With a heavy heart and tons of unbelievable memories, Burney is saying goodbye to blogging strictly about OC. Don't worry folks, I'll still be around the area, working for The Oakland Press in a game-and-feature-story capacity, but in terms of blogging, I'm taking Burney's Bytes statewide.

The OC will still be well represented and always have the biggest piece of my soul possible – hey, this is where I grew up, where I made my bones as a writer, so I would never completely abandon it. Check my Twitter @Burneystweets for more details this week on where to find me in the Blogsphere

Walled Lake Western junior football player Cody White is climbing the recruiting charts. White is a 0-to-100 HUSTLER to the MAX, with room to grow. That's scary! The nastiness is only in the early stages. Watch out opposing secondaries, you've been put on notice.

The 6-foot-3 wide receiver recently collected his first Big 10 offer from Wisconsin - his father is former Detroit Lions cornerback Sheldon White. On Thursday night in the Warriors exhilarating comeback win over Lowell on the road, he made four grabs for 92 yards against constant double-team coverage. This kid is just coming into his own. The more comfortable and confident he gets out there on the edge, beating smaller dbs down field, making them look downright silly as he did in some instances Thursday, the more dangerous he'll get. Can you say PRIMETIME PLAYMAKER?

Da Dynasty are the champs…..again. The "Saint" didn't stand a chance!

For the second straight year, Da Dynasty hoops squad has won the summer league championship at the famed St. Cecilia Gym. A majority of the Da Dynasty's roster is made up of former Oakland County prep studs now putting in work at the college level. Over the course of the past two campaigns, the club is 26-2. They bumped off a team comprised of Grand Valley State cagers 66-54 in the league finals.

Alright, let's ROLL CALL It OC-style:

Corey Green (MH Bishop Foley/N. Georgia St.) – Purely dominant as a senior at Foley, excelling down in PEACHVILLE with his game that is a perfect mix of aggressive and smooth

Chewy Ukandu (OL St. Mary's/Edinboro) – One of the more underrated backcourt gems to emerge from the county ranks the last handful of years

Nate Stepney (Ferndale/Edinboro) – A straight GUNNER with a nose for the bottom of the net and, superior finishing ability near the rim and that MONSTER extra gear in his move to the rack

Jacob Dotson (Ferndale-UN) – Plain and simple, a BOSS & a HOSS on the blocks!!

Jordan Konior (Detroit UD-Jesuit-UM-Dearborn/N. Georgia State) – Savvy point guard with an outstanding feel for the game, the definition of unselfish and a high basketball IQ

OC Top 10 – Here We Go Again……Wk. 1 2015

1 OL St. Mary's – So many toys to play with in PORRITTVILLE on both sides of the pigskin the Eaglets should consider moving their home games down to Orlando at Disney World

2 Clarkston – Carter Linton is Living Large & In Charge these days in C-Town!! The Linton name still looms heavy and full of heart in the Wolf Den....aka....no relief in sight for the comp!!

3 West Bloomfield – The LakeShow aka The Action Jackson show is back and ready to up at the ante for the BIG Green Gridiron Machine off Orchard Lk. Rd., be afraid, be VERY afraid!!

4 WL Western – Might actually be the second best team in the OC, even though Burney is checking them in at No. 4 to start the season .......yeah, the Warriors are THAT good!!!

5 Novi Detroit CC – Can you say rebound? Bock is Beautiful and quite BALLERRIFIC don't ya think? ShamrockNation Hustles Harder!!!

6 Oak Park – You can't stop WR-DB Miles Daniel for the Knights of the OP Gridiron Table, you can only hope to contain him!!!

