Things I'm most looking forward to for the upcoming prep football season;

The brand new SMURF TURF at Oxford

Lake Orion fourth-year signal caller Sean Charrette returning in full form from his season-ending injury last season to lead the Dragons on their quest for a repeat state title

Seeing Greg Carter roaming the sidelines at Oak Park, resurrecting the Knights program and doing it FAST!!

The Farmington Hills Harrison Hawks hammering the comp at every opportunity, effectively changing the lyrics to the popular song 'Black and Yellow' to 'Green and Yellow' in Oakland County for the 2011 season

Watching the Clarkston linebacking tandem of Matt Dellinger and Zack Collins on the prowl and DESTROYING all in their vicinity

Getting the chance to cover, engage and appreciate up close LEGENDARY local head coaches like Al Fracassa (Birmingham Brother Rice), Tom Mach (Novi Detroit CC) and John Herrington (FH Harrison) among others

The ole 'OC Gunslinger' himself aka Auburn Hills Avondale senior quarterback Mitch Robinson putting up another MONSTER campaign with the Yellowjackets

Rochester Hills Adams 'Mr. Do Everything' aka senior Tony Annese literally picking the Highlanders up, putting them on his back and carrying them into contention for another OAA White crown and another berth in the postseason

Finally getting a first-hand look at Southfield transfer Ron Thompson, one of the best tight ends and most heavily recruited players in the state

Tracking the rapid development of Novi Detroit Catholic Central's brand new 'Thunder&Lightning' backfield of juniors Wyatt Shalman (aka Thunder) and Anthony Darkangelo (aka Lightning)

Orchard Lake St. Mary's senior middle linebacker James Ross going all JAMES ROSS!!!

Ross' teammate Keith Stonestreet having a BREAKOUT campaign for the Eaglets catching the ball, running ball and returning kicks

Birmingham Brother Rice being Brother Rice

The second year of OAA crossover action in October…..great concept!!!

Walled Lake Central's Zac Leimbach…..ENOUGH SAID!!

The coming out party for Lakeland's Chuck Sanders, who will make fans of the KLAA think the Eagles have Barry Sanders on offense for the Eagles

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The transfer bug has hit the Oakland County prep ranks once again.

Star basketball player Damon Bozeman, one of the area's leading returning scorers for the 2012 season, will be transferring from Madison Heights Madison, where he's been a three-year starter on the Eagles hoop squad, and enrolling at Walled Lake Western.

As a freshman and sophomore, Bozeman helped take Madison to league titles. Last season as a junior, he pumped in 24.5 points per game to go along with eight rebounds and 3.5 assists a night as well. He posted a 42-point affair in a game back in February and has eclipsed the 40-point plateau twice already this summer playing for Team Detroit on the AAU circuit.

Standing 6-2, Bozeman played in the post during his first two varsity campaigns, averaging a double-double when he was a sophomore in 2010 (16 points 10 rebounds). Knowing he would have to eventually ply his trade on the perimeter as a college player, last winter he moved into the Eagles backcourt and proved his merit as a genuine guard prospect at the next level. The sturdily built Bozeman scores in bunches and at all the most opportune times, too, and that's why when I watch him I draw immediate comparisons to former Bad Boy Pistons guard Vinnie Johnson.

Currently, Bozeman is getting serious looks from several MAC schools and a number of top-tier D2 programs. Next week, he's taking an on-campus visit to Eastern Michigan.

His presence in the Walled Lake Western lineup for the upcoming season will hopefully spell a resurgence for the Warriors cage crew. In 2011, Western finished the year a disappointing 5-15, 1-9 in the KLAA.

Joining Bozeman at Western in 2012 in his first year with the program will be first-year head coach Ra'Redding Murray, formerly the sideline general at Detroit Crockett. 

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The start of the prep football season is merely days away at this point and this makes Burney VERY HAPPY!!! In honor of practice kicking off a week from this Monday, I've decided to break down a list of the best high school quarterbacks I've ever personally seen play.

Most are from the Detroit area, however some hail from Illinois and Indiana, since I spent over a decade of my life living out of state.

