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It took a moment for it to settle in.
New Haven High School sophomore Romeo Weems recently received news he was offered a basketball scholarship to play for Tom Izzo at Michigan State University. The sophomore said he was caught off guard when his coach, Tedaro France II, told him the news at practice.
"I was happy, real happy," said Weems, who stands 6-foot-5 and just turned 15 years old. "I asked him, 'Was he for real?' I didn't think they would offer me yet. It was shocking.
"I put in the work every day and it's showing. We had coaches from Ohio State University come out to watch. It gets me recognition and it gets my teammates recognition."
Weems has done more than enough to be recognized. He is averaging 19.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.4 steals for the Rockets. New Haven (13-1, 9-0) moved up to the Macomb Area Conference Blue Division this year, and are the lone MAC team that has already won its division.
Behind Weems and senior Eric Williams, the Rockets have a chance to compete for a state title.
"Just like Eric (Williams) works hard, Romeo works hard and is very humble," France said. "When you come and watch him you would never think he was a ranked player. Being ranked and getting attention means nothing to him. He wants to get better every day."
Weems also has scholarship offers from Creighton, Oakland University and Detroit Mercy. He said his choice will come down to the best fit.
"When I was younger I started sports playing football," Weems said. "I didn't start basketball until fifth grade. At first, I thought I was good because I was bigger than everyone else. But now I feel like I have put in the work.
"I want to have a good coach that will help me get better as a player. I want to go to a good program that will help me get a lot better so I can go play college and then go to the league (NBA)."
For now, he is content in working toward a state championship.
"We were in the same position last year," Weems said. "We just have to work hard and we can do something special."
Contact Joseph Hayes at (810) 989-6268 or at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Joseph_Hayes11.