7 Southfield – Eric (Red) McArn will have a breakout campaign this year, establishing himself one of the top backfield prospects in the state's Class of 2018 and filling the gap in the 'Jays offense left with the injury to Matt Falcon

8 Lake Orion – The O is going to be 'OH WOW' again in the Dragons' Den this fall

9 RH Adams – Danny Sanders is Burney's sleeper special in the OAA White, big-time playmaker in the passing game, will stretch the field for the Patritto Pigskin Prowlers like an OC Golden Tate

10 Waterford Mott – The Corsairs are 4 REAL!!! Any questions?...…….didn't think so!!

 

 

The OC Top 25

1 Khalid Kareem (FH Harrison Sr. DE) - Rare specimen of a pass rusher, a human, walking, talking quarterback sack, a field general's worst nightmare, the REAL DEAL HOLYFIELD off the edge, think an OC JJ Watt of sorts: quickness, strength, instinct, work ethic, wow factor, grit, ambition, finishing ability

2 Trishton Jackson (West Bloomfield Sr. QB-WR)- The TRUTH!! Plain and simple.....in EVERYTHING he does, no matter what!!!

3 Josh Ross (OLSM Jr. LB)- Smartest, most punishing linebacker in Metro Detroit!!!....Yeah I said it!!!

4 Dez Fitzpatrick (Wat Mott Sr. WR) - Smartest, most consistent pass catcher in the whole OC!!!!!.......Please make a note!!

5 David Reese (Farmington Sr. LB-RB) - The BEAST is loose, all forthcoming Falcons opponents please prepare for IMPACT!!

6 Ade Ogundeji (WL Central Sr. DE) - Probably the largest upside of any defensive linemen prospect Burney has ever covered!!

7 K.J. Hamler  (OLSM Jr. WR) - The No. 1 slot receiver in the state.......That's a Burney-Certified FACT!!

8 Cameron Kolwich (OLSM Sr. OL) - Tough-as-nails at the point of attack, best technique of any lineman in the area

9 Cedric Boswell (Birmingham Groves Sr. RB-CB) - Blazer of a ball-toter and lockdown cornerback, in other words, a VERY, VERY SPECIAL COMBINATION

10 Navon Mosley (West Bloomfield Sr. S-SB) - The most versatile athlete in the OC, will kill the comp softly, loudly and with the game on the line in a variety of manners on both sides of the ball

11 Carter Dunaway (Brother Rice Jr. TE/DE)

12 Tom Kowalkoski (Novi Detroit CC Sr. OL)

13 Nolan Eriksen (Clarkston Sr. RB)

14 Kyle Thomas (WL Western Sr. QB)

15 Emanuel Jackson (Novi Sr. ATH)

16 JaRaymond Hall & Marquan McCall (Oak Park Jr./Soph OL)

17 Jakkar Jackson (Farmington Sr. S-RB)

18 Justin Clark (West Bloomfield Sr. CB)

19 Jaylen Wiggins (Lake Orion Sr. CB-WR)

20 Evan Foster (West Bloomfield Sr. S-WR)

21 Trevor Tank (South Lyon Sr. LB-RB)

22 Jake Baldwin (Wat Mott Sr. QB)

23 Alex Bock (Novi Detroit CC Sr. SB-DB-K))

24 Kyle Wood (RH Adams Jr. QB)

25 Sam Johnson (Southfield Fr. QB)

*Southfield's Matt Falcon isn't listed because the UofM-commit out of the backfield was lost for the year last week as a result of an ACL tear suffered in a scrimmage

The Wildcat is going to Wisconsin. Break out the cheese & beer.

Novi senior boys basketball standout Kameron Hankerson recently committed to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for his college hoops.

Hankerson is a fast-rising prospect and had a big-time offseason KICKING BUTT AND TAKING NAMES on the AAU circuit. At 6-foot-5, he can play on the wing or at either guard spot. He's got that 'IT-FACTOR' written all over him, a SUPERSONIC SLEEPER RECRUIT with an upside that sits on somewhere near the moon right about now. WILDCAT NATION out in Novi are some mighty lucky fans right about now, too.

And, man, are they in for a treat come tipoff for the 2015-16 campaign when Kameron "KAM I AM ABOUT TO GO HAM ON YO"U Hankerson puts the comp in the frying pan and ignites a flame seen all over Metro Detroit with his CAGE SKILL and steady stream of IN-YOUR-FACE court antics. Go on and get busy, bro, your boy Burney sees you putting in work!!

