Recall The Basketball Commitment Kraken Comment Count

Brian

2013 offers went out today and two 2013 commitments came back within a few minutes of each other—Brady Hoke's ark act is spreading. They are:

Austin Hatch

Hatch is a 6'6", 214 pound wing from Canterbury, Indiana.

You may remember Hatch as the guy who declared Michigan his outright leader in a local profile article from a while back. The question with him was whether the feeling was mutual; it evidently is. Hatch is a three-star-ish unranked dude who hasn't got much pub yet because his high school is small and an injury held him out of the early part of this AAU season. Beilein's been all over him, though, and he just shot up two inches so he could still be expanding.

UMHoops got some scouting in at the recent elite camp:

At around 6-foot-6, Hatch has a solid frame to go along with his smooth and quick jump shot. He hit a pair of deep back-to-back threes during his time on the main court and had a couple strong takes to the basket – using his strength and body position very well. He appeared to be the most consistent shooter of the wings at the camp in both game action and shooting drills.

He did a good job on the glass and was assertive offensively without trying to do too much. His handle isn’t quite what you’d like to see out of a wing guard at the next level but it’s good enough to get in the lane and keep defenses honest. His dad has told us that he’s still growing and depending on how much he grows he should have a very interesting combination of size, strength and shooting ability.

aaand…

Mark Donnal

Donnal is a 6'9", 200 pound post—yes the post is 14 pounds lighter than the wing—out of Wayne, Ohio. He's 81st in the current ESPN top 100 and appears to be moving towards more Big Time status, as late-developing, skinny bigs are wont to do. UMHoops camp scouting again:

The camp wasn’t loaded with big men but Donnal was the most impressive of the bunch. He has very solid footwork and makes the most of the opportunities provided to him, which can be few and far between in a fast paced camp setting.

Knowing how to play the game is often an overlooked trait for big men. Reading situations, rolling to the basket at the right time, pivoting the right direction and making the right move are reactions that have to be made quickly and that most young bigs struggle with. Donnal, like anyone, makes his fair share of mistakes but he seems to embrace coaching and make the necessary improvements quickly.

He had a nice dunk in 3 on 3 play and seemed to always make the right play every time. He’s not a jump out of the gym athlete or a tremendous shot blocker, although he did have a few nice blocks in full court play, but he has a good motor and is an above average rebounder. He showed off a strong drop step in the post on a couple of occasions but surprised me more with his face up game. He’s not going to be a true face-up four man at this point, or ever, but he’s surprisingly coordinated at putting the ball on the floor for a sophomore big. He’s also confident enough to step out and knock down a jump shot from 18-feet.

There's more from ESPN and others at the UMHoops commit post.

This technically fills Michigan's roster for 2013 but that assumes Hardaway stays four years, Blake McLimans gets a a fifth year, and there's no other attrition. More realistically Michigan is looking for another two guys in the class. Monte Morris is obviously a priority, and then the fourth guy could be anyone.

Comments

Indiana Blue

June 15th, 2011 at 3:56 PM ^

but, it is not Canterbury, Indiana.

It is Canterbury High School,a small private high school located in Fort Wayne, IN.   Known primarily for its boys soccer program, the girls basketball team does own 3 State titles in Division 1a (the smallest enrollment size division in Indiana).   Uhhh ... none for the boys.

Go Blue ! 

chitownblue2

June 15th, 2011 at 4:16 PM ^

it seems like the services like Hatch more than they liked Vogrich, who was at the bottom of the top 150 on Rivals - so he's probably a high 3/low 4 type.

Donnal is 80-ish on Scout and ESPN, but a 3-star to Rivals. At 6'9", 200, it's conceivable he can grow into an actual NBA sized center. That'd be cool.

Raoul

June 16th, 2011 at 7:39 AM ^

Donnal's high school coach thinks he could eventually reach 6-foot-11. That would be cool. From Toledo Blade article:

"He wanted to go to Michigan," said new Anthony Wayne coach Bryan Borcherdt. "He wants to be a Wolverine."

Several other programs from the Midwest showed interest, including Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Butler and Purdue. The University of Toledo extended him an offer last year.

Donnal, whom Borcherdt believes could ultimately grow two more inches to reach 6-11, was named All-Northern Lakes League second team last season after averaging 14.9 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Generals (8-12).

