Michigan Women's Basketball Recruiting Board

Kia Nurse (Ontario–2014), who's in Edmonton training with the Canadian senior women’s basketball team, is the subject of this Edmonton Journal article. First, there's some further info on all the athletes in the Nurse family, in addition to Kia and Darnell (Edmonton Oilers draftee):

Kia . . . and Darnell come from a deep gene pool. Their uncle is former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb and their father, Richard, is a former Hamilton Tiger-Cat. Their mother, Kathy, played basketball at McMaster University. The list goes on. Their sister, Tamika, played basketball at the University of Oregon and their aunt, Raquel (Richard’s sister and McNabb’s wife), played basketball at Syracuse University.

Multiple people have mentioned Nurse as a "stock riser" during this summer. As indicated in the quote below, UConn is now showing last-minute interest. It's also interesting that she wants to continue playing on the Canadian national team, including in the Olympics, so she's looking for a college that's willing to accommodate that.

Her college decision only got muddled this summer as she climbed the basketball ladder and caught the attention of heavyweight NCAA programs like the University of Connecticut.

“(NCAA interest) has jumped,” Kia said. “I’ve gotten some really big-name schools (expressing interest) now, but at the same time, it’s really important to keep it in check and make sure that Lisa [Thomaidis, the national women's team coach] talks with the coaches to make sure they’re OK with me playing for the national team and that I can get out for summers, do all the (national) team stuff, and not be pressured to stay.

“I have goals to be involved with this team as an Olympian.”

One final note, this article calls her a "five-foot-eight point guard." Most sources I've seen list her as 6-0, although I've also seen 5-10. Not sure what to make of that, unless it's simply a mistake.

UPDATE: Another school coming in with late interest in Nurse is Tennessee. Also, while Kia Nurse's sister Tamika started out at Oregon, she finished her college career at Bowling Green, playing for head coach Curt Miller. Miller is now the head coach at Indiana, so that could be a factor in Kia Nurse's interest in the Hoosiers.

Aaliyah Jones (NY–2014): Featured as one of MSGVarsity's 30 "players to watch" during the upcoming school year. The profile mentions this list of offers for Jones: East Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth, Providence, Fordham, Virginia Tech, LaSalle, Butler, and Eastern Michigan. She is perhaps in the second tier of players that Michigan is currently targeting for 2014.

Katelynn Flaherty (NJ–2014): Also gets the MSGVarity "player to watch" treatment.

Few are as effective attacking the rim than the Garnet Gulls’ elusive 5-7 point guard. The ease in which she shifts gears on the fly and renders defenders helpless to her sudden bursts is the kind of attribute that drives her fearlessly through the lane for either a layup, a trip to the foul line (where she shot 93 percent as a junior) or slick dish to the opposite block. However, when opponents choose to congest the paint to impede that path, Flaherty displays an adaptability that hints at her inquisitive basketball IQ.

The smooth release on her jumper overshadows the nimble footwork which creates the necessary space to let it fly. With her excellent combination of adhesive handle and jab steps, Flaherty builds room for herself to stick a long-range 3-pointer, showing she can bury a trey as effortlessly off the dribble as she does catching and shooting on the kickout.

After what was apparently a very good visit to Michigan, Flaherty has plans to visit both Kentucky and Louisville during the coming week.

Kia Nurse (Ontario–2014): Lots of pub this week for Nurse. Latest is from the Toronto Star: This girl’s got game: Young phenom Kia Nurse makes jump to senior national team.

What [Canadian national women's team coach Lisa] Thomaidis and Nurse’s teammates see is a young woman with good size — she’s about six feet tall — and world-class basketball speed who plays the game with a preternatural calm. After “taking a few lumps” during the team’s tour of Europe earlier this summer, according to her coach, Nurse has settled into an on-court leadership role seamlessly.

“For her, having the confidence playing at this level and the team having the confidence in her running the show is just huge,” said Thomaidis.

“She has every single intangible you would need and want in a point guard. It’s one thing to be 17 but it’s another thing to have the compete level, the capacity for training, the love for the game. She’s very humble, fearless, all those things you want in a player. She brings them all at this age.”

Lauren Yearwood (British Columbia–2015): Yearwood, a 6-3 forward/center out of Oak Bay Secondary School in the Greater Victoria area, is another Canadian player on Michigan's radar. As was the case with Jane Grisley (B.C.–2015), there isn't much info out there on Yearwood. She and Grisley are both on the British Columbia team currently playing in the Canada Games. And earlier this year, Yearwood and Eternati Willock (Ontario–2015) both made the roster of the Canadian Cadette women's U16 national team.

More Visitors: At yesterday's practice, the Michigan women's basketball team hosted two more unofficial visitors: the sisters Bailey Thomas (MI-2016) and Sam Thomas (MI-2017), who this season will both be playing on the Bloomfield Hills Marian girls team. During her freshman season, 5-9 guard Bailey Thomas averaged 9 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals a game. MLive.com named her their Metro Detroit girls basketball Freshman of the Year.

"She did a really nice job of being one of our two point guards," [Marian coach Mary] Cicerone said. "We put the ball in her hands a lot ... Towards the end, she was a huge offensive threat as she improved her 3-point shooting and she did a great job of running the offense for us."

Here's an MWRR scouting report from a July 2013 USJN Premier Invitational recap:

Bailey Thomas, 5'9 G, 2016 Michigan Monarchs - Bailey is a defensive machine. She has great lateral quickness to stay in front of opponents and almost always has a hand in her opponent's face to contest their shot. On offense, she is a shooter who strokes it from everywhere on the court. She has a silky smooth, quick release that she will pull from anywhere. She has a tendency to follow her shot to get offensive boards, which is rarely seen anymore. She can also get into the paint off the dribble and finish strong with either hand.

