The UofM basketball program finally landed its man. Following a six-day delay, the Wolverines locked up their prize recruit for the Class of 2011 by signing Southfield's Carlton Brundidge, one of the top backcourt prospects in the nation, on Tuesday morning in a small, quiet ceremony held at his high school.

Brundidge, a bulldog-tough combo guard who led the Blue Jays to a 21-6 overall record and the Class A final four for the first time in over two decades last winter, was slated to sign his National Letter of Intent on November 10, but postponed until yesterday because his father – Southfield assistant coach Clennie Brundidge – had to leave town on emergency business. Some worried that the 6-foot-2 scoring machine was getting cold feet and might back out of the verbal commitment he gave the Wolverines last September. However, Brundidge stood true to his word on Tuesday and the Ann Arbor hoop faithful all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

To say the program needs Brundidge's talents is like saying the Lions need to find a way to win a road game – It's an absolute. UofM had an underachieving season last year and are picked to finish in the basement of the Big Ten this season. Getting players like Brundidge into the fold up in the A-squared is imperative to turning things around.  Not only can CB get his hoop on with the best of the best there is to offer in the prep ranks, he's a PURE WINNER!  I don't know of many athletes that work as hard as this kid does on his game. He just outgrinds and outworks EVERYONE that steps in his way! His leadership ability and "crunch time" credentials are second to none too. In a nutshell, he's everything you want in a recruit. A starter for the Bluejays since he was a freshman, over the past two seasons Brundidge has put up averages of 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game. Basically, he's as complete a backcourt anchor as you can find and to say the least, the Maze&Blue are super lucky to have him.

"I can't wait to get up there and start helping them get the program back where it should be at," said Brundidge in an interview Tuesday night. "They're going to push me to be the best player I can be and I'm going to give them everything I have in my heart as a competitor. Right now, I'm just proud to be a Wolverine."

 

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