Let's take a few moments to honor the handful of QUIET ASSASSINS on the boys hardwood, a group of MEGA BALLERS&SHOT CALLERS that are racking up major league stats but doing it with minimal fanfare.

Jonathon Radnor (Berkley) – Might be the most dangerous "on the down low" player in the OC…..ABSOLUTE KILLER in the backcourt, torching the twine for 25 points per night and making it look easy…a threat for a 30-ball in his sleep……is only a junior, might walk away with a school scoring record or FIVE before he leaves the Bear Den

Jermiah Johnson & Alex Stuart (Pontiac Notre Dame Prep) – Devastating pair of sleeper bucket-banshees out of the Catholic League. JJ is the star football player that runs a mean point guard and is just as effective filling up the net than he is doling out dimes to his teammates. Big Stu has been a monster on the wing and will go for a 20-plus spot in the blink of an eye

Juwaan Hampton & Jalen McFadden (Southfield Bradford) – This terrorizing tandem is a tasty, tantalizing and ultra- talented one that barely anybody knows about because they suit up at super under-the-radar Southfield Bradford (Class C), but don't get it twisted they are PLAYAZ to the MAX and legit threats to go for double-doubles every night

Walled Lake Northern's gleaming gem on the diamond aka senior Brennan Williams has committed to Eastern Michigan University for his college baseball.

Williams (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) is a righty who plays in the outfield, as well as at first base. He pitches, too.

The Eagles of EMU have gotten itself one sizzling sleeper of a Blue-Chip talent if you ask me.

Everything about this kid's game is big. He's got a big arm from right field and a cannon when toeing the slab. His bat speed and power at the plate is eyebrow-raising to say the least. At a Prep Baseball Report-sponsored showcase earlier this month, BDUB went HAM and delivered a HUGE performance in front of scores of scouts. Does the term PRIMETIME mean anything to you?>

Last spring, he hit over 400 with 32 RBI and boasted an ERA of 1.76.

EMU went 28-29 in 2013.

Could fences be mended?

Bakari Evelyn was with the two-time defending Class D state champion Southfield Christian boys basketball team on the bench in street clothes in the Eagles' last game, a win over MIAC league-foe GPW University Liggett.

Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come in the near future for both, The Boy Wonder himself and the SCS program, currently ranked No. 1 in the state.

Early this month, Evelyn, an all-state junior point guard and possibly the best player in all of Class D, left the SCS squad.

Inaccurate reports began coming out three weeks ago that the electrifying 6-foot-2 floor general was transferring to Detroit Consortium.

As it looks right now, it appears as if he's staying.

Stay tuned!

 

OC Top 10

1 Clarkston – Tabin Throgmorton=AS ADVERTISED!!

2 Bloomfield Hills – Khalil Gracey is so cool on the court the breeze follows him wherever he goes!!!

3 North Farmington – When point guard play stabilizes, the Raiders will be at full force…only a matter of time

4 Oak Park – Ja' Christian is about to GET BUSY like he was the OC Slim Reaper….WAIT FOR IT!!!

5 (tie) Southfield Christian – Coach Baker must be beaming with pride!!!

5 (tie) Birmingham DCD – Will still be a very, very tough-out come March….does the term battle tested mean anything to you?

6 Troy Athens – The OAA's Human Pogo-Stick himself, junior forward Corbin Vrinj is a BALLER and a SHOT CALLER, for the TEAM SCOTT frontcourt, so take note

7 (tie) Waterford Kettering – The K in Kettering is for KO in 2014….MARK THAT DOWN!!

7 (tie) Rochester Hills Adams – The Littleson family should change their name to the BIG-TYMERS cuz that's how their boyz play on the hardwood

8 OL St. Mary's – Long, lanky and sugary-stroking Roger Hood might be the answer to all of St. Mary's prayers

9 (tied) Birmingham Brother Rice-Novi Detroit CC – Catholic League Pride personified in TEAM SHAFFER and TEAM DYER this winter

10 (tie) Lakeland – Do they count floor burns in the stat sheet….if they do the Eagles could be No. 1 in Metro Detroit

10 (tie) WL Central – Nate Collins popping it from the deep on the bball court is like Nate Dogg dropping his voice on a beat back in the day……ALWAYS ON THE MONEY!!

