Derrick Walton

My family and I were at the Georgia World Congress Center Friday enjoying the Final Four festivities of Bracket Town, when we ran into two future Wolverines in Michigan's Mr. Basketball runner-up Derrick Walton and Indiana Mr. Basketball winner Zak Irvin who apparently were in town for a high school three point competition. I happen to notice them fairly quickly and proceeded to congratulate them on their respective successes and also expressed how excited I was that the two will be attending Michigan in the fall. They were humble and respectful and  very accommodating when I ask for the two of them to take a picture with me. Talking to them, they seem like two really great young men and guys who Michigan fans will be proud to call their own. Coach Beilein has done a fantastic job of recruiting guys like Zak and Derrick who are not only talented individuals, but great representatives of the university as well, to bring Michigan back to the forefront of college basketball. With young men like these two, along with the others, Michigan will remain among the elite for years to come.

Now one thing that struck me was the size of Derrick Walton who most recruiting sites estimate to be 6-0. Well I am a legit 6-3 and as you all can see, he is closer to my height than not. So he is at least 6-1 or better. Zak Irvin however is a legit 6-7, and when he hits them weights, he is going to be a beast.Now considering I missed the opportunity to attend the teams pep rally held at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Smyrna, and according to my brother who did attend, meet Fab Fiver Jimmy King, I thought meeting the future of Michigan basketball was a great consolation, and definitely grounds for my very own "cool story bro". Needless to say, my family and I had a blast! We sang "Hail To The Victors" with the team after the shoot around and from what I can tell Michigan is well represented in the Atl for this monumental event. You all should be proud. Thanks for letting me share, and let's hope they take care of business vs Syracuse today. Go Blue! 

Trey Burke's eventual  replacement (e.g. next season), Derrick Walton, has finished as Michigan's Mr. Basketball runner-up.  The winner, Monte Morris out of Flint, is headed to Iowa State and, incidentally, didn't have an offer from either UofM or MSU. 

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/03/michigan_signee_derrick_walton_1.html#incart_river 

Edit:  Well, many seem to think Morris did have a Michigan offer and I defer to their knowledge of the situation.  It is not listed on Morris' Rivals or Scout page, thus the confusion. 

Many of you probably also follow UMHoops.com.  They recently posted UM PG commit Derrick Walton's senior year highlights.  He's the favorite for Michigan POY.

http://www.umhoops.com/2013/03/07/derrick-walton-senior-highlights/

If you haven't watched this video yet - watch it.  It is hard to find a better highlight video for a true point guard. *

First, I hope Trey Burke comes back next year.  Second, if I were his father, I would tell him to get his butt to the NBA.  He is ready.  Assuming Trey is gone....

I think UM reloads with Derrick Walton - I'm really excited about Derrick Walton next year.  His game is amazing and in many ways closely resembles that of Trey Burke.  His vision is outstanding.  He not only finds the open man, but can find them in a lot of traffic and delivers the ball at the best location for the shooter.  His jump shot looks more than smooth - very Burke smooth.  Great handle on the ball.  Oneof the things I was most impressed with was his ability to play under control - something that Burke has really improved this year.  He has a very nice little bunny floater that Trey has utilized all year - it might be Trey's best shot this year.  His body control while driving to the basket is phenominal.

I love true point guards - those that really can control the game, have high assists, and make their teammates better.  We've had plenty of good point guards lately, none better than Trey Burke.  We might be getting spoiled, in fact, but I don't mind.  Looking at Derrick Walton, I feel that we will have another point guard who will be able to equally measure the quality we've been expecting from that position.  Assuming only Burke leaves, next year should be a great year for UM basketball:

1. Walton / Spike
2. THJ (B1G POY candidate) / Levert / Zac Irvin
3. Stauskas / Levert / Zac Irvin
4. GRIII / McGary
5. Morgan / McGary

Am I really talking about next year?  Better than watching that painful MSU / Wiscy game.  But I'm not bypassing this year.  This Sunday is the biggest regular season game we've had in decades.  

Go Blue.

*disclaimer: highlight tape viewed / lowlight tape not viewed.

It looks like ESPN updated their 2013 basketball recruiting rankings.  All 3 Michigan guys make the list:

Zak Irvin-21 (3 away from 5 star status)
Derrick Walton-32
Mark Donnal-97

Both Irvin and Walton moved up, while Donnal took a fairly significant tumble.  Michigan also has the top 2 commits in the big 10 at the moment (although people think MSU has a pretty good shot at #1 overall Jabari Parker).  Another great year for Beilein in terms of talent evaluation.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/order/true

According to a few Twitter feeds, Sam Webb being one, 2013 commit Derrick Walton had a quadruple double tonight: 34 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals. The future is bright. 

Sam Webb mentioned on this morning's Recruiting Roundup (podcasts here) that Zak Irvin will be in for a visit today, and Demetrius Jackson will be in tomorrow. Both are in the 2013 class.

Sam said that he thinks "Michigan is the team to beat" for Irvin, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Fishers, Indiana (and a teammate of Gary Harris). In addition to Michigan, his Rivals profile shows offers from Butler, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, and Xavier. Rivals has Irvin ranked 97th in the country, while ESPN has him at 74.

Jackson is a 6-foot-1 point guard from Mishawaka, Indiana, who doesn't yet have a Michigan offer but could pick one up during or after his visit. His Rivals profile shows an offer only from Xavier, but they have him ranked 71st in the 2013 class.

So could Irvin or Jackson be Beilein's next commit? Other candidates include three other point guards prospects—Monte Morris, Derrick Walton, and Sherron Dorsey-Walker (who is now being recruited by Michigan as a point guard). Annarbor.com article from yesterday has Michigan in the lead for Morris (which is perhaps not surprising given his offer list):

Morris said of the offers he’s received so far (Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Iowa State), Michigan is at the top of his list.

Sam said earlier this week that Morris, Walton, and Dorsey-Walker are all expected to make their college choices shortly after the July evaluation period, and he said it seems likely that one of the three will choose Michigan. He also said that Dorsey-Walker seemed like an ideal recruit for Beilein, given that he shoots the ball extremely well, is from the PSL (Detroit Pershing), and has a 3.9 GPA. Dorsey-Walker is in the class of 2012; Morris and Walton are in 2013.