Muskegon WMC duo leads Class-D basketballers in preseason

Burris (bottom right) and Bruinsma (top right) lead WMC in 2009

While a select few teams from West Michigan will spend the next one-to-two weeks chasing various Divisions worth of state football championship, other teams are getting a head start on the upcoming basketball season.  On cue, Stephen Bell has started releasing his preseason team rankings, starting from the bottom (but not least by any means): Class-D.

Team rankings
1. Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
2. Lansing Christian
3. Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian
4. Climax-Scotts
5. Mason County Eastern
6. Sterling Heights Parkway Christian
7. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
8. Cedarville
9. Kinde-North Huron
10. Leland

It’s tough to say that Class-D is Muskegon WMC and then everybody else, but at least right now, before any games whatsoever have been played, Class-D looks like Muskegon WMC and then everybody else.  There’s some serious West Michigan talent on Tri-Unity and Climax-Scotts too (like Climax-Scotts’ super-athlete Beau Langs for example) but WMC is on another level.

The Warriors boast a one-two combination reminiscent of the high school equivalent of the Oklahoma Thunder, with ultra-quick London Burris playing the role of Russell Westbrook, and versatile, scoring forward Evan Bruinsma playing Kevin Durant.

Burris can shoot, but he’s most effective running an efficient ship from the point guard position.   I personally was made to look even sillier than usual running against Burris in summer pick-up games, but amazingly when I switched teams all of a sudden he made me an allstar.  It’s an incredible talent that can make a washed-up has-been like me look sweet (thanks for that, London).

Bruinsma, meanwhile, is quite simply the type of player that will decide ballgames in Class-D.  He’s a streaky shooter who can light up the scoreboard if he gets hot, but his real talent is his ability to impact games in other ways.  You can’t teach his combination of talent and hustle.

Along with the High School Basketball Bulletin on Mlive.com, Stephen Bell also runs a great site over at BankHoops.com, both of which are definitely worth checking out for recruiting info.

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