Mike Shaw and 2011 Basketball Recruiting Loose Ends

After the flurry of commitment activity that included adding OH PG Travis Trice and Izzo's (and Matt Painter's) big fish IN SF Branden Dawson, Michigan State's 2011 recruiting class appears to be full and concluded.  Because speculation immediately began about 2012 target Gary Harris, I started to consider if it was as obvious as it seemed that Izzo was done with 2011 players and that this mystery spot would only be for 2012.  Could there be plans to still add a big man to the perimeter dominant 2011 class?  The last piece of evidence on the negative came in the form of recent reports that Chicago De La Salle's Mike Shaw had begun scheduling in-home visits and was leaving out Michigan State.  For months, MSU was considered to be one of the front-runners for his services and, aside from apparently out-of-state bound Amir Williiams, Shaw was the highest regarded big man on the MSU radar.  With no post players arriving next season, finding room for the Chicago post threat could have made sense as insurance for an already loaded MSU roster.  If Izzo was discovering a way to work scholarship magic for 2011, Mike Shaw would be a principle beneficiary but it doesn't look like that's in the works. Barring the unforeseen, consider 2011 done.

In other "where-are-they-now" notes, the 2011 Hotlist is mostly full of committed players including Percy Gibson (Dayton), LaDontae Henton (Dayton), and most recently Tommie McCune (W. Va) and Jalen Reynolds (Xavier).  Some of those who haven't committed are headed to prep schools presumably to get academics in order.  As Con-T already discussed in his excellent FanShot, this can be a messy business. If you want insight into the heated world of individuals surrounding an elite prospect, check out the statements from Dru Joyce, former coach of Jakarr Sampson, upon the Sampson family's decision to transfer him to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire.  In assigning blame for losing his star player, Joyce singled out Xavier as a school who "has made enemies here."  Intense.  In a similar note, Jeremiah Davis is also headed to prep school without either of his best offers of Michigan State and Indiana still available.  This is a rather significant fall for a player who was once thought to be able to write his ticket to two of the Big Ten's most storied programs.  Paul Honigford has remained lightly recruited and looks to eventually be MAC bound with offers from Toledo and Ohio (O! H! I! O!).   Trey McDonald carries some solid offers and should make a decision before the early signing period with Michigan still in the mix.  Patrick Lucas-Perry, once Coach Izzo's primary point guard target for 2011, has an offer from Oakland to join his recently transferred brother or could go academic big-time and play for Tommy Amaker at Harvard.  I wonder if UM is still an option?

I've included this as a FanPost in the right margin in case anyone would like to add some recruiting links as they come up.  However, I expect it to be pretty quiet (if not silent) until speculation picks up about who might be coming to this year's Midnight Madness in October.