A few of the basketball teams in the MCCAA have already released their rosters for the 2001-02 season. Here's our first installment on juco ballers to look out for.

Some of these kids can flat out play. In many cases they receive the coaching and competition to blossom. When they graduated from high school, Derrick Bird from Ypsilanti and Sam Hoskins from Bishop Borgess, both were mid-major players. Both fell off the DI path ... only to emerge as big-time talents out of the Michigan junior college ranks, Bird and Hoskins matriculating from Schoolcraft to Auburn and DePaul, respectedly. The next high major players are out there.

I watched U-of-M's practice Friday. The Wolverines would be covetous of Mott's point guard rotation. At 6'2, 190, sophomore Rashi Johnson has the high major look. And he's getting the high major looks -- MSU, USC, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Miami-FL, Auburn. He's a Chicago MLK alumnus who represents the ideal physical, aggressive, ball-covetous Midwestern point guard. Then there are Mott's freshmen. 5'11 Morris Hall has a pretty major league resume. In 2000 he led Detroit Henry Ford to one of its best seasons in memory. Then he went to Winchendon Prep in Massachusetts, which has more talent than a typical MAC team. Not just a couple national recruiting media types singled out Hall's stellar play in the New England prep school ranks. He'll get more exposure, yet, at Mott, always a threat for the national tournament. So Hall's a definite DI player.

As good as prep all-stater Dion Harris was last year for Detroit Redford, the Huskies wouldn't have won the PSL championship without its senior backcourt of Darrell Evans and DeMarcus Ismael. "Wheaty" Evans was the MVP of the PSL tournament. He's a solid 5'10 kid who doesn't do anything outrageous, just plays defense and runs a team. He was a three-year starter at Redford. Ismael's small at 5'7. But he knows how to play and can shoot the ball.

One of Mott's best guards from last year, 6'1 Rulon Harris, is now at Schoolcraft. He's a former standout at Detroit Mumford. On a talented Mott team Harris, a good defender, averaged 5.8 assists and 3.2 steals per game. He'll see major minutes in the Ocelots' backcourt along with 6'0 sophomore Javon "Teiko" Clark, a big-time sniper at Detroit Cass Tech who originally signed with Toledo, and two more undersized, but excellent, shooters -- 6'0 freshman Gary Johnson from Wayne and 6'0 freshman Andrew Brown from Pontiac Central.

Another guy who had originally intended to play at Toledo was Delvar Barrett, who starred in the post for Detroit Cooley. The opportunity will be there with Hoskins graduated. Barrett is built like an exageraged Hoskins -- listed at 6'7, 285. He's never been built like Garnett, but does have soft hands and smart footwork in the paint. Two other big guys who were once ranked highly as younger high school players, now on the Schoolcraft roster, are 6'8, 260 sophomore Yaku Morton-Spruill and 6'9, 260 freshman Justin Fiori. Yaku has always been a good rebounder, he played at Westland John Glenn and also for a spell in Texas. Fiori, from Romeo, was once ranked with the likes of 2000 big men Arthur Johnson, Darris Manciel, Brian Carter and Johnny Davis. He just got too big and slow.

Another freshman who never reached his potential in high school is 6'6 John Burris from Ann Arbor Huron. He has all kind of athletic ability and Carlos Briggs will find a use for him. Speaking of athletes, 6'5 freshman Ron Dorsey is a big-time dunker out of Detroit Pershing. 6'7 sophomore Michael Williams is ready for a breakout year. He was Detroit City's star player when they made the state finals in 1999. He's slender but highly skilled.

A player similar to Williams is Lamar Rice, a 6'5 sophomore from Mott. He can handle the ball and draw fouls. Last year he averaged 6.3 ppg and 5.4 rpg. He's not the only athlete coach Steve Schmidt can look to up front, with Taylor Baker and Janon Cole, both 6'5 from Flint Central and Southwestern, respectively. Baker's a sophomore, Cole a freshman. In the post Mott has 6'6, 235-pound sophomore Derrick Minniefield. He averaged 11.5 ppg last year. I actually saw Minniefield's first high school varsity game, he was a sophomore at Flint Northern, December 1995, Calihan Hall against Detroit Pershing. Mateen shot a lot, Northern lost by a lot.

6'6, 195-pound sophomore Dominick Melton's game is similar to Rice's. He was the Western Division league MVP last year for Kalamazoo Valley, a rarity for a freshman. He's a slasher who can rebound and pass. Melton averaged 17 ppg., 11.6 rpg and 2 steals per game as a freshman and 11.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg as a senior at Muskegon.

Another KVCC player who got it done as a freshman was 5'8 Brandon Steward. You may remember him as the funky little point guard from Flint Beecher who gave Orchard Lake St. Mary's more than it bargained for in the 2000 Class B state final. He's very quick with a tight handle and an annoying defensive presence. As a freshman Steward averaged 11 points, 8 assists and 3 steals per game. Also contributing as freshmen were 6'7, 225-pound Nate Tagert, a good mid-range shooter out of Coldwater who averaged 11.8 ppg and 6.3 rpg last year, and 6'4 Dan Clothier, a fundamentally good swingman who learned to mix in with big-time talent at St. Mary's.

The top guard in the West may be Derek Reynolds, a 6'1, 165-pound sophomore at Grand Rapids CC. He's a scoring guard all the way, though, a gunner who hit 49 percent from the field. Decent defender. A GRCC freshman to keep an eye on is DeJuan Van Horn, a raw rebounder and shot-blocker out of Comstock. He has DI size and athletic ability at 6'8, 220.

Another former Muskegon High standout getting it done is Melvin Foley at Muskegon CC. He's athletic, at 6'6, 185 he's a raw insider who plays hard but doens't have a lot of skills. Also at MCC are Willie Burrell, a 6'5, 175-pound freshman athlete from Muskegon Heights who plays both ends of the floor, 6'3 freshman Eddie Ward from Mona Shores and sophomore Ben Scholten, a 6'10, 220-pound shotblocker from Hudsonville Unity Christian.

Lansing CC has a couple high school "name' players. 5'11 sophomore Da'velle Hoskins and 6'1 freshman Charles Ford II are both Lansing Sexton alumni who used to run with the Tri-County Cobras. Da'velle's shot can run for days. Ford is more of a slasher who finishes inside with strength and his long arms. He was supposed to walk-on at Oakland or something last year, but it didn't work out. LCC has two MHSAA state champions, sophomores 6'7 Melvin White and 6'1 Terry Reddick from Lansing Waverly in 2000. Reddick is just tough as dirt. White has some talent but is kind of a floater. If they could switch games ... I've liked 6'5 sophomore Paul Van Dyke since he was called up to Everett's varsity as a 10th-grader for the '97 state tournament. He could help a MIAA or some GLIAC schools with his grunt work up front.