My TOP 15

1 Mill Coleman (FH Harrison) – As a little kid I would go to Harrison games just to watch "The Thrill" electrify the grandstand whenever he was on the field. The most exciting and productive player I have ever seen on the high school level. Thrill took Harrison to three straight state championship games and a pair of state crowns in his three years under center for legendary Hawk head coach John Herrington.

2 Donovan McNabb (Mt. Carmel) – I was friends with a kid in Chicago in my high school days and he took me to watch McNabb play as a senior at Mt. Carmel…all I can say about that experience is WOW!!!

3 Drew Henson (Brighton) – The ultimate prep golden boy who was perfect at everything he did…until he reached the pro level

4 Rex Grossman (Bloomington South) – I went to college at Indiana at the exact same time Grossman was romping his way through the schoolboy scene in the Hoosier state, taking no prisoners in the process……absolutely shredded opposing defenses with his pinpoint accuracy and gun-slinging style tossing the pigskin. Unfortunately, after continuing to tear it up in the college ranks at Florida, Rexie hit the skids in the NFL establishing himself as one of the worst starters in the league while becoming arguably the most dismal signal caller to ever lead his team to a Super Bowl

5 Drew Stanton (FH Harrison) – All you have to know about Stanton as a prepster is one word; REPEAT

6 Darnell Dickerson (Detroit King) – Dominated the PSL in the late 80s and I caught a game of his when I was 10 years old, witnessing the Randall Cunningham clone kill the comp with his arm and legs. He wound up doing the same in college under center with Pitt

7 Devin Gardner (Inkster) – The definition of dynamic when he was leading the Inkster Vikings offense under new Oak Park sideline general Greg Carter

8 Tom Zbikowski (Buffalo Grove) – This current NFL starting safety was a great prep quarterback as a high schooler in Illinois in the early 2000s. I saw him in a playoff game his senior year when he was facing off against my then-girlfriend's alma mater for a spot in the final four. Needless to say, he was FANTASTIC, tossing a game-winning TD while on the run from a nearing pass rush in double OT to propel his BG squad to the victory

9 (tie) Dane Fife (Clarkston) – Going on to become a standout college hoopster at Indiana, Dane Fife was a Grade-A chucker on the football field in high school, getting recruited as heavily for his talents on the gridiron as he did for his prowess on the hardwood

9 (tie) Dugan Fife (Clarkston) – Just like his little brother, Dugan was a college basketball player that excelled throwing the football in high school with the Wolfpack and could have easily taken his stellar arm to the next level if he so desired

10 Diallo Johnson (OL St. Mary's) – Simply a pleasure to watch leading the Eaglets to a state title as a senior in the mid-1990s……played a lot like Devin Gardner and just like Gardner suited up for the Maze and Blue in college, where he was a wide receiver on UofM's National Championship team in 1997.

11 Craig Krenzel (Utica Ford) – Prior to guiding Ohio State to a National Championship in the college ranks, Krenzel was a Macomb County phenom in high school

12 Jim Sorgi (Fraser) – Currently an NFL backup QB who won a Super Bowl with the Indy Colts, Sorgi went head-to-head with Krenzel for best signal caller in Macomb County bragging rights in the late 1990s

13 (tie) Matt Baker (Birmingham Brother Rice) – This future NFL'er was nothing but SUPER sparking the Warriors to a state title as a senior in the early 2000s

13 (tie) Doug Pickens (Birmingham Brother Rice) – This young man who would eventually be drafted into the Big Leagues in baseball, came from the Pickens family, so that's all you really need to know about his skill as a football player

14 Daunte Robinson (Pontiac Central) – This guy was Oakland County's own prep version of Michael Vick back in his day with the Chiefs in the 1990s….he could do it all and was revered in the Pontiac community so much that Wisner Stadium (Central's home field) began to be referred to as 'The House That Daunte Built'

15 Tommy Vento (FH Harrison) – Even though he only started for one season, his command in the huddle, composure in the pocket and big-time playmaking ability blew me away

Honorable Mention; Mitch Robinson (AH Avondale) – Still playing in high school, Robinson is THE STAT KING, having a put up a season for the record books last fall. This year as a senior, it should be more of the same. If this list came out next summer, he would probably be on it.

