Lansing Sexton senior Drew Valentine had multiple college teams after him for both basketball and football all summer. The decision became a lot easier for him after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament back on Aug. 28 in a football game against Holt.
After the injury a few teams backed away and wondered if he would be the same. But Valentine said Oakland stuck by him, which is why he verbally committed to play for the Golden Grizzlies.
“They were the first school to offer me before my junior year,” Valentine said. “They showed a lot of loyalty and earned my trust. When I had my reconstructive surgery on my ACL three weeks ago, (Oakland assistant coach) Saddi Washington was there. That meant a lot to me. Just the fact that they weren’t doubting me and having questions about me coming back. They have been supportive and that’s what I really like about Oakland and that’s where I want to be.”
Valentine is ranked the No. 7 wing player in the state of Michigan by BankHoops.com and was a Class A all-state honorable mention as a junior last season. He averaged 15.5 points, 11.9 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for Sexton, which ended the regular season ranked No. 6 in the state in Class A and went 12-0 in the Capital Area Activities Conference.
“I’m extremely happy,” said Carlton Valentine, who is Drew’s father and high school coach. “I’m flabbergasted. I’m happy for Drew and I’m happy for Oakland basketball. Drew is a hell of player, an athlete and a leader. I say that as his coach, but I’m also his dad. I know what type of player Oakland is getting. He is going to give you every inch he has and his leadership abilities are unbelievable.”
Carlton said he had a lot of conversations with Drew over the last three years on what college to chose, but he ultimately left the decision up to Drew.
“Where you go to school has nothing to do with where you play basketball,” Carlton said. “He has to be comfortable socially, academically and comfortable with the basketball coach and the program. He added everything up and chose Oakland. Coach (Greg) Kampe is a hell of a coach. He built that program from the ground up and he’s not going anywhere. I’m looking forward to him developing Drew into a solid basketball player.”
Carlton said Drew played all five positions for him last season and is a very versatile player.
“He handles the ball extremely well, he can pass the ball and he can score in a variety of different ways,” said Carlton, who added he is very hard on his players and doesn’t give accolades unless a kid has earned them. “He makes everyone around him better. He is very unselfish. He probably could have averaged 25 a game, but he does what it takes to make the team better.”
Drew was also a standout football player for Sexton. Last season he set a single-season school record for passing yards, helped lead the Big Reds to a CAAC championship and a district championship.
He will miss the rest of the football season this year, but expects to be cleared to play basketball in January.
“I’m already ahead of schedule and I’ll probably be ready to go in December, but they probably won’t clear me until January so I’ll only miss a few games,” Drew said.
Drew has plenty of goals for his senior year and his college career. He already knows several of the current Oakland players and was in the same AAU program, the Michigan Mustangs, as Oakland freshman Blake Cushingberry and Drew Maynard. He said along with those guys he wants to help the Grizzlies continue to build a solid program.
“ I just want to help them keep doing what they are doing,” Valentine said. “Help build the program into one of the best, win some conference championships and make it to the NCAA tournament.”

When all the league champions are decided at the end of the season, it’s very likely several will look back at Week 5 as the week they won the championship. First-place teams in the OAA Blue (Ferndale-Auburn Hills Avondale), OAA White (Rochester Adams-Southfield) and KLAA North (Walled Lake Westen-Lakeland) will all collide this week. Add in teams battling to keep their playoff hopes alive and two huge Catholic League Central Division matchups and you have the recipe for another great week of high school football in and around Oakland County. Here are the picks for the top 12 matchups.

