Tom Herzog will be there today, along with most of the rest of the top high school basketball players in the state, when Michigan State and Michigan meet in Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena.
Herzog is a 7-foot junior center who plays for Flint Powers and whose best basketball is a few years away. He is the subject of an intense, yet by all accounts respectful, recruiting duel between the Spartans and Wolverines. He's one of a handful of in-state juniors with consensus top-50 national rankings.
And that depth of talent, so close to home, is why U-M is expected to join MSU someday soon as a long-term, top-25 program.
"Per capita, Michigan has probably as good basketball talent as anywhere in the country," said Clark Francis, a recruiting analyst with Hoop Scoop magazine. "You don't have to go far to stay on top of the world. There's enough talent nearby for both of them to do well. And both of those programs have the names to recruit nationally as well."
And sometimes, they go head to head. That's when days like today are important - a chance for each program to show itself off at the expense of the other. Herzog and DeShawn Sims, a 6-7 forward from Detroit Pershing, are two players both MSU and U-M are working hard to lure.
Sims, ranked the No. 7 wing player in the nation by PrepSpotlight.com, and No. 9 by Rivals.com, has other suitors including Syracuse, and has been mum so far on his leanings. PrepSpotlight recruiting analyst Sam Hosey Jr. calls him MSU's "most important" in-state prospect.
"I compare him to Jamal Mashburn a lot, he has a lot of offensive skill," Hosey said of Sims. "He can shoot the three, he can put it on the floor, he can also post up. His skills are very advanced."
Herzog's aren't, but his size and upside make him a coveted player who also is considering offers from Illinois and Notre Dame. Herzog is a rare case in today's climate - a 7-footer who has no illusions about playing in the NBA anytime soon.
Herzog calls MSU and U-M his dead-even leaders, even though Flint has been MSU territory for the past decade.
"There are things I like about both," Herzog said. "MSU is a better team presently, and normally they're the better team. They're kind of more prestigious for basketball. But at Michigan, the coaching staff there seems to have a real good relationship with the players. I like the coaches at Michigan - I like the coaches at MSU, too, but personally I like the coaches better at U-M."
Today, Herzog will certainly take the final score into account. More important to him will be the way each team involves its big men offensively. He expects to come up with a decision over the summer and sign with his choice during the fall signing period.
"They both really want me, but the way they show it is different," Herzog said of MSU and Michigan. "U-M is calling my coach (Jack Pratt) all the time, but they're not really pressuring me personally. MSU doesn't talk to my coach much, but when they're talking to me it seems they're pressuring me.
"Every time I talk to (MSU assistant coach Doug) Wojcik, I come back really wanting to commit to MSU. With the Michigan coaches, there's not as much talking about basketball."
U-M and coach Tommy Amaker are said to be getting a big in-state recruiting boost from assistant coach Charles Ramsey.
The Wolverines have a 2005 signee in point guard Jerret Smith of Romulus, and a commitment from 2006 shooting guard K'Len Morris of Grand Blanc, a top-100 player nationally.
U-M also is reportedly the leader for junior Tory Jackson, a consensus top-10 point guard from Saginaw Buena Vista.
He would arrive in time to take over for U-M point guard Daniel Horton, and he would give Michigan its first big commitment from Saginaw - another traditional MSU stronghold - in recent memory.
MSU, meanwhile, is hoping the success this season of leading scorer Maurice Ager will help the Spartans gain favor with Detroit prospects. Sims and Ramar Smith, a shooting guard and top-25 player from Detroit Martin Luther King, are the top two Detroit recruits for 2006.
"I think they definitely use me as an example of what a player can do here," Ager said. "People can see Detroit players can come here and have success."
The Spartans are in on some top players from elsewhere, most notably 6-6 junior shooting guard Isaiah Dahlman of Minneapolis. PrepSpotlight ranks him the No. 2 wing player in the nation, and he's in everyone's top 25 overall.
"It looks like MSU is going to get him," Francis said of Dahlman. "And they should be thrilled to pieces if they do."
Center Greg Oden and guard Mike Conley Jr., both juniors from Indianapolis Lawrence North - MSU guard Chris Hill's high school - are considering MSU. Oden, Rivals' No. 1 overall player, is considered an NBA lottery pick if he decides to go straight to the draft.
There is more top talent in state for 2006, including wing Leon Freeman of Belleville and point guard David Kool of Grand Rapids South Christian. And 2007 is expected to be big as well, helping make up for a down year in 2005.
That's not to say MSU and Michigan will have it easy - two of last year's top recruits, Malik Hairston and Joe Crawford of Detroit Renaissance, went to Oregon and Kentucky, respectively. Crawford initially committed to U-M. Both cited immediate playing time, a much bigger factor today than 10 years ago, as a primary reason for their decisions.
Still, the Wolverines and Spartans should get their share. And they're battling evenly for some of the same in-state players, which hasn't happened in quite some time - before recruiting violations and resulting NCAA sanctions left Michigan in a deep hole.
The race is on now, for Herzog, Sims and others.
"I see it as, if I get one guard, (Amaker) is getting the other," said MSU coach Tom Izzo who, like Amaker, can't comment on specific recruits until they sign. "That's just the way it kind of works nowadays. ... They're gonna always recruit well, and we're gonna recruit well. I do think this (rivalry) is still growing and is gonna get better and better and better."
