Double Reverse

Damon Bozeman is back at Madison Heights Madison.

Bozeman, one of the best prep basketball players in Oakland County, had originally intended on playing his senior year at Walled Lake Western and competed all offseason long with the Warriors summer league team.

Apparently, the 6-foot-3 Vinnie Johnson clone had a last-minute change of mind and he re-enrolled at Madison last week on the first day of school.

Even without Bozeman's services, Western looks to be much improved this winter, coming off a five-win season in 2011, with a new head coach in Ra'Redding Murray, formerly of Detroit Crockett and Detroit Osborn, and a talented group of transfers from the PSL.    

The return of Bozeman to the Madison line-up will place the Eagles once again as frontrunners to contend for a MAC Gold Division title in 2012. A four-year starter, Bozeman has put up consistently big numbers the past two campaigns. As a sophomore, he scored 16 points and hauled down 12 rebounds per game on a team that won a league crown. Last year, he took his game out to the perimeter and averaged 22 points, 8.5 boards and four assists per night on an Eagles squad that finished second-place in the league standings behind Eastpoint East Detroit, a Class A quarterfinalist.

Besides Bozeman, who is considered a D1 recruit, Madison will feature returning starters William Bradley and Danny Larkins, both all-league picks last year. Bradley is a no-nonsense point guard that has the ability to breakdown defenses with ease, while Larkins, a heavily courted D1 prospect on the football field as a wide receiver, is a workhorse in the paint.

For the first time in school history, Madison will play in Class C for the upcoming season, with one of the benefits being getting out of the same state tourney bracket as perennial national powerhouse Birmingham Detroit Country Day in Class B.

On a personal note, I'm glad that Bozeman decided to stay and finish his prep career with the Eagles.

The transfer epidemic in this state has gotten completely out of control.