There's less out there on 5-11 wing Sam Thomas, but the two sisters have had a busy summer. In addition to playing AAU for the Michigan Monarchs, they've attended several elite camps and made unofficial visits at a number of other colleges. Bailey Thomas attended elite camps at Princeton, DePaul, and Michigan State and also made a visit to Cal (Berkeley). Both sisters participated in elite camps at Stanford, Louisville, and Marquette.

Visits Elsewhere: Both Theresa Ekhelar (NJ-2015) and Kiah Gillespie (CT-2015) were in South Orange, NJ, yesterday for an unofficial visit to Seton Hall. Also, Gillespie picked up new offers today from Alabama and Rutgers.

Diani Akigbogun (CO-2014): Another of Akigbogun's teammates on Regis Jesuit, Kelsi Lidge, has made a commitment (to Drexel). Although it's certainly possible to read too much into this, I think it's worth pointing that in the previous Aurora Sentinel article that I cited above (about the Purdue commit), the writer had said,

Akigbogun, the Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year last season and MVP of the Show, has a bevy of Division I programs after her, including Michigan and Georgia, while the gritty Lidge is drawing interest from Drexel.

So, first of all, this writer obviously has a good source as Lidge just 11 days later committed to Drexel. Second, in the article on Lidge's commitment, the same writer again talks about the schools other Regis Jesuit players might pick:

Akigbogun, Gatorade’s Colorado Player of the Year, the MVP of the Show all-star game and an All-City first teamer, could end up at Michigan, while Northwestern is interested in Molyneaux and Howard wants Lockley.

Note that Michigan is the only school mentioned this time for Akigbogun and that the writer mentions only one school for each prospect. So could these be signals of likely destinations?Obviously, I don't know. But I was very impressed by Akigbogun's highlight video (embedded above), so I think she'd be a great addition to the 2014 class—especially as she'd fill a position of need: power forward.

Katelynn Flaherty (NJ–2014): She unofficially visited both Louisville and Kentucky this weekend. That leaves just Ole Miss and Vanderbilt on the list of unofficial visits she had planned to make this month. She says she'll release her list of top schools soon. Flaherty then plans to take official visits to those schools. She'll probably make her college choice in early October.

Taylor Rooks (NJ–2014): Latest to be named one of MSGVarsity's "players to watch." Where Rooks's recruiting stands is a bit of a mystery, and this article doesn't provide much enlightenment in that area, saying only that she had drawn interest from Stanford, Syracuse, Harvard, and Maryland during her junior year. Someone on a UConn board recently claimed that Rooks has an offer from the Huskies, but I've never seen any confirmation of that.

Kia Nurse (Ontario–2014): Some time in the last few days, Blue Star gave Nurse a huge boost in their 2014 rankings—from #95 to #10.

Christa Reed (MS–2014) has committed to Vanderbilt, the first school among her six finalists that she was scheduled to visit. She's not planning to make the remainder of her planned visits. Here's a quote from a local news article on her commitment:

“They have great academics,” Reed said. They showed you everything you need to go to college. Plus, it was one of the closer universities to me, and it’s in the SEC.”

Katelynn Flaherty (NJ–2014): Vanderbilt just got another verbal commitment from Paris Kea, a top-100 point guard in the 2014 class. This would presumably lessen, if not entirely extinguish, Flaherty's interest in the Commodores (and perhaps vice versa). Out of the schools she planned to unofficially visit this month, Vanderbilt is one of two (along with Ole Miss) she apparently hasn't yet made it out to. Flaherty is known to have visited the following schools this month, in this order: Georgia, Virginia Tech, Michigan, Louisville, and Kentucky.

Kia Nurse (Ontario–2014): Nurse is featured in this video profile from TSN, basically the Canadian version of ESPN. I've also seen speculation of late interest in her from Ohio State. To me, that seems like an unlikely destination for her.

Marina Mabrey (NJ-2015): With the commitment of her close friend and teammate Katelynn Flaherty to Michigan, Mabrey seems to be a more realistic possibility for the Wolverines, so I'll add her to the board soon.

Kalabrya Gondrezick (MI-2015) and Kysre Gondrezick (MI-2016): The sisters from Benton Harbor were in East Lansing yesterday for an unofficial visit to MSU.

Curteeona Brelove (FL-2014): A possible new prospect for 2014. Michigan has reportedly expressed interest in her. She's a 6-2 power forward out of Malone H.S. in Malone, Florida (located in the Florida panhandle). Prospects Nation has Brelove as an unranked four-star, featuring her in this item from July in which they called her "one of the biggest stock risers of the summer."

Taylor Rooks (NJ-2014): There have been reports on message boards of Rooks narrowing her list to UConn, Harvard, Princeton, St. John's, and Stanford. I'll leave her up on the board for now, until there's some confirmation of this.

Asia Doss (MI-2014): Have mentioned Doss a couple times as a possible Michigan target, but this report says she "has Purdue, Ohio State, and Illinois on her list." Not sure if those are her finalists, but as far as Michigan goes it's probably a moot point now that Flaherty has committed. I can't see Michigan taking two point guards in the 2014 class. Arica Carter is more of a combo guard, so I don't think Flaherty's commitment affects her.

Prospects Nation posted this article on Katelynn Flaherty's commitment to Michigan. They got a couple quotes from her:

“I felt very comfortable with the staff and the rest of the Michigan community,” Flaherty said. “I also wanted to step into a school and be able to play and to contribute right away and help build a program to be a top contender.”