A few new faces on the OC prep gridiron in 2015 to be on the watch for

Sam Johnson (Southfield QB) – Best freshmen in the area….think a football version of Foster Loyer last year

Jake Baldwin (Waterford Mott QB) – Top out-of-county transfer, will be wearing a stethoscope around his neck this fall because he's about to SURGICAL on the KLAA

Richard Bowens (OL St. Mary's SB/DB) – No. 1 JV call-up, will make a big impact quickly

Mitch Heaton (Clarkston LB/DE/TE) – Will be the Wolves' 2015 version of Cole Chewins, can you MAJOR LEAGUE BALLER ALERT IN C-TOWN?

Sam Khoury (Birmingham Seaholm QB) – The Maples new signal caller is one cool customer who waited in the wings last season and is ready to lead TEAM DEWALD back to the playoffs

Marquan McCall (Oak Park OL-DL) – Brickhouse….NUFF SAID!!

Austin Brown (Novi Detroit CC) – The best 'fab frosh' field general not named Sam Johnson, could see time early under center

Kourtney Manley (Clawson) – Dynamic dual threat about to erupt like a VOLCANO of PLAYMAKING....Take it 2 THA BANK!

Cody White & Javon Gabriel (WL Western) – The best pair of receivers you don't know yet, but will VERY SOON!!

 

 

Here's a look at two local prep football players coming off injuries as juniors about to register GINORMOUS senior campaigns on the gridiron this fall

Drew Casey (Lake Orion) – Smart, smooth, savvy safety with ballhawk instincts and blunt-force trauma-type hitting ability, definition of a leader, coach on the field, quarterback of the Dragons' secondary

A.J. Chuchla (WL Northern) – Personifies a Primetime Playmaker rushing the rock, speed, power, endurance, durability, nose for the end zone, prototypical Sir-Grind-A-Lot whether taking the pigskin up through the middle or around the edge  

Oakland County lost an excellent athlete and an even better person last week with the sudden passing of West Bloomfield alum and current Saginaw Valley State football player Eric Wynns. What an epic loss. My heart goes out to the Wynns family tenfold. This is not something that should happen, it's not fair – the cutting down of a young life that was so vibrant and full of potential.

Wynns died in a car accident on his way up to start training camp at SVSU. He attended both WB and Birmingham Groves during his high school days. SVSU was projecting him to be a significant contributor on the gridiron for CardinalsNation this fall in the passing game (Wynns aka "Little E") as a slot receiver.

The news has hit the area, many are effected and emotionally crushed. His dad, Reggie, is a true gentleman and master of his craft, running the Rising Stars recruiting service, helping local prepsters connect with colleges so they can continue their respective careers at the next level.

Burney send his thoughts and prayers to Reggie and the entire Wynns, Rising Stars and SVSU family (not to mention the ones at WB and Groves) in this trying time. Little E was a BIG personality, a class act and the kind of person (like his pops) who found great pleasure in boosting others up, aiding them in fulfilling their dreams while filling a role as a counselor the past few years in Rising Stars summer ball. HE IS MISSED DEARLY!!!! RIP

The Cougar Den needs a new coach. Stoney Creek girls basketball coach Brad Crighton has stepped down to spend more time with his family.

His absence will be greatly felt. Crighton was the architect of the Creek's ascent to the top of the OC Lady Hoop scene. This past winter, he took his Cougars into their sixth straight Class A district championship game. His squads always competed with heart, hustle and class.

As a prepster himself, Crighton was an outside gunner extraordinaire for the Rochester Adams Highlanders in the 1990s.

