Welcome Aboard - Drake Harris
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Michigan State football AND basketball obtained their first recruit for 2014 today as Grand Rapids Christian standout Drake Harris committed to the Spartans. Harris, a wide receiver in football and a two-guard in basketball, is generally thought of as a top-100 recruit in both sports, but don't take my word for it:
FOOTBALL RANKING:
24/7 - #11 WR, #2 in Michigan, #83 Overall
...and that's the only Football ranking I could find for Harris. Harris's successes on the gridiron were attracting attention last year; as a freshman Harris scored 30 touchdowns on Grand Rapids Christian's JV team, and Scout.com analyst Allen Trieu had this to say about his football ability:
Scout.com Midwest regional manager Allen Trieu was on hand for Harris' biggest game thus far — a nine-reception, 254-yard, two-TD showing versus Muskegon Reeths-Puffer in Week 4."He had 160 first-half receiving yards, showing great ball skills, speed and athleticism," said Trieu. "He went high, showing his leaping ability, to snare one pass over the top of a defender and simply ran past the defense on an 89-yard touchdown. It was not great competition that he was going against, but his package of physical skills is very intriguing, and he's certainly a high-level football prospect, as well."
He recently visited Michigan's camp and was offered there. He was about to be offered by Michigan in basketball as well but...
"Michigan was about to offer me in basketball, too," Harris said. "I just had to go down and talk to Coach (John) Beilein, but I went to the Spartan Showcase and talked to Coach Izzo for a little bit and I just made up my mind from there and felt like Michigan State was the right place for me."
Harris goes on to say in the article that he planned on waiting until the end of his Junior season to make a decision. Now about his basketball potential...
BASKETBALL RANKINGS
SCOUT -- #14 SG, #65 Overall
Harris isn't ranked in 24/7's top 15, or ESPN's top 60, so 65 sounds about right. Intrpdtrvlr will have more on Harris in his next recruiting update coming very soon, so I'm just going to reiterate what he wrote in the 2014 Hotlist, as there'll be more later:
Perhaps the first thing to know is that Drake is a true two-sport prospect. He claims football invitations from Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame. That is not a group of pigskin lightweights.Though the early talk was that Drake was likely to focus on basketball and do it at MSU as a quick verbal, the recent developments have become more complicated. It's open secret that some close to Drake are very intrigued by the Hoke regime and are interested in him exploring his opportunities. Still, Drake is a confessed Michigan State fan since childhood and the Spartans are in an excellent position. A lot has already been written about his game because Drake was identified as a major prospect at an early age. He's been the overwhelming pick as the top in-state player in his class since people paid attention. It could be said that his rankings haven't exactly lived up to the hype but Drake had a good summer last year and UMHoops is already glowing about his new campaign. It appears likely that this player will stay in state with one of the two biggies. Whether he ends up a Spartan, Wolverine, or none of the above, whoever gets him will have the bonus of saving a basketball scholarship if Harris decides to play football as a freshman. (Intrpdtrvlr)
WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE CLASS(ES)
For football, it's way too early to tell. Michigan State took four wide receivers for the 2012 class and two for the 2013 class, so some attrition might occur. Stab in the dark -- Dantonio takes at least one more receiver, if not two.
As for Izzo, Harris has no effect on the class since he'll most likely be on a football scholarship. That means basketball gains a top-100 wing player, and still has plenty of spots (at least three as of today) for Tyus Jones, Cliff Alexander, Jahlil Okafor, JaQuan Lyle, and others.
ONE LAST THING
Harris's Dad Mike Harris said at the press conference that the Spartans were (and I'm paraphrasing) on track to land the #1 basketball player in the 2013 class, Jabari Parker. When asked how he knew, he replied:
"He hasn’t given me any leads or anything like that, but just around the AAU circuit, you hear people talking," Mike Harris said with a laugh. "It’s just talk. Just talk."
It's definitely not bad news, but it's inconclusive. Parker has kept his cards close to the vest closer than any other #1 prospect I can remember.
So welcome Drake to Michigan State. Get ready to get compared to Matt Trannon (you didn't think you were going to get through this article without at least one Matt Trannon mention, were you?) a lot, even though your styles of play are very different.
Comments
Honor
I think it’s safe to say every young two-sport star in the Midwest grows up dreaming of on day becoming the Evolutionary Matt Trannon. It’s just natural.
Fantastic!
But how is he going to handle the overlapping seasons? I can’t remember how that worked out for Trannon. It will be especially tOugh if we continue doing things like playing in Europe. All around great news though, go green!
Not sure
I imagine some sort of time share will be worked out, but if I had to guess I’d say it’d be a lot like it was with Trannon — he’s on the football team until the season’s done, then basketball.
It worked for Trannon because...
It worked for Trannon because the football team missed bowl games. Therefore, Trannon was able to Join the basketball team in November instead of January. Therefore, Trannon got into a groove with the team before Big Ten season starts. I do not see the football team missing bowl game, therefore, I am skeptical on his impact on the basketball team unless he quits football.
Dude
Are you really telling me that he needs to spend all through November and December focusing only on a bowl game? I think not. He can still start in November once Big Ten season wraps up.
Also I think he’ll go the Trannon route and choose one by his senior year, whichever one gives him a better professional opportunity.
If he's a key player
I bet noted football fan Tom Izzo wouldn’t want to risk him practicing or playing with the bball team and getting injured prior to the biggest game of the football season.
If they’re playing in Big Ten championship games as well as January bowl games, he likely won’t join the team until conference play is well under way.
If they’re playing in Big Ten championship games as well as January bowl games, he likely won’t join the team until conference play is well under way.
it's State everyday, No Days Off
That's what I was getting at
Practicing with the bball team in October won’t be able to happen, and depending on the bowl game (I.e. how important it is) I wonder if coach D would make him miss out on the nom-con bball games as well. Guess we shall see.
And by nom-con
I’m of course referring to the annual snack food convention.
I don't think he can do both
This is just my opinion but I see him making a “choice” early on in his career and I bet it will be football. I think he will come to the same type of realization Gholston had when he “decided” to play DE and not LB.
Trannon was needed on the hoops squad because he had size and could give us defense and 5 fouls if needed. I don’t know what our bball team will look like in 2014 but it just seems like a 6’4 wing won’t be as important.
I wish him luck trying to make them both work.
Welcome to MSU Drake!
2014 has a chance to be a really special year for basketball and football recruiting.
In related news,
PG Monte Morris (remember him?) From Flint committed to Iowa State yesterday. I hadn’t seen that name on here in a while, but it was my understanding that both MSU & M were after him, but his Rivals page shows him with no B1G offers.
What happened here? Did he just fall off the radar, or did other prospects catch up to & pass him?
All About Need
Once UM landed Walton and MSU began to favor Jackson, Morris became the odd man out. I don’t think it’s a knock against him (he’s a consensus top-100 player), he’s just a victim of the circumstances. Maybe if he was in another year’s class (like 11’) MSU would have come calling.