...

“I want to be able to bring leadership, enthusiasm, and a positive and intense work ethic to this program,” Flaherty added.

The writer also touches on other Wolverine targets, saying "Michigan [is] still actively recruiting ELITE 100 prospects such as Tyesha Taylor of Temple, Texas, Kristen Simon of Los Angeles, Calif., and Cayla McMorris of Brooklyn Park., Minn." As I've posted, Michigan is a finalist for McMorris, but Simon several weeks named her top five and Michigan wasn't one of the five, so this info is questionable at best. I mentioned Taylor once before. She's a 6-4 center who was offered by Michigan more than a year ago and who at that time had more than two dozen offers in all. I've heard little about her since, so I have no idea if Michigan is really still "actively recruiting" her.

Matt Bamford: I've updated the post above about him (link), but to reiterate here: Bamford is being hired as "assistant to the head coach"—not as an assistant coach. None of the assistants are leaving.

Cierra Rice (MI-2015): She took unofficial visits to Michigan St. yesterday and Michigan today.

Kia Nurse (Ontario-2014): Yet another school targeting Nurse is Louisville.

Should have done this earlier, but a simple search revealed a phillyburbs.com article on Matt Bamford's hiring. It sheds some light on his duties, which will center on but go beyond recruiting:

“My primary role will be recruiting but one of the major reasons I took this is I’ll be able to get my feet wet in some different categories,” said Bamford, who played basketball one year for the Bucks under coach Adam Sherman. “I’ll be involved in video and scoring films.

“It’s a full-time gig. They just created the position. I’ll be able to sit on the bench (during games). I’ll be doing something, charting something. It’s a good opportunity. I’ll also get to do some things administrative.”

Bret McCormick of ASGR has a post on 2014 recruiting in which he talks briefly about Michigan:

”Michigan has added a 1, 2 and 3. Flaherty is a skilled, tough player who just loves the game, Dunston is a big guard who can score, and Backman is a wing with great size.”

His characterization of Jillian Dunston is interesting, and I've changed her position to "guard/wing" on the chart. Also, this post has Maria Backman ranked #129 nationally, which is an upgrade from the ASGR ranking of #158 at the time of her commitment. Dunston remains at #98, and the newly committed Katelynn Flaherty obviously stays at #19.

Just a quick side note: There might be another 2014 Michigan target at the 5 position who remains uncommitted: Khaalia Hillsman, a 6-5 center out of Whitney Young H.S. in Chicago (making her a teammate of Taylor Brame). MWRR has her ranked #1 in Illinois in the 2014 class (see this page for links to scouting reports on her). Prospects Nation has her at #38 in the nation. There's little solid info out there on who's actviely recruiting her and which schools she's considering.

Taylor Rooks (NJ-2014): has eliminated UConn from consideration.

Tyesha Taylor (TX-2014): Just mentioned a few days ago about the lack of info on Taylor, and now word comes out that she's taking an official visit to New Mexico State this weekend.

Taylor Brame (IL-2014): Not sure who eliminated whom, but Brame is no longer a Michigan prospect.

Kia Nurse (Ontario-2014), Eternati Willock (Ontario-2015), and Iziegbe (Lorraine) Enabulele (Ontario-2014): Crown Magazine recently released new rankings for Canadian players, and not surprisingly they have Nurse #1 in the 2014 class. Enabulele was ranked #4 in that class, while Willock garnered the top spot in the 2015 class.

Cayla McMorris (MN-2014): She's officially visiting Illinois this weekend.

Michigan visitors: There will be at least a few women's basketball visitors in for the Notre Dame game this weekend. Michigan commit Jillian Dunston will be taking her official visit, and it looks like Hallie Thome (OH-2015) will be in for another unofficial (and presumably her sister Hannah as well, although I'm not sure about that). Not sure about any others yet. One 2014 commit who won't be taking her official this weekend is Katelynn Flaherty—she'll be back in Ann Arbor the weekend of September 13.

EDIT: Michigan commit Maria Backman is also in town for her official visit this weekend.

EDIT2: Kalabrya Gondrezick (MI-2015) also made the trip into town from Benton Harbor for the Notre Dame game. Once again, the men's basketball team (including former players) helped out: Gondrezick posted a picture online of her and Trey Burke, while Hallie Thome posted one with her and Mitch McGary.

As I mentioned above, Michigan commit Katelynn Flaherty will be in for her offiical visit this coming weekend. Also in town, presumably also for an official will be Emoni Jackson (CA-2014), who I mentioned once before in this thread. Jackson, a 6-1 wing/forward who's attending Long Beach Poly this year (same school as Arica Carter), was offered by Michigan in June 2012—at the same time Michigan freshman Siera Thompson was offered. Later that summer, Jackson tore an ACL and sat out her entire junior year, and I don't believe she played AAU ball at all this summer. (She had played AAU for Cal Sparks Gold, same as Thompson and Carter.) It does sound as though she'll be playing for Long Beach Poly this winter.

I'm not sure which other schools might be involved with Jackson at this time. Prior reports mentioned UCLA, USC, and Penn State. I'm guessing UCLA is likely out of the picture as they already have five commits for 2014.

Because she hasn't played in so long, there's little out there on her of a recent vintage. About the best item I could find was a local newspaper profile from February 2012 titled "Taking Charge."

This season, Emoni Jackson is averaging a double-double for the second consecutive year. She leads the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game and rebounds at 12.4. She leads the team in blocked shots (26), is second with 1.5 assists per game and has a team-high 2.4 steals per game.

