The chart below is based on the Recruiting Services Consensus Index's final rankings of the 2007 class. The RSCI is a calculation of the average rankings of all the major high school recruiting services.
- It is presumed, unless otherwise stated in the college column, that a player stayed all four seasons in college and graduated with his 2007 classmates.
- --> = Player transferred schools, forcing him to sit out a season (unless the transfer was to JUCO or Division II)
Color Coding:
Green- Player was drafted and is in the NBA
Turquoise- Player transferred or redshirted and still has NCAA eligibility remaining
Orange- Player is considered a 2011 draft prospect
Gray- Player went undrafted
RSCI | Name | College | Pro Destination | Draft Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | O.J. Mayo | Southern California [one year] | NBA (#3) Pick | 2008 |
2 | Kevin Love | UCLA [one year] | NBA (#5) Pick | 2008 |
3 | Eric Gordon | Indiana [one year] | NBA (#7) Pick | 2008 |
4 | Michael Beasley | Kansas State [one year] | NBA (#2) Pick | 2008 |
5 | Derrick Rose | Memphis [one year] | NBA (#1) Pick | 2008 |
6 | Kyle Singler | Duke | Projected Late 1st/Early 2nd Round Pick | |
7 | Bill Walker | Kansas State [two years] | NBA (#47) Pick | 2008 |
8 | Jerryd Bayless | Arizona [one year] | NBA (#11) Pick | 2008 |
9 | Donte Greene | Syracuse [one year] | NBA (#28) Pick | 2008 |
10 | J.J. Hickson | North Carolina State [one year] | NBA (#19) Pick | 2008 |
11 | Patrick Patterson | Kentucky [three years] | NBA (#14) Pick | 2010 |
12 | Nick Calathes | Florida [two years] --> Drafted by Mavs --> Greece | NBA (#45) Pick | 2009 |
13 | Kosta Koufos | Ohio State [one year] | NBA (#23) Pick | 2008 |
14 | DeAndre Jordan | Texas A&M [one year] | NBA (#35) Pick | 2008 |
15 | Austin Freeman | Georgetown | Projected Undrafted | |
16 | Anthony Randolph | LSU [one year] | NBA (#14) Pick | 2008 |
17 | Blake Griffin | Oklahoma [two years] | NBA (#1) Pick | 2009 |
18 | James Harden | Arizona State [two years] | NBA (#3) Pick | 2009 |
19 | Nolan Smith | Duke | Projected Late 1st/Early 2nd Round Pick | |
20 | Gani Lawal | Georgia Tech [three years] | NBA (#46) Pick | 2010 |
21 | Johnny Flynn | Syracuse [two years] | NBA (#6) Pick | 2009 |
22 | Corey Fisher | Villanova | Projected Undrafted | |
23 | Cole Aldrich | Kansas [three years] | NBA (#11) Pick | 2010 |
24 | E'Twaun Moore | Purdue | Projected Second Round Pick | |
25 | Solomon Alabi | Florida State [three years] | NBA (#50) Pick | 2010 |
26 | Jamelle Horne | Arizona | Projected Undrafted | |
27 | Corey Stokes | Villanova | Projected Undrafted | |
28 | Taylor King | Duke --> Villanova --> Concordia (NAIA) | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
29 | James Anderson | Oklahoma State [three years] | NBA (#20) Pick | 2010 |
30 | Gary Johnson | Texas | Projected Undrafted | |
31 | Durrell Summers | Michigan State | Projected Undrafted | |
32 | Chris Wright (Georgetown) | Georgetown | Projected Undrafted | |
33 | Herb Pope | New Mexico State --> Seton Hall [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
34 | Jai Lucas | Florida - Texas [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
35 | Austin Daye | Gonzaga [two years] | NBA (#15) Pick | 2009 |
36 | Kalin Lucas | Michigan State | Projected Undrafted | |
37 | DeJuan Blair | Pittsburgh [two years] | NBA (#37) Pick | 2009 |
38 | Lacedarius Dunn | Baylor | Projected Undrafted | |
39 | Alex Legion | Kentucky --> Illinois --> Florida International | Quit Basketball? | |
40 | Chandler Parsons | Florida | Projected Second Round Pick | |
41 | Chris Allen | Michigan State --> Iowa | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