OC Boys Basketball Position Rankings

On the bench

The Coaches

1 Ben Kelso (Waterford Kettering)

2 Clennie Brundidge (Southfield Christian)

3 Terrence Porter (Farmington)

4 Chuck Spolsky (WL Central)

5 Mike Massucci (Royal Oak)

6 David McGlowan (Berkley)

7 Gary Fralick (Troy)

8 (tie) Bill Dyer (Novi Detroit CC)

8 (tie) Ed Shaffer (Birmingham Brother Rice)

9 Duane Graves (Bloomfield Hills)

10 Todd Negoshian (North Farmington)

OC Boys Basketball Position Rankings

Glue-a-rama

The Glue Guys

1 Kameron Garner (Southfield Christian)

2 Zak Spryzak-Nick Santoni (Troy Athens)

3 Luke Ells-Jacob Menzel-Ross Heiman-Grant Osborn (Lakeland)

4 Austin Beyer (Novi Detroit CC)

5 Tommy Girdler (RH Adams)

6 Patrick Mertz (Stoney Creek)

7 Zach Allread (West Bloomfield)

8 Nate Conrad (OL St. Mary's)

9 Josh Simms (Holly)

10 Mike Murri-Jason Lee (Rochester)

OC Boys Basketball Position Rankings

The Big Men

Power forward

1 Jeron (Buddha) Rogers (North Farmington)

2 Marcus Bailey (WL Western)

3 Marlow Brown (Southfield Christian)

4 Nazir Wallace (Birmingham DCD)

5 Chris Dorsey (Troy)

6 John Van Hoef (Troy Athens)

7 Freddy John (Southfield-Lathrup)

8 Kakaun Williams (Waterford Kettering)

9 Justin Banks (Farmington)

10 Brad Govan (Lakeland)

Centers

1 Yante Maten (Bloomfield Hills)

2 Damarco White (Southfield Christian)

3 Mike Nicholson (Clarkston)

4 Rodney Scales (Oak Park)

5 Isaiah Green (Southfield)

6 Charlie Ryan (Novi Detroit CC)

7 John Rexroth (FH Harrison)

8 (tie) Karl Marback (Birmingham Seaholm)

8 (tie) Gary Perry (MH Bishop Foley)

9 Logan Spiker (Holly)

10 (tie) Jason Hugan (Milford)

10 (tie) Nate Marcum (Lake Orion)

OC boys Basketball Position Rankings

On The Wing

Small forward

1 Teddy McCree (OL St. Mary's)

2 Khalil Gracey (Bloomfield Hills)

3 (tie) Kevin Hayes-Patrick Sparks (Birmingham Brother Rice)

4 Phil Nelson (WL Central)

5 Nick Troxell (Lakeland)

6 Trent Lansaw (WL Northern)

7 Cole Davis (RH Adams)

8 Noah Stinson (Waterford Kettering)

9 (tie) Eric Gilgenbach (Stoney Creek)

9 (tie) Jabbar Mims (AH Avondale) *would be higher, limited by injuury

10 David Lett (North Farmington)

Top slam dunkers

1 Khary Fanning (Southfield)

2 Damarco White (Southfield Christian)

3 Edmond Sumner (Birmingham DCD)

4 Khalil Gracey (Bloomfield Hills)

5 Nick Troxell (Lakeland)

 

OC Boys Basketball Position Rankings

The Backcourt

Point Guard

1 Edmond Sumner (Birmingham DCD)

2 Ahkemji Williams (RH Adams)

3 Avon White (Farmington)

4 Trishton Jackson (West Bloomfield)

5 Justin Nafso (WL Central)

6 Timmy Shayoka (Troy Athens)

7 Charlie Carson (Stoney Creek)

8 Drew Myers (Clarkston)

9 Parker Rowse (Holly)

10 (tie) Joey Nagridge (Birmingham Seaholm)

10 (tie) Jonny Scarber (Waterford Kettering)

Combo Guard

1 Armand Cartwright (Bloomfield Hills)

2 Lindsey Hunter IV (Southfield Christian)

3 Jake Daniels (Holly)

4 Jerald Booker (WL Western)

5 Jonathon Radnor (Berkley)

6 Mikey Williams (Troy Athens)

7 Davon Payne (MH Madison)

8 Jalen Watts-Jackson (OL St. Mary's)

9 (tie) Noah Lee (Novi Detroit CC)

9 (tie) Timmy Brotherton (Lakeland)

10 Eddie Reese (Birmingham Groves)

Shooting Guard

1 Nick Owens (Clarkston)

2 Kyle Woodruff (Holly)

3 Maceo Baston, Jr. (Birmingham DCD)

4 Anthony Qasawa (North Farmington)

5 Dominic Downs (Birmingham Brother Rice)

6 Nick Robak (Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes)

7 Jared Ocampo (Clawson)

8 Antonio Capaldi-Tony Kmiecik (MH Bishop Foley)

9 Chris Seaborn (Farmington)

10 Robert Diez (Ferndale)

The local 2014 prep football campaign will be kicking off with an Oakland County-Macomb County Super Clash between Clarkston and Macomb Dakota.

