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Monday Powerlinks is feeling the blues this Monday after a rough weekend. While the Big Ten went 10-2 in the first week of the football season, my beloved Boilermakers were one of the teams that lost. Even worse, Purdue target Isaac Haas decided to commit this weekend to Wake Forest of all places, putting Purdue in a bit of bind when it comes to finding a center for 2014. Nonetheless, on to the links.
Leron Black commits to Illinois
The Illini got some good news this weekend as power forward Leron Black decided to commit to Illinois. Black is rated as a five star recruit by Rivals and is also rated as the 22nd best player from the class of 2014. The 6'7 forward is a major get by John Groce and he joins three star power forward Michael Finke as Illinois' two current 2014 commits.
Michigan offers James Blackmon Jr.
In a move that should surprise no one, the Wolverines extended James Blackmon Jr. a scholarship offer. Ever since Blackmon decommitted from the Hoosiers he's been a hot commodity and Michigan has been all in. As of now, Blackmon holds offers from Indiana, Michigan, Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan State, Kentucky and a medley of other schools. He finally received an offer from the Wolverines after the football game this past weekend. Blackmon seemed relatively high on the school and has implied he will likely revisit Ann Arbor later on when he starts using his official visits.
Iowa making a push for Tyler Ulis
Everyone is more or less convinced Ulis will likely head to Kentucky or Michigan State, but the Hawkeyes are still in the running and making a push for one of the top point guards in the class of 2014. While normally you wouldn't expect Ulis to head to Iowa over the likes of Kentucky, Emmanuel Mudiay's commitment to SMU has created a level of optimism and Iowa seems to have at least a fighting chance. Hopefully Ulis doesn't value a strong football program though, as he was on campus for the Hawkeyes season opening loss to Northern Illinois.
Purdue misses on another target
2014 center Isaac Haas announced he committed to Wake Forest this weekend, making the last few days even worse for Purdue fans. Haas was one of the Boilermakers main targets for 2014 and seemed like a strong possibility, but Haas recently visited Wake Forest and decided to commit shortly after. There was quite a bit of emphasis on Haas as Purdue will likely need a back-up plan in case Hammons breaks out this season, which would possibly lead to the current Boilermaker declaring early. With Haas now off the board Purdue looks like it may turn to Steve McElvene and Jabari Craig. So far Purdue only has one commit for 2014.
Gary Harris suffers ankle injury
Michigan State sophomore Gary Harris injured his ankle in a pickup game with teammates and is expected to miss 4-8 weeks. Harris had an outstanding first year in East Lansing and could be a potential first rounder in 2014. Michigan State is scheduled to start practice in about four weeks and then will kick off the season November 8th versus McNeese State. Based on the time frame it looks like Harris should be ready for the season, but he could miss some time at practice.
More Links:
- Yahoo takes a look back at Bo Ryan's late father and the impact he had on his life
- Iowa has extended a scholarship to junior walk-on Darius Stokes
- Rush the Court takes a look at Lindy's and Sporting News preseason polls, including some discussion about Ohio State and Michigan
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