Picks
Rochester Adams (4-0) at Southfield (4-0) — Bluejays this is your chance to show what your made of and on your home field. Pick: Adams
Milford (3-1) at Hartland (4-0) — The Mavericks have been a pleasant surprise this season and can take a big step in the KLAA West with a win in the Hartland. Pick: Hartland
Walled Lake Western (3-1) at Lakeland (3-1) — It’s hard to pick a winner in this even matchup, so I’ll just go with the home team. Pick: Lakeland
Ferndale (4-0) at Auburn Hills Avondale (4-0) — A win this week for the Yellow Jackets and next week against Bloomfield Hills Lahser next week and the OAA Blue title is all but theirs. Pick: Avondale
Troy (3-1) at West Bloomfield (2-2) — The Lakers are a team to reckon with this season and should rebound from their loss to Clarkston. Pick West Bloomfield
Southfield-Lathrup (2-2) at Clarkston (3-1) — I think Dakota Bender may break the single season record for most photos in the paper, but he deserves every one. Pick: Clarkston
Ortonville Brandon (2-2) at Oxford (3-1) — My favorite Flint Metro matchup. The power of the A&W vs. the power of the Yellow Pants. Pick: Yellow Pants
South Lyon (1-3) at Novi (3-1) — It’s must-win time from here on out for the Lions, but I think that’s always the case when they face rival Novi. Pick: Novi
Birmingham Detroit Country Day (2-2) at Berkley (3-1) — The Yellowjackets can not afford to lose this one. Pick: Country Day
Rochester (0-4) at Stoney Creek (2-2) — The Cougars need to recover from the loss to Southfield and a win over a cross-town rival will do nicely. Pick; Stoney Creek

Saturday
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (2-2) vs. Birmingham Brother Rice (3-1) at Southfield-Lathrup — Both teams made remarkable comebacks last week and I’m sure both coaches are hoping they won’t need a comeback this week. Pick: Brother Rice

Sunday
Warren DeLaSalle (4-0) at Novi Detroit Catholic Central (2-1) — The Pilots barely escaped last week, while the Shamrocks lost a heartbreaker. This week the roles will reverse. Pick: Catholic Central

I just got done filling out my Summit League preseason ballots and thought I would share them. All voters are asked to rank the top 11 players, 1-11 and predict the order of finish for the league.

Top 11 players
1. Derick Nelson, Oakland, F – The senior forward can score, rebound and defend. His only question mark is free throw shooting and he was a solid free throw shooter before last season.
2. Robert Jarvis, Oral Roberts, G — Jarvis was the Golden Eagles best scorer last season and will need to be once again. I wonder if he will still sit the first two minutes this season?
3. Brett Winkelman, North Dakota State, F — From what I have seen he is the best player the Bison have. He led the league in rebounding and was fourth in scoring last season. He is a low-post threat and can shoot from the outside.
4. Johnathon Jones, Oakland, G — Jones can do just about everything you want a point guard to do and is a great defender. He is my sleeper pick for player of the year.
5. Ben Woodside, North Dakota State, G — Woodside looked very average against Oakland (mostly due to Jones), but there is no doubt he has talent. He was second in the league in scoring and fourth in assists.
6. Dane Brumagin, UMKC, G — Anybody who went to the Oakland-UMKC game remembers this guy. He was the guy who buried all the 3s to get the Kangaroos back in the game. He is a deadly outside shooter and led the league in free-throw percentage.
7. Gary Patterson, IUPUI, G — Having George Hill around helped Patterson find open shots last season, but Patterson will have to create his own offense this year.
8. Erik Kangas, Oakland, G — The collarbone injury really affected him last year, but he looked good in the tournament. Hopefully he will be at 100 percent all season because when he is on he is the best shooter in the league.
9. David Carson, IPFW, F — The former Golden Grizzly should have a big year. It seemed like he got better as the season went on last year and he looked great against Oakland.
10. Kai Williams, South Dakota State, F — Williams was a bright spot on the Jackrabbits awful season last year. SDSU will need another big season out of him, if not they could miss the tournament they are hosting.
11. Mike Nelson, North Dakota State, G — Often the forgotten man on the Bison, but he is a deadly shooter and can put some points on the board.

Note: For anybody that has not heard by now, Southern Utah’s Geoff Payne was not granted a fifth-year of eligibility by the NCAA so he won’t be back. Payne was a first-team all league selection last season and would have been in the mix for preseason player of the year if he came back.