Birmingham Groves is about to unveil a pair of sophomore sensations on the gridiron. These two tenth-graders are Grade-A college prospect material aka coaches and scouts at the next level are about to be licking their chops. Let's take a gander at this high-powered duo of underclassmen and FUTURE-IS-NOW Falcons' Flamethrowers

Collin Heard – Lockdown cornerback in the making, fantastic technique at the position for such a youngster, think an OC Jabril Peppers, PRIME TIME PLAYA 4 REAL, getting ready to set the area's secondary scene on fire, will be in NEON DEON MODE early and often in 2015

Griffin Best – Already nicknamed 'The Bear' for his behemoth size and INSTANT IMPACT STATUS at the heart of the Falcons' D-Line, will be a total ANIMAL in the trenches for Team Flaherty, the kind of BOSS&HOSS that brings the pain on every single snap, plugs gaps and swallows up opposing quarterbacks and ball-carriers at a rapid rate like a runaway Pac-Man

OC 2015 Prep Football Portfolio: Birmingham Brother Rice quarterback breakdown

Johnny Tracy (JR) – Won the starting job in the offseason, quiet moxie in the huddle and in the pocket picking apart opposing secondaries, impressive leadership qualities, student of the game and the position.

Steve Krajewski (SOPH) – Will probably see spot duty and push Tracy hard in practice as the scout team field general, plucky, persistent and professional

Mariano Valente (FR) – This signal-calling phenom is a dual threat with a WOW factor in everything he does on the gridiron, by the time he's a junior could be a full-fledged SUPERSTAR!!

Some run-stuffers on the Berkley Bears D-Line to keep a watch out for this football season

Cullen Sanner – The Captain: A genuine Sir-Grind-A-Lot, natural leader, great gridiron instincts and 0-to-100 HUSTLER in other words a BALLER&SHOTCALLER!!

Floyd Hudson – The Undertaker: This monstrosity at the point of attack reminds me of retired NFL all-pro gap-plugger Glibert "The Grave Digger" Brown, in size and style of play, thus from now on Hudson shall be known as "The OC Grave Digger," a ball-carrier's worst nightmare

Dante Little – The Trench Terror: Classic big, but agile BOSS&HOSS in the trenches, the kind of player bursting with energy and coachability, gutty interior presence with a nasty edge in the heat of battle

Defending D3 state football champion Orchard Lake St. Mary's possess a stable of running backs that should be the envy of all other clubs in the OC. The Eaglets' Nest is lock and loaded in the backfield for the repeat effort this fall. TEAM GP has the kind of depth at this position that's just straight sickness. Please someone get these fellas some THER-A-FLU ASAP

Alright, let's Roll Call It:

Brandon Adams (RB) – Surefire member of Burney's All-Time OC Heart & Soul Squad, perfect combination of power and finesse

Justin Myrick (RB) – Shifty, change-of-pace back with a knack for finding gaps in the line and exploiting them for first-down yardage

Ryan Johnson (RB) – Slippery speedster ready to breakout BIG TIME in 2015!!

P.J. Bauer (FB) – There's not a better goal-line ball-carrier in the Catholic League……..Yeah, I Said It!

Josh Ross (FB) – The No. 1 linebacker in the OC might see touches in the backfield this year and if he does, he'll be hard to bring down

Shermond Dabney (FB) – Rugged rock-rusher up the gut, loves contact, a MASTER of right through-the-middle

Troy Marks (RB) – This senior sleeper is displaying a game and running style that is exactly on the mark

Richard Bowens (SB) – Will burn the comp to a crisp in his inaugural varsity campaign……That's a Burney-Certified Guarantee!!

K'ren Cunningham (SB) – Will burn the comp to a crisp in his inaugural varsity campaign……That's a Burney-Certified Guarantee!!

Birmingham Seaholm's Justin Newberry could be the best running back in the OAA you don't know about yet. Well, he's ready to detonate for his senior season, so don't say your boy Burney didn't warn you.

Newberry is a JUKE-MASTER GENERAL and the most recent of a long line of MapleNation FACTOR BACKS. In other words, he's a primetime player with home-run potential on every touch of the rock.

Tough to catch in the open field and tough to bring down in between the tackles, Newberry is as reliable and shifty as he is versatile and thirsty for the clutch. We might have to start calling this kid "The Delivery Man" 'cause he can get the job done and deliver the goods on every snap!!....Please make a note!!

