The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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BASKETBALL RECRUITING Rivals.com's No. 16 junior nation- ally) — another Michigan priority — scored 14 points in a 70-37 win over Ridge Jan. 31 in his first game of the season. Ridge had beaten a Battle-less Gill St. Bernard by 14 earlier in the year, but was no match for the team with him. Battle missed several weeks with a foot injury and is still working on get- ting into game shape. "He's not hesitant," his father, Gary Battle, said. "He seems a little uncom- fortable with his back to the basket. We play him all over, but since he's come back we're trying to play him more around the basket. He seemed a little uncomfortable and floated back to the perimeter so he could take people off the dribble. That's what he's used to doing. "He's about as healthy as he's go- ing to get at the moment. When you take that much time off, you lose some strength. He's not as explosive as he was — there's no ligament damage, but it's just a lack of use. Time will help." Battle followed up with 20 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks against Franklin. He scored 22 in a 76-46 victory over Bridgewater- Raritan Feb. 5 and added 12 points and six rebounds in a 60-52 loss to Linden Feb. 7. Battle averaged 22.5 points, 6.3 re- bounds, 3.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game last season. Louisville, UConn, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Miami, Mich- igan, Ohio State, Syracuse, Villanova and Virginia are his final 11. Louis- ville head coach Rick Pitino was slated to see him Feb. 12 and Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim recently called him to let him know he was a priority. Gary Battle said it's time for his son to start cutting his list down. "I'd like to see him narrow his list pretty soon," he said. "He's at 10 or 11, and I'd like him to get to five or six." Mr. Battle was at Rutgers to see Michigan's January win over the Scar- let Knights, while both he and his son were there to see Ohio State beat Rut- gers in February. • In other 2016 news, U-M assistant coach Jeff Meyer was at the Spring- field, Mass., Hoop Hall Classic in January to see point guard Derryck Thornton Jr. (6-1, Rivals.com's No. 9 junior nationally) in action against Lin- colnshire (Ill.) Stevenson senior Jalen Brunson, a former U-M target and cur- rent Villanova pledge. Thornton scored 15 to Brunson's 26 in an 84-58 victory. "Playing against a loaded Hen- derson (Nev.) Findlay Prep team, Villanova-bound Jalen Brunson had a hard-working 26 points," Rivals.com's Eric Bossi reported. "Guarded one on one by five-star 2016 point guard Der- ryck Thornton, Brunson had some is- sues getting past Thornton and into the lane. When Thornton got into foul trouble and Findlay switched to zone, Brunson found his rhythm nail- ing three straight three-pointers at one point. "Thornton was a defensive ace on Brunson until picking up his fourth foul on a charge in the third quarter. Once he came back on the floor he got his offense rolling some. He delivered back-to-back lefty [off hand] drives