My predicted order of finish
1. Oakland — The Grizzlies return just about everybody and add the best recruiting class in school history. Everything looks to be in line for Oakland to make its second NCAA tournament appearance.
2. North Dakota State — The Bison, who are eligible for postseason play for the first time, have had this season circled since they made the transition to Division I. The seniors want to go out on top and I’m sure they will have plenty of fans making the trip to South Dakota for the tournament.
3. Oral Roberts — The Golden Eagles lost a lot to graduation and dismissed Marchello Vealy, but don’t count them out. Oral Roberts has a brutal schedule to start the season and should be battle tested once Summit League play starts.
4. IUPUI — The loss of George Hills is huge, but the Jaguars still have talent. IUPUI expects big things from JC transfer Robert Glenn and returning starter Billy Pettiford.
5. IPFW — The Mastodons had a solid recruiting class and welcome in transfers Deilvez Yearby (Kansas State) and Aaron Richie (Central Michigan). IPFW also returns sophomore sharpshooter Ben Botts.
6. UMKC — Reggie Hamilton had a great freshman season and along with Dane Brumagin should led the Kangaroos to a respectable finish in the Summit Leauge.
7. Southern Utah — The Thunderbirds are young, but head coach Roger Reid will get the most he can out of them. Losing Geoff Payne really hurts, but Southern Utah returns two starters in David Marek and Tyler Quinney.
8. South Dakota State — The transition to Division I has not gone as well for the Jackrabbits as it has for NDSU. South Dakota State returns four starters in Kai Williams, Garrett Callahan, Clint Sargent, and Michael Palarcca so they should be improved.
9. Western Illinois — The Leahternecks welcome in new head coach Jim Molinari this season. WIU expects big things out of David DuBois, James Washington and Quenton Kirby.
10. Centenary — Greg Gary takes over as head coach of the Gents, who return Nick Stallings (15.9 ppg) and expect Chase Adams to have a breakout year. Centenary was dealt a blow when leading scorer Tyrone Hamilton left the school.


Women's preseason ballot
Top 11 players
1. Julia Whitted, IUPUI, C
2. Jessica Pike, Oakland, G
3. Mariana Camargo, Oral Roberts, G
4. Jernisha Cann, IUPUI, F
5. Jennifer Warkenthien, South Dakota State, F
6. Melissa Jeltema, Oakland, F
7. Janae Voelker, Oral Roberts, F
8. Hanna Reising, Oakland, F
9. Chazny Morris, UMKC, G
10. Maria Boever, South Dakota State, F
11. Anne Farrell, Centenary, C

Predicted order of finish
1. South Dakota State
2. Oral Roberts
3. Oakland
4. IUPUI
5. North Dakota State
6. UMKC
7. Western Illinois
8. IPFW
9. Southern Utah
10. Centenary

Catholic League comebacks
It was an exciting week in the Central Division of the Catholic League. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s scored 16 unanswered points after trailing 28-12 in the fourth quarter to force overtime against Warren DeLaSalle. But the Eaglets couldn’t score on their possession in overtime and fell, 34-28, after the Pilots’ Josh Sinagoga scored on fourth-and-goal.

Not to be outdone Birmingham Brother Rice mounted a comeback of its own against Novi Detroit Catholic Central. The Warriors trailed 24-10 in the fourth quarter and rallied to win the game, 27-24 on a 50-yard field goal as time expired by senior Ryan Kelly.

It will be hard to match Week 4, but Week 5 should also be exciting with Brother Rice hosting St. Mary’s and Catholic Central hosting DeLaSalle. The Eaglets need a win over Brother Rice or they will fall to 2-3 and need to run the table in its final four games to be guaranteed a playoff spot.

Southfield is for real
I predicted Stoney Creek would defeat Southfield, but I thought it would be a close game either way. I was wrong about both. The Bluejays rolled to a 24-0 win. Tim Keith led Southfield with 180 yards and two touchdowns. Southfield (4-0) will face Rochester Adams (4-0) in a showdown of OAA White unbeatens. I fully expect the Highlanders to win this game, but I’m interested to see how Southfield does. Some people claim the OAA White is weak this year, but there is nothing weak about Adams so this will be a good measuring stick for the Bluejays.