All the while facing double and triple teams.

"I'm not surprised because I know I can do it," she said of her double-double average. "I'm proud that I've been able to score as much as I have. I just have to work harder and keep trying to get better."

In that article, her then high school coach calls her a future All-American. She's also a very good student.

Prospects Nation released an updated/expanded top 150 for the 2014 class today. Katelynn Flaherty remains at #23, while Maria Backman makes her debut in their rankings at #135. Others of interest in their top 150:

• #48 Cayla McMorris (up from #69)
• #60 Taylor Rooks (up from #61)
• #62 Arica Carter (up from #88)
• #80 Aaliyah Jones (down from #78)
• #89 Tyesha Taylor (down from #83)
• #140 Curteeona Brelove

As usual, these rankings should be taken with a grain of salt, as all the WBB rankings are inherently less reliable than those on the men's side.

MWRR provides an update on the recruitment of Arike Ogunbowale (WI-2015), with the highlight being that Notre Dame has become the latest school to offer her. She now has 19 high-major offers: Notre Dame, Duke, Kansas, Marquette, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Louisville, Syracuse, Iowa, DePaul, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Purdue, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Rutgers and Vanderbilt. Also of note: "On top of this list of official offers she is also receiving strong interest from Cal, Stanford, UConn, Penn State, Tennessee, Kentucky and Yale."

A contact period recently began for women's basketball coaches, allowing them to make in-home visits with recruits and visit them at their schools. There's some guesswork involved here, but one of the Michigan coaches flew into Denver, with a reasonable assumption being that she was there for a visit with Diani Akigbogun (CO-2014). Again, I'm not 100% certain of this, but I believe that another coach took a trip to visit Eternati Willock (Ontario-2015).

Two other new names have emerged as being on Michigan's radar and possibly being visited this month: Jonell Williams (FL-2015) and Anna Hammaker (TN-2015). Williams is a 6-2 center from Palatka, Florida, who has a ton of top schools interested in and thus seems a long shot at best. Hammaker is a 5-8 guard attending the Christian Academy of Knoxville and ranked #45 in the 2015 class by Blue Star.

Also, coaches from Kansas and Arkansas have traveled this week to Temple, Texas, to visit Tyesha Taylor (TX-2014). UPDATE: Taylor has narrowed her list, and Michigan isn't on it (as I suspected).

Rankings side note: A new national top 100 for 2014 was posted today by espnW, with Michigan commit Katelynn Flaherty ranked #67. Others of interest:

• 19. Taylor Rooks
• 78. Arica Carter
• 86. Cayla McMorris

Also, LBInsider recently posted an udpated 2015 top 10 for the state of the Michigan. They have Tania Davis and Cierra Rice tied for #1, followed by Kalabrya Gondrezick at #3. I'm fairly certain all three have been offered by Michigan. I think Davis will head out of state for college (apparently, Michigan State has yet to offer her, and they had appeared to be the early favorite for her given that she's an MSU fan). Michigan's chances with Rice and Gondrezick appear much stronger, although it seems doubtful to me that both will end up in Ann Arbor. The LBI top 10 also has Reyna Frost at #5; she attended the Michigan Elite Camp in June. Michigan has also expressed some interest in Ariel Bethea, ranked #8.

LBI's top 15 for 2014 is interesting in that the top 3—Marte Grays, Asia Robeson, and Asia Doss—all remained uncommitted. Reports indicate that all three will choose a college outside Michigan.

As noted, two 2014 prospects—Michigan commit Katelynn Flaherty and target Emoni Jackson—will be in Ann Arbor this weekend for official visits. So far, I've heard of three unofficial visitors for the Akron football game, all in-staters:

• Bailey Thomas (2016): 5-9 guard, Bloomfield Hills Marian
• Sam Thomas (2017): 5-11 wing, Bloomfield Hills Marian
• Tyler Bennett (2017): 6-4 center, Detroit Country Day

All three play AAU ball for the Michigan Monarchs. The Thomas sisters attended a Michigan practice in August (see this post above for more info on them). There isn't much out there (yet) on Bennett.

Update: Arica Carter is taking an official visit to Arizona State this weekend. This is the first I've heard about her official visits, so perhaps visits to her remaining finalists—Michigan, Kansas, and Ohio St.—are still ahead.

Update2: Hallie Thome (OH-2015) will be visiting Purdue tomorrow, taking in their football game vs. Notre Dame.

Update3: Have updated the board following the commitment of Emoni Jackson. A couple other notes: Hannah Thome joined her sister on the visit to Purdue. Asia Robeson (MI-2014)—mentioned in the previous post—committed to Auburn this weekend.

Also, here's a nice write-up on the Michigan Monarchs AAU program, which places heavy emphasis on academics. It doesn't talk about the players mentioned above who visited Michigan for the Akron game, but it does say that the 2016 group "has won the state [AAU] championship in Michigan the last four years."

Class Rankings: I mentioned in my updated overview in the OP the possibility of Michigan's 2014 recruiting class being ranked in the top 15 nationally or even higher. Today, with less than two months until the beginning of the early signing period (Nov. 13–20), Prospects Nation posted their revised top 25 class rankings, with Michigan slotted at #13. That's third-best in the Big Ten, behind only OSU (#2) and Maryland (#11). Purdue (#21) and Nebraska (#22) also make the list.

Cayla McMorris (MN-2014): She's taken official visits to Illinois and Wisconsin the last two weekends, and there have been reports of recent in-home visits with Iowa and Colorado. There was also a report of her being down to a final four—not five. And the conclusion appears to be, as I suspected, that McMorris is no longer a Michigan target.

