Operation Next Level – ACHIEVED!!

Several area star prep athletes found homes at the college level this week.

Kalamazoo and Adrian came away big in the gridiron department.

Local football standouts Brett Zdebski (Walled Lake Western), Dylan Zerki (OL St. Mary's), Justin Danzy (Southfield), Kirk Thomas (Walled Lake Northern) and K.J. Schultz (Walled Lake Central) all signed with the K-Zoo Hornets, while the Walled Lake Western grid contingent of Kalon Humphries (OL), Matt Carreathers (OL) and Zach Mitchell (LB) each inked w/ the A-Town Bulldogs.

Hoop hound, Sterling Morrow (BH Cranbrook), one of the area's most accomplished offensive threats on the prep hardwood the past two seasons, signed with Lake Forest College out in Chicago this week as well.

Zdebski, a relentless presence on defense at the middle linebacker position, and his fellow WLW Warriors signees – Humphries, Carreathers, & Mitchell, made a run all the way into the D3 final four last fall.  Zerki, who will team with Zdebski to be an integral part of K-Zoo's future plans in its linebacking corps, helped lead St. Mary's to a D2 state championship in 2011, as one of the headliners of the Eaglets' vaunted 'Nasty Boys' defense.

Danzy and Thomas are both quarterbacks who will compliment each other's skills in the Hornets offensive backfield the next few years.  Having guided Southfield to district titles in both his sophomore and senior campaigns, Danzy is a drop-back specialist, known for his high on-field IQ and his ability to dissect opposing secondaries. Thomas, on the other hand, is a dangerous dual-threat under center, just as likely to light team's up with his arm as his legs.

Schultz is the definition of a winner and will play both football and baseball at Kalamazoo. A three-year star on the WL Central grid, hoops and diamond squads, Schultz is an equally superior student in the classroom. He's been selected all-league in football as a shifty and durable tailback the past three seasons. Because of his dazzling playmaking and outstanding leadership, the Vikings have won back-to-back district titles on both the football field and the baseball diamond. In March as a tough-as-nails combo-guard and defensive specialist, Schultz was a starter on Central's district championship team on the basketball floor, ending the Vikes six-year district title drought.

Just as punishing and productive as the aforementioned group of football studs, but in a different sport is the slick and super smooth Morrow, a three-year starter for the Cranes CAGE CREW. Since landing in the OC from Belleville back in 2010 as a sophomore, he's been setting the local hardwood scene on FIRE. Named FIRST TEAM all-state in Class B last winter, he averaged 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game.