Originally expected to join Michigan's heralded 2013 signing class, forward Austin Hatch was granted an extra year of high school eligibility and has opted to reclassify to a 2014 prospect according to Indiana's WANE-TV.
↵The 6'6 Hatch was critically injured in a horrible plane crash that killed his father and stepmother last summer, and was forced to sit out the entire 2011-12 season for his Fort Wayne, Ind., team while recovering from a medically-induced coma. Hatch's school immediately petitioned the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) with a handwritten letter for another year of eligibility considering the extreme circumstances, and will now give the future Wolverine two more years to develop at the high school level.
↵Hatch averaged 23.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore, and looked to be well on his way towards developing into an elite national scorer before the unfortunate accident. Although it might be a shame that Michigan fans won't get to see Hatch play next fall, the added year of prep basketball should definitely ease his transition to Big Ten basketball.