Quick hits
Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest continued its best start in school history with a 29-13 win over Livonia Clarenceville. The Crusaders are now clearly in the driver seat in the Metro League.

The two preseason favorites in the KLAA North were Lakeland and Walled Lake Western. The two teams will collide this week with first place in the league on the line. The Eagles have already defeated the other two Walled Lake schools, but the Warriors will provide a much tougher test.

Southfield Christian put up quite a fight against Sterling Heights Parkway Christian before falling, 52-41. The 2-2 Eagles have a solid shot of making the playoffs in just their third year as a program.

The league races are starting to shape up and Week 4 will help establish the real contenders. There are also several quality teams with two losses, which need to avoid a third loss that will require them to run the table to rest of the way to make the playoffs. It should be an interesting week. Here are my picks for the top 12 Oakland County matchups.

Friday
Stoney Creek (2-1) at Southfield (3-0) — Both teams are eager to establish themselves in the OAA White so this should be a good one. Pick: Stoney Creek

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (2-1) vs. Warren DeLaSalle (3-0) at Warren Fitzgerald — The Pilots haven’t faced a test like the Eaglets yet this season. St. Mary’s tough schedule might give them the advantage. Pick: St. Mary’s

Lakeland (2-1) at Walled Lake Central (1-2) — This will be an important game for the Eagles if they hope to win the KLAA North and winning at Central is no easy task. Pick: Lakeland

Livonia Stevenson (2-1) at South Lyon (1-2) — Things don’t get any easier for the Lions, who need a win to avoid a devastating third loss. Pick: Stevenson

Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (3-0) at Livonia Clarenceville (3-0) — A huge Metro League matchup featuring the only remaining undefeated teams. Northwest has come a long way, but I think they’ll hit a bump here. Pick: Clarenceville

Troy (2-1) at Oak Park (1-2) — The Colts should rebound from last week’s loss to Clarkston. Pick: Troy

Lake Orion (2-1) at Southfield-Lathrup (2-1) — I’m not a big fan of two-quarterback systems, but it appears to be working for the Dragons and head coach Chris Bell. Pick: Lake Orion

West Bloomfield (2-1) at Clarkston (2-1) — Just 35 points last week Wolves? You can top that this week. Pick; Clarkston

Farmington Hills Harrison (2-1) at Birmingham Seaholm (0-3) — Who would have thought the Maples would be 0-3 and now possibly 0-4? Pick: Harrison

Madison Heights Bishop Foley (2-1) at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (1-2) — The Ventures snuck past Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard last week, but will need to score more than seven points to win this week. Pick: Bishop Foley

Saturday
GAME OF THE WEEK
Novi Detroit Catholic Central at Birmingham Brother Rice at Southfield-Lathrup — Rivalries don’t get much better than this one. Too bad I have to be in the office Saturday night or I would there to enjoy it. Pick: Brother Rice

Waterford Kettering (1-2) at Waterford Mott (2-1) — It’s a bit early for a cross-town showdown, but as always it should be an entertaining game. Pick: Mott

Record: Season: 23-11; Last week: 10-2

A few league race thoughts
The OAA Red race should be interesting and Week 4 will go a long way in determining a champion. There are four teams tied for first at 2-1 and four face off this week (Lake Orion at Southfield-Lathrup and West Bloomfield at Clarkston). The fifth 2-1 team, Troy, takes on Oak Park, which is another solid team. It’s likely the OAA Red champion could have two losses this season. In the end I think Clarkston will emerge as the OAA Red champion. The Wolves’ offense has racked up 131 points and will keep them in any game.

In the OAA White, Southfield has emerged as a contender, but faces a tough test in Stoney Creek this week. If the Blue Jays can get past the Cougars and Rochester Adams defeats Birmingham Groves this week, it would set up a showdown between the two next week for the OAA White lead.

I have to step things up this week after going 7-5 last week. So I’m not going to waste any time with a clever intro and get straight to the picks.

