I hope everyone is well amid these crazy times. Despite the NCAA banning in-person recruiting Detroit Mercy has been hot on the trail. There have been no commitments yet, but lots of offers.
Below are players the Titans are interested in or guys I think they should go after. As far as I can tell, Detroit Mercy has three open scholarships. If B.J. Maxwell is not granted an extra year of eligibility due to his injury this past season, the Titans will have four scholarships. The only departures I am aware of are Alonde LeGrand and Justin Miller.
UDM made the top five for junior Ferron Favors, who eventually committed to Oklahoma State. I take this as a sign the staff is going all out to try to get the best players possible, it’s not often a small mid major school like Detroit makes top-fives with all Power 5 schools.
Committed high school seniors:
Kyle LeGreair from Detroit Cass Tech is an all-Metro Detroit selection by the Free Press. He’s an undersized point guard; I question if it’s actually 6-0. That being said, he dished out a lot of assists in high school. He is definitely a player that will take a year or two to develop.
Joey Liedel Is the second member of the 2020 recruiting class. He’s a 6-0 guard out of Erie Madison. Joey clearly has range and his deadly from behind the three-point arc. The big concern with him is he did not play AAU at a high-level and going to a small D3 school he didn’t play against great competition in high school that being said he’s such a good shooter,I think he has a high upside for the Titans. He is comparable to Blake Lampman from Oakland.
Grad transfers Detroit Mercy could be interested in (UDM offers noted):
Samson George, 6-7, 220, F, Jr., Pittsburgh (0.7 ppg) – Big body grad with a year to play. Stats are not good. 7-1 wingspan. Originally from overseas.
Devin Gage, 6-2, 190, G, Grad, DePaul (4.5 ppg) – Out of Chicago and Tracey Dildy recruited him out of high school. There is reported interest from Detroit Mercy, according to reports on Twitter. He was hurt last year, but his stats were impressive the year before started every game: 9.1 points per game, three rebounds as a point guard and 44 steals.
Lorenzo Edwards, 6-8, 215, F, Jr., Saint Joseph’s (6.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg) – From the Chicago area, so the staff will know him. Much like Miller, last year he’s shown the ability to score in bunches.
EJ Datcher, 6-10, 260, C, Grad, Mississippi State – Sat out this year to transfer. The year before, he didn’t really have stats, but he’s a big body from Alabama, an area Davis knows well.
Justin Brown, 6-10, 205, PF, Grad (2 years left), Chattanooga (1.5 ppg) – Not great stats, but he’s 6-10, from Chicago and he was offered by Dildy when he was at Chicago State.
Darius Hicks, 6-8, 225, F, Grad, Eastern Kentucky (5.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg) – From Mississippi, an area Davis knows well, and played his first two years at NC State.
Brandon Johnson, 6-8, 200, F, Jr., Western Michigan (15.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg) – He’s probably going to a high major. But he’s from Chicago, so the Detroit Mercy staff is familiar with him. Would be an all-conference player in the Horizon League; probably first team. In the process of finishing this article, he committed to Minnesota.
Greg Lee III, 6-9, 215, F, Grad., Cal State Bakersfield (6.7 ppg) – Was offered by Dildy out of high school from Chicago.
Mattias Markusson, 7-3, 260, C, Grad, Loyola Marymount – He’s a 7-3 giant from Sweden. He didn’t play this season due to personal reasons but averaged 10.0 ppg and eight rebounds per the year before. Maybe he values a Jesuit education.
Brendan Newton, 7-2, 235, C, Grad (2 years left), Liberty (2.5 ppg) – He’s 7-1 and had solid big men in front of him on the depth chart at Liberty.
Jeremy Peck, 6-9, 240, F, Grad, UNC Asheville (1.9 ppg) – He’s from Houston, so could have a Davis connection.
Amir Gholizadeh 6’6 forward from Chicago State – He is a sit one year, play three transfer from Toronto. He played 22.7 min per game an averaged 6.8 ppg and 2.7 rpg. Has offers from UDM, Eastern Michigan, Charlotte, Howard, New Hampshire, Tulane, South Dakota, Denver and Wyoming.
Junior college players that have been offered:
Jonathan Komagum, 6-9 F – Played at Maine before transferring to his juco and has offers from Central, St.Bonaventure and UDM.
Issac Chatman, 6-6 G/F – Had many high major offers early in his high school recruitment. Ended up at Campbell University for one year, before going the juco route.
Albany, Jacksonville State, Detroit, North Alabama and Southern Miss are currently after him. He’s long and lanky can shoot the three and rebound.
DeAndre Gholston, 6-5 G – Played at Kent State for one year before transferring to his juco and has over 40 offers from what seems like every mid-major in the country, including most of the Horizon League. He averaged 11.3 ppg this year, shooting 50% on field goals and 44% from three-point range.
Jaylon Holmes 6-6 G – Has nine offers, but no stats available. Wright State and Western Michigan are interested.
Josiah Tynes 6-3 G out of Canada – Played last year at Santa Fe College and will have three years of eligibility left. He averaged 10 points, three rebounds and three assists per game.
Tarig Eisa 6-8 F also out of Canada – Played at Gillette this past year. No stats appear to be available, but I was very impressed with his film. He has a three-point shot and rebounds well. He has offers from Arkansas State and Maryland Eastern Shore as well as Detroit Mercy.
The Titans offered two other juco players. However, there’s no activity on them since before the start of basketball season.