Aaliyah Jones (NY-2014): Committed to Fordham today, so she's definitely off the board.

Arike Ogunbowale (WI-2015): Coaches from UConn, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Maryland, and Tennessee all came out to watch her at an open gym on Sept. 15.

At least one of the Michigan coaches was in Milwaukee yesterday for what I assume was an in-home visit with Arike Ogunbowale (WI-2015). It's clear this coaching staff isn't going to back down regardless of who is trying to make a late recruiting run.

One of the Michigan assistant coaches was in Maryland yesterday for an in-home visit with Michigan commit Jillian Dunston and her family. And Kim Barnes Arico is in Denver today, and my guess is that she's there to pay a visit to Diani Akigbogun.

Just so there's no confusion, I'm sure the coaches have made a number of other visits this month that I'm not aware of. I'm posting only what I know or have a reasonable guess about.

Remaining 2014 Targets: Just to reiterate and expand on the overview in the OP: With Cayla McMorris down to Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and Taylor Rooks reportedly down to Harvard, Princeton, St. John's, and Stanford, that leaves the known remaining Michigan targets for 2014 as power forward Diani Akigbogun and combo guards Arica Carter and Kia Nurse.

Almost nothing is publicly known about which schools Akigbogun is considering. I'm guessing that her decision, like that of her high school teammates, will essentially come out of the blue.

Carter has Michigan in her final four, along with Arizona State, Kansas, and Ohio State. Word was that she planned to make official visits to all four. The only other info that I'm aware of since then is that she took her official to ASU last weekend. EDIT: Just saw a credible report on a message board saying Carter is taking an official visit to Texas Tech this weekend—an interesting twist to her recruitment.

Nurse and her family have been keeping quiet about which schools might be at the top of their list. Nurse is in Mexico right now playing for Team Canada in the FIBA Americas tournament, which runs through Sept. 28, so there's unlikely to be any news on her recruitment until after that.

The only other 2014 possibility I'm aware of is Curteeona Brelove, the 6-2 power forward/center from Florida, but I've heard nothing recently linking her to Michigan.

2015 Rankings: espnW recently posted an updated top 60 for 2015, with known Michigan targets as follows:

• 16. Brianna Jones, 5-9 G (NY)
• 23. Marina Mabrey, 5-9 G (NJ)
• 25. Batouly Camara, 6-2 F/C (NJ)
• 26. Brittany Ward, 6-1 W (IN)
• 30. Faith Suggs, 6-1 F (IL)
• 31. Victoria Gaines, 6-1 F (IN)
• 33. Arike Ogunbowale, 5-9 G (WI)
• 42. Kiah Gillespie, 6-2 W/F (CT)
• 53. Kalabrya Gondrezick, 5-8 G (MI)

Except for Victoria Gaines and Brittany Ward, all these prospects are either on the board or have been mentioned in an earlier post in this thread. Gaines, who's from Merrillville, Indiana, has offers from Michigan St., Purdue, and Texas Tech, according to this article. Other schools to have expressed interest, besides Michigan, include Ball St., Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas. MWRR has a scouting report on her in this post.

From Indianapolis Pike H.S., Ward has garnered interest from a number of schools, including Butler, Cincinnati, Dayton, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Marquette, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn St., and Purdue.

Curteeona Brelove committed to Virginia Commonwealth today.

The possibilities for a fifth member of the 2014 class dwindle further as Diani Akigbogun commits (out of the blue, as predicted) to Texas.

EDIT: Denver Post has an item on Akigbogun's commitment that includes this:

According to Raiders coach Carl Mattei, the 6-foot Akigbogun, who averaged 13.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks as a junior, had also seriously considered Michigan, Baylor, USC and South Florida.

Kia Nurse: A report on Swish Appeal says Nurse's five finalists are Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Penn State, and Tennessee.

Curteeona Brelove: This article says Brelove picked VCU over East Carolina and Virginia Tech, so it seems like Michigan never went past the "expressing interest" stage with her.

Tyesha Taylor: committed to New Mexico State.

T'aire "T. T." Starks (MN-2015): New target for 2015. A Michigan assistant coach was recently at her high school for an open gym. Starks is a 5-9 guard/wing out of Hopkins H.S. in Minnetonka, Minnesota. She's considered one of the top players in Minnesota in the 2015 class; nationally, Prospects Nation ranks her #25 (and in June 2013 posted a scouting report on her here). She sat out most of her sophomore year of high school with a knee injury. Plays AAU ball for North Tartan (same squad as Cayla McMorris). Blue Star posted an evaluation of Starks in this rundown of an event held in June 2013.

Visitors: Michigan commits Akienreh Johnson and Brelynn Hampton-Bey recently atttended a Michigan women's basketball open gym. Also of note, Blue Star currently has Hampton-Bey ranked #19 in the 2017 class.

Speaking of Cayla McMorris: One last note today—McMorris committed to Wisconsin tonight. She's actually the Badgers' first commit for 2014. It's interesting to note that that leaves Penn State as the last Big Ten team without a 2014 commitment. PSU signed a huge class of seven in 2013, most of whom were wings, forwards, or posts, so Kia Nurse, a premier guard, would fit right in there.

One of the Michigan coaches attended a practice today at Grosse Pointe South, checking in on 2015 target Cierra Rice. Also on South's roster is Bre'nae Andrews, a 5-9 guard/wing in the 2014 class. She had been committed to Stetson but decommitted earlier this month. It seems unlikely that Michigan is pursuing her, but she is ranked #7 in the state by LBI. Andrews played with Madison Ristovski at Liggett before transferring to South prior to her junior year.

