Lake Forest's Vogrich picks Michigan

Full Package coach Steve Pratt always saw Lake Forest’s Matt Vogrich heading to the Big Ten.

Before April, Pratt thought with Vogrich’s shooting ability and intellect that he’d be a great get for Northwestern. After April, Pratt began to realize he had sold Vogrich short. He was destined for a bigger program in the Big Ten.

On Sunday, Vogrich, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard, confirmed that as he committed to Michigan after making an official visit over the weekend. He chose the Wolverines over Notre Dame and Stanford.

Arguably, no one had a bigger spring and summer than Vogrich. He entered it as a terrific shooter who seemed like a great fit for a mid-major school. But beginning with workouts with Pratt in April and ending with dominating performances in Las Vegas, Vogrich transformed his game and his recruitment into that of a high-major player.

“One day in the spring we were doing workouts in the gym, doing combination moves, and he was dunking everything,” Pratt said. “He just started to physically change in the spring. He was doing things much more athletically than he had been. He was always skilled, always tough, always crafty. He just got to physically where he could explode. He just got to another level.”

Recruiting analyst Roy Schmidt began to witness Vogrich’s rise at a high school shootout at Loyola University in June.

“In addition to being one of the best long-range shooters you’ll find anywhere in the state, he kind of surprised me, kind of wowed me with his athletic capability and versatility in his offense, putting the ball on the floor, driving, creating,” Schmidt said. “When he showed that degree of versatility, I said to myself we need to reevaluate him.”

Others were saying the same shortly after that. He began to show the nation his all-around game at the Adidas Take Five Tournament in Cincinnati in July, then followed that up by displaying it all over again to the local basketball scene at the Chicago Summer Classic. In Deerfield, his entire arsenal was working. He was knocking down threes, dunking on people, scoring off the dribble and proving to everyone he was among the elite in the state’s Class of 2009. His biggest game was a 26-point one against the Mac Irvin Fire.

From Deerfield, he took his show to Las Vegas and impressed even more coaches. By the time July was over, he had schools from every major conference after him. He’s now ranked No. 100 in the country by Scout.com and No. 131 by Rivals.com.

“He was a murderer all summer,” Pratt said. “He just killed people all summer long, every single game.”

Five years ago, another player had a similar story.

“It reminds me of how Bobby Frasor shot up the charts before his senior year at Brother Rice,” Schmidt said. “He blew up in the spring and had all the high-majors knocking on his door.”

Now Frasor is a contributor on the No. 1 team in the country and has a chance at being a part of a national championship.

Vogrich can only hope to continue following in those footsteps.