 

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With the AAU basketball season winding down, here's a look at a dozen underclassmen boys hoopsters to keep an eye out for in 2012

Armand Cartwright-Yante Maten (BH Lahser) – The most talented inside-outside twosome of sophomores in Oakland County, with the scoring-machine Cartwright holding thing down in the Knights' backcourt and Maten, an athletic and spry power forward, pounding it out in the post

Maceo Baston, Jr. (Troy) – A heady sophomore guard who is equally dangerous stroking it from downtown or breaking down the defense and getting into the lane to create….expect a BREAKOUT year for Baston in 2012 in his second year on varsity

Mory Diane/Edmond Sumner (Birmingham DCD) – Killer guard combo of the future for the Yellowjackets……Diane is a pure scorer & Sumner is more of a playmaker.  Diane saw time on the varsity last season, displaying great promise, while Sumner was the leading scorer and assist man on the 'Jackets JV in 2011

Akemji Williams/Press Kampe (RH Adams) – This spunky and active pair of guards were key components on the Adams varsity team last winter as only freshman, helping take the Highlanders into the Class A Sweet 16. Williams is a do-everything type that has a keen cage instinct for someone so young. Kampe, the son of OU coach Greg Kampe, is the consummate competitor who will only get better as his body matures. They will both become even bigger parts of the squad's gameplan this upcoming season

Nick Owens/Chance Huth (Clarkston) – Starring on the Wolves' JV team last season as freshman, Owens and Huth have both had very productive summers on the AAU circuit and will move into important supporting roles on the C-Town varsity club this season as SUPER SOPHS

Lindsey Hunter IV (Southfield Christian) – The pedigree speaks for itself......this super soph can play!!!

D.J. Stevens (AH Oakland Christian) – The best freshman in the area's small school hoop scene last year, Stevens will be relied on as more of a scorer this winter as him and the Lancers, defending league title holders, seek redemption from last March's crushing buzzer-beating loss to Detroit Westside in the regional finals   

Timmy Shayoka (Troy Athens) – An incoming ninth-grader, Shayoka, will be on the Red Hawks varsity this school year showing off his playmaking skills for head coach Dave Scott

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Former Oakland County high school basketball star Anthony Fields, who played his first two years of varsity as a prepster at Lake Orion, will be playing in college in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference this upcoming season.

Fields signed a National Letter of Intent with Wake Forest back in April and is currently on campus working out with the Demon Deacons over the summer. Standing 6-foot-1 and sporting a chiseled frame, Fields is blazing-fast and is known as a dogged drive-and-dish specialist with an efficient arsenal of offensive moves.

Transferring out of the Lake Orion in 2008 following his sophomore year, he spent time at Detroit Southeastern in 2009 and 2010 before landing at Quality Education Academy, a prep school in North Carolina last season, where he helped lead his team to a prep school national championship by averaging 16 points, 10 assists and three steals per game.    

While wearing a Dragons uniform as a freshman and sophomore, Fields ran the point on Lake Orion squads that were coached by Jim Manzo and featured all-state forward Drew Maynard, recently of Oakland University.

I personally remember discovering his wide array of cage skills watching him play when he was a sophomore against Southfield. It was an early season game and Fields lit up the court with his big plays down the stretch, notching a game high 24 points, 15 of them coming in the fourth quarter of a narrow Dragons' win.

He was absolutely electric that night and I distinctly recall being deeply saddened when I was informed of his transfer. There's no doubt it would have been a blast watching him finish out his prep career at Lake Orion. The Dragons' 2010 squad would have probably won the district title – if you remember that was the year, Alex Mayo, Derek Schrauben and company came within minutes of pulling the upset over Clarkston in a Class A district final.

Seeing my main man Anthony get his hoop on down in Winston-Salem with the Deacons will be exciting and Burney knows he'll be front row center whenever Wake Forest shows up on ESPN, trying to get a look at all the progress I'm sure he will make over the next four years.

 

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Local wide receivers and quarterbacks beware; The 2011 Birmingham Brother Rice football squad is once again going to sport an excellent defensive backfield this season, making life difficult for all opponents attempting to beat TEAM FRACASSA through the air.

