Big East Has 9 of Top 50 Recruiting Classes; The 1st Annual All-Name Team

In looking through the latest issue of Basketball Times, I came across the Hoop Scoop Rankings of the Top 50 Recruiting Classes and thought we'd have a little fun with them. Nine of the top 50 classes came from the Big East, tying it with the Big 12 for the highest number. The ACC had six schools in the Top 50 and the Big Ten and the SEC had five apiece.

Of course, the Hoop Scoop list was published before Pat Patterson picked Kentucky, Jai Lucas chose Florida and Seton Hall ended up with Chris Smith and Mike Davis. Since then, Bob Gibbons of the All-Star Sports Report has issued an updated list, with USC No. 1, followed by Syracuse, Florida, Indiana and Kansas State.

Still, the Hoop Scoop list is a good place to start. What follows is a breakdown of the Big East recruiting classes as per Clark Francis; a look at which prep and high schools are sending the most number of players to big-time programs; a list of New Jersey players among the Top 50 recruiting classes...plus my first inaugural All-Name Team.

BIG EAST IN HOOP SCOOP'S TOP 50 RECRUITING CLASSES (PLUS THE TOP 2)

1. Indiana (39 points)...6 recruits...(10) Eric Gordon, 6-3, 2G, Indianapolis (North Central); (8) Jamarcus Ellis, 6-5, 2G, Chipola (JC) FL; (6) Brandon McGhee, 6-8, PF, Chicago (Crane); (6) Eli Holman, 6-10, C, Richmond (HS) CA; (6) Eshaunte Jones, 6-4, PG, Ft. Wayne (North Side) IN; (3) Jordan Crawford, 6-4, 2G, Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.

2. USC (36)...6...(10) OJ Mayo, 6-5, 2G, Huntington (HS) WV; Davon Jefferson, 6-8, WF, Venice, CA; (8) Mamadou Diarra, 6-11, C, Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA; (6) Leonard Washington, 6-6, PF, Lake Charles (Washington Marion) LA; (6) Venoy Overton, 6-1, PG, Seattle (Franklin); (3) Marcus Simmons, 6-5, 2G, Alexandria (Peabody) LA.

3. Syracuse (35)...5...(9) Donte Green, 6-8, WF, Towson (Catholic) MD; (8) Rick Jackson, 6-9, PF, Philadelphia (St. John Neumann); (8) Antonio "Scoop" Jardine, 6-2, 2G, Philadelphia (St. John Neumann); (8) Johnny Flynn, 6-0, PG, Niagara Falls (HS) NY; (2) Sean Williams, 6-10, C, Villa Park (HS, CA.

12. DePaul (25)...4...(8) Nayal Koshwal, 6-9, C, Chicago (Boys to Men), (8) Majita Poscic, 6-9, PF Highland (JC) IL; (6) Darquavis Tucker, 6-5, WF, Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI; (3) Michael Bizoukas, 6-1, PG, Munster (HS), IN.

14. Villanova (24)...3...(8) Corey Fisher, 6-1, PG, Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ; (8) Corey Stokes, 6-5, 2G, Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ; (8) Malcolm Grant, 6-1, PG, Winchendon MA.

16. Pittsburgh (24)...5...(8) Cassin Diggs, 6-10, C, Cloud Country (JC) KS; (6) DeJuan Blair, 6-7, PF, Pittsburgh (Schenley); (4) Bradley Wanamaker, 6-3, 2G, Philadelphia (Roman Catholic); (3) Gary McGhee, 6-9, C, Anderson (Highland), IN; (3) Darnell Dobson, 6-7, WF, Greenbelt (Eleanor Roosevelt) MD.

23. Seton Hall (22)...5...(6) Jeremy Hazel, 6-5, 2G, Lenoir (Patterson School) NC; (6) Michael Glover, 6-6, PF, Chicago (Boys to Men); (4) Brandon Walters, 6-9, C, Brooklyn (Lincoln); (3) Augustine Okosun, 6-10, C, Harcum (JC) PA. (NOTE: Hoop Scoop had Jamar Green listed with a ranking of 3, but he ended up being replaced by Chris Smith of St. Benedict's in the recruiting class. Mike Davis also signed after this list was published.)

31. Cincinnati (19)...5...(6) Jason Henry, 6-6, WF, Cincinnati (Harmony Christian); (4) Alvin Mitchell, 6-5, 2G, Ft. Lauderdale (Cardinal Gibbons) FL; (3) Larry Davis, 6-3, 2G, Alief (Hastings) TX; (3) Rashad Bishop, 6-5, WF, Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ; (3) Kenny Belton, 6-8, PF, Greensboro (Dudley) NC.

34. Georgetown (18)...3...(8) Austin Freeman, 6-5, 2G, Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD; (8) Chris Wright, 6-0, PG, Washington (St. John's) DC; (2) Omar Wattad, 6-6, WF, Johnson City (Science Hill) TN.

