Men's Basketball Signs Three To National Letters Of Intent
11/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State head men's basketball coach Tom Izzo has announced that three players have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Michigan State next fall and play for the 2003-04 Spartan basketball team.
The signees include Shannon Brown (G, 6-3, 190, Maywood, Ill./Proviso East High School), Brandon Cotton (G, 6-0, 170, Detroit/DePorres High School) and Drew Naymick (C, 6-10, 235, Muskegon, Mich./North Muskegon High School).
"Each year when we start the recruiting process we are looking to fill specific needs," said Izzo. "This season, we did a terrific job of finding a top player in each of our areas of need. I think these guys are all going to bring something to the table that will help us be a national contender both next year and in the years to come as we look to continue building an elite program. We closely examined our team and realized that we needed more scoring and more guard play so added two great guards in Shannon Brown and Brandon Cotton. We also knew that after this year we will be losing two experienced post players, so the addition of a very talented Drew Naymick will help fill that void.
"Usually, the head coach gets the credit and the assistants do the work. But this is one of those special moments when each one of my assistants gets some well-deserved recognition. Brian Gregory, Mike Garland and Mark Montgomery did a great tag-team effort with all three recruits. That doesn't happen very often. Usually one guy concentrates on one recruit, while another assistant goes after another player. But this was a total team effort this year. The assistants stayed on top of the recruiting process and did a great job of pushing me to see kids at the right time. The fact that we were able to fill our needs and that we did it through team effort as a staff makes this an enjoyable class."
SHANNON BROWN (G, 6-3, 190, Maywood, Ill./Proviso East High School) - Consensus pick as the top shooting guard in the Class of 2003 ... Averaged 24 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals as a junior, leading Proviso East High School to a 26-3 record ... First-Team All-State honoree, in addition to receiving all-conference, all-region and all-area honors ... Rated as the No. 1 shooting guard in the nation by recruiting analyst Dave Telep, ESPN.com, FoxSports.com's Frank Burlison and recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons ... Ranked as the No. 9 player in the nation by Dave Telep and Bob Gibbons, No. 10 by Frank Burlison and by Rivals.com, No. 11 by ESPN.com and No. 14 by PrepStars.com... Selected to Frank Burlison's 2002 All-Summer First-Team as one of the top five performers of the summer ... Named to Frank Burlison's Nike Camp Top 25 Team and Dave Telep's All-Nike Camp Team ... Participated in the 2002 USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival in Colorado Springs ... Averaged 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals as a sophomore, while earning all-conference, all-region and all-area honors and helping Proviso East to a 29-4 record ... Averaged 13 points per game as a freshman on a squad that posted a 21-1 record ... Plays for Coach Troy Jackson at Proviso East High School.
Coach Izzo on Brown: "Shannon Brown is one of those players that doesn't come around very often. He combines tremendous athletic ability, good size, great quickness, the ability to shoot the ball from range and handle it like a true guard. There are guys that can shoot the ball very well and there are guys that are great athletes. There are big guards who use size to their advantage and there are small guards who use their ball-handling skills and quickness to excel. But, when you put it all together and have everything in the same package, you find yourself with an incredible basketball player. In addition, his recruitment was one of the more enjoyable ones that I've experienced. His family was very involved and handled what can be an overwhelming process very well. With a player of his caliber, egos can sometimes be a problem, but that was not the case. Things were done the right way, and as a coach, that makes for a very enjoyable process."
BRANDON COTTON (G, 6-0, 170, Detroit/DePorres High School) - Averaged 28.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals as a junior, leading DePorres High School to a 17-4 record ... Earned Class C All-State honors from both the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News ... Selected to the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News All-Detroit teams ... Named second-team All-Metro by both the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News ... Led DePorres to the Catholic AA Division title ... shot 49 percent from three-point range, 65 percent from two-point range and 79 percent from the free throw line ... Ranked as the No. 3 point guard by recruiting analyst Dave Telep and by PrepStars.com ... Rated as the No. 17 player in the nation by PrepStars.com, No. 20 by Clark Francis' HoopScoop, No. 21 by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons, No. 27 by Dave Telep, No. 31 by Rivals.com and No. 41 by FoxSports.com's Frank Burlison ... Participated in the 2002 USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival in Colorado Springs ... Averaged 17 points, five rebounds and four assists per game as a sophomore, leading DePorres to a 23-4 mark, while earning second-team Class C All-State honors from the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News ... Honorable mention All-Metro and All-Detroit honoree from the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News ... Plays for Coach Durand Shepherd at Detroit St. Martin DePorres High School.
Coach Izzo on Cotton: "Brandon Cotton is a player that can play more than one position, and yet he has true point guard skills. He has tremendous versatility in that he can score, he can dish and he can handle the ball, in addition to possessing exceptional quickness. With his athletic ability, I think he can also become a very good defender. What I really like about Brandon, however, is that he's played on a winning program and understands the commitment and sacrifice necessary to win. He's excelled during both the summer and the high school seasons. The choice for him to play at Michigan State was a family decision made by a great family that wants to watch him play, which fits in well with our system of developing a family atmosphere. We are very excited to add him to the Spartan family."
DREW NAYMICK (C, 6-10, 235, Muskegon, Mich./North Muskegon High School) - Earned Class C All-State honors from the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News as a junior, averaging 21.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and 6.4 blocks, while leading North Muskegon to a 16-7 record ... Shot 70.6 percent from the field and 69.2 percent from the free throw line ... Participated in 2002 USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival in Colorado Springs ... Ranked as the No. 31 player in the nation by FoxSports.com's Frank Burlison, No. 41 by recruiting analyst Dave Telep, No. 42 by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons and No. 49 by Clark Francis' Hoop Scoop ... Rated as the No. 8 center in the Class of 2003 by Dave Telep ... Named to Frank Burlison's Nike Camp Top 25 and to Dave Telep's All-Nike Camp Team ... Averaged 15.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.9 blocks as a sophomore, while shooting 68.5 percent from the field ... Led North Muskegon to a 15-6 record while earning honorable mention all-state honors from the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News ... Averaged 12.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 blocks as a freshman starter, helping North Muskegon to a 14-8 record ... Shot 67.3 percent from the field as a freshman ... Three-time all-conference and two-time all-area honoree ... Plays for Coach Jeff Cooke at North Muskegon High School.
Coach Izzo on Naymick: "In Drew Naymick, we are getting a player that has tremendous upside. He has the ability to be a combination of a great player, great student and great person, who comes from a great family. Overall, he has the total package. Every time we watched him over the summer, he seemed to get better and better, proving on a national level that he is one of the most gifted big men in the country. He is also a player that has improved his entire game each year through high school, which is very encouraging. With his signing, we are adding a student-athlete that has the brains and the ability. You put those two together and you have a chance to have a great player, who can excel in many different areas. Best of all, his best days are yet to come."
