Eastern Michigan Athletics
Men's Basketball Adds Two to 2009 Recruiting Class
4/21/2009 4:30:29 PM | Men's Basketball
Two junior college standouts join two early signees
YPSILANTI, Mich. — Eastern Michigan University head men's basketball coach Charles E. Ramsey has added two junior college recruits this spring to give the Eagles four players in the Class of 2009.
Ramsey and his staff announced that Quintin Dailey (Las Vegas, Nev.-Bishop Gorman-Sheridan (Wyo.) Junior College) and Kelvin “Jay” Higgins (Fayetteville, N.C.-IMG-Hillsborough (Fla.) Community College) have both signed a national letter of intent to attend EMU this fall. Those two players join two fall signees, Matt Balkema (Warren, Mich.-Cousino) and Jamell Harris (Euclid, Ohio-Euclid), in the latest EMU recruiting class.
“We are very pleased with the addition of Quintin Dailey and Jay Higgins to our recruiting class this spring,” EMU's Ramsey said. “Quintin and Jay will both make us a much better field-goal shooting team, especially in the three-point category. Matt Balkema and Jamell Harris signed with us in the early recruiting period in November and our four recruits all have great skills that will help us improve as a team.”
The 6-foot-3 Dailey, the son of former NBA player Quintin Dailey Sr., was a standout high school player at Bishop Gorman H.S. in Las Vegas, Nev. before heading to Sheridan (Wyo.) Community College last year. As a prep at Bishop Gorman, Dailey was a two-time All-State selection and was the Most Valuable Player in the Sunset League as a senior after averaging 19 points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Playing at Sheridan C.C. in 2008-09, Dailey played in 19 games, missing 14 with an injury, but still managed to finish third on the team in three-point field goals, hitting 31-of-85 for 36.5 percent. He averaged 12.2 points a game for a team that finished 26-7 on the season. He will have sophomore eligibility for EMU this fall.
Higgins, a 6-foot-6, 208-pounder, helped Hillsborough record a 23-7 overall record in 2008-09 while earning first-team All-Sun Coast Conference honors as a freshman and sophomore. He finished the 2008-09 season with a 17.0 scoring average and a 5.0 rebound mark. His team won the Sun Coast Tournament title and qualified for the Florida Community College Activities Association post-season tournament. He was also selected to the NJCAA All-Region 8 first-team. He was named the 2009 Academic Athlete of the Year at Hillsborough C.C. Higgins played his high school basketball at IMG-Pendleton Prep School in Bradenton, Fla.
Balkema earned varsity letters in basketball, baseball and football at Warren Cousino H.S. The McDonald's All-American nominee averaged 16.5 points and 10.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists as a senior, recording13 double-doubles helping him earn second-team All-Macomb Area Conference honors. He averaged 15 points and 9.6 rebounds as a junior in basketball and 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds as a sophomore. He earned second-team All-Macomb Area Conference White Division honors in 2007-08. Balkema has also played two summers for the Michigan Mustangs AAU team for coaches Norm Oden and Rod Watts.
Balkema was named second-team All-Metro North and honorable mention Class A All-State by the Detroit Free Press in 2008-09.
Harris averaged 17 points, 7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game for Euclid High School in 2008-09. In addition, Harris was named first-team All-Lake Erie League, first-team All-News Herald, and third-team All-NE District. As a junior Harris averaged 11.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.0 apg, 5.9 bpg and shot 56 percent from the field which earned him second-team All-Lake Erie League honors. During the summer he played for the King James Shooting Stars AAU team for Coach Percy Robertson.
Eastern Michigan University 2009-10 Men's Basketball Recruits
| Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Cl. |
Hometown-High School |
Ppg | Rpg | Bpg |
| Matt Balkema |
6-10 |
270 |
Fr. |
Warren, Mich.-Cousino |
15.0 |
9.6 |
1.0 |
|
Quintin Dailey |
6-3 |
170 |
So. |
Las Vegas, Nev.-Bishop Gorman-Sheridan (Wyo.) J.C. |
12.2 |
3.5 |
|
| Jamell Harris |
6-8 |
210 |
Fr. |
Euclid, Ohio-Euclid |
17.0 |
7.0 |
1.5 |
| Jay Higgins |
6-6 |
208 |
Jr. |
Fayetteville, N.C.-IMG Academy-Hillsborough (Fla.) C.C. |
17.0 | 5.0 |
