Five from the Gridiron
This is a basketball recruiting website. However it does appear that there is an abundance of two sport standouts this year. Here are five standouts from Week 1 of the high school football season along with how their gridiron success could translate to the hardwood.
Please note this is not a list of the best two sport standouts. Just a different way of evaluating the upcoming season. Consequently this will not be a reoccurring column. However if you enjoy this let me know on Twitter @jgilbertsport and maybe we can revisit this angle.
Once again just brief football stats and comments followed by what it means for the basketball season.
- Earnest Sanders 6-3 2020 Flint Beecher Two touchdowns for the Bucs in 41-0 defeat of Flint Southwestern. One came from his receiver position, the other on a 70-yard punt return. Why does this matter for basketball? Jalen Terry (Michigan St), Keyon Mennifield, and Carmelo Harris are going to form one of the best backcourts in the state. But numbers don’t lie, it is short backcourt. All three are sub 6-foot. If Sanders can translate his physical tools to take some of the defensive pressure off the guards, Beecher could be unstoppable at the Class C level. Will be needed against deep talented teams like Detroit Edison which defeated Buc town in the quarterfinals last year. Sanders is going to Kentucky, but not to play for Coach Cal. Don’t let that fool you, Sanders can really play as his top 20 ranking shows. Played well for The Family at the highest levels of AAU this summer. Kentucky has a lot of annual attrition. Who knows an injury here or there and Sanders could follow in the steps of fellow Flint Stone Matt Trannon (Michigan St) and play both sports at a high level program.
- Brendan Sullivan 6-5 2021 Davison How do you announce yourself to the state as a prospect. How does completing 11 of 19 passes for 264 yards with four touchdowns sound? Pretty good? What if I told you that was all in the first half before play was suspended due to weather? What if told you... never mind you can look up the rest yourself. I’m leaving a lot out. Let’s just say Sullivan had a real good opening night. Onto basketball. I knew the REACH Legends AAU team had a high level football recruit on their squad going into the summer. However when I viewed them without a roster I couldn’t figure out who it was. I just didn’t see anything that resembled a bulky, hulking athlete that you usually associate with football. Sullivan is a long, lean, and powerful athlete. Shows extreme quickness in both lateral agility and the open court. Fearlessly attacks the rim. Let’s not over complicate things Sullivan is the type of athlete that is just good at SPORTS. What will he play at the next level? If he keeps having nights like he did in week 1 it’s going to be hard to keep him off the football field. It will be fun to watch Sullivan develop in his Junior year as he has plenty of time to answer this question.
- Reece Hazelton 6-7 2020 Glen Lake The Brock Osweiler of high school football due to size at the QB position. Most forget that Osweiler was a high level basketball recruit before settling on football. Simply put you don’t see 6-7 200 pound QB’s often at any level let alone small school Northern Michigan. Hazelton accumulated three touchdowns in the Lakers 26-7 defeat of Millington. Millington was led by fellow hoops standout Zac Yorke. Glen Lake has a major contest next Saturday with rival Traverse City St Francis. Should be especially charged as St Francis upset Glen Lake in basketball districts last year. Hazelton is basketball prospect all the way with his mix of size and perimeter ability. I provided a much more detailed evaluation in my first article for this publication. He will need to be the “quarterback” on his basketball team this year as he loses long time running mate Xander Okerlund (Lake Superior St) to graduation. Will be playing for Coach Andy Bronkema at Ferris St who had quite a two sport run in high school himself at McBain. Can’t see him putting on pads for the Bulldogs, but Ferris has fielded two sport athletes before such as former Mr. Basketball DeShawn Thrower (Muskegon)
- Jake Plamondon 6-5 2021 Ludington Enough with all the QB’s and receivers. Let’s get to the guys in the trenches. Unlike Sullivan you will not need a roster to identify Plamondon when the basketball season rolls around. This is a sturdy strong athlete who oozes football potential. But this is also a prospect who got serious run as a Sophomore on a Final Four basketball team. Plamondon led the Orioles with seven tackles in its 35-0 victory over Fremont. He also showed quick feet by notching six catches. On the basketball court this mixture of girth and grace make Plamondon an interesting prospect. Joining forces with highly ranked 2022 recruit Peyton Lacombe will give Ludington one of the best frontcourts in Northern Michigan. If he chooses to play basketball and adds an inch or two this could be the type of small college big man that leaves coaches wondering how they missed on.
- Cameron Martinez 5-11 2020 Muskegon Can’t do a football related list and leave this guy off. Especially after he has announced he is not going to enroll early at Ohio St and play his senior year for the Big Red. Martinez did what Martinez does in amassing 182 yards on 12 carries in defeating the two time defending state champ Warren De La Salle. As far as basketball Martinez in a similar situation to Earnest Sanders (see above) The Muskegon backcourt is going to be potent with Vernon Nash (Saginaw Valley St) and Jarvis Walker (Purdue Fort Wayne) If Martinez can slide into the third guard position and relieve the defensive pressure on the perimeter, Muskegon will be a major state title contender. This should not be a difficult task as he displays obvious elite foot speed to go along with well developed upper body. I can’t see any path for him to play basketball with the Buckeyes but stranger things have happened.
