MARCUS JOHNSON

EAST LANSING — The annual Reaching Higher showcases of Michigan’s top high school basketball players will return for their 10th year Sunday at Milford High School in Highland Township, and for the first time volleyball players will take part in the Reaching Higher experience during a showcase July 18 also at Milford.

Nearly 200 athletes with aspirations to play basketball and nearly 80 with hopes of playing volleyball at the college level will train and scrimmage under the tutelage of high school coaches from across the state and in front of college coaches expected to represent a number of NCAA, NAIA and junior college programs.

Iron Mountain’s Marcus Johnson, an all-state guard, will be among the basketball players.

For both sports, the Reaching Higher experience includes classroom sessions for student-athletes and their parents as well as on-court drills and scrimmaging. The events aim to give athletes a vision of what it takes to become a college player and also succeed in college life.

Reaching Higher is a combined effort by the Michigan High School Athletic Association with the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan and Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association.

For both sports, participants were selected by a committee of coaches association members based on nominations by member basketball or volleyball coaches.

The boys basketball event begins at 10 a.m. Central time Sunday, with scrimmages running from noon to 2:30 p.m. The girls basketball event begins at 2 p.m., with scrimmages from 4 to 6:30.