Men's Basketball Completes 2009 Recruiting Class

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Eastern Michigan University head men's basketball coach Charles E. Ramsey has announced that Ft. Wayne, Ind.-Snider High School standout guard Jonathan Sims has signed a national letter of intent as the fifth and final member of the recruiting class of 2009.

“Being able to add a player of Jonathan Sims' caliber makes this class a very special one,” Ramsey said of his latest recruit. “We think that this five-player recruiting class may be the strongest group from top to bottom that we have signed. “

Sims, a 6-foot-3 guard, averaged 15 points on a Snider team that finished the 2008-09 season with a 25-2 record, losing in the state finals to Bloomington South H.S. in Conseco Field House. He was coached by his father, Ray Sims.

Sims was a high honorable mention All-State selection by The Associated Press. He was selected to play in the Border Wars All-Star game between high school stars from the state of Indiana against their counterparts in Ohio, and he scored 17 points in a losing cause. He was also a two-time first-team All-Summit Athletic Conference selection as well as a first-team All-Northeast Indiana pick and a first-team All-Journal Gazette choice.

Sims completed his Snider career near the top of several categories, including: eighth in career scoring, highest single-season free throw percentage (85-of-100 in 2009-09), second in single-season free-point field goal percentage (43.6 percent), most assists in a single season (100), most single-season steals (64), and third in career steals (161).

Sims was named one of the Top 15 seniors in the state by Indiana Rim and Hoop Magazine.

Joining Sims in the EMU Class of 2009 are: Quintin Dailey (Las Vegas, Nev.-Bishop Gorman-Sheridan (Wyo.) Junior College), Kelvin “Jay” Higgins (Fayetteville, N.C.-IMG-Hillsborough (Fla.) Community College), Matt Balkema (Warren, Mich.-Cousino) and Jamell Harris (Euclid, Ohio-Euclid).

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 All-Tournament. 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
Jonathan Sims	6-3	165	Fr.	Ft. Wayne, Ind.-Snider	15.0	4.0

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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