2007 Recruiting Updates

[Nuclear Dish]

A couple changes from last year:

1. I am now using Scout's positional rankings, since Rivals hasn't released theirs yet.

2. I will now include a number of stars for each recruit, basedon the average of Rivals and Scout.

A reminder that the standard format in which I'll post about recruits is as follows:

Prospect Name, Height (Scout Positional Ranking) Rivals Ranking/Scout Ranking (# Stars)

Update on prospect's recruitment

Let the games begin!

[Nuclear Dish]

First, I'll give you some recent scoops, then update you on where we stand as far as the top 50 or so recruits already.

Taylor King, 6'7" (#4 SF) #39/#29 (4 stars)

Committed to Dook over UNC, Syracuse, and Villanova.

Nolan Smith, 6'2" (#5 SG) #18/#16 (5 stars)

Committed to Dook over Georgetown, Kansas, and Louisville.

Corey Fisher, 6'1" (#8 PG) #52/#32 (4 stars)

Committed to Villanova over UConn, Memphis, and DePaul.

Chris Wright, 6'1" (#6 PG) #16/#30 (4.5 stars)

Committed to NC State over Georgetown, Villanova, WF, and Maryland.

Derrick Rose, 6'2" (#2 PG) #8/#5 (5 stars)

Down to Illinois or UNC.

Kevin Love, 6'10" (#2 PF) #6/#3 (5 stars)

Down to UCLA and UNC, with Dook trailing by a bit.

Kyle Singler, 6'8" (#2 SF) #4/#6 (5 stars)

Down to Dook and UCLA, with Arizona trailing significantly.

Gani Lawal, 6'8" (#5 PF) #19/#14 (5 stars)

Down to GT, WF, and Kentucky.

Julian Vaughn, 6'9" (#7 PF) #12/#19 (5 stars)

Down to UNC and Dook.

[Sports Guy]

Since King committed, what are the chances Singer goes to Duke since they are both SF?

[Nuclear Dish]

Here's an update on how things have shaken out so far among the top players. I'm going to limit it to 45, because I don't trust the early rankings on some of the others, which show too much discrepency between the various services. My ranking is based on a consensus of about 3-4 different services.

1. OJ Mayo, PG - has about 8 schools legitimately on his list, plus wherever Bob Huggins winds up.

2. Michael Beasley, SF/PF - committed to Charlotte

3. Bill Walker, SF - Cincinnati is leader, with Syracuse, W. Virginia, and UConn also possibilities

4. Kevin Love, PF - down to UNC, UCLA, and Dook, with Dook trailing

5. Kyle Singler, SF - down to Dook, UCLA, and maybe Arizona.

6. Derrick Rose, PG - down to Illinois and UNC

7. Eric Gordon, SG - committed to Illinois

8. Jerryd Bayless, PG - committed to Arizona

9. Herb Pope, PF - soft verbal to Pitt, with Cincy, Louisville, Ohio St., and Xavier in the mix should he change his mind

10. Cole Aldrich, C/PF - committed to Kansas

11. Alex Legion, SG - committed to Michigan

12. Durrell Summers, SG - down to UConn, Kentucky, Miami (FL), Michigan St., and Syracuse.

13. Kosta Koufos, C/PF - Louisville leads Michiagan and Ohio St.

14. Julian Vaughn, PF - down to UNC and Dook

15. Gani Lawal, PF - down to GT, WF, and Kentucky

16. Nolan Smith, SG - committed to Dook

17. DeAndre Jordan, PF/C - at least 8 schools being considered

18. James Hickson, PF - at least 10 school being considered

19. Corey Stokes, SG - 6-8 school slegitimately on his list

20. Gary Johnson, PF - down to Arizona, UConn, Dook, and Texas

21. Chris Wright, PG - committed to NC State

22. Donte Green, PF - committed to Syracuse

23. Senario Hillman, SG - Georgia leads an unclear group of schools

24. Kalin Lucas, PG - committed to Michigan St.

25. Anthony Randolph, C/PF - Arizona, UNC, UCLA lead a group of about 10

26. Leonard Washington, SF - Colorado St., LSU, Mississippi St., and Texas lead

27. Antonio Jardine, PG - committed to Syracuse

28. Darquavis Tucker, SG - Michigan St. leads about 8 schools

29. Edwin Rios, PG - committed to Miami (FL)

30. Taylor King, SF - committed to Dook

31. Dallas Lauderdale, C/PF - Ohio St. leads UNC, Syracuse

32. Nick Calathes, SG/PG - committed to Florida

33. Alex Tyus, PF/SF - Kansas leads Arizona and Washington

34. Chris Wright, SF - committed to Dayton

35. LaRon Dendy, PF - committed to Clemson

36. Mike Holmes, PF/SF - Auburn, Clemson, UNC, S. Carolina lead

37. Corey Fisher, PF - committed to Villanova

38. Jeremy Price, C - committed to Georgia

39. Devin Ebanks, SF/PF - Louisville, Rutgers, St. John's lead huge list

40. Corey Chandler, PG/SG - committed to Rutgers

41. George Goode, SF - Iowa, Kansas, Missouri lead

42. Braxton Dupree, C/PF - committed to Maryland

43. Keenan Ellis, PF/C - Cincinnati, Indiana, Louisville lead

44. Rakim Sanders, SG/SF - 6 on list

45. JaJuan Johnson, PF/C - Indiana, Ohio St., Purdue, Xavier lead

[Nuclear Dish]

Since King committed, what are the chances Singer goes to Duke since they are both SF?