Last year, the Warriors were loaded at safety, having a pair of three-year starters in Jimmy Pickens and Loran Jaddou, leading the way. This fall, Coach Fracassa and the ORANGE&BLACK will be stacked with standout senior cornerbacks.

Brother Rice has four corners on its roster getting serious interest from college recruiters.

Devin Church – The Warriors best overall player that has offers from a wide selection of Division I schools and even though he will get most of his headlines on the offensive side of the ball, expect Church to make noise as a DB for Rice this year, too.

Eddie Kidd – This sparkplug of a corner is as determined and relentless as they come locking up any and wideouts he's assigned to cover

James Hendrix – Burney pegged his boy JH with the obvious nickname "The Voodoo Child" last year because this kid's sticky coverage skills befuddles opposing receivers much like his namesake Jimi Hendrix's master guitar playing wowed all of who ever saw him perform  

Cody Ellwanger – A gritty, intelligent ballhawk of a defensive back who made some huge plays last season and will probably see some time at free safety this fall as well.

Church, Kidd, Hendrix and Ellwanger were all critical cogs in the Warriors miraculous run to a Catholic League title last year.  

Anchoring Rice at safety this season will be senior Travis Ferguson, a star baseball player for the Warriors in the spring and another significant returning contributor from last year's team. Look for John Plaskey, Jason Alessi and Jordan Rabban to each be big parts of Rice's safety brigade this fall also.

ORANGE &BLACK FLASHBACK

Some former notable defensive backs who have suited up for WARRIORSNATION in the recent past:

Aaron Jackson, Kaunda Hancock, Kenny Watkins, Joey Henry, Jeff Snow, Jimmy Pickens, Loran Jaddou, Michael Brown 

 

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A lot of people have asked me how long I think it will take new Oak Park head football coach Greg Carter to get the Knights back headed in the right direction.

My response:

About a second or two after his squad kick's-off the 2011 regular season next month....the difference between 2010 and 2011 will be like KNIGHT and day

Coach Carter is that good!!!.......his resume….aka his four state championships and seven state finals' appearances speaks for itself

I predict Oak Park will qualify for the playoffs this season, reaching the postseason for the first time in a half-decade…..Burney is calling his shot!!

Helping Carter's cause with the Knights will be a group of high-impact transfers, some of whom followed Carter to Oak Park from his previous coaching stint at Inkster.

Here are three new Knights to keep an eye on this fall:

Denzel Wright (RB) – This Inkster transplant will do most of the heavy lifting in the OP backfield this season and if his performance this summer is any indication, he will take the Oakland County prep scene by storm

Marquise Wallace (OL/DL) – Coming over with Wright from Inkster, Wallace is a big, beefy and agile lineman who will anchor the Knights' up front

James Gault (ATH) – Blessed with wheels of steel...aka...blazing speed...Gault will line-up at multiple spots on the field for Coach Carter in 2011, including wide receiver, tailback, defensive back and kick returner

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Last summer around this same time I wrote a blog post about the growing amount of "sleepers" that were emerging on the prep football scene in the city of Southfield.

Well, this summer the Southfield sleepers are back in force.

Let's take a look at a few of those Burney is telling everybody to keep their eyes on:

Jeff Madison (Southfield) – This transfer from East Detroit could wind up being one of the best linebackers in the OAA in the fall

Trey Walton (Southfield) – Only a junior, Walton is versatile and shifty and will see time all over the field (WR/RB/QB/DB/KR) for the Bluejays this season

Cedrick Hill (Southfield) – Fast, strong and a lethal hitter on the gridiron, Hill, nicknamed "The Gorilla" by his teammates for his imposing style of play, will be a 'X-factor guy' for Bluejays head coach Tim Conley this fall at safety and fullback

Collin Parks (Southfield-Lathrup) – Poised for a breakout campaign toting the rock for the Chargers

Ben Hollaway (Southfield-Lathrup) – Will team with Parks to make a potentially dangerous and dazzling 1-2 punch in the backfield at Lathrup

Billy Moore (Southfield-Lathrup) – Might be the best wide receiver nobody knows about in his league…has 'big-play' ability

Justin Pritchett (Southfield Christian) – Another talented speedster whose coaches expect a big campaign rushing the football in 2011