42 | Dar Tucker | DePaul [two years] --> NBA Draft Early Entry --> Undrafted | D-League | Undrafted 2009 |
43 | Manny Harris | Michigan [three years] --> NBA Draft Early Entry --> Undrafted | UDFA, Signed by Cavs | 2010 |
44 | Scott Martin | Purdue --> Notre Dame [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
45 | Senario Hillman | Alabama | Projected Undrafted | |
46 | Mac Koshwal | DePaul [three years] --> NBA Draft Early Entry --> Undrafted | Spain LEB Gold | Undrafted 2010 |
47 | James Johnson | Wake Forest [two years] | NBA (#16) Pick | 2009 |
48 | JaJuan Johnson | Purdue | Projected Second Round Pick | |
49 | Jeff Robinson | Memphis --> Seton Hall | Projected Undrafted | |
50 | Matthew Bryan-Amaning | Washington | Projected Undrafted | |
51 | Antonio (Scoop) Jardine | Syracuse [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
52 | Craig Brackins | Iowa State [three years] | NBA (#21) Pick | 2010 |
53 | Evan Turner | Ohio State [three years] | NBA (#2) Pick | 2010 |
54 | Alex Tyus | Florida | Projected Undrafted | |
55 | Rico Pickett | Alabama --> Manhattan --> Ukraine --> D-League | Projected Undrafted | |
56 | Jeff Teague | Wake Forest [three years] | NBA (#19) Pick | 2010 |
57 | Chris Wright (Dayton) | Dayton | Projected Undrafted | |
58 | Jon Diebler | Ohio State | Projected Undrafted | |
59 | Anthony McClain | Cincinnati | Projected Undrafted | |
60 | Chace Stanback | UCLA --> UNLV [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
61 | Rick Jackson | Syracuse | Projected Undrafted | |
62 | Robbie Hummel | Purdue [medical redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
63 | Marcus Morris | Kansas | Projected Lottery Pick | |
64 | Tyrel Reed | Kansas | Projected Undrafted | |
65 | Tracy Smith | North Carolina State | Projected Undrafted | |
66 | Demetri McCamey | Illinois | Projected Second Round Pick | |
67 | Jeff Jones | Virginia --> Rider [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
67 | Rakim Sanders | Boston College --> Fairfield [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
69 | Corey Chandler | Rutgers [two years] --> Dismissed --> Binghamton --> Dismissed | Out of basketball? | |
70 | Braxton Dupree | Maryland --> Towson [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
72 | Dorenzo Hudson | Virginia Tech [medical redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
73 | Eddie Rios | Miami (FL) --> Texas State [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
74 | Julian Vaughn | Florida State --> Georgetown [NCAA transfer waiver] | Projected Undrafted | |
75 | Malcolm Delaney | Virginia Tech | Projected Undrafted | |
76 | Dallas Lauderdale | Ohio State | Projected Undrafted | |
77 | Jason Henry | Arkansas [one year] --> Dismissed | Out of basketball? | |
78 | Gus Gilchrist | Maryland --> South Florida [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
79 | Dominique Sutton | Kansas State --> North Carolina Central [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
80 | Beas Hamga | UNLV --> Weatherford College [JUCO] --> UAB [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
81 | Jeremy Price | Georgia | Projected Undrafted | |
81 | Justin Burrell | St. John's | Projected Undrafted | |
83 | Clint Chapman | Texas [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
84 | Jeff Allen | Virginia Tech | Projected Undrafted | |
85 | George Goode | Louisville [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
86 | Jeff Brooks | Penn State | Projected Undrafted | |
87 | Ravern Johnson | Mississippi State | Projected Undrafted | |
88 | Maurice Miller | Georgia Tech | Projected Undrafted | |
89 | Jon Leuer | Wisconsin | Projected Second Round Pick | |
