BasketballProspectus.com is ranking the top 100 players in Division I basketball going into the 2011-2012 season, and Kentucky has five members of the current team on the list. The shocker? North Carolina has six. The bigger shocker? Vanderbilt has three, and two of them are in the top 10.
[URL=”http://basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1798″]62. Marquis Teague, Kentucky (Fr., PG)[/URL]
[I]With Brandon Knight off to the NBA, Teague should take the ball from day one at UK. He’s an incredible slasher with great speed and athleticism. Teague’s not a real shooting threat and his decision-making has been questioned, but he seems like such a can’t-miss scorer that I still feel comfortable putting him this high.[/I]
[URL=”http://basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1800″]43. Doron Lamb, Kentucky (So., SG)[/URL]
[I]Lamb was sometimes considered streaky or worse from beyond the arc in high school, but he was only two makes from hitting 50 percent of his 140 three-point attempts in 2011. A role expansion would normally be in order, but Marquis Teague, Terrence Jones, and Anthony Davis will probably leave Lamb the Wildcats’ fourth offensive option. He’ll just be the best one of those in the country.[/I]
[URL=”http://basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1803″]29. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky (Fr., SF)[/URL]
[I]In the summer of 2009 Kyrie Irving, Jared Sullinger, Harrison Barnes, Brandon Knight, Tristan Thompson, Terrence Jones, Perry Jones, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were all at NBA Camp for four days. And, with a deafening lack of argument, the Most Promising Prospect Award went to Kidd-Gilchrist. His combination of terrifying athleticism and unwavering competitiveness is exceedingly rare. Both tools are elite, separately. Kidd-Gilchrist’s scoring comes in the flow of the offense, though his long-range jumper leaves something to be desired. Money quote from Kidd-Gilchrist’s ESPNU profile: “[Kidd-]Gilchrist takes defending and rebounding personally and wants to be the dominant player on the floor in all areas.” A No. 29 ranking on this list pegs him as a second-team all-conference guy in an SEC that will be loaded at the top in 2012. Jumping to the first team or falling to honorable mention would be unsurprising.[/I]
[URL=”http://basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1803″]21. Anthony Davis, Kentucky (Fr.,*PF)[/URL]
[I]Obviously I don’t wildly disagree with Gary Parrish’s preseason All-American teams: I have seven of his ten players in my own top ten, and Davis carries the lowest ranking of any of the three Parrish players that I omitted. I do think, though, that people are beginning to give too much credit to impact freshmen before they step on campus… I see way too much potential in the Derrick Favors route to put Davis much higher than 21. Don’t get me wrong, Davis is a serious talent with tons of upside. I think he’s ready to play and contribute in the SEC right now. Davis was a guard less than two years ago, and he still has legitimate guard skills. He’s a scary defender. It’s just that I’ve seen him on teams with less talent than the 2012 Kentucky Wildcats will have, and on those teams he’s been forgotten on offense for long stretches. If Davis demands the ball and takes a measure of control of this UK team, he’ll have a tough time staying off the All-America list at the end of the year. But there’s a very real chance that he doesn’t, even though he could easily find himself an integral member of an NBA rotation in 18 months. My expectations for Davis are high, it’s just that everyone else’s have gotten really, really high. Of the last five No. 1-ranked entering freshmen, just one became a freshman All-American: Greg Oden.
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BasketballProspectus has not released their top 20 yet, but we know that one Cat has made it that high. Who could it be? I would have to say Terrence Jones. As far as some of the Kentucky recruits not being ranked higher, remember this is not just one class but all of Division I. Granted, many of the players so far I’ve never heard of, but Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist are two of the highest ranked freshmen on the list. The only freshman left I can think of is Austin Rivers, who could be top 10. The funny thing? Rivers would be the only Dukie on the entire list.
