This week has been an entertaining one with the NFL Draft. This week we will talk about the Lions’ draft picks, Fraser athletics, Jaylen Brown’s announcement, and more.

1. Campbell Commits

Jayru Campbell use to be a former Spartan commit as some of you may know, but last January he was arrested in charges stemming for a fight that saw him body slam his school security guard. After that he lost his scholarship and offers from every other division 1 college. Now 15 months later, Campbell has committed to play at the New Mexico Military Institute. This college is a juco college, one where Jayru will play for 2 years at before he is eligible to tramsfer under NCAA rules. After his two years Jayru is able to transfer wherever he pleases. Hopefully Jayru can stay out of trouble as this may be his last opportunity to play college football.

2. De La Salle Running Back Receives 1st BIG TEN Offer

Allen Stritzinger is a sophomore running back from De La Salle, who I’ve talked about many times in my column. While he’s yet to be ranked in any of the major college football websites, Allen seems like a kid who could finish as a 4 star running back by the end of his senior year. Thursday afternoon Allen picked up a huge offer from none other than the University of Michigan. This is his 4th offer and first offer from a major division 1 school. This is the first of many BIG TEN offers that Stritzinger will receive during his high school career. This offer should give Michigan a little bit of an inside track of recruiting Allen especially since he’s a huge Michigan State fan.

3. Fraser Baseball

Fraser baseball continues to play well this spring. They’re sitting at 12-6 on the year now after a 7-4 win against Lakeview on Thursday. The team is also 7-2 in the MAC Gold on the year. Jordan Pannecouk pitched three shutout innings for the Ramblers Thursday afternoon. He’s been a key contributor for the Ramblers this year. Junior first basemen Mike Bentley went 1-1 with 2 RBIs. The team’s next game is at home Monday against Lake Shore. The game is at 4 pm.

4. Fraser Girls Soccer

The girls soccer team is now 7-4-1 on the year after a rough week. A tie Saturday against Trenton along with a win vs Dearborn Crestwood made for a decent weekend of play, but a loss Wednesday to Dakota was not helpful. The team lost at home Wednesday, 2-1 against a Dakota team that is 7-3 on the year. Dakota is now second in the MAC White division behind undefeated L’Anse Creuse North (4-0). Fraser has now dropped to 1-2 in divisional play. There next game is a non-conference game that will be played at Chippewa Valley High School vs the Big Reds. The game is at 7 pm and will be played at the end of the junior varsity game.

5. Lions’ Draft Picks

Thursday and Friday night marked the first two nights of the 2015 NFL Draft as well as the first three rounds. I will talk about the three players the Lions drafted and give them a grade based on the team’s need and the player’s abilities.

Round 1, Pick 28: Guard Laken Tomlinson

 The Lions had multiple needs, but chose to pick for their biggest one. The offensive line needs a lot of help this year and this pick is a great one for the team. Laken is a 6’3″ guard out of the University of Duke who has exceptional arm length. He moves his feet well and is great at pulling and trapping. He will be very helpful in improving the Lions’ running game and is also an above average pass protector.

Grade:B+ 

Round 2, Pick 22: Running Back Ameer Abdullah

The Lions needed a true running back and they seem to have gotten one with Ameer Abdullah. While Abdullah is only 5’9, he’s very stocky at 205 lbs and is a man who runs over nearly anyone in his path. Abdullah is very lateral and is one of the best running backs in the draft. His 40 yard dash was only a 4.6 at the combine, but when watching him run he seems faster than that. Abdullah is also a good punt and kickoff returner who could contribute to special teams for the Lions. He has yet to drop a pass in the last two years at Nebraska. He has some similarities to Reggie Bush, but he can definitely contribute more to the team than Bush has in the last couple of years. The only thing to worry about is whether he can hold onto the ball better than he did in college (13 fumbles over 4 years).

