Men's Basketball Players Sign LOI

As reported here over time, BG has two Canton Timken high school teammates signed to be part of the 2011-12 men's basketball team.

The players are 6'1" G Jehvon Clarke, and 6;9" POST Desmond Rorie.

Basketball has an early signing period, and the players have signed binding LOIs, and now the school is allowed to comment on them.  I've attached the press release text below....but first a couple of my comments.

Clarke joins what I believe is a very strong guard corps for our team for the future.  We are bringing in playmaking guards with each class, which is giving up depth at the position, which is vital in college basketball and the MAC.

Rorie is exciting in another way.  He is part of the new breed of big men--a player who can run the floor in ways that post players did not do until recently.  Rorie will join Cam Black giving BG two post players who play this way, and as a fan, I really look forward to seeing that come develop.  Guards are vital to winning, but effective big men are complete game changers at this level.  Imagine a Sr. Cam Black and a Jr. Desmond Rorie on the floor at the same time....

The other interesting note is that they are high school teammates.  They join Danny MeElroy and Jordan Crawford, who were teammates at Cincinnati LaSalle.  The highest profile HS teammates duo recently was the Ron Lewis/Raheem Moss Columbus Brookhaven combo.  Ron Lewis certainly was a great player--though he largely demonstrated it with OSU.  Moss didn't make it work with Coach Dakich, but probably could have been a good MAC player.

I remain encouraged about the team we will put on the floor this year, and the first years in the Stroh Center and I look forward to seeing men's basketball be an event at BG again.

Bowling Green, Ohio – Bowling Green State University men’s basketball coach Louis Orr has announced that Canton Timken High School teammates Jehvon Clarke and Desmond Rorie have signed National Letters of Intent to play at BGSU beginning in the fall of 2011. Clarke is a 6-foot-1 point guard and Rorie is a 6-foot-9 post player.

Clarke and Rorie have been instrumental in leading Canton Timken High School to a high level of success. The program has gone 62-7 over the past three years, including 40-0 in PAC-7 play. Both players lettered as freshmen and were regular starters each of the past two seasons.

“Coach Rick Hairston and Assistant Coach Antwan Williams do a great job of building a winning program and developing young players as people,” Orr, in his fourth year at Bowling Green, said.

Clarke, who is the son of assistant coach Williams, is a highly-recruited playmaker who averaged 15.5 points, 5.6 assists and 3.0 steals per game as a junior. He also made 35.6 percent of his three-point attempts.

“Jehvon is dynamic,” Orr said. “He’s good in the open floor, he can score for himself and get to the rim, he can make open shots, and he can create for others. With Joe Jakubowski graduating after this year, we need another playmaker and Jehvon fits into our system. He is a quality young man and is highly seasoned, having played AAU with the Ohio Basketball Club.”

Although he flew under the radar of college recruiters, Rorie is a 220-pound big man with a long wingspan. He averaged 3.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game a year ago, but his talent and potential is unmistakable.

“Desmond is one of the most athletic big men in the state,” Orr said. “He runs the floor well, is a good shot blocker, is mobile, and has huge upside – I think more than any big guy in the state of Ohio. If he continues to work, he can be a presence and can add size alongside freshman Cameron Black.”