90 | Brad Wanamaker | Pittsburgh | Projected Undrafted | |
91 | Eli Holman | Indiana --> Detroit [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
92 | Trevor Mbakwe | Marquette --> Minnesota [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
93 | Markieff Morris | Kansas | Projected Lottery Pick | |
94 | Brandon McGee | Indiana --> Wabash Valley [JUCO] --> Georgia State [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
95 | Martavius Adams | Oklahoma State --> Arkansas State [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
96 | Darnell Gant | Washington [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
97 | Mike Holmes | South Carolina --> Dismissed --> Coastal Carolina --> Dismissed | ??? | |
98 | Mamadou Diarra | USC --> Chaminade [redshirt] --> NBA Early-Entry | Projected Undrafted | |
99 | Tyrone Shelley | San Diego State [redshirt] --> Georgetown College (NAIA) | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
100 | Leonard Washington | Southern California --> Wyoming [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
101 | Steven Gray | Gonzaga | Projected Undrafted | |
102 | Sam Muldrow | South Carolina --> Coastal Carolina | Projected Undrafted | |
102 | Eshaunte Jones | Nebraksa [medical redshirt] --> Left Team | Out of basketball? | |
102 | Talor Battle | Penn State | Projected Undrafted | |
105 | Darnell Dodson | Miami-Dade [JUCO] --> Kentucky --> Southern Miss [redshirt] --> Dismissed | ??? | |
105 | Courtney Fortson | Arkansas [two years] --> NBA Draft Early Entry --> Undrafted | Romania | |
107 | Omondi Amoke | California [redshirt] --> Cal State Fullerton | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
108 | Justin Holiday | Washington | Projected Second Round Pick | |
108 | Jeremy Hazell | Seton Hall | Projected Undrafted | |
110 | D'walyn Roberts | Texas Tech | Projected Undrafted | |
110 | Michael Sanchez | Arkansas [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
112 | Isaiah Thomas | Washington | Projected Second Round Pick | |
113 | Drew Viney | Oregon --> Loyola Marymount [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
114 | Kodi Augustus | Mississippi State | Projected Undrafted | |
115 | Denzel Bowles | Texas A&M --> James Madison | Projected Undrafted | |
115 | Keaton Nankivil | Wisconsin | Projected Undrafted | |
117 | Eric Wallace | Ohio State --> DePaul [redshirt / medical redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
118 | P'Allen Stinnett | Creighton [three years] --> Missouri Western University | Projected Undrafted | |
119 | Jamelle McMillan | Arizona State | Projected Undrafted | |
120 | Boubacar Sylla | Auburn --> Wyoming [redshirt] --> Medically disqualified | Out of basketball? | |
121 | Daniel Hackett | Southern California [three years] --> NBA Draft Early Entry --> Undrafted | Italy | |
122 | Marcus Simmons | Southern California | Projected Undrafted | |
122 | Alexis Wangmene | Texas [medical redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
124 | Papa Dia | Southern Methodist | Projected Undrafted | |
125 | John Roberson | Texas Tech | Projected Undrafted | |
126 | Adam Allen | Florida [medical reshirt] | Two Seasons of Eligibility Remaining | |
127 | Malcolm Grant | Villanova --> Miami (FL) [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
128 | Alvin Mitchell | Cincinnati [two years] --> Dismissed --> Transferred to Mountain State --> Shot eight times | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
128 | Jeremy Jacob | Georgia [medical redshirt] --> Chipola [JUCO] --> Oregon [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