Grade:A-

Round 3, Pick 16: Cornerback Alex Carter

Alex Carter is a cornerback out of the University of Stanford. He stands at about 6 feet tall and weighs nearly 200 lbs. He’s got good size and speed (4.5 second 40yd dash) for a cornerback. He’s also one of only a few cornerbacks in the draft who is willing to make a tackle when needed. He has good instincts and is above average in zone coverage. One knock on his game is that he can’t play man to man coverage against sophisticated routes nor can he play well in deep coverage. The lions need a cornerback, but they should have went with one earlier in the draft.

Grade: C+

6. Jaylen Brown Picks the University of California 

The number 4 prospect in the country has finally made a decision on where he will be play his college ball next winter. Jaylen Brown chose the University of California late Friday night after months on end of speculation. California seemed like a long shot to land Brown as he had connections to Michigan and Kentucky. California has now scooped up both the number 4 and number 8 prospects for the 2015 class. They look poised to be a good team next year as many have already picked them to win the PAC-12. Even without the recruitment of Brown, both Michigan and Kentucky should have top 15 teams next year.

7. Alfredo Simon Gets Rocked

Alfredo Simon was off to one of the best starts in the Major Leagues at 4-0. He’s now 4-1 after Kansas City had a field day on him Thursday night. Simon gave up 9 hits and 6 earned runs in just 4 and 1/3 innings. Simon could not get his fastball down early in the game, which caused him to let up so many hits. While he had a rough start, Simon should get back on track next week when he pitches. Simon’s stat line now goes like this: 4-1 with a 3.13 ERA. He’s also got a whip of 1.17 and 21 strikeouts to 6 walks. Those are solid stats, but if Simon wants to get any CY Young consideration he must reduce his ERA as well as egg up his strikeouts. All in all, Simon looks like he will be a 15+ wins a year type of pitcher that can be a solid 4th or 5th starter come playoff time.

8. Update on the NBA Playoffs

Atlanta clinched their first round series against the Brooklyn Nets Friday night. They now move on to the second round and are the last team from the East to advance to it. Here’s the series for both the West and East teams that are left and quick predictions for all series.

#1 Atlanta Hawks vs #5 Washington Wizards 

Game 1: Sunday May 3rd at 1pm on ABC

Prediction: I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s a huge part of me that sees this Wizards team beating the Hawks in 6 games. My reasoning is that Bradley Beal and John Wall just can’t be guarded. As of right one they are the second best back court in the league and will stay that way until someone challenges them for it.

#2 Cleveland Cavaliers vs #3 Chicago Bulls

Game 1: Monday May 4th at 7 pm

Prediction: While the Cavs may have lost Kevin Love for the season, I’m picking them because of how inconsistent this Bulls team is. I just lack faith when it comes to Rose and Butler as they had great games and atrocious ones in their last series. Also it’s hard to pick against the King and company. He’s the best player on the planet and can easily take over a series, which is what he must and will do to advance to the conference finals. The Cavs will win this in a hard fought series that will go to 6 games.

#1 Golden State Warriors vs #5 Memphis Grizzlies

Game 1: Sunday May 3rd at 3:30 pm

Prediction: The Warriors are the best team in the league and should be able to handle a team that is without point guard Mike Conley. With Conley this team has a decent chance, but it seems unlikely Conley plays. Even if he does he won’t be at 100% and won’t be much of a factor. The Warriors should be able to win this series in 5 games because they are more talented and the better team on both ends of the court. Warriors will in this in 5 games due to the lack of depth on the Memphis bench and Mike Conley being injuried as of now.

The Spurs vs Clippers game will not previewed because they have yet to finish their forts round series. That game 7 will be played Saturday night at 8 pm in Los Angeles. The game can be found on TNT with the winner taking on the Houston Rockets next Monday.

Thanks for the read everyone. Hope you all enjoyed it. Come back next Friday for a new column on local and national sports news. If you would like to contact me, I can be reached at [email protected]