Is That A Pulse?

Meet Corperrayle "Manny" Harris, who is sort of like Reed Baker except tall and exciting and from Detroit and not seriously considering life at the Citadel. An '07 shooting guard ranked #45 in his class by Rivals, he committed to Michigan yesterday. He plans on decommitting in August or September.

I keed, I keed. Mostly.

The Internet has copious information on the rapidly rising Harris. Here is a Scout profile. If you would like something more saccharine, the Detroit News has you covered; there is also a recap of Harris' second straight PSL championship with Detroit Redford.

More to the heavy-breathing point, he's #45 with a bullet and may not be done moving up the charts. His performance at this summer's shoe camps generated serious buzz. He was cited as the #2 "riser" coming out of the recent Nike camp by both Rivals and SchoolSports.com via SI:

2. Corperryale Harris, Redford (Detroit)
Harris had a great day at both ends of the court. The 6-foot-4 guard was a pest on the defensive end, getting numerous deflections and steals, which often led to easy baskets for his team. But he was even better on the offensive end, scoring in transition, from 3-point range and on hard drives to the basket. In his first game of the day, Harris dropped 19 points, including two 3-pointers and a monster dunk over 7-foot Solomon Alabi of Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.).

PrepSpotlight is speculating that Harris may end up in the top 25 soon ($); interest from UCLA and Kansas certainly implies that is a possibility. Erstwhile MSU Rivals guy Steve Bell describes Harris' game like so:

Harris' game is similar to that of a young Latrell Sprewell, not aesthetically pleasing or fundamentally sound, but full of energy and hustle. He is one of those "sticky" players who is always around the ball, whether loose, off the glass, or from an opponent's dribble. Harris is the type of die-hard that U-M's roster has sorely lacked.

What, doesn't Courtney Sims count?

"Speedy" Walker, Harris' AAU coach, gets the last word:

This buzz wasn't always the case for the wiry Harris. Not until last summer's growth spurt, actually. That's when, according to Walker, "a 5-11 scrappy player became a 6-4 scrappy player." All of a sudden the defensive stalwart and superb point guard became a threat at two more positions -- the 2 and 3. And, all of a sudden, an unranked prospect catapulted to the top 50 by season's end. "Defense is the best part of his game," Flowers said. "He's a ball-hawk, 94-50. He can take it to the basket with the best of them. And his floor game is getting even better. He's a great point guard (already)."

A good get and one that doesn't seem likely to end up in the always-burgeoning pile of decommits. However, the excitement over Harris' commitment is dampened somewhat by Amaker's questionable decisions to accept Rutgers transfer Zach Gibson -- though presumably Michigan's actually seen Gibson in action -- and Baker, leaving only one scholarship remaining in the '07 class. Another Michigan guard, Laval Lucas-Perry, is in the process of blowing up. He has an offer from Arizona but not one from Michigan, and he may not get one at all if Amaker decides that he needs an '07 post. Que lastima.