JaQuan Hart

12/01/01: "Players passed in opposite directions yesterday in the pipeline that Ohio State basketball coaches have built between here and Michigan. The long wait for Ricardo Billings' signed letter of intent ended when it arrived in the coaches' offices more than two weeks after the senior from Detroit Rogers Academy signed it. Meanwhile, the short career of JaQuan Hart ended before it had a chance to take off. Coach Jim O'Brien announced the freshman from Flint had left school before the end of the fall academic quarter next week. Hart, who was a partial qualifier academically and was eligible to practice but not play in games with the team this year, did not want to continue his education, O'Brien said in a four-sentence statement issued by the athletics department. Hart elaborated when contacted at home, where he returned Thursday after leaving campus. "To be honest, I just really hate school,'' he said. "It's a big-time, major university and I just didn't feel I was quite ready for it. "I really don't know how I was doing in all of my classes, but I knew I wasn't going to pass math, and if I passed anything, I'd maybe pass it with a D. "I just wanted to come home." Hart said he did not make his decision hastily. "This has been going on for a while,'' he said. "I'd tell coach (O'Brien) I didn't really want to be there. Somebody would call and talk me into staying. Then the next week I'd tell him I wanted to leave again. Coach was doing all he could but I know he got tired of me going back and forth." Regardless of how Hart fared academically, he would have been able to remain on scholarship for the rest of the school year. Athletic grants-in-aid are renewed annually, not quarterly. That was not the issue, though, he said. "I didn't want to be there," Hart said. "Everything with the team and the coaches was great; that was lovely. But I still had to go to school and I didn't want to. "It's a lot different than high school." Hart graduated from Flint Northern High School last spring with a grade-point average of 2.7 or 2.8, he said, but he did not score high enough on his ACT test to earn freshman eligibility. Because of that, Michigan -- with which he had signed the previous November -- refused to admit him. Michigan does not accept partial qualifiers. Rejected by the Wolverines, Hart turned to Ohio State, which had a scholarship available after recruit Clark Williams of Lilburn, Ga., was ruled a non-qualifier in July and Ohio State refused to admit him. Williams is now at a prep school. It is not known whether Ohio State will go after him again in the spring. Hart does not know what his future holds, though chances are he will end up playing basketball somewhere. He is a fluid and versatile 6- foot-6 perimeter player who was a consensus top-40 player nationally in the class of 2001 and the highest- rated recruit O'Brien's staff had signed at Ohio State. "I'm just trying to relax and think about it and make a good decision," Hart said. "Right now I have to deal with my mother. She's mad I left, but I just told her I'm wasting people's time because I don't want to be there." - Col Dispatch

11/30/01: "Ohio State announced today that JaQuan Hart (right), 6-6, 175 pound shooting guard from Northern High School in Flint, MI, has left the team. Head Coach Jim O'Brien said that Hart, "...decided to leave the basketball team because he did not want to continue his education." Hart was sitting out this season as a partial qualifier. He had originally signed with Michigan but had to move elsewhere when he didn't meet the NCAA academic requirements. He averaged 17.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists, shot 70.4 percent from the field and over 43 percent from 3-point range during his senior year. Hart finished second in the Michigan Mr. Basketball voting behind his high school teammate Kevin Torbert, a Michigan State freshman." - Rivals Hoops