Friday
Lapeer West (1-1) at Oxford (2-0) — The Wildcats take a big step towards a Flint Metro title. Pick: Oxford

Waterford Mott (2-0) at Walled Lake Western (1-1) — The Warriors will kick off KLAA North play with a victory. Pick: Western

Howell (2-0) at Milford (2-0) — I’ve picked against the Mavericks two weeks in a row and they have won both times. Let’s make it three. Pick: Howell

GAME OF THE WEEK
Clarkston (1-1) at Troy (2-0) — Whoever is working the scoreboard at Troy is going to earn their paycheck tonight. These two teams could combine for over 90 points. Pick: Clarkston

Southfield-Lathrup (1-1) at Troy Athens (0-2) — The Red Hawks’ defense has struggled this season and the Chargers won’t make things any easier for them. Pick: Lathrup

South Lyon (1-1) at Northville (2-0) — The Lions will have their hands full with Northville. Pick: Northville

Lake Orion (1-1) at Oak Park (1-1) — The winner of this game will be a strong contender for OAA Red title. Pick: Lake Orion

Royal Oak (0-2) at West Bloomfield (1-1) — The Lakers are always tough at home. Pick: West Bloomfield.

Birmingham Groves (1-1) at Rochester (0-2) — Rochester will pick up its first W. Pick: Rochester

Birmingham Seaholm (0-2) at Stoney Creek (1-1) — The Maples need a win tonight or will have to run the table to make the playoffs. Pick: Stoney Creek

Southfield (2-0) at Farmington Hills Harrison (2-0) — The Bluejays can really establish themselves with a win over the Hawks. Pick: Harrison

Saturday
Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (2-0) at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood (0-2) — The Crusaders look like they have turned things around this season. Pick: Northwest

Season record: 13-9 Last week: 7-5

Week Two has arrived and I’m back for more picks. I went 6-4 last week (not including my two correct college football predictions) and I’ve decided to increase my picks to 12 games this week.

Friday
Walled Lake Western at Livonia Franklin — The Warriors will have the unenviable task of taking on Franklin after it lost a heartbreaker to Livonia Stevenson last week. Pick: Franklin
Lakeland at Canton — The Eagles face another tough test in Canton, but will be up to the task. Pick: Lakeland
Troy at Royal Oak — The Colts appear ready to prove last season wasn’t a fluke. Pick: Troy
Troy Athens at Clarkston — The Red Hawks gave up 42 points to Stoney Creek, how many do you think the Wolves can score? Pick: Clarkston
Birmingham Seaholm at Southfield — The Maples offense will have more success this week. Pick: Seaholm
Milford at South Lyon — Hopefully these two teams will still play every year despite the new KLAA because it’s usually a good one. Pick: South Lyon
West Bloomfield at Lake Orion — The Dragons may be young, but they won’t let their home fans down this week. Pick: Lake Orion
Stoney Creek at Rochester Adams — The Highlanders are scary good and won’t let a cross-town rival get a W at their place. Pick: Adams
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at Detroit U-D Jesuit — The Eaglets 0-2. I don’t buy it Pick: St. Mary’s
Novi at Walled Lake Central — The Wildcats will be rebound from the Milford loss with a solid victory over the Vikings. Pick: Novi

Saturday
GAME OF THE WEEK
Birmingham Brother Rice at Muskegon — Two of the biggest team’s in Division 2 square off. This one will likely be worth the long drive for Rice fans. Pick: Brother Rice
Oak Park at Southfield-Lathrup — The Chargers won’t stop Edwin Baker, but will do enough to get the win. Pick: Lathrup


Also for those of you that missed my volleyball preview be sure to check them out at the links below.
Top 10 teams
Top 20 players
Capsules

And for Oakland University basketball fans. The loss of Tim Williams hurts. He had a ton of potential, but made some bad decisions. He won’t be back and has left the school. I wish him good luck and hopefully he can rebound from this.

Also I’m glad to see Shane Lawal will play for Wayne State this season. I always enjoyed watching Shane play and he was a fun guy to talk to. I’m sure he will be successful this season for the Warriors.