Off-Season Hoops Report - Part 1

FOUR COLLEGE SIGNINGS SWEEP COUNTY HOOP SCENE

Oak Park swingman Kenny Harper (one of Burney's favorite, "under the radar" gems these past two years) and Oak Park Academy's Kendrick Ward and Dimitrius Abner have each agreed to take their games to Ohio and play at Columbus State

Wayne State got itself a true diamond in the rough when Southfield-Lathrup's Bryan Coleman decided to come on board to the Warriors program a little over a week ago. There is no doubt in my mind that the extra-silky, 6-7 southpaw Coleman is a "D1 talent" that for some reason got overlooked in the recruiting process. UofD-Mercy had a chance to offer him a spot on its roster, yet for some reason that Burney has a very difficult time understanding, Titans head coach Ray McCallum Sr. opted against it. I hate to say it, 'cause I love myself some McCallum Family, but I think the Titans really missed the boat on not signing Coleman. This kid's growth potential on the hardwood is enormous and his versatility is very rare in my opinion. He got tagged with a "sleepy", "lax play" label because he's a Tayshaun Prince/Sam Perkins-clone who just does everything so naturally smooth, it sometimes appears that he's not exerting himself 100%. And that unfortunately has dogged him. However, that's in the past now and Burney knows Bryan Coleman aka B-MONEY is going to be socking it to 'em wearing the green and gold next year

STRAIGHT FROM "WHAT IF" DEPT:

Rumor is that Coleman's teammate, all-state Chargers' swingman, Roy Marble, Jr., was very close to signing with McCallum, Sr and UofD-Mercy back in April when Iowa head coach Todd Lickliter, the coach who recruited Marble to Iowa City, got the Ax. Kudos to the new Hawkeye hoop brass for rushing into the 'D' the minute they got the job to secure Marble's services, since NCAA rules allowed the 6-7 point machine who added a needed "toughness factor" to his game last year, the opportunity to opt out of his commitment and go elsewhere. Word on the street was that prior to the new Hawkeye coaching staff touched down in the 'D' and spoke to him face-to-face, Marble was leaning towards switching directions and going to play with "Big Play Ray" and the Titans. Wow, can you guys imagine that? Wait, what if B-Money Coleman was there too? That would be flat out insane. Then instead of just one SUPERCRAZYDEF OC'er leading the Titans back to glory at a rocking and rolling Calihan Hall the next few years, there would be THREE!! I'm talking alley-oops galore being passed between Big Play Ray, Marble and B-Money. I would have called them "THE OC CONNECTION". It would have been awesome!