Michigan also recently visited Arbor Prep in Ypsilanti, where there are at least a couple of possible prospects of interest: Zakiya Wells, a 5-6 guard in the class of 2015, and 2016 prospect Nastassja Chambers, a 5-8 guard/wing. MWRR has a scouting report for Wells here, and Chambers, who's ranked #6 in the state among 2016 players by LBI, is evaluated by MWRR in this report (as are Wells, Andrews, and Ariel Bethea, a 5-9 Ann Arbor Huron guard [2015] who's garnered some Michigan interest).

There was a report that 6-2 wing/forward Kiah Gillespie (CT-2015) received a Michigan offer today. Now, I saw a report in July that said she had a Michigan offer, so perhaps the earlier one was mistaken. In any case, today's report said she received offers from Michigan and Tennessee.

Swish Appeal reports on another 2015 Michigan target from Minnesota: Sam Trammel, a 6-1 power forward out of Eden Prairie H.S. (who also plays AAU for North Tartan). Trammel has home visits scheduled with Michigan, Wake Forest, and Denver this week and had previous visits with Iowa and Valparaiso. Prospects Nation has her ranked #37 in the 2015 class and offered this evaluation in a June 2013 report:

Trammel embodies everything that most basketball fans would want out of a power forward. Her strength on the defensive glass and her offensive presence in the lane make her a centerpiece on nearly any squad. What was impressive for us to see in game play was Trammel’s ability to play in the “two-man” game system with a play-making guard. She creates mismatch opportunities because of her ability to set solid screens while also being a threat to score the ball.

2016 rankings: espnW posted a top 25 for 2016 today, with Kyrse Gondrezick coming in at #22.

Coincidently (or not), the Gondrezick sisters are the subject of an espnW article today: Sisters Share Unbreakable Bond.

Key passage (in terms of recruiting, with emphasis added):

The girls are more than just great athletes. Both are first in their class academically. Kalabrya has a 4.7 GPA. Kysre has a 4.6.

Both want to study communications, and there is a chance that whichever college convinces Kalabrya to accept a scholarship will also get Kysre.

Kalabrya said there is a slight chance she will pick her college by November. In no particular order, the schools that interest her are Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Yale, Northwestern and Louisville.

"I don't want to go too far from home," said Kalabrya, who also wants to minor in fashion design and has a dream of creating a line of women's athletic clothes that are feminine and not too baggy or too tight.

Meanwhile, Kysre writes for her school paper, The Benton Spirit, and has her own column called "Eye of the Tiger." Among others, she has interviewed former Benton Harbor and NBA All-Star Chet Walker.

Kysre is content to wait until her sister makes her college choice before she decides.

"My mom has made it clear that I don't have to go to the same school as my sister," Kysre said. "Buy why wouldn't I want to play with my sister?

"I will at least consider the school she chooses. … I just want to play basketball at the highest level possible."

One of the Michigan assistants was out in California today for a home visit with commit Emoni Jackson. Could be he also stopped off to meet with Arica Carter.

Arike Ogunbowale (WI-2015) was part of a four-member US team that today won the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship. Coaches from Connecticut, Duke, Notre Dame, and Stanford reportedly make the trip to Indonesia to watch the competition. There's coverage at the official USA basketball site, although they're a bit behind on their recaps. EDIT: Recap of gold medal game is here.

Asia Doss (MI-2014): Previously noted that this point guard from Detroit Country Day was down to Ohio State, Illinois, and Purdue. She committed to OSU today while on her official visit there.

Taylor Brame (IL-2014): This former Michigan target committed to Southern Methodist today.

Some OSU blogger is saying that despite Asia Doss long being considered a college point guard prospect, she'll play off-guard for Ohio because they already have Kelsey Mitchell in the same class. We'll see how that works out. But, more importantly, Doss picking Ohio seems (to me at least) to mean that Arica Carter will be less likely to do the same.

Victoria Gaines (IN-2015): mentioned previously as possible Michigan target—she committed to Michigan State today.

Alyssa Rice (OH-2014): committed to Kentucky today, with Virginia being her other finalist. Michigan had been among Rice's final eight before she further trimmed her list.

Toledo commits: Quick follow-up: Before committing to Michigan, Akienreh Johnson was receiving from Maryland, Xavier, Toledo, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Louisville, while Brelynn Hampton-Bey had received interest from Toledo, West Virginia, Xavier, Kentucky, and Louisville.

Kristen Simon (CA-2014): This former Michigan target is reportedly down to USC and Cal, eliminating Ohio St., Louisville, and Texas.

ASGR 2014 Rankings: ASGR posted their top 150 for 2014 today. The rankings of three of Michigan's commits remain unchanged, but Maria Backman has moved up to #117 (from #129). Arica Carter is at #66 (was #125), while Taylor Rooks is #24.

Daneesha Provo: This is a name to keep an eye on in the 2014 class. Provo is a 5-10 guard/wing originally from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, but now attending Kent School, a prep school in Connecticut. She plays AAU for Exodus NYC, and she also recently played on Canada's 3x3 U18 team at the FIBA world championships, alongside Eternati Willock. Michigan may be recruiting her—can't say for sure. She's definitely being recruited by Seton Hall. This highlight video is pretty impressive.

MWRR rundown: Coverage of the late-September Midwest Showcase includes this on Faith Suggs (IL-2015):

Faith is extremely athletic and long. Has very good ball handing skills and has the ability to navigate her way through defenders. Likes to aggressively attack he rim and gets to the free throw line often, which are easy points for her. Faith has good defense and uses her length to stay in front of her opposition and knock balls away.

