High school senior Denmon to join Tigers

The high school senior has racked up seven three-pointers in one game.

By Lenny Goldman, Reporter
Aug. 28, 2007

Although guard Marcus Denmon might not be ranked in the nation's top 100 basketball recruits, he is expected to make an impact for the Tigers next year.

Denmon, who just entered his senior year at Hogan Prep Academy in Kansas City, Mo., verbally committed to basketball coach Mike Anderson and his staff on Monday, Aug. 20.

"He can definitely come in and have some playing time next year," said Gabe DeArmond, editor of www.Powermizzou.com. "He may be pushing for quite a bit of playing time and even averaging double digits if what we hear about his scoring is true."

Despite not officially signing until November, Denmon has joined his Amateur Athletic Union teammate Steve Moore in Missouri's 2008-2009 freshman class and will wait to see which other three high school athletes receive scholarships.

"This is one of the best classes I've seen in the state," DeArmond said. "While Denmon does not have the publicity that Travis Releford, Scott Suggs and John Brandenburg do, I have heard recruits say that he has a chance to be the best."

After playing his freshman and sophomore years for Lincoln Prep High, Denmon transferred to Hogan Prep and averaged just more than 32 points per game and five rebounds per game in his junior year campaign.

"He's a scorer," DeArmond said. "He put up 40 points in just one half of a game last year before his coach took him out. If you need 30, he can give you 30. If you need 50, he can give you 50."

Denmon's specialty lies behind the arc, where he averaged more than four three-pointers a game and once drained seven in a game.

"He'll get on a run and hit three or four threes in a row," said Steven Stitzer, Hogan Prep Academy men's basketball coach. "He'll change the game, and when he struggles shooting threes I would tell him to do his thing, and he would take the ball to the rack. He shoots, he drives, he dunks."

The 6'3" guard will also man up against any size opponent and shut him down, Stitzer said.

"He doesn't want to lose," Stitzer said. "And he's not afraid to tell teammates that, so he'll get out there and guard big guys and small guys."

The only issue Stitzer has faced while coaching Denmon was realizing that he always prefers to play man-to-man.

"When I started coaching him, he already knew everything," Stitzer said. "He retained all that information from being coached in the past. He just got better throughout the year and he made everybody better. What he brought on the court was a winning attitude."

Although there has been some speculation about Denmon's grades, Stitzer insists that it is not much of a deal, and that Denmon will take care of it.

"Marcus is going to be the leader of our team," Stitzer said. "He's a good kid, a great kid. He's very receptive and has a quality to him that shows he wants to exceed in life."

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High school senior Denmon to join Tigers

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