Check out our player evaluations story for a full recap of the weekend's top performers.

WOLVERINES GET ELITE JUNIOR

You may not have heard much noise this season coming from Ann Arbor, Michigan, but just in case anyone had forgotten that Wolverines boss is one of the nation's top recruiters, Michigan has picked up an early commitment from Dion Harris, a 6-3 WG from talented Detroit (MI) Redford.

Harris also considered Michigan State, Louisville, Iowa and UConn prior to making the pledge to U-M. He's entered the season as a top-50 player in the Class of 2003, and he did nothing to damage his stock over the winter.

Harris averaged 22.1 points per game as a junior to lead Redford to a 24-3 record and trip to the Class A state final. Against LeBron James and Akron (OH) St. Vincent-St. Mary, he stepped up and poured in a season-high 31 points.

TIGERS LAND MITCHELL

Darrel Mitchell Jr. may not have earned the respect from the recruiting gurus, but he got it from LSU coach John Brady.

Mitchell, the 5-10 senior point guard from St. Martinsville High (La.), inked with the Tigers on Thursday night.

Mitchell, who earned Mr. Basketball honors, averaged 24.6 points, 3.3 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game this past season and led St. Martinsville to the Class 4A state title. He made his decision at a downtown St. Martinsville restaurant.

Houston, Texas A&M and Oklahoma were all under consideration, but the Sooners had recently backed off in their interest of Mitchell.

Mitchell joins Shaw High (La.) swingman Tim Bush and junior college players Jaime Lloreda and Tony Gipson to round out LSU’s recruiting class.

"We feel that with Darrel and signing Tim Bush early we have without question signed the two best players in Louisiana," Brady said. "Darrel will be able to come in and play either the 2 or the 1 position, but we are looking at him to mainly be our point guard."

HURRICANES GRAB SURRATT

Miami has a commitment from Armando Surratt, a 5-10 PG from Oakland Tech, who signed with Fresno State in the fall but de-committed when Jerry Tarkanian stepped down this spring.

Surratt isn't unlike another Big East point guard, Andre Barrett, in that he's undersized but very quick. But where Barrett does a good job of running the Hall's offense, Armando must develop those playmaking skills.

What Armando doesn't need work on is his scoring. The little guy is a dangerous (if streaky) perimeter shooter who likes threes and mid-range shots off the dribble all the same. He's a capable driver, but sometimes gets shots blocked and commits turnovers. With more seasoning, he'll be a solid Big East player.

MORE DECISIONS

UAB has signed Demario Eddins, a 6-5 WF from the Winchendon (MA) school, who picked the Blazers over interest from Colorado, Rutgers and LaSalle. .... Rodney Tucker has found a future home. The 6-8 BF from Tallahassee (FL) CC, who played for and then was suspended by Florida State, before committing to the Seminoles again and then de-committing after the coaching change (whew), has signed with Auburn. Tucker is a solid insider who should be a good role player for the Tigers. ... Gigantic beast Troy Godwin, a 6-6 BF at Allegany (MD) CC, is headed to Jeff Capel's Virginia Commonwealth program. Godwin is one of the widest (not fat) players we've seen the past couple years, but he carries the weight pretty well and has some post offense. Not only is he a good pickup, but establishing a pipeline to Allegany could be a major step for VCU. Things look good for Syracuse and Carmelo Anthony. The 6-7 WF has said that his decision to attend college versus head directly to the NBA would hinge in large part on his test score, and he reportedly has now qualified for freshman eligibility. That doesn't mean he won't try the League -- especially with the new rule about declaring and coming back to school -- in place, but it seems more likely that it did a week ago that he'll play at least one year for the Orangemen....