First off, let me say I have never been a big fan of ESPN’s recruiting ranks in either football or basketball. But when I saw these basketball rankings initially yesterday, I was stunned. In my opinion, they were awful. Yes, I said it.
Let me say that the guys at ESPN did get one thing right in putting Shabazz Muhammad as the No. 1 overall player. Took ’em long enough, right?
Andre Drummond, Mitch McGary, Isaiah Austin, and Brandon Ashley came in behind Muhammad at 2-5 in that order.
Here are some other UK recruits and other notable guys that were ranked:
7.) Kaleb Tarczewski
8.) Anthony Bennett
11.) Gary Harris
14.) Archie Goodwin
15.) DaJuan Coleman
17.) Rodney Purvis
18.) Alex Poythress
19.) Jarnell Stokes
20.) Shaq Goodwin
21.) Devonta Pollard
22.) Robert Carter
23.) Ricardo Ledo
24.) T.J. Warren
33.) Willie Cauley
38.) Perry Ellis
39.) Torian Graham
Earlier in the day, Gary Harris was the last five-star recruit. However, it looks like they took some quick hate because yesterday evening they showed some love to some others.
I was disappointed to see Goodwin and Purvis ranked so low, especially with Archie leading in scoring at the Peach Jam; his heroics in the Nike Global Challenge Championship Game vs. Canada didn’t hurt him either.
If you ask me, I’d take Goodwin and/or Purvis over Gary Harris any day. No offense to Harris, just straight-up honest. I have never considered him to be better than those two.
And what about Alex Poythress? I thought you ESPN “analysts” said during AAU Nationals that Poythress would make a big rise in the next rankings. Don’t see that…
Then there is Perry Ellis. I will say this in the nicest way possible… There is NO WAY you can pick 38 better players than the 6-foot-8 big man. Sure, he isn’t flashy, but he gets his job(s) done. Biggest snub in my opinion.
Thoughts on how these rankings turned out?
[URL=”http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/rankings/_/class/2012″]Here[/URL] is the full rankings.
