The search for finding the next Hal Schram Mr. Basketball winner took a crucial step this morning as four finalists have been announced by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan and the Detroit Free Press.
This year, the finalists are all from the Metro Detroit area: Joe Moon of Westland John Glenn, Chandler Turner or Detroit Renaissance, Romeo Weems of New Haven and B. Artis White of Canton.
The four finalists were each listed with high chances to be named finalists on MLive's Mr. Basketball watch list heading into the announcement. It guarantees that this year's Mr. Basketball winner will be from Detroit for the third time in four seasons as Clarkston's Foster Loyer won the award in 2018 year while Detroit U-D Jesuit's Cassius Winston won it in 2016. Kalamazoo Central's Isaiah Livers won the award in 2017.
Mr. Basketball is an annual award given to the individual voted by members of BCAM as the top senior player in Michigan. It has been presented annually since 1981 and this year's winner will be announced in a ceremony on March 11 in Detroit.
Also, BCAM has announced Retro Mr. Basketball award winners since 2010 for players from 1920-1980.
Here is a brief look into each of the 2019 Mr. Basketball candidates, listed in alphabetical order of last name.
Joe Moon IV, 6-0 G, Westland John Glenn
College commitment: Uncommitted
Moon has been a prolific talent all season and he recently became John Glenn's all-time career leading scorer when he scored 23 points in the Rockets' 68-34 defeat of Livonia Churchill on Feb. 1. On that night, he pushed his career point total to 1,214 and he has since surpassed the 1,300-point mark. So far this season, Moon is averaging 27.5 points, 5.1 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game as John Glenn heads into the state tournament with a 12-8 record.
Chandler Turner, 6-6 G/F, Detroit Renaissance
College commitment: Signed with Bowling Green
Already the recipient of the Mr. PSL award -- and award given to the top player in the Detroit Public School League -- Turner has led Renaissance to a strong season despite battling adversity. Renaissance's former coach was fired in the fall while top teammate Carrington McCaskill transferred to SPIRE Academy in Ohio just as the season was starting. Still, Turner led Renaissance to the PSL tournament championship game before losing to Detroit Cass Tech. So far this winter, Turner is averaging 23 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists per game and has led Renaissance to a 15-4 record heading into tonight's regular season finale against Detroit Catholic Central.
Romeo Weems, 6-7 G/F, New Haven
College commitment: Signed with DePaul
Weems has been heralded as one of the state's top talents since he started his high school career. Having played every position on the floor for New Haven, Weems has developed into one of the top wing players in Michigan. He had a phenomenal regular season this winter, averaging 28.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.5 steals, 4.2 assists and 2.8 blocks per game. In his final game of the regular season on Wednesday this week, Weems registered a quadruple-double effort with 34 points, 12 rebounds, 10 steals and 10 blocks in a win over defending Class C state champion Detroit Edison Public School Academy. He also eclipsed 2,000 career points in that game, leading New Haven into the Division 2 state tournament with a 19-1 record.
B. Artis White, 5-11 G, Canton
College commitment: Signed with Western Michigan
The key figurehead on a Canton team that has gone 38-3 since the start of last season, White became the second player in Canton history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for a career with a 24-point effort in a win over Northville on Jan. 29. One half of possibly the strongest backcourt pairing in Michigan, White possessing great speed and slashing ability, putting forth many game-changing efforts for the Chiefs. So far this winter, White is averaging 21.5 points, 5 assists, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as Canton heads into the Division 1 state tournament with a 19-1 record.