38. St. John's (18)...3...Malik Boothe, 5-8, PG, Middle Village (Christ the King), NY; (4) Justin Burrell, 6-8, PF, North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) NY; (3) Ayodele Coker, 6-10, C, South Kent (Prep) CT; (3) Paris Horne, 6-3, 2G, North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME; (2) Mike Cavataio, 6-4, 2G, Fresh Meadows (St. Francis Prep) NY. (NOTE: St. John's added two more players after this was published, D.J. Kennedy, a 6-5 SF from Schenley High in Pittsburgh, and Sean Evans, a 6-7 PF from Northeast (Pa.) High.)

47. Rutgers (16)...4...(8) Corey Chandler, 6-2, 2G, Newark (East Side) NJ; (3) Earl Pettis, 6-5, 2G, Lenoir (Patterson School) NC; (3) Mike Coburn, 6-0, PG, Mt. Vernon (HS) NY; (2) Justin Sofman, 6-4, 2G, Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT.

PREP / HIGH SCHOOLS PRODUCING THE MOST PLAYERS

I didn't do an exhaustive study of the list, but here are some of the prep and high schools that jumped out at me in terms of sending the highest numbers of players to schools in the Top 50 Recruiting Classes.

The Patterson School (NC)...5...Jeremy Hazel (Seton Hall); Earl Pettis (Rutgers); Dominique Sutton (Kansas State); An'Juan Wilderness (Charlotte); Wayne Portolatin (UTEP)

South Kent (CT) Prep...5...Ayodele Coker (St. John's); Papa Dia (SMU); Mike Walker (SMU); Manuel Cass (UTEP); Matthew Bryan-Amaning (Washington)

Stoneridge Prep (CA)...4...Mamadou Diarra (USC); Ibrahima Thomas (Oklahoma State); Charles Boozer (Iowa State); Mychal Thompson (Pepperdine)

St. Benedict's (NJ)...3...Rashad Bishop (Cincinnati); Corey Stokes (Villanova); Chris Smith (Seton Hall)

Oak Hill Academy (VA)...3...Nolan Smith (Duke); Julian Vaughn (Florida State); Alexander Legion (Michigan)

NEW JERSEY IN THE TOP 50

Rashad Bishop (Paterson Kennedy/St. Benedict's)...CINCINNATI

Corey Chandler (Newark East Side)...RUTGERS

Corey Fisher (St. Patrick)...VILLANOVA

Horace McGloster (Newark Shabazz/Genesis One)....HOUSTON

Corey Raji (Westwood)....BOSTON COLLEGE

Jeff Robinson (St. Patrick)...MEMPHIS

Chris Smith (St. Benedict's)...SETON HALL

Justin Sofman (West Milford/St. Thomas More)....RUTGERS

Corey Stokes (St. Benedict's)...VILLANOVA

Alexis Wangmene (Blair Academy)....TEXAS

THE FIRST ANNUAL ALL-NAME TEAM

Montavious Adams (Oklahoma State)

Darquavis Tucker (DePaul)

Brockeith Pane (Houston)

Senario Hillman (Alabama)

Dogus Balbay (Houston)

Papa Dia (SMU)

Papa Lo (UMass)

Darrington Hobson (Pepperdine)

Uriah Hethington (Middle Tennessee State)

Corperyale Harris (Michigan)

(Photos courtesy Syracuse U, Scout and Rivals)

Comments

[Horatio]

Adam, Thanks for this research... I think I'll save it and refer back to it watching the Big East games this year....

[Len]

First I need to remind you that the BE also has far more teams than the other conferenced. So to have 9 teams in the top 50 is not all that great once you consider all the teams. The BE is like 2 conferences in one. Secondly your source...Hoops Scoop is way out of date...which you point out in individual team data. You should have done it up front. Once all the data is in the numbers will change. Secondly, other a number of other rating sources provide much different results as far as team rankings. Hoops scoop gives a lot of weight to shear number of recruits and not so much the quality. A team with just 2 recuits, both being 5 stars would be rated way down on the list of Hoops Scoop. That is a major flaw.

[Adam Z.]

Len:

You make some good points. This Hoop Scoop list came out before Pat Patterson picked Kentucky, Jai Lucas chose Florida and Mike Davis opted for Seton Hall.

I just happened to have the Hoop Scoop rankings in front of me last night, and thought they made for a good starting point.

Bob Gibbons, editor of the All-Star Sports Report, has this as his Top 10 classes, as per the Syracuse Website:

1. USC
2. Syracuse
3. Florida
4. Indiana
5. Kansas State
6. Duke
7. Kentucky
8. Arizona
9. Ohio State
10. DePaul

Other Big East schools in his Top 25: Cincinnati (14), St. John's (16), Pitt (20) and Villanova (22).

[Adam Z.]

Here's an updated list of Hoop Scoop rankings, thanks to the Seton Hall board:

Currently, Hoopscoop has
Syracuse 3
Depaul 6
St. John's 15
Seton Hall 19
Villanova 22
Pitt 24
Cinn 27
Georgetown 37
Rutgers 62