130 | Darington Hobson | College of Eastern Utah (JUCO) --> New Mexico [one year] | NBA (#37) Pick | 2010 |
130 | Justin Knox | Alabama --> North Carolina [Grad Student Transfer Waiver] | Projected Undrafted | |
130 | Blake Hoffarber | Minnesota | Projected Undrafted | |
130 | Mike Scott | Virginia [medical redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
134 | Michael Coburn | Rutgers | Projected Undrafted | |
134 | Cliff Tucker | Maryland | Projected Undrafted | |
134 | Matt Howard | Butler | Projected Undrafted | |
137 | Lucca Staiger | Iowa State [two years] --> Germany | Germany | 2010 |
138 | Jenirro Bush | Arkansas Ft. Smith [JUCO] --> Jackson State [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
139 | Venoy Overton | Washington | Projected Undrafted | |
139 | Mustapha Farrakhan | Virginia | Projected Undrafted | |
141 | Demontez Stitt | Clemson | Projected Undrafted | |
141 | Teeng Akol | Oklahoma State --> Western Kentucky [redshirt] | Two Seasons of Eligibility Remaining | |
143 | Adrian Bowie | Maryland | Projected Undrafted | |
143 | Keegan Bell | Vanderbilt --> UT-Chattanooga [redshirt] | 5th Year Senior Next Season | |
145 | B.J. Holmes | Texas A&M | Projected Undrafted | |
146 | Ibrahima Thomas | Oklahoma State --> Cincinnati [redshirt] | Projected Undrafted | |
147 | Gary Clark | Wake Forest | Projected Undrafted | |
147 | Chris Barnes | Georgia | Projected Undrafted | |
149 | Zach Graham | Mississippi | Projected Undrafted | |
150 | A.J. Stewart | Kentucky --> Dismissed --> Texas State [redshirt] --> Dismissed | ??? | |
153 | Jacob Pullen | Kansas State | Projected Undrafted | |
154 | Jamine Peterson | Providence [two years] --> Greece --> D-League | Automatically Eligible for 2011 NBA Draft |
Notable 2007 High School Prospects Outside of RSCI Top 150
Name | College | Pro Projection |
---|---|---|
Larry Sanders | VCU [three years] | NBA (#15) Pick [2010] |
Dominique Jones | South Florida [three years] | NBA (#25) Pick [2010] |
Jordan Crawford | Indiana --> Xavier [redshirt] --> NBA Early-Entry | NBA (#27) Pick [2010] |
Armon Johnson | Nevada [three years] | NBA (#34) Pick [2010] |
Jimmer Fredette | BYU | Projected mid-1st rounder |
Kenneth Faried | Morehead State | Projected mid-1st rounder |
Marshon Brooks | Providence | Projeced mid to late first rounder |
Justin Harper | Richmond | Projected Late 1st/Early 2nd Round Pick |
Charles Jenkins | Hofstra | Projected Late 1st/Early 2nd Round Pick |
Keith Benson | Oakland | Projected 2nd round pick |
Jimmy Butler | Tyler [JUCO] --> Marquette | Projected 2nd round pick |
Ben Hansbrough | Ole Miss --> Notre Dame | Projected 2nd round pick |
Norris Cole | Cleveland State | Projected 2nd round pick |
Malcolm Thomas | Pepperdine --> San Diego City College --> San Diego State | Projected 2nd round pick |
Andrew Goudelock | College of Charleston | Projected 2nd round pick |
Diante Garrett | Iowa State | Projected 2nd round pick |
Josh Harrellson | Southwestern Illinois College [JUCO] --> Kentucky | Projected Undrafted |
A Loaded Class
The 2007 high school class is one of the strongest we've seen in quite some time. No fewer than 13 players have been drafted in the lottery thus far, and more are coming. The Morris twins (who are juniors but went to prep school for a year before enrolling at Kansas) and Jimmer Fredette are all potential lottery picks this year.
Thirty-two players have already been drafted into the NBA from this class, and 21 more members are projected to be picked on June 23. In contrast, 42 players were drafted in the 2006 high school class, up from 36 in 2005.
It's unlikely any class will contend with the 2004 crop, though, which produced an astounding 57 NBA draft picks in total.
