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Burney's Bytes will focus primarily on the local preps sports scene, but will also touch on some college and pro athletics, mostly in regards to athletes who hail and have played high school sports in Oakland County. My goal for the blog is to be conversational and anecdotal, a more relaxed and free formal take on high school athletics than you see in regular game day coverage.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Prospect Primer - And Then There Were Two

Burney's sources are telling him that local Blue Chip hoopster, "Big Play Ray" McCallum has officially cut his list of college choices down to two. I'm told McCallum has removed Florida and UCLA from consideration and has now narrowed the field down to just UofD-Mercy and Arizona. It's really merely a formality however since as of almost a month ago, The Great Burnzini himself told all you recruiting hounds that "Big Play Ray's" future lays at the corner of 6 Mile Road and Livernois Avenue with his pops in Titanville. McCallum helped lead his team to a win in the 31st annual McDonalds All-American game last week, scoring four points, handing out four dimes, and grabbing three rebounds. Repping the 'D' and DCD for that matter, to the fullest, Ray finished 2nd in the Slam Dunk contest, even holding the lead (in a 12 man event) as the competition went into its final round. 
It appears that North Farmington's Kyle Vinales has made a final decision and backed out of his National Letter of Intent with Grand Valley State, satisfied with heading down to a prep school in North Carolina to prepare for a shot at a DI scholarship offer a year from now. Quick history note: Vinales had more than a handful of D1 offers earlier this year – Oakland U, UofD-Mercy, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Wright State, among them – yet made the last minute to decision to ink with the D2 Lakers instead back in October. "The Natural"…er……Kyle, is my main man and I only wish him the best of luck. That said, I am quite certain that he WILL be making noise somewhere at the D1 Level in 2012 and beyond. This kid is just too much of a "Natural", not to be!
In case you didn't know already, Vinales' Raiders teammate, Robert Hogans (who could have easily been rewarded with Burney's "Most Improved Player" Award for this past season, if it wasn't for Roy Marble's marked improvement following securing a Big Ten scholarship) is going to be playing his ball at Spring Arbor College next year. Hogans one-handed jam on a fastbreak in a game against Southfield late in the regular season was one of the tops slams of the season. The family name will be well represented in the Brown and Yellow the next 3 seasons as Robert's baby bro, Caleb Hogans, a top scorer on the JV this season as a freshman, will most likely step into a starting spot on the varsity in 2011.
Clawson's multi-sport sensations, Rob Feeman and Howard Crippen, might be missing out on some time on the baseball diamond this spring due to injury, but both will be playing football at the next level in college this coming fall.
Feeman, a stat-monger of a quarterback to say the least the past 4 years for the Trojans, will be suiting up for D3 superpower Mount Union – his brother Steve, also an ace field general under center, recently completed a solid college playing career at Tiffin University in Ohio.
Crippen, the ultimate workhorse of a dual-back on offense and smash hit specialist on defense from a linebacker or safety position, will be getting his gridiron on in the Ivy League at Penn. I suppose suiting up for the Quakers means my main homeboy Howie will be forced to hit the books just as hard as he hits the comp. Now that's a scary thought!!!

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