5/13/2008 - Wisconsin Sports Network

By Mark Miller
Wishoops.net Editor

Milwaukee Custer senior Michael Harper recently became the ninth member of Wisconsin’s class of 2008 to earn a basketball scholarship to a NCAA Division I school.

The 6-foot-2 Harper signed a national letter of intent to play for coach Fang Mitchell at Coppin State last week.

Coppin State is located in Baltimore and is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

“Mike has to work on some of the little things to take the next step in his progression as a player,” Custer coach Marc Mitchell said. “He’s an athletic player who has some ability. One year of weight lifting at Coppin State will help his physical strength and that will go a long way in helping him to develop as a player.”

An explosive wing player, Harper earned first-team all-Milwaukee City Conference honors as a senior when he averaged 13.7 points per game while helping the Cougars to an 18-5 record and a runner-up finish in the conference.

Harper joins Milwaukee Pius XI's Korie Lucious (Michigan State), Whitefish Bay Dominican's Kwamain Mitchell (Saint Louis), Oshkosh West's John Benkoske (Loyola-Chicago), Ashwabenon's Jake Koch (Northern Iowa), McFarland's Riley Walker (UW-Milwaukee), South Milwaukee's Andy Smith (Mercer), Stevens Point's Jake Gollon (Mercer) and South Milwaukee's Trey McKinney-Jones (UM-Kansas City) as members of the senior class who have earned scholarships to Division I schools.

Kenosha Bradford’s Perrine steps down from coaching position

Nick Perrine stepped down as the varsity boys’ basketball coach at Kenosha Bradford on Monday.

Perrine spent the past 12 seasons as the head coach of the Red Devils, leading the school to a 105-162 record, including a 7-14 mark in 2007-08.

Menomonee Falls hires former Cedarburg coach Ben Siebert

After serving as the junior varsity coach at Sussex Hamilton the past two seasons, former Cedarburg coach Ben Siebert said his “coaching juices started to flow again.”

And the renewed interest in coaching helped convince Siebert to apply for the head coaching opening at Menomonee Falls, where he is a math instructor.

Monday, Menomonee Falls hired Siebert to replace David Kramer as the Indians’ varsity boys’ basketball coach.

“I am very excited,” said Siebert, who previously served as the head coach at Cedarburg for four years and at Random Lake for one season. “It’s been a goal of mine to return as a head coach for a number of years. I am grateful and thankful for the opportunity.”

Northwest’s Wall becomes third Milwaukee player to sign with Kirkwood

Milwaukee Northwest guard Lamar Wall last week became the third Milwaukee-area player to sign with Kirkwood Community College, a National Junior College Athletic Association school located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The 5-foot-11 Wall helped Northwest to an 18-4 record a year ago by averaging 22.8 points per contest. He joins Milwaukee Rufus King’s Bryan Brown and Milwaukee Bradley Tech’s Jarvis Williams as members of the incoming freshmen class at Kirkwood Community College, a member of the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference.

“Lamar was kind of under everybody’s radar,” Kirkwood coach Doug Wagemester said. “I think he’s a little bit in between spots right now at 5-11 and 170 pounds. He’s got the mental makeup to become a lead guard somewhere down the road. Lamar will tell you he’s not a finished product. He knows he has some work to do.

“We’re very excited to have the guys from Milwaukee. All three of those kids have a chance. They are all good people and can bring some different things to the table. My assistant, Jimmie Foster, did a terrific job of evaluating and recruiting those kids.”

Quick Hitters … Mike Huser has been named the new varsity coach at Platteville. Huser, who works in the financial aid department at UW-Platteville, previously served as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball program at UW-Platteville … Former New Berlin West standout Jason Averkamp has been awarded a scholarship for the 2008-09 season by UW-Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter. Averkamp spent the past two seasons as a walkon in the Panthers’ program … Loyola (Chicago), Purdue and UW-Green Bay are among the schools showing recent interest in Calvin Godfrey, a 6-7 sophomore who attends Milwaukee Custer and competes for the Development Through Athletics 16U travel team.