To get a better handle on the evolution of this class and how it stacks up historically, we spoke with the most respected talent evaluator in the high school recruiting industry: ESPN's Dave Telep, who has been in the business for almost 15 years.
Telep has a unique perspective on this group of players because of how closely he followed them from such a young age. This makes him the perfect person to comment on how this group has developed.
It's a joke how good a group this is, Telep said. This was an exceptional group of guys. All these guys are in the league or going to be in the league. 21 of the top 25 ranked players are already in the NBA, and the rest aren't far behind them.
This is a very good and a very deep class. But what makes it unique is the star power at the top. We knew there were five players who were fantasticO.J. Mayo, Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, Eric Gordon and Derrick Rose. It was a matter of personal preference. We knew they were all going to be big time players. Every class has a couple of superstars in it, but most classes don't have five guys. We didn't get the order exactly right necessarily, but I don't know if we ever had anyone else in the top five in the last 18 months of projecting that class.
Measuring the Cream of the Crop
The two best prospects in this class weren't deemed future NBA superstars out of high school.
Derrick Rose (#5) played second fiddle to O.J. Mayo (#1), Michael Beasley (#2), Kevin Love (#3) and Eric Gordon (#4) (depending on which rankings you trust), but he ended up developing into the #1 pick in the 2008 draft after a single season at Memphis.
Telep: This is going to sound completely ludicrous, but there was a point in time where I watched Derrick Rose and wondered how aggressive a scorer he'll become. Hindsight is 20/20 in this case, but things came so easy for Rose because he was so humble. He had a nice high school team and a good AAU team and, instead of drawing attention to himself, he wanted to set everyone up. For me to have that thought cross my mind I probably sound like an idiot, but I wondered if he was ever going to be a guy who will get numbers. The others in the top four were getting big numbers.
It wasn't a function of his game, but rather a function of his personality. He could have done it whenever he wanted, but his personality was to bring everyone along with him. Other guys were dominant point scorers. He wanted to be best set-up guy At the end of day, he just got better. He kept working.
While most people felt that Rose was going to be a surefire NBA starter, Blake Griffin took longer to develop, both physically and from a skills perspective.
Griffin was named a McDonald's All-American when all was said and done, but he was deemed just the 17th best prospect in his class. Nevertheless, he ended up being selected with the #1 pick in the 2009 NBA draft and was named both Rookie of the Year and an NBA All-Star after being forced to sit out the entire 2009-10 season with an injury.
Telep: Griffin's development speaks to the character and work ethic he possesses. Do you think I would put Griffin at #16 if I knew how athletic he is now? He was athletic back then. Now he is super human. He's bulked up and gotten more explosive. I remember sitting with Billy Donovan, just the two of us in a back gym in Houston. Blake did something crazy, like he's doing now. We looked at each and both said I've never seen him do something like that.' He didn't do that all the time. He learned how to use that consistently later on.
If you look at this class, it has a bunch of alpha male personalities. Those top five guys, Rose sometimes, because he blended in--pushed the other guys back. Those dudes ran the show and no one else could break into that five.
This class also developed a pair of #2 overall picks in Michael Beasley and Evan Turner. Their trajectories could not possibly have been any different, though.
Beasley was a can't miss player from Day One, an incredible talent who could only be held back by off-court concerns.
Turner, on the other hand, was a bigger surprise. He was considered a good college prospect -- #53 in the RSCI but made a major jump midway through his college career that allowed him to emerge as the consensus best player in the NCAA as a junior. He joined the likes of Emeka Okafor (#99) and Hasheem Thabeet (#64) as the only non-top 50 RSCI college basketball players drafted in the top two in the last 10 years. That club will likely add another member on June 23 in Derrick Williams (#100).
Another success story is DeJuan Blair. Blair was ranked 37th overall in the RSCI (but 19th by Telep) before being drafted 37th by the San Antonio Spurs. He significantly outplayed both his recruiting ranking and draft position thanks to his killer rebounding instincts , gregarious personality and a terrific work ethic.