That rundown also includes Allazia Blockton, a 6-0 forward from Wisconsin who's another player to keep an eye on in the 2015 class. MWRR reported several months ago that she has offers from Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Marquette, and Milwaukee. She's an AAU teammate of Arike Ogunbowale.

ASGR 2015 Rankings: ASGR posted a top 100 for 2015 today. Michigan targets or possible targets include:

• 9. Arike Ogunbowale (WI)
• 12. Taylor Murray (MD)
• 14. Marina Mabrey (NJ)
• 18. Batouly Camara (NJ)
• 24. Teniya Page (IL)
• 25. Faith Suggs (IL)
• 29. Tierra Floyd (OH)
• 30. Kalabrya Gondrezick (MI)
• 36. T'aire "T. T." Starks (MN)
• 38. Brianna Jones (NY)
• 39. Kiah Gillespie (CT)
• 47. Cierra Rice (MI)
• 52. Jordan Moore (TX)
• 56. Anna Hammaker (TN)
• 61. Brittany Ward (IN)
• 73. Eternati Willock (Ont.)
• 81. Tania Davis (MI)
• 82. Hallie Thome (OH)
• 84. Lauren "Boogie" Brozoski (NY)

Visitors: Several commits and prospects will be taking unofficial visits to Michigan this weekend. They include three players from Toledo Rogers: Michigan commits Akienreh Johnson and Brelynn Hampton-Bey, along with 6-2 forward Keasja Peace (2016). A Toledo Blade article from over the summer says Peace has offers from Michigan, Toledo, EMU, and CMU. Blue Star offered this scouting report on Peace following the July 2013 Nike Nationals event:

Quality, athletic bigs always catch the eye of coaches and evaluators and 6-2 Keasja Peace, who hails from Toledo, Ohio, has the chance to be just what those folks are looking for. Peace has a long athletic college body that helps her rebound the ball at highest point, run the floor, and finish well in the paint. Her midrange shot is a work in progress but she does have a nice low post, face up game. Peace, of the Michigan Crossover, has the potential to be a dominate force at both ends. A 2016 with a tremendous upside.

In from Minnesota will be Sam Trammel (2015), the 6-1 power forward out of Eden Prairie mentioned in an earlier post. Also visiting is Jonell Williams (2015) a 6-2 post from Palatka H.S. in Palatka, Florida. A ton of schools have recently expressed interest in her, including Florida, Stanford, Louisville, Indiana, Ohio St., Wisconsin, and Georgia Tech.

Yet another visitor is Dominique Toussaint (2016), a 5-9 combo guard out of New York City basketball powerhouse Christ the King. She participated in the USA U16 trials earlier this year, during which Prospects Nation featured her in a "four to know" post:

Toussaint is a powerful 5-foot-9 combo type guard with the ability to make a high volume of plays with the basketball in her hands. She is a good athlete who can handle the ball well enough to create her own shots and then elevate to finish in congested areas. This weekend was a strong showing for the class of 2016 prospect as she managed to turn a high heads and make us all take note of her game.

There's an earlier eval of Toussaint in this Blue Star post.

Reyna Frost (MI-2015): MWRR included Frost, who attended Michigan's Elite Camp back in June, in this rundown from a late September event:

Reyna Frost, 6'0 F, 2015, Michigan Sting - Frost is one of the best passers out of the post that we saw all weekend. She has a solid frame that she uses to establish position early in the possession. Good footwork in the post and a consistent finisher. She is a high volume rebounder that works very hard at her craft.

Samantha "Sam" Fuehring (NJ-2015): Another 2015 Michigan prospect coming to light, Fuehring is a 6-3 forward out of Immaculate Conception H.S. in Lodi, New Jersey. Mid-Atlantic Girls Hoops ran a Recruit Radar feature on her in July:

Fuehring is an edgy, hard-nosed forward with perimeter skills and a college-ready body. Sam prefers to "bang" inside than score outside but does both with a high degree of efficiency. She plays with a high degree of intensity and is a fierce competitor. Ball handling is OK considering her size and can use some polish but is more than serviceable for her position. Shot mechanics are solid, so a stretch 4 position is not out of the question. The scary part about Fuehring is she is nowhere near her peak potential and is already a mid-major to high D1 prospect. Do yourself a favor; go watch her play and start recruiting. She's a steal!

She's definitely an under-the-radar prospect and doesn't appear on any of the public rankings. But already in July she had offers from  Fordham, Seton Hall, and Wagner, along with interest from Delaware, Indiana, Penn State, and William and Mary. A recently posted highlight video can be found here.

Forgot to mention that Blue Star has Jonell Williams ranked #23 in the 2015 class.

Also, Samantha Fuehring is in fact another Michigan visitor today.

Arica Carter: Reportedly down to Arizona State and Kansas. It's increasingly possible that Michigan's (excellent) 2014 class is complete.

Taiye Bello (MI-2016): This 6-1 power forward out of Southfield Lathrup H.S. received an offer from Michigan today. She was yet another visitor today.

Kristen Nelson (MI-2016): Also on an unofficial visit yesterday was Kristen Nelson, a 5-8 guard out of Farmington Hills Harrison H.S. In their 2016 in-state rankings (which I don't think have been updated in some time), LBI has Nelson ranked #7. Her freshman stats, per MaxPreps: 7.6 points, 5.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 steals per game. Mick McCabe gave her a bit of pub in this article from February. Nelson plays AAU for the Michigan Monarchs, same program as Sam and Bailey Thomas and Tyler Bennett.