Still a good shot. Singler was Dook's top target all along. King would give depth, but Singler is the guy they want most. They may, however, opt to focus more on Love now that King is in the fold.

The big question is whether Dook or UCLA can get the duo of Love and Singler together. Both are (strangely enough) from Oregon, and they are supposedly good friends. It's very possible for them to opt to go in tandem, in which case, my money is on UCLA. Or they could opt to pull an Ellington/Henderson and one go to Dook and the other to UNC.

My sources are saying that Rose to UNC is a very strong possibility. UNC only has one scholarship available as of right now, but could sign more than one anyway because they expect at least one player (Hansbrough, Wright, Ellington, Lawson) to go to the NBA early by then. So Love would be theri other top choice, but more likely they'll get Vaughn.

If I were going to make a prediction right now, I'd say Singler to Dook, Love to UCLA, Rose and Vaughn to UNC, Lawal to Kentucky, Mayo and Walker to Cincy unless Huggins goes to a major program, Summers to UConn, G. Johnson to Texas, and Koufoa to Louisville.

[Nuclear Dish]

The most interesting wild card in the whole recruiting process for 2007 right now is Bob Huggins.

Huggins is not on Cincinnati's payroll right now, and he is not serving in an advisory capacity to anyone. That means that he is free of any NCAA recruiting rules, and as long as he stays clear of paying anyone, he can visit, talk, and contact any recruit he wants as often as he likes.

When he gets hired, likely after this season ends, he will have an inside track on the recruits he's been after because of that. And he already seems to have OJ Mayo in his pocket, assuming he goes to a big enough name program.

The question is whether a big name program will risk associating itself with Bob Huggins. I have heard that there's a good chance that Dayton, Bowling Green, TCU, Duquesne, Tulane, and maybe even Tulsa or Arizona St. could be interested in him. Are any of those of interest to Mayo? Well, Bowling Green, Duquesne, and Dayton are right near home, and you'd have to think that Arizona St. would be good for him like it was Diogu.

So this is definitely a story to keep your eye on.

[Danielos38]

Sorry if I'm missing something, but why does everyone here call Duke, Dook? I haven't been a member for very long so if it's one of those inside jokes, I'm sorry.

[Danielos38]

Jees, my Gators only got one top 45 player! What's going on Billy D.?

The funny thing about the Terps though, is that they never have a great recruiting class. In my opinion, they're good for one reason, Gary Williams.

[Danielos38]

At least Duke isn't getting any good recruits.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Jees, my Gators only got one top 45 player! What's going on Billy D.?

The funny thing about the Terps though, is that they never have a great recruiting class. In my opinion, they're good for one reason, Gary Williams.

In my opinion, Gary Williams is the reason they never get the good recruits. ND, not that I'd expect you to know off-hand, but how many guys on that previous list are from the Baltimore/DC area that are going to other schools? I'm beating a dead horse here I know, but it drives me insane.

[Nuclear Dish]

ND, not that I'd expect you to know off-hand, but how many guys on that previous list are from the Baltimore/DC area that are going to other schools? I'm beating a dead horse here I know, but it drives me insane.

Hey, give me a little credit...

OK, here we go:

Donte Green goes to Towson Catholic and will attend Syracuse.

Nolan Smith is from Mitchellville, MD and will attend Dook.

Austin Freeman goes to DeMatha and will attend Georgetown.

Chris Wright is from DC and will attend NC State.

Braxton Dupree goes to Calvert Hall and will attend Maryland.

Also, Anthony McClain, a 7'0" C who is from Ft. Washington, MD, and who was in contention for my Top 45 but just missed out, is not considering Maryland, but rather Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Kansas, and Virginia TEch.

[glenn__davis]

In my opinion, Gary Williams is the reason they never get the good recruits. ND, not that I'd expect you to know off-hand, but how many guys on that previous list are from the Baltimore/DC area that are going to other schools? I'm beating a dead horse here I know, but it drives me insane.

I would actually have agreed with you about 5 or 6 years ago. Nothing personal, but this argument just drives me insane. This years junior and senior classes were both rated extremely high, as in Top 5-Top 10 range, by just about every scouting service. The bottom line is that for one reason or another, they haven't panned out. If you want to blame Gary for not developing players, not recognizing the correct talent, that's fair, but the struggles this team is having is not because he didn't get highly recruited kids.

[Sports Guy]

At least Duke isn't getting any good recruits.

Can you read? They have 2 top 30 guys and are in on 3 top 12 guys, being the favorite for one of the best players.

[mweb]

Can you read? They have 2 top 30 guys and are in on 3 top 12 guys, being the favorite for one of the best players.

I would guess he was being sarcastic, but who knows.

[Sports Guy]

I would guess he was being sarcastic, but who knows.

If he was, then i apologize.