The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/447116
BASKETBALL RECRUITING Madison County this year, and he en- joyed one of his best games in a 75-70 win over Sparkman Jan. 10. He scored 15 of his 27 points after the third quar- ter and also pulled down 20 rebounds for the state's No. 3 team in Class 3A. He missed three weeks with a bro- ken finger suffered Dec. 5 — an injury that required surgery — but returned Jan. 3. He scored 27 points in the game in which he was hurt, a 62-60 loss to Bob Jones High. Point guard Derryck Thornton Jr. (6-1, Rivals.com's No. 9 junior nation- ally) and his Henderson (Nev.) Find- lay College Prep team are now 16-0 and No. 1 in the nation, rising from No. 4 after a number of higher-ranked teams suffered losses in holiday tour- naments. Thornton has helped lead the way for the Pilots, averaging 17.6 points and 7.3 assists per game. "Everyone in my top 10 has been doing a great job," he said recently. "They're contacting me and always asking how I'm doing. Everything is going great right now." Kentucky, Duke, Louisville, Michi- gan and Arizona are among his lead- ers. He's slated to visit Arizona in Feb- ruary and was on Kentucky's campus Jan. 12. "We've got visits set for Duke, Ken- tucky and Louisville so far, and have got to set them up for other schools," his father, Derryck "Tank" Thorn- ton Sr., said via text. "It's just so hard during our season. We play so many games at Findlay Prep. "We have no visit set for Michigan yet. We don't hear from them as much as other schools, but we still love Michigan and the whole staff." Another junior point guard offeree, Detroit U-D Jesuit's Cassius Winston (6-0, No. 34 overall prospect in the land), was in for Michigan's Novem- ber game with Syracuse and has been on campus at least seven times since summer. Michigan State is right up there with the Wolverines, however, and he's in no rush to decide. Winston scored 33 points in front of Beilein in early December. More recently, he notched 35 in a 56-53 loss to Romulus Jan. 6. He remains high on Michigan. One who isn't — Campbellsville (Ky.) Taylor County point guard Quentin Goodin (6-2, 170, No. 78 over- all player nationally). U-M has priori- tized other point guards, and Goodin has subsequently moved on. "I feel like Florida is recruiting me really hard — it's probably the school that is recruiting me the hardest," Goodin said. "They offered me back in football season when Florida played Kentucky." Goodin said other schools heavy in the mix with him include Ohio State, Tennessee, Xavier, Minnesota and Wichita State. He's also interested in Louisville, but no mention of Michi- gan. Another offeree, Columbus (Ohio) Northland's Seth Towns (6-7, 180, No. 124 junior in the country), picked up a coveted Ohio State offer and now has plenty to think about. "Lately, I've been talking to a lot of schools. I've been in contact with Iowa, Harvard, Michigan, Ohio State, Princeton, Purdue and UCLA. Those