scoring 12 points in the final minute<\/a> to beat Groves. Grays made his season debut over the weekend in a premier matchup against Rockford and scored 24 points in the Warriors\u2019 double-overtime loss.<\/p>\n![\"Basketball](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/TOP-L-BBBPlayersToWatch-122425-02.jpg\")
Brother Rice’s Greg Grays Jr. (2) follows his 3-pointer in a district final at Birmingham Groves held Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (BRYAN EVERSON – MediaNews Group)
\nLewis Lovejoy, Arts & Tech Academy of Pontiac<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t let his size fool you. The 5-foot-9 point guard burst onto the season as a freshman last winter and averaged 21 points, seven boards and eight assists to lead the Lions to the D3 title game. His dad, ATAP head coach Orlando Lovejoy Sr., said in the offseason that leadership skills are an area where he can continue to improve, but the younger Lovejoy plays with a fearlessness and can create his own shot. Local or not, he\u2019s one of the most talented sophomores in the state.<\/p>\n
Da\u2019Ron Mason, Bloomfield Hills<\/p>\n
He might not put up quite the same numbers in a league better than than the OAA Blue, but his presence and how it\u2019ll impact that race is influential enough that it warrants his place on the list. Mason has the ability to collect steals and take them the other away for easy points at least a few times a game, and he\u2019s got the ability to put the ball in the basket in a variety of ways. A senior committed to Wayne State, Mason recently dropped 33 points in a win over Berkley, helping the Black Hawks get out to a 5-1 start.<\/p>\n
Cole Charter, Clarkston<\/p>\n
Like some other names you\u2019ll find on this list, you could make an argument for a teammate, and in this case it would be Ace Walters, who can really shoot the rock, too. But coaches are likely to tell you that Charter is the spoon that stirs the drink. A 6-foot-5 guard, Charter displays a good sense of timing when driving the ball and his a nice arsenal of passes in his bag. The senior most recently moved into third place on Clarkston\u2019s all-time career assists list (287), trailing only Keegan Waslik and Foster Loyer.<\/p>\n
Connor Brown, North Farmington<\/p>\n
The NBA may be a game of guards and centers, and while you can debate his fit at the next level, Brown\u2019s a forward very comfortable of playing inside. He\u2019s already shown an ability to turn rebounds into second-chance points, but now as a junior will continue to unlock potential by improving as a perimeter shooter and a distributer. The best player on a 6-1 Raiders team just got his first offer from South Dakota Mines, but D1 offers should arrive by the end of next summer if he continues on a similar trajectory.<\/p>\n
Tory Robinson, Waterford Mott<\/p>\n
Yes, this is a basketball list. After being named third-team All-Lakes Valley Conference as a sophomore on the hardwood, Robinson delivered this fall on the football field for Mott, hauling in 38 catches for over 900 yards and six touchdowns while also picking off three passes. That\u2019s probably where his future lies, but Robinson\u2019s athleticism allows him to match up with other top backcourt players. With teammate Jacoby Menyweathers graduated, Robinson is taking on a bigger scoring role this season (averaging over 15 ppg), but doesn\u2019t have to carry the entire load with others like 6-6 senior Damari Stephens around him.<\/p>\n
Eden Vinyard, Ferndale<\/p>\n
His status as a nationally-ranked recruit has made him a known commodity since before the start of his sophomore season, so it was inevitable he had to make any list of county notables. The state\u2019s most sought after player from the Class of 2027 is ranked 82nd by ESPN and 111th by 247. Standing at 6-7 and blessed with length, Vinyard has the ability to dominate at this level inside, but also can get hot from outside. If the eye test isn\u2019t enough for you, the stat lines he delivers this year will be; Vinyard had 27 points in a win over Warren Lincoln, and there\u2019s plenty of similar outputs yet to come.<\/p>\n
Wycell Davis, Detroit Catholic Central<\/p>\n
The Shamrocks might fly under the radar to start this season after a subpar 2024-25. It\u2019s a new year, and Davis is a big reason why (Andrew Walker is another frontrunner from what\u2019s a roster of athletically gifted players). The 6-4 junior can set up his teammates with an ability to beat his own man off the dribble and can hit shots when he\u2019s between the perimeter and the paint, also. He put up 28 points for the Shamrocks (6-2) in their second Catholic League game, a 50-42 win over Toledo CC, and had a big game in their most recent victory over Detroit King. Davis already owns an offer from Eastern Michigan.<\/p>\n
Dean Lewis, Walled Lake Western<\/p>\n
Fear not, LVC, you are represented. His name might get lost in the shuffle with the fact that the Warriors went just 6-17 last year, but Lewis was the only sophomore voted second-team All-LVC or better. Senior Gavin Roberts (who already has a game-winning 3-pointer under his belt) is solid though, too, and an even better year out of Lewis should ensure that WL Western finishes much better than third-to-last in the conference standings. A 6-5 combo guard that can do a little of everything (including flush it when he gets to the rim), Lewis set a career-high with 33 points recently, and has surpassed or approached 30 on several other occasions despite the fact that the Warriors (4-3) are just seven games in.<\/p>\n
Christian Cast, Detroit Country Day<\/p>\n
\u201cOld-heads\u201d (it\u2019s all relative) will remember that DCD has had a long list of hoopers that goes beyond the obvious few (there\u2019s Kito Benson, Ray McCallum Jr. and Austin Price, and we could keep going deeper and further back). But anyone whose favorite video game is Fortnite might have forgotten the Yellowjackets were once a gold standard of Michigan boys hoops. In some ways, it\u2019s a fair critique going by ultra-recent history. But Cast, who lost the better part of his sophomore year last winter to injury, appropriately proclaimed \u201cwe back\u201d \u2014 that could apply to his team or himself \u2014 after he dropped 30 points in a win over Detroit Central at The D-Zone Shootout. Keep an eye on DCD (5-1) as the year goes on with other emerging underclassmen like 6-6 junior Isaiah Marino and sophomore guard Roman Allen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s no five-star prospects headlining the current crop of upperclassmen, but Oakland County\u2019s boys hoops talent bubbles with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2044,795,143,904,145,144,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-108540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-high-school-sports","9":"tag-michigan","10":"tag-oakland","11":"tag-oakland-county","12":"tag-oakland-headlines","13":"tag-oakland-news","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}