Looking forward to 2007 recruits

Men's basketball

Here is a rundown of high school juniors Akron is following, according to Scout.com and Rivals.com...

• PG Damon Butler, 5-foot-9 from Cincinnati. As high school teammates of O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker at North College Hill, Butler has some name recognition within recruiting circles. Remind you a bit of a couple of current Zips? He is interested in Florida, Florida State, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Xavier and Akron. Not bad company.


• PG Anthony Hitchens, 5-9 from Chillicothe, Ohio. Akron has offered a scholarship to Hitchens, whom Rivals.com calls the best point guard prospect in Ohio. Other schools of interest include Cleveland State, Wright State and Oakland.


• SG Antoine Childs, 6-5 from Beaver Falls, Pa. I can't find much on him, except that he has interest in four schools: Akron, Colgate, Duquesne and Penn State.


• SG Brian Walsh, 6-4 from Coraopolis, Pa. Landing Walsh, a three-star player, would be a major coup for Akron, considering he holds more than a dozen offers from schools as elite as Memphis, Maryland and Pittsburgh. Walsh's high school coach calls him a great shooter and slasher who also is very unselfish.


• SF Drazen Zlovaric, 6-8 from Cleveland, Tenn. Gaining a commitment from the Serbian native might be another long shot. Zlovaric already has offers from Cincinnati and Central Michigan. He also has interest in several top-notch schools in the nation, such as USC, Florida and Indiana. This interest isn't just a one-way thing. Many of these schools have sent coaches to watch Zlovaric play. He is a high-potential player. He already shows great athleticism, ball handling and shooting. Zlovaric's high school coach suggested his 20-point, 11-rebound star might need to add weight to his 200-pound frame and become more physical.


• PF Hakim McCullar, 6-7 from Maine. McCullar was a Zips target last year, but apparently he's attending a prep school. He holds five scholarship offers, four from the MAC, including Akron.