8/8/01: "Prep star JaQuan Hart, who signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Michigan, instead might be headed to Ohio State after failing to post a requisite score on the ACT college entrance examination. Hart has eliminated his chance to attend Michigan even though his grade-point average was sufficient. "Michigan doesn't accept partial qualifiers, which means I have to go to another school," the 6-foot-6, 175-pound guard from Flint Northern High School told The Flint Journal. "I wanted to go to Michigan. I had the grades, but unfortunately I didn't have a high enough test score. I had a 16, and you have to have a 17." Michigan coach Tommy Amaker was unavailable for comment Tuesday afternoon. Hart was a Class A All-State selection by The Associated Press and runner-up in the Mr. Basketball voting last winter, when he led Northern to the state semifinals. He averaged 18.9 points in the regular season while shooting 70.4 percent from the field and 43.2 percent on 3-pointers. When Hart didn't achieve the required score, he started considering some of the other schools that had recruited him. He narrowed his choices to Ohio State, CINCINNATI, Michigan State and Oklahoma. "I'm leaning toward Ohio State, and right under that is Michigan State," he told the newspaper. Hart said he would not play in his first year no matter where he goes. He will use the year to put more bulk on his lanky frame for the physical play in Division I basketball." - Dayton Daily News

11/2/00: VERBAL TO MICHIGAN "I guess it came down to Coach Ellerbe. He was great on my visit and I just felt comfortable with him. He shared with me the direction he is trying to take the program and how he wants Michigan to be back on top and I wanted to be a part of that. I'm excited because we have so many good young players at Michigan in a couple years, look out!". - JaQuan Hart - Midwest Hoops

9/25: "After taking two official visits, JaQuan Hart has canceled his remaining two trips. The 6-5 shooting guard from Flint, Mich., will now decide between Purdue, Iowa and Michigan. Hart is considered to be among the top 30 players in the country. JaQuan Hart has apparently seen all he needs to see. After taking official visits to Iowa and Wisconsin (this past weekend), the 6-5 Flint, Mich., native has canceled the rest of his official visits. He had scheduled trips to both Purdue (Oct. 7) and Michigan (Oct. 14). Instead of taking his visits, Hart will simply take the next three or four weeks to mull over his decision. He insists he will decide no later than Nov. 15. The consensus national top 30 player will choose from a list that has been trimmed to three: Purdue, Iowa and Michigan. Other schools that had been under consideration were Michigan State, Wisconsin and Marquette." - Purdue.rivals

8/8: "spoke with 6-6 shooting guard/small forward JaQuan Hart of Flint (Mich.) Northern on Monday to get his thoughts on college. Hart said that he is considering Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue, and Marquette. He added that he does not currently have a favorite. Hart also said that he no longer intends to wait until November to make a decision; rather, he plans to take some official visits once school starts, and said that he could be ready to announce in "maybe another month." - the Wolverine

8/5: "Wisconsin is now a school mentioned as a possible favorite, along with Purdue, for 6-foot-6 swing player JaQuan Hart according to a Madison newspaper report. "Hart, who looks like a young Reggie Miller, is a quick and agile scorer who also passes extremely well. Hart is being pursued by a number of Big Ten teams and Marquette. But Purdue and Wisconsin -- both of which have offered him a scholarship -- appear to be the leaders at the moment, according to sources." - Mr Hoops

7/10: "Explosive athlete who can score off the drive or dribble from the arc to the hoop exploded onto the national scene this spring! He is long, lean, and wiry strong. He has a solid jumper to seventeen feet and isn’t bashful from deep. He has quick hands on defense and loves to create havoc in the open court. He has interest from Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois, Cincinnati, Connecticut, and Syracuse at this point." - Van Coleman

Some recent rankings for JaQuan:
Prep Spotlight #31
Prep Stars #41

7/4: "Hart's AAU coach was said to have placed Ohio State as Hart's favorite at the moment. But in an interview, Hart said it was untrue. He also said if he had a favorite right now it would be Purdue." - Mr Hoops

7/2: "Hart's AAU coach, Chris Grier tells us that Ohio State is the strong leader for 6'5 JaQuan Hart from Flint (Northern) MI, but also includes Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State on his list. - HoopScoop