News broke earlier this week of George Porritt resigning his post atop the Orchard Lake St. Mary's boys basketball program, opening up one of the best head-coaching jobs in the county.

Let's take a look at the race for the job

The frontrunners

Todd Covert – Eaglets alum, longtime Porritt protégé and right-hand man on the bench

Brandon Cassisse – Eaglets alum, all-stater as a prepster and DI college letter-winner at Oakland University, recent GP protégé

The rest of the field (other possible candidates)

Denny Butcher – Former St. Mary's head coach in the 1990s where his '94 club was literally a second away from claiming a state crown, the last sideline general the program had before Part II of the Porritt era began in 1999, veteran of several benches in Metro Detroit since departing the Eaglets Nest, just left his job at Hartland back in the spring

Kris Daiek – Eaglets alum, Porritt protégé, Riverview Gabriel Richard girls hoops coach

Ricky Palmer – Former Birmingham DCD top assistant and the legendary Kurt Keener's ace protégé, knows private-school mentality, emerging master tactician and motivator at a very young age: whether he gets this job or not, wherever he lands next (he's been off the bench since Keener left DCD for Arizona two years ago), the school that gets him is getting a rare gem in the making on the sideline, the best not-yet head coach in the OC

Robert Rogers – Former Pontiac Northern and BH Cranbrook head coach – only back-to-back state championship winning coach at the Class A level in OC history, has been off the bench for over a year, could be looking to jump back in, understands that part of the county as well as anyone and has experienced in the private-school ranks from his days at Cranbrook in the 1990s

Jeff Jayson – Current Waterford Mott coach (w/ a Sweet 16 appearance under his belt a few years back) , a premier young coach from that part of the county that could be looking for a change of scenery

Tom (Papa Nogo) Negoshian – Former North Farmington head coach, current Raiders' No. 1 assistant under his son Todd (aka Little Nogo), one of the most respected names in the state's prep coaching ranks, has ties to EagletsNation from once coaching at the old St. Mary's College on the Commerce Campus and being a friend of GPs (might Little Nogo be tempted to apply for the prestigious Eaglets post too?)

 

 

Farmington Hills Harrison senior girls basketball star Kristin Nelson might go down as the greatest female hoopster in Hawksnation history – yes, she's THAT good. And the mark she's already left on the Harrison program is indelible. The crownings speak for themselves (first-ever basketball district title, girls or boys, in school history, a league championship in the ultra-competitive OAA Red).

Earlier this week, Nelson, a lethally-smooth combo guard with BIG PLAY written all over her game, committed to Southern Illinois University for her college ball.

Southern Illinois is a rock-solid squad competing in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Salukis finished 17-13 in 2015.

Nelson and her running mate on the hardwood Amber Stephens, another senior backcourt gem certainly bound for the college ranks, will have Harrison in the hunt for more hardware for its trophy case come this winter. So go and check out The Big Green Hoop Machine aka TEAM MICKLASH for one more season of K&A KAGE FEVER…...you won't be disappointed and that's a Certified Burney Guarantee!!

Spencer Littleson meet the Steel City.

It's your new home until the end of the decade. And it fits you quite well if Burney does say so himself.

Littleson, Rochester Adams's star senior boys basketball player, committed to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh earlier this week. A gutty 6-foot-4 shooting guard with MAD MOXIE to his game and a winner's edge on and off the hardwood, this kid can light it up from downtown like few I've ever seen. He gets into THE ZONE the moment he steps on the floor, before the ball is even tipped. That's the kind of talent we're talking about here. The kind that drops 20 in the blink of an eye, 30 if you're slipping on 'D' and will be good for at least 3-5 triples per outing, if not more. Oh, and he's the definition of coachable, the picture of tireless hard work and commitment on the hardwood and as humble as they come.

Colleges in Pennsylvania seemed to enjoy Littleson's style - who wouldn't right?; Besides Duquesne, he had an offer from St. Joseph's in Philly.