Clarkston is the defending Division 1 state champion. The Wolves are 24-2 over the past two seasons.

Macomb Dakota went 11-1 in 2013 and has raised two straight D1 district-title banners.

Burney for one is chomping at the bit to see this mega showdown come August.

TEAM K-RICH might be losing more than a half-dozen college-bound studs, but the C-Town Grid Crew will still be plenty loaded in the fall.

Leading the repeat charge for the Wolfpack is star quarterback D.J. Zezula and his parade of sterling offensive options like sure-handed receivers Shane Holler, Austin Egler, Jack McKillop and Joey Popp and twin up-and-coming tailbacks, Centrus Williams and Nolan Eriksen.

OC Top 10

1 Clarkston – TEAM FIFE is about to really hit its stride and that's not a good thing for the rest of the OAA Red!!!

2 Bloomfield Hills – All alone at No. 2…..finally!!

3 North Farmington – Buddha v Yante on Thursday could be the best one-on-one in-game match-up of the season so far…..cue Burney licking his chops

4 Oak Park – A FANTABULOUS 5-Pack of transfers will be unleashed on the hardwood this week, which automatically makes TEAM TIPTON one of the top hoop crews in the OC!!!

5 (tie) Birmingham DCD – Don't remember the last time the 'Jackets were .500 in January, but this bunch of DCDer BALLERS is still legit and very good

5 (tie) Southfield Christian – Eagles in cruise-control mode….SCS ROLL CALL: LH4, KAM I AM, the GRILL MASTER, The D-Monster, Marlow the Magnificent, Faygo, Butter, THE WASHINGTON MONUMENTS, etc  

6 Troy Athens – I love watching Mikey Williams and Timmy Shayoka go all MIKEY WILLIAMS AND TIMMY SHAYOKA

7 (tie) St. Mary's-Brother Rice-Catholic Central – The OC Big 3 in the Catholic League are the definition of neck-and-neck, so Burney had to knot them all up this week

8 RH Adams – As soon as Ahkemki returns, I'm sure the Highlanders will be rising high in the rankings once again

9 (tie) Waterford Kettering – Simply put; Ben Kelso is the Coach of the Year in Metro Detroit, BAR NONE!!

9 (tie) Walled Lake Central – Vikings are just NAILS TUFF in so many ways

10 (tie) Lakeland – TEAM BRUGGER is a spirited and doggedly determined squad of SIR-GRIND-A-LOTS

10 (tie) Walled Lake Western – Back in the mix…..WARRIORS NEWS FLASH: Jerald Booker reached SWAGGER LEVEL FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND TRILLION last week

The East Coast is known for breeding outstanding point guards on the basketball court.

Oakland County has luckily been blessed by the presence of one of these floor general specimens this year in Farmington's Avon White.

This kid is ELECTRIC.

The definition of the term PURE POINT GUARD

And if you're a hoops aficionado like myself, man, is he fun to watch go to work on the hardwood.

Like a great quarterback on the gridiron, White gets surgical on opposing defenses, carving them up and running a team at his position like few others in the area.

A few additional adjectives that come to mind when seeing this kid play;

Smart, smooth, sprinter-quick, court vision, cat-like instinct, tireless, tenacious, pesky, LEADER, finisher, dime-dropper extraordinaire, BALLER&SHOT CALLER, The OC's Rajon RONDO

Oh, and he's a winner.

As in that's all this young man knows how to do.

He's got Farmington in the hunt. The Falcons, who nobody saw as contenders coming into this season, are a sparkling 8-1 and he's tallying 15 points and close to seven assists and three steals per game.

Born and raised in NYC, he was hooping at South Hadley High School outside of Boston prior to his family moving to Farmington over the summer. Well, not just hooping……taking the SH Cage Crew to the Massachusetts State Championship Game last March is a better way to put it I think.