2016 Prospects: Have added several prospects to the list of 2016 targets (the 2015 list still needs to be updated). Note that Blue Star has Dominique Toussaint ranked #13 in the country.

Arica Carter: Her recruiting saga has been quite interesting. Latest is that she'll be taking an official visit to Louisville this weekend, contradicting the last report saying she was down to Kansas and Arizona State.

Tierra Webb (IL-2015): This recruit has been on Michigan's radar for some time, although I can't say whether she's a major target or not. MWRR posted another scouting report on her in this rundown.

2015 Rankings: Prospects Nation has updated its top 60 for 2015. Michigan targets:

• Arike Ogunbowale: #7
• Marina Mabrey: #11
• Batouly Camara: #12 (up from #57)
• Teniya Page: #16 (up from #26)
• Taylor Murray: #20
• Faith Suggs: #29 (up from #42)
• T'aire Starks: #33
• Brianna Jones: #37
• Sam Trammel: #40
• Brittany Ward: #53
• Kiah Gillespie: #54 (new to top 60)
• Theresa Ekhelar: #59 (new to top 60)

Boogie Brozoski, previously #56, is now an unranked 4-star.

Kiah Gillespie (CT-2015): Hoops Dream Magazine has a profile of Gillespie that says she has

over 20 offers to date including Rutgers, University of Michigan, Seton Hall, South Carolina, University of Tennessee, Alabama, VCU, Ole Miss, Temple, and West Virginia

Out of the schools mentioned, the South Carolina, Temple, VCU, and West Virginia offers are ones that have not previously been reported. The profile also quotes her as saying, "I will probably release my top schools towards the end of my junior year."

Class Rankings: Prospects Nation updated their 2014 recruiting class rankings, with Michigan's class slotted at #18. Only two other Big Ten teams appear in their top 25—Ohio St. at #2 and Maryland at #14.

2016 Rankings: Prospects Nation released its first top 25 for 2016 today. Recent Michigan visitor Dominique Toussaint (NY) is #15, while Kysre Gondrezick (MI) is #21.

Kiah Gillespie (CT-2015): now receiving interest from Duke, but no offer yet.

Kia Nurse (Ont.-2014): FWIW, article out today has a bit of info that contradicts the previous report that Nurse was down to a final five. It says: "She has a list of seven that she is presently narrowing to four to which she will schedule official visits. One of the visits will be to the University of Connecticut . . . on Nov. 9." The other six schools aren't named.

Arica Carter: committed to Louisville during her official visit this weekend.

Visitors elsewhere: Among the visitors to the Marquette Madness kickoff event on Friday were Arike Ogunbowale (WI-2015) and Kristen Nelson (MI-2016).

Note on Purdue: The Boilermakers picked up two more 2014 commits this weekend. One of them was a post player from Utah, giving them two posts in the 2014 class. One would think this would make it less likely that Hallie Thome (OH-2015) ends up in West Lafayette. Also of note is that Purdue now has five 2014 commits and three for 2015, leaving them (at least at the moment) with just one scholarship left to use on either class—something to keep in mind given that several 2015 prospects have been pursued by both Purdue and Michigan.

Taylor Rooks (NJ-2014): this former Michigan target committed to Stanford today.

Nicole Munger, 5-8 combo guard out of Central Bucks West H.S. in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, committed to Michigan today. She's one of the Philly Belles players mentioned in an earlier post in connection with Matt Bamford. She's Michigan's first 2015 commit.

Lauren "Boogie" Brozoski has commited to Michigan.

Kiah Gillespie (CT-2015): Prospects Nation includes her in this rundown of 2015 top 60 prospects expected to make a major jump over the next year:

Kiah Gillespie of Meriden, Conn., has all of the physical tools to be one of the premier forwards in the country this time next year. The four-star prospect made great strides during the July evaluation period, establishing herself as a wing who can score the basketball and be physical on the interior. Gillespie’s next step is proving that she can use that combination to become a dominant force on both ends of the floor.

Visitors to Michigan: On an unofficial visit today for the Indiana game is Deja Church, a 2017 wing out of Southfield Lathrup H.S. She plays AAU for Michigan Crossover. Not much else out there on her. She's also visited Toledo and Western Michigan.

Visitors Elsewhere:

• Hallie Thome (OH-2015) was in East Lansing yesterday for MSU's Midnight Madness event.
• Theresa Ekhelar (NJ-2015) took an unofficial to Temple, taking in a practice and their Midnight Madness.
• Kristen Nelson (MI-2016) was on an unofficial visit to Northwestern today.

Roster Addition: This won't affect the scholarship situation, but Michigan added another player to its roster as a walk-on—Nicole Flyer, a 6-2 junior forward who played high school basketball at Palisades H.S. in Los Angeles. She was on Michigan's rowing team the last two years (see bio). Not sure she'll see much action, but she does give the team a bit more frontcourt depth following Kelsey Mitchell's latest injury.

News Item: Newsday ran a brief item on Boogie Brozoski's commitment.

Another Article: Newsday ran a more detailed article on Brozoski indicating that Kim Barnes Arico has been recruiting Brozoski since she was in the eighth grade. Also includes some quotes from her and a longer list of other schools that had shown interest in her:

"That was a huge factor," Brozoski said. "Coach Arico started recruiting me at St. John's, and to know she had such great interest in me that she took with her to Michigan meant a lot."

Brozoski also drew interest from George Washington, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Villanova, Seton Hall, Hofstra, Harvard and Boston College. She ultimately chose Michigan because she said it felt right and had "the total package."

"Honestly, I just went with my gut and my heart,'' Brozoski said. "I just felt like that's where I belong."