WolvinLA2

June 16th, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^

Yeah, if he's 6'9" as a sophomore, it's possible he could still add an inch or two.  What I'm equally interested in is how much weight he puts on between now and his frosh year of college (which he has 2.5 years to do).  If he could be 6'10" and 240 by then, he's a guy who will have four big years on the block for us. 

loosekanen

June 15th, 2011 at 4:16 PM ^

From what I've seen of Donnal he's going to be the real deal. Kid is a throwback and a guy that really values going at it in the post. As a fan of the Hoosiers I'm pretty bummed we didn't get on him earlier. He plays for Dan Dakich's AAU squad and Dakich raves about him. A very old-fashioned, hard-nosed, effort post with an already soft touch and a desire to get better. Would not be surprised to see this kid on some top 50 lists by the end of his senior year.

loosekanen

June 15th, 2011 at 4:24 PM ^

Here's a link to Insidethehall's video of Donnal: http://www.insidethehall.com/recruit-profile-mark-donnal/

Things that jump out at me immediately:

positives: Soft touch for a big man, awareness and ability to pass out of a double team, willingness to go hard at the basket and draw contact, free throw ability, coachable, knows he is a post and plays within himself

negatives: needs to continue to hit the weight room, will require more positioning technique on most of his offensive rebounds when facing bigger kids, needs to continue to develop that right handed hook but already shows a nice touch on it

Again, can't stress enough how good I think this kid is going to be. Definitely All Big-Ten potential toward the end of his career. Paul Davis and Brad Miller are the two guys I think he'll most resemble toward the end of his career; deceptively hard nosed and more skilled than other conference bigs.

KinesiologyNerd

June 15th, 2011 at 5:27 PM ^

Correct. Home of the Generals, Anthony Wayne High School is located in Whitehouse and serves Whitehouse, Waterville, Monclova (most of southern Lucas county). As an AW grad myself, I don't find this being too technical haha.

Interestingly, Mark is the brother of former Michigan recruit turn Iowa lineman Andrew Donnal. His mother was my junior high math teacher. And yes he's from Monclova.

Raoul

June 15th, 2011 at 5:05 PM ^

Indianapolis Star writer talked to Hatch, who makes it sound like this was almost a package deal:

Hatch said he and Donnal had talked about committing to Michigan while at the school’s team camp last weekend.

“We talked about it a lot,” Hatch said. “We decided if one of his was going to commit, the other one would too. I haven’t played with him other than team camp when they put us on the same team, but I’ve played against him a lot and he’s very good.”

neoavatara

June 15th, 2011 at 5:28 PM ^

Is a HUGE get.  Some people think he will be a top 50 player by the end of the year.  Don't know much about Hatch...but an excellent start to 2013. 

719Yoop

June 15th, 2011 at 7:05 PM ^

On RCMB the sparty's are calling our two commits "More Novaks"... MSU ignorance at its finest. Hatch is comparable to Novak (Good shooter and rebounder) but Donnal is a big man that is 5 inches taller than Novak and he's only a sophomore (Not to mention a post player). Besides, after the show Novak put on in EL last year I'd be quick to hold back on the Novak comparisons if I were a sparty. 

719Yoop

June 15th, 2011 at 8:00 PM ^

Apparently they don't need "an undersized white boy"... they perfer the Derrick Nix's of the world. As high as they are on Dantonio's ability to develop talent you think they would show a little recognition to Beilein, especially if they had interest in him. 

fire lloyd carr

June 16th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^

Thanks for the post. For a 15-16 year old, he seems to have himself together. Got to be happy that he has his recruitment already figured out and he can now concentrate on academics and athletics. Good luck.

MGoDubs

June 15th, 2011 at 8:47 PM ^

I would say from the little clip of Hatch that we got that he looks like a taller Stu Douglass. Stu 2.0.... Not overly quick, but a  good stay in front defender that that makes it tough to score. Ball handling didn't look outstanding but again flimsy evidence. But in my opinion he looks like a Stu Douglass type player which are def gritty defensive shooters that are very important on a JB coaches team. We got most are athletic scorers in this last class coming in and with hardaway, so its possible JB is filling the shoes of novak and douglass

RedfordUofMfan

June 15th, 2011 at 9:54 PM ^

Question: How would it work if Banner commits to Michigan for football?  He said he wants to play basketball ('6.9).  Would that preclude Michigan from using a basketball scholarship for another player?

FloridaWolverine

June 16th, 2011 at 1:00 AM ^

I have know Austin Hatch since I was 8 years old as our parents went to college together and while I live in Florida and don't know a whole lot about his game aside from the fact that he used to own me, I know that he is very smart and extremely hardworking and should be a great addition to the class.