Anyway, Avon is the REAL DEAL HOLYFIELD and a pleasure to see to Ball OUT with the Falcons

Can you say unexpected run towards a possible league title?

Several area prep football stars committed to play in college this week.

Let's take a look;

Brian Walker (RB Birmingham Brother Rice) – Committed to Notre Dame College, one of best, most punishing and clutch runners in the illustrious history of the Orange&Black

Shaun Jones (LB Birmingham Brother Rice) – Committed to Notre Dame College – All heart in the heat of battle, HUGE upside at the next level

Jack Grisan (LB Birmingham Brother Rice) – Committed to Saginaw Valley State – All heart in the heat of battle, HUGE upside at the next level

Justin Allor (QB Stoney Creek) – Committed to Notre Dame College, this smart and steady gunslinger be an excellent fit behind center at NDC

Rocky Carter (WR Southfield) – Committed to Ferris State, pure speed and instinct with underrated hands

Ryan Kelly (OL Lakeland) – Committed to Saginaw Valley State, just a MEGA mauler in the trenches, outstanding grab by the Cards

Brendan McMahon (WR MH Bishop Foley) – Committed to Grand Valley State, quarterbacked Bishop Foley into the playoffs, earning all-Catholic League honors back in the fall, but this primetime performer will be splitting out wide as a receiver up in Allendale with the LakeShow

Dylan Kanaan (S Birmingham Seaholm) – Committed to University of Chicago, the K-Bomb is about to be exploding in the Windy City…….all Burney can say is WATCH OUT opposing wide receivers visiting CHITOWN the next few years

Anthony Pittman (LB Birmingham Groves) – Committed to Wayne State, one of Burneys top SIZZLING SLEEPERS in the OC Class of 2014, I love what this athletic specimen does sideline-to-sideline, has all the tools to be a STUD in college

The tide is turning.

City Champs?

That's what it looks like we're tracking towards, at the very least, for first-year head coach Jamie Thomas and his Walled Lake Central girls hoops crew.

After a rocky start, the NEW & IMPROVED Lady Vikes are really rolling!!

As in riding a two-game winning streak with both victories against an intra-city rival (storming back to beat WL Western in OT Mon and rallying to best WL Northern Fri).

What resolve, what relentlessness, what a bunch of absolute BALLERS & SHOT CALLERS….Mark that down!!

Watch out….TEAM THOMAS is taking form and about to start doing some serious damage!!

JT has successfully changed the culture and infused his club with the confidence it was lacking the past couple years.

Senior forward Joanna Finn has been fabulous lately.

Can't you hear the Vikings student section cheering MVP, MVP, MVP!!!

Much more to come….FOR SURE!!

Birmingham Brother Rice will have a new football coach before the end of next week.

AKA The GRIDIRON GODFATHER Al Fracassa's colossal shoes will soon be filled, if in job-title only.

Here's Burney's Top 5 candidates to assume the helm with the historic ORANGE&BLACK;

1 Scott Merchant – Probably the frontrunner for the much-coveted slot…fits all the criteria, Rice blood through-and-through, successful prep head coaching career around the area and in the CHSL, character guy, Fracassa disciple, master motivator   

2 (tie) Adam "Coach K" Korzienewski – "In-House Frontrunner A", the Warriors defensive coordinator the past five years, elite tactician, defines the term 'attention to detail.'   

2 (tie) David Sofran –"In-House Frontrunner B," the Warriors associate head coach offensive coordinator the past several seasons, Sofran is said to be Fracassa's choice to succeed him. An all-time great as a player in the Rice record books, really understands and embodies the system and the culture in WARRIORSNATION more than any other candidate

3 Tony Patritto – The No. 1 choice if they decide to go outside the "Rice Family,"….everything you could ever want in a head coach, has built a powerhouse of a program at Rochester Adams and got his feet wet on the sidelines in the Catholic League at Madison Heights Bishop Foley

4 Steve Morrison – Lots of credentials and tons of experience (Orange&Black alum, learned under Bo and Fracassa , NFL career as a LB, longtime assistant coach at the D1 college level) Morrison is said to be in hot pursuit of the post

5 Mike Lodish – "Wildcard" in the race, Lodish is a big personality, smart and hard-nosed as a can be and the ultimate picture of a winner....as in state title at Rice in '83, Rose Bowl title in college at UCLA, lengthy pro career on the D-Line and an NFL-record SIX Super Bowl appearances (2 rings)