The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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basketball recruiting trict 11 league titles and the regional finals in 2011 and 2012. He missed 20 games with a foot injury as a junior, but still averaged 21.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. As a sophomore he averaged 15.2 points and 8.6 rebounds and guided the Vikings a 25-5 record and the Class 4A regional final. Finally, Fort Wayne (Ind.) Canterbury High's Austin Hatch is spending a fifth-year at Loyola High School in Pasadena, Calif., after getting clearance from the NCAA. He missed all of 2012 and 2013 due to injuries sustained in a 2011 plane crash that claimed the lives of his father and stepmother. As a sophomore, Hatch helped Canterbury to a 17-5 record, averaging 23.0 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. "Austin is a consummate, high IQ player who is an excellent shooter," Beilein said. "He sees the floor and his teammates well, and has great leadership capabilities. We are excited to have him back and playing basketball again. We expect Austin to be an important part of Michigan basketball during all of his years at Michigan." Whether or not Hatch is able to play again at a high level remains to be seen, but the coaching staff has maintained all along there was a place for him in the program. Wolverines Miss On Shooting Guard Targets The Michigan coaching staff will continue to look at 2014 recruits in the late signing period, but it's more likely they'll save room for members of the 2015 class. The Wolverines lost shooting guard Devin Booker — a 6-6 standout from Moss Point, Miss., who is ranked No. 30 nationally by Rivals.com — to Kentucky after emerging as a strong frontrunner two summers ago. Booker visited Michigan eight times, but chose the Wildcats after taking several visits, including two to Missouri. "I'm more of a 'show-me' type and Coach [John] Calipari showed me the kinds of things he does with big guards," Booker said of Kentucky's head coach. "He lets his players shoot, and that's probably my best attribute. … It was really close. A lot of thought went into it, but at the end of the day I had to choose which school was best for me. It was not an easy decision. "It's every kid's dream, but at the end of the day, you have to choose one school. I'm confident in my decision. I took a lot of time on it." Michigan got involved later with five-star James Blackmon Jr. of Marion, Ind., and made a push before the 6-3 shooter chose Indiana. Blackmon had been a Hoosiers commitment for three years before opening things up and was down to U-M, Kentucky and IU. The Wolverines faded down the stretch, though, finishing in third. "Just really the way Coach [Tom] Crean recruited me as the main priority and the way I see myself impacting the program and keeping