Expect Littleson, fellow OC SPLASH BROTHER Joey "Za Za" Ziniti and on-the-rise big fella David Rinke to anchor an Adams Highlanders club this winter that will be one of the best in the area and maybe by the end of the season, one of the best in the whole state.

The Bluejays nest is beaming because Mike Avery is back on the sideline in Southfield.

Three years after leaving the boys basketball bench at Southfield-Lathrup, Mike Avery has been hired as the new coach at Southfield HS. This hire appears to place Avery in the driver's seat for the merger job next year following Lathrup shuttering and the two schools combining.

Avery is stepping into the former shoes of longtime Southfield coach Gary Teasley, who retired on the heels of the 2015 campaign. To put it mildly, this is a phenomenal land for BlueJays CageNation. The Big A is the picture of stability, class and surefire tactical skill with a clipboard in his hands and a whistle around his neck.

Over the past decade, Avery mentored a pair of THER-A-FLU SPECIALS aka all-state hoop kings in current NBA'er Roy (Devyn) Marble, Jr. and current Toledo point point guard Jon-Jon Williams. His presence will be a complete game-changer for 'Jays star junior floor general Amauri Hardy - he'll take his game to the next level under Avery's tutelage and that's downright scary since Hardy is already in the stratosphere in natural talent alone.

When he was a prepster himself, Avery was a starter on arguably the greatest high school squad in state history – the back-to-back Class A state-title winning 1984 and 1985 Flint Northwestern Wildcats before starring on the college level at Central Michigan.

The third-annual Michigan Elite 25 (a boys basketball camp bringing together the top 25 hoopsters in each class) tipped-off this week at the HYPE athletic facility in Dearborn. Below is a who's who of the large Oakland County cage contingent on hand for the brilliantly-crafted Tim McCormick (Mr. Big OC OG himself) production.

Dylan Alderson (Clarkston)

Carl Bow (Hazel Park)

Jacob Brantley (North Farmington)

Marlow Brown (Southfield Christian)

Demetrius Champion (Birmingham DCD)

Michael Cosgrove (Birmingham Brother Rice)

Jason Dietz (Troy)

Kameron Hankerson (Novi)

Will Harahan (Southfield Christian)

Jordan Hogan (Farmington)

Jordan Flowers (Southfield)

Michael Flowers (Southfield)

Jordan Graham (Farmington)

Amauri Hardy (Southfield)

Jacob Joubert (North Farmington)

Spencer Littleson (RH Adams)

Foster Loyer (Clarkston)

Charles Louis-Anderson (Southfield Bradford)

A.J. Massucci (RO Shrine)

Taylor McCaskill (Troy Athens)

Chase McCormick (Birmingham Seaholm)

Giovanni Miles (Novi)

Tristin Mysen (Oxford)

Jayden Redeemer (Bloomfield Hills)

Hunter Schattler (Rochester)

Bobby Walton (Oak Park)

Brock Washington (Southfield Christian)

Bryce Washington (Southfield Christian)

Malik Williams (Farmington)

C.J. Wilson (OLSM)

Rumors of Farmington Hills Harrison potential closing is already reverberating across the OC. In other words, the fallout has started.

Talk is floating around this weekend that the floodgates might be opening in Hawksnation and several key players could be fleeing the nest prior to the start of camp in roughly a week.

Specifically, Burney got word Saturday that Harrison standouts Tyrone Lyte (WR/CB) and Brendann Brown (RB/LB) are moving residences to the city of Southfield and have already enrolled at Southfield HS – they helped propel the squad into the D2 final four in 2014. There may be more Hawks players leaving on the horizon, people are telling me. And if they do, they'll be more big names. Lyte and Brown are college recruits. 

This is a sad state affairs right now over at Team Herrington – both for the fact that John Herrington, the epitome of class and championship-level success on the MHSAA gridiron for the past four and half decades, has to deal with this entire ordeal and that the current predicament surrounding the tradition-steeped program seems to be sending personnel bolting for an exit out of town, which in turn may result in an uncharacteristically down campaign in what could end up being the legendary Hawksnation's last in the local prep pigskin ranks.