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All-OC Dream Team

F          Nicki Caruso (Novi)

F          Kaitlyn Krisiak (MH Lamphere)

F          Nikki Greenhalgh (Novi)

F          Irene Young (Troy)

F          Erin Weide (MH Bishop Foley)

M         Olivia Brannon (Troy Athens)

M         Emily Dzik (Troy)

M         Megan Topolowski (Waterford Lakes)

M         Martha Stevens (Birmingham Marian)

M         Kylie Nylen (RH Adams)

D          Chelsea Thompson (MH Lamphere)

D          Marissa Kozikowski (Troy Athens)

D          Brittany Buckler (RH Adams)

D          Regina Nofs (AH Avondale)

G          Gabby Gauruder (Novi)

G          Andrea Strauss (AH Avondale)

G          Allison Holland (Troy)

AWARDS

MVP    Kaitlyn Krisiak (MH Lamphere)

MIP      Morgan Kuzemka (MH Bishop Foley)

Underclassmen MVP – Michelle Manning (Birmingham DCD)

Coach of the Year – Aaron Miller (MH Bishop Foley)

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There's a good chance that Clarkston star linebacker Zach Collins could wind up playing his college football in the Ivy League. It's quite fitting, since Collins, who will be entering his fourth straight season in the Wolves' starting lineup, has a 3.6 GPA and 28 ACT score.

WHAT A GEM!!!

This weekend Collins is taking on-campus visits to Ivy League stalwarts Brown, Penn and Columbia. He was recently elected Clarkston team captain for the second consecutive campaign. The Wolfpack's 6-foot-2, 210 pound menace of a middle linebacker finished with 105 tackles last fall, making it two years in a row he has eclipsed the century mark in wrap-ups.

Since joining the C-Town varsity squad in 2008, Collins has helped lead one of the best defenses in the state. When he was a sophomore in 2009, he was one of the key igniters to the Wolves' run into the Division 1 final four.

Plain and simple, Clarkston's ZACH ATTACK is a MONSTER on the gridiron, wrecking havoc wherever he roams. I said it last year and I'll say it again, Collins is the best linebacker in the area not named James Ross, the All-American MLB headed to UofM next season.

Add in Kent State-bound OLB Matt Dellinger to the mix and the Wolves have arguably the best linebacking tandem in Oakland County.

I have high hopes for the Wolfpack this fall and I sincerely believe the team's FEARSOME FOURSOME of Collins, Dellinger, QB Mitch Baenzinger and RB Joey Goss have all the tools to guide C-Town Nation to the promise land in 2011 aka… the spot in the state finals they missed out on two years ago.

Watch out OAA, here comes Zach Collins and the Clarkston Wolves and their ready to do some serious damage!!!

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Daddy did a whale of a job teaching the game……the game of basketball to his baby girl that is.

North Farmington's Jasmine Harris, daughter of Oakland County prep basketball legend Hiram Harris, verbally committed to play her college hoops at the University of Massachusetts, following in her father's footsteps and securing herself as a Division 1 athlete upon her high school graduation next spring.

Jasmine averaged 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists per game last season as a junior and helped guide the Raiders to league and district crowns when she was a sophomore in 2010. A four-year varsity performer, she has been named ALL-OAA the past two years and will be one of the best girls basketball players in the state of Michigan in 2012.

If you know anything about Jasmine's dad, her prowess on the court should come as no surprise. Hiram Harris was a genuine force of nature suiting up for Orchard Lake St. Mary's in the early 1980s, earning all-state and all-conference honors in both his junior and senior years. His playmaking in the Eaglets' backcourt led St. Mary's to a state championship in 1982, prior to him heading off to college to play at Louisiana Tech. While down on the Bayou, Hiram was a part of Bulldogs squads that captured back-to-back conference championships and made a run into the NCAA Tournaments Sweet 16 in 1985. His superstar teammate with LA Tech back in the day was none other than the Mailman himself, future NBA MVP Karl Malone.

These days, Hiram quenches his hoop hunger by coaching a recreational league team in Oak Park, passing on his love and passion for the game to others, just like he did with his dazzling hoopstress of a daughter.

