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On Sunday afternoon DaRohn Scott became the newest addition to the Central Michigan squad. The 6'9'' power forward gave the word that he would be suiting up in Maroon and Gold next season as a member of the Chippewas' 2014 recruiting class.
Scott was rated as the eighth best player in Michigan by ESPN, and chose the Chippewas despite garnering interest from schools such as Wake Forest and defending MAC Champion Western Michigan.
Scott cited his friendships with current CMU safety and former high school teammate Kavon Frazier as one of his primary motives for choosing CMU.
"(Frazier) really helped me a lot throughout my freshman and sophomore year at Grand Rapids Christian ... He really took me under his wing," Scott told Hustle Belt Sunday evening.
It's no surprise that the CMU basketball program has been down the last couple of years, but Scott feels there are better days ahead for the Chippewas.
When asked about where he sees this team going during his four years at CMU Scott said he expects the Chips to be "making some noise" in the NCAA Tournament.
"They have big expectations, they expect me to come in and make some noise right away. I'm going to train hard and work hard," he said.
Scott joins a team which lacked inside presence at times this past season. The Chips will look to Scott to make an impact on defense. This past season, the Chippewas allowed their opponent to shoot over 50 percent from the field in 16 of 18 MAC contests. A lackluster inside presence allowed bigger players in the conference to muscle in and get easy shots.
At 6'9'' and 225 pounds as a senior in high school, look for Scott to do some muscling of his own and make an impact on defense as well as on offense and on the boards. Milos Cabarkapa will also be seeing the floor after redshirting the past season. The 7-foot forward from Serbia should also make an impact next season for the Chippewas.
A certain writer said that in order to be successful going forward, the Chips would have to sure-up the inside and stop getting pushed around under the basket. Right now it looks like Keno Davis' squad are making significant strides with that regard.
It's likely Scott will be expected to make an impact early on in his career, perhaps even competing for a starting spot at sometime during his freshman season.
Scott explained that the coaches will be making sure he is ready to help make CMU a winner, "Coach (Jeff) Smith explained that he was going to push me as hard as I can to help me get to the next level. Academically and athletically".
Scott is the third member of Keno Davis' 2014 recruiting class, joining fellow verbal commit Filip Medjo, a 2-star shooting guard out of Serbia, and 6-10 power forward Luke Meyer, out of Addison, Mich. Meyer already signed his National Letter of Intent back in November during the early signing period. The other incoming freshman can't sign their binding NLI's until later this week, Wednesday specifically, when the regular basketball signing period opens.