Dwaun Anderson named Michigan Mr. Basketball
According to my MI HS basketball sources. If so, he's the first player north of Saginaw to ever win it.
The other candidates were Carlton Brundidge, Brandan Kearney, LaDontae Henton, and Amir Williams.
Somewhat surprising as Henton and Kearney were the front-runners according to most people, and Anderson comes from such a tiny high school.
Edit: Rumor confirmed by the Free Press.
1) where's he committed?
2) oh.
reminds me of a couple years when Brad Redford of Frankenmuth got the honor. It's easy to put up numbers when you're playing against inferior competition.
Izzo still has the media from this state in his backpocket.
Guess we'll just have to whoop their asses again next year to turn the tide.
I don't think that's the case here.
First of all, the coaches vote for this award, not the media. Second, if it was truly out of loyalty to Izzo, Kearney would've won it (he was the 2nd favorite after Henton).
I think what happened is the coaches from the south side of the state ended up splitting all the votes between Henton, Kearney, and to a lesser measure, Brundidge and Williams... and then all the northern coaches voted for Anderson. Anderson is the first big time recruit to come out of the north side of MI in years, so all the coaches up there are excited about him.
Exactly. This vote often comes down to the splitting of votes from regions and/or similar schools/towns. Neitzel won when Hairston and Crawford split the Detroit vote. My dad has a vote and often gives all of his non-first place votes to kids near my hometown. My guess: Anderson not only got the north vote, but the vote from all small towns and small schools.
Brad Redford was impressive against everyone I saw him play against. I wouldn't have minded him in maize with an M on his shorts.
And there seems to be a kind of "Spread the wealth" mentality to voting for Mr. Basketball. There have been a lot of winners from obscure programs over the years. I think people get a little tired of Metro Detroit kids getting all the pub. Whatever - it doesn't mean much in the big picture.
can we use some snake oil at this point?
Only if it's to take Amir Williams from OSU. Don't need guards, need big bodies that can help avoid a 31-18 rebounding margin in a two point loss.
We have three freshmen centers!!!
Yeah, but none of them are really "bangers" in the classical sense. I'd love to see some Williams-sized guys in this system.
Morgan is very much going to be a good center. A little undersized, but plays large.
Agreed. Morgan's a little short out there but he's built like a freakin' linebacker. His dunks are "playing big" if I've ever seen it...
March 21st, 2011 at 12:22 AM ^
Not sure I'd call any of them other than Morgan a center, but noted anyways. Even if they all are, none of those guys are as naturally talented as Williams. Unfortunately, we lost him to the Buckeyes...
Max Bielfeldt is the only legit option, but he's a PF
Is reserved for Purdue. Given their recent success on the hardwood, it's probably not a bad idea.
and when UM does sweep them next year that is when you will see the tide turning on thses two programs!
The media isn't in Izzo's backpocket. Actually, two of the major columnists around here (Rosenberg, Wojo) are both Michigan alums. I really could never forgive Rosenberg for what he did to the program, but I could be like, "Hey, I liked your last article...bitch." I think Michigan basketball will become the media darlings. Hopefully, Izzo is NBA bound.
just tanked his team into the ground for the entire season and I haven't really heard much about the stupid crap he's done from Rosenberg......
I was at a bar here in Illinois and a guy told me JR Richmond is 50/50 comming back to Illinois next year. If he leaves or is kicked off the team they will have basically 1 guy returning that has any experience.
Can't wait to see how Coach divides the minutes up next year.
No bubble next year. We have a basketball program now.
Henton is the best HS player out there right now in michigan. Everyone pretty much unanimously agrees. So why give it to anderson....
combined with Nix winning it a couple years ago, its just proof its rigged in favor of the Sparty recruit.
Williams and Henton are way better vs much better competition.
he'll fit right in up in East Lansing.
His team played Mesick. Leland, Elk Rapids, Buckley, and Kalkaska, amongst others. I would be surprised if he played against more than 1 or 2 significant prospects all season. Pathetic. It is almost as bad as when those TC St. Francis dipshits parade around town as if they are the world champions of the universe after beating up on these same teams on the football field.
Stop being so hard on Kalkaska; their state rank is #547.
Well, Kalkaska lost All-State guard Travis Schuba this year to Madonna University and didn't have anyone to replace him. Certainly a rebuilding year for them in the LMC.
As a former sports editor for the Kalkaska paper, I felt it my duty to stand up for them...
Having played HS ball in that area, and against Suttons Bay, I am SHOCKED that there is a Mr. Basketball coming out of there. IMO, unless you're putting up insane stats like 50 points and 20 rebounds each night, you probably don't deserve the award when playing that kind of competition. But then again, I'm used to the days of Suttons Bay having random, giant, European exchange students on the team, so maybe my views are a little outdated.
You could count the all-time Division I players out of Leelanau county on one hand. Unless you're averaging 30 and 20 and your team is undefeated and has played in some statewide tournaments, then I don't care. It's exciting if one player in the whole county in any given year can dunk the ball. C'mon.
Three Star Mafia approved.
the past few years, it would be surprising to me if he truly won the award and I would agree with the choice if he had an ambidexterous game .... but he doesn't, yet.
I voted Henton, Kearney, Brundidge in that order. Anderson's numbers weren't that great considering the level of competition. I can't see him being a huge contributor at MSU next year.
I don't know why everyone is so high on henton, I watched him play in the regionals at caledonia and he was not impressive at all... Very bad decision maker and thinks he can "take" over with the ball and when he does he turns it over with his horrible dribbling.
Confirmed: Dwaun Anderson wins the Michigan Mr. Basketball Award.
It's a Free Press link so don't click it if you don't like the freep:
http://www.freep.com/article/20110321/HSS/110321040/Mr-Basketball-Dwaun…
It appears Anderson won by a wide margin. Henton was 2nd. Then there was a big drop between 2nd and 3rd (Amir Williams). Brundidge and Kearney were 4th and 5th, respectively.
My guess is almost all of the northern coaches voted for Anderson, while the other 4 guys split the southern votes.