6/21: "JaQuan Hart is one of the top 30 players in the land. After watching the kid go for 41 points in the morning session of the Tom Izzo Shoot-Out on Saturday, I was more convinced than ever that he was the truth. Hart said: "After I went to the Boo Williams Tournament I realized that I had a chance to be one of the best players in the country and that motivated me. I played against (Josh) Childress, Cedrick Boseman, and some of the other top players in the country and while they were all very good, I found out I was on that same level. It's funny but I always thought I was a pretty good player, after that week I knew I was. It made me come home and work that much harder to improve." Hart has been outstanding this spring and has gotten big looks from the Big Ten schools. Hart said it's early but his list of schools includes: Michigan, Ohio St., Iowa, Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan St., and Marquette." - MidWest Hoops

6/6: "the 6'5 WG from Flint, MI is still on a tear this spring. Hart was outstanding playing for Tom Tucker's Flint Affiliation AAU team at Jerry Watson's All-Ohio AAU event last weekend, and his 39 point explosion in one game let me know things are still looking up for this kid. Hart has drawn hJuge interest in the last two months from many Big Ten schools including: Michigan, Michigan St., Iowa, Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. Hart also said that Cincinnati, UConn, and Syracuse are all high on his list. Hart is unique in that he can play the 1/2/3 at 6'5 and has excelled while running the PG this spring. His jump shot is his trade mark but it's his ball handling and passing skills that set him apart. Hart has been invited to attend the Nike All-American camp in Indianapolis. - Midwest Hoops

5/8: "the #6 Shooting Guard in the class of 2001" - MidWest Hoops

4/14: "The (AAU Michigan) Dreamcast feature's 6'5 178 lbs 2G JaQuan Hart. He is a superior perimeter marksman and has the ability to put the ball on the floor and blow by defenders on the way to the basket. Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, and Iowa are the early schools at the top of his list." - AllStar Report

4/10: "..after an outstanding weekend at the Nike Boo Williams tournament everyone in the country is talking about this silky smooth scoring machine. After watching JaQuan take on the very best players in the country including California's National Top 10 WG Josh Childress, I am more convinced than ever that Hart is bigtime. This lanky, skinny as a rail scorer lit up the gym with his vast array of offensive moves and deep jumpers. In a head to head match up with Childress, in front of 75 bigtime college coaches including UCLA, Michigan, Stanford, Arizona, Iowa, Xavier, Illinois, Duke, Kansas, Miami, Wisconsin, and too many others to name, Hart put himself squarely on the bigtime recruiting map with a 25 Point, 6 reb, 9 asst performance. Childress is as good as it gets at the wing and he had a 31 point outing himself, but the point was made. Hart can play with anyone in the country. Top Schools Early List: Cincinnati, Michigan St., Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio St., Syracuse, Iowa, Illinois, No. Carolina, and Depaul. - MidWest Hoops

3/18/00: "Flint,MI Northern's JaQuin Hart is a prospect in his own right. Coaches like Michigan's Brian Ellerbe (left) have expressed an interest in him. Northern finished its year 16-7 and lost in the district finals. JaQuin Hart scored 24 points the night Northern was eliminated. Hart is a 6-5 WG/PG who turned in a fine junior season. He averaged 17.5 points and six assists per game. Hart played a number of positions this season before being handed the keys to the offense as the team's point guard. He's probably a summer away from determining which will be his best position in college. He needs to add weight and strength to his 6-5, 165-pound frame. Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Iowa each came to watch him play this year. Hart will play at either the Nike Camp or adidas ABCD Camp in July. Finding a school where he can play in early in his career will be very important to Hart." - Rivals100



2/23/00: "I saw coach Ellerbe (Michigan) sitting there (during my game), so I wanted to put on a good show for him. Wisconsin was there too (Asst. Shaun Hood) and I'm glad they saw me play well. Those are two of my top schools right now". Hart, who is wide open on his recruiting said he also likes Cincinnati, Kentucky, Marquette, Xavier, UCLA, and Syracuse." - MidWestHoops

Dec 99: Against Michigan's then #1 ranked Saginaw High, Hart scored 28 points in 10 minutes to rally his team to an upset win.
Summer 99: Scored 60 in a AAU game.