I for one can't wait to see Jasmine play this winter and tear up the nets in the OC for one more season of glory, leading Raiders Nation!

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In honor of the USA Womans Soccer Teams's Thrilling Victory Over Brazil In The World Cup Quarterfinals, I Present To You.... 

OC – Top 5 Prep Girls Soccer Players of All-Time

1                    Cindy Waas (Troy Athens) – This Miss Soccer winner was a goal-scoring machine in her day with the Red Hawks and then in college with Michigan State

 

2                    Stephanie Crawford-Kristi Arrington (Novi) – This high-flying pair of Wildcats were unstoppable

  

3                    Margaret Humiecki (MH Bishop Foley) – Humiecki racked up goals and state titles at a heady clip

 

4                    Abby Crumpton (RH Adams) – Guided the Highlanders to a state championship in 1999       

 

5                    Kim Herbst/Gabby Gauruder (Novi) – The Wildcats produce outstanding goalkeepers like bees produce pollen….Herbst collected 19 shutouts her senior year, while Gauruder picked up 18 as a junior

  

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Let's take a gander at what some of our favorite hometown Detroit Pistons' high school cage careers were like;

Brandon Knight – Had as dominant a high school hardwood career as humanly possible while prepping at Pine Crest HS in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, averaging 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists over his junior and senior seasons combined. When he was a junior, he took Pine Crest to a state championship, dropping 27 points, grabbing 10 boards and dishing off five dimes in the state finals triumph. He concluded his prep resume as the second-leading scorer in the history of Florida high school basketball with 3, 515 points.

Ben Gordon – Born in England to Jamaican-born parents, Gordon grew up in Mount Vernon, New York, where he led Mount Vernon HS to a state championship in 2000.

Rodney Stuckey – While prepping at Kentwood HS in Covington, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, Stuckey led his team to a state title in 2004.

Charlie Villenueva – Played with fellow future NBA'ers Smush Parker and Luel Deng as a prepster on the East Coast, garnering Player of the Year honors for the state of New Jersey when he was a senior

Richard "Rip" Hamilton – Spawning from Coatsville, PA, a suburb 25 miles outside of Philadelphia, Hamilton was named a McDonalds' All-American as a senior in 1996, however was denied a great deal of success in the state tournament as a result of playing in the same tourney bracket as Kobe Bryant for all three years of his varsity career.

Ben Wallace – During his senior year at Hayneville Central HS in White Hall, Alabama, Big Ben was selected all-state in three separate sports; basketball, football and track.

Kyle Singler – A top member of the nation's Class of 2007 recruiting class, Singler led his South Medford HS squad to a Oregon state championship his senior season, averaging 29 points per game and defeating longtime AAU teammate and future NBA all-star Kevin Love in the state finals.

Chris Wilcox – As a junior in 1999, Wilcox guided his high school in Raleigh, North Carolina to a state championship

Austin Daye – Hailing from Irvine, California, Daye, the son of former NBA journeymen Darren Daye, averaged 30 points and 13 rebounds per game, while he was a senior at Woodbridge HS

Will Bynum – In what turned out to be a look into the future of television programming, Bynum starred in a TV reality show on Fox Sports Chicago, which chronicled his final year as a prepster on the hardwood at Crane HS in 2000-2001.

OC TOP 5 - School Nicknames

1.      Lake Orion Dragons – Burney loves him some fire-breathing fun

 

2.   (tie)   Birmingham Roeper Roughriders – The 'Riders get an 'A' for originality

 

2. (tie) Waterford Mott Corsairs – Burney doesn't know exactly what a Corsair is, but like with the Roeper Roughriders, its creativity and uniqueness that counts in this writer's mind…we can only have so many squads with an Eagle for a mascot…lol

3.     
Birmingham Seaholm Maples – The Maples is such an appropriate nickname for the leafy suburb it represents so proudly

 

4.      Rochester Adams Highlanders – I'm going to switch up my boy Wiz Khalifa's lyrics and say simply….Brown & Yellow, Brown &Yellow, Brown & Yellow!!

 

5.      Troy Colts – Forget about what the owner of the NFL's Oakland Raiders says, in the city of Troy, the GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK!!!

 

 

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