Telep: I can tell you DeJuan Blair stories all day. I loved being around him. I would sit there courtside and we'd talk. I'd say Let's get 15 rebounds today' and he'd say Count em for me.' Then he'd finish with 23. It was awesome. The guy is a total trip. I loved watching him. His AAU team was something else. It was him, [Ohio State quarterback] Terrelle Pryor, Herb Pope, D.J. Kennedy and two team managers named Chicken' and Onion'.
Exceeding Expectations
Turner and Griffin aren't the only ones who developed into better than expected prospects.
The same can be said for Austin Daye (#35), James Johnson (#47), Jeff Teague (#56), Larry Sanders (unranked) and Craig Brackins (#52) all top 20 draft picks who were not amongst the 24 players invited to the 2007 McDonald's All-American game.
Marcus Morris (#63) and Markieff Morris (#93) will soon join them in that discussion, although both players can also be considered members of the 2008 class due to playing a year of prep school ball. That didn't do much to move the needle on their recruiting rankings, though, as they were both borderline top 50 recruits in that class as well. There's no question they developed better than expected at Kansas, with much of the credit for that going to head coach Bill Self and assistant Danny Manning.
Telep: At that point we didn't really know how to handle all these post-grad and prep school guys, and that's why their rankings are skewed. Both Morris twins had a big summer the following year. There was once a larger gap between Marcus and Markieff, but that's narrowed. Usually with twins you find that the gap widens, but in this case it shrunk. Marcus was very diverse with his offense. He was a point forward kind of guy, a very creative small forward. Markieff was a straight 5 man. He's making threes now, but he wasn't doing that in high school and AAU. He was someone you could draw a line around the basket and know that that's his area.
Jimmer Fredette and Kenneth Faried made even bigger leaps. Both went from not being consensus top 100 high school recruits to potential lottery picks later this month.
Fredette and Faried are similarly accomplished, but they took divergent paths to get to where they are now.
Telep: I wrote a blog entry about this topic. I thought [Jimmer Fredette] was just a solid basketball player at the time. He was the third rated player on his own AAU team behind Dele Coker [St. John's] and Talor Battle [Penn State]. His AAU coach said it best: he went to the right level at the right time. He might not have had the green light anywhere else. I saw him dozens of times, and said mid-major.' Not even mid-major plus. He might be the hardest guy in the draft for NBA teams to evaluate now. I was swearing on a stack of bibles that Fredette was a mid-major prospect, but now he's a lottery pick. We couldn't have met in the middle even. I get down on myself in making mistakes like this. But guys get better.
About Kenneth Faried I never saw him in high school. I went through every note I could go through. In 2007 I saw 986 potential division one players, but he wasn't one of them. I don't know how that happened.
Unranked high school recruits who developed into NBA lottery picks
2010: Wesley Johnson, Ekpe Udoh, Gordon Hayward, Paul George
2009: Stephen Curry, Jordan Hill
2008: Russell Westbrook, Joe Alexander, Jason Thompson
2007: Jeff Green, Joakim Noah, Acie Law, Al Thornton
2006: Adam Morrison, Tyrus Thomas, Patrick O'Bryant, Hilton Armstrong
2005: None
2004: Devin Harris, Luke Jackson
2003: Dwyane Wade, Chris Kaman, Mike Sweetney, Jarvis Hayes
Not Everyone Panned Out as Expected
As we see in every recruiting class, not every highly-touted prospect ends up developing into a great college player and pro.
Kyle Singler (#6) was, amazingly enough, the only top 10 player in this year's RSCI to not make the jump to the NBA after just one season of college basketball.
Compare that with this year's freshman class, where only five of the 10 top prospects elected to go pro.
Whether Singler was ranked too high in retrospect is a matter of debate, but few will dispute the fact that he's now firmly on the border between the first and second round, something few would have projected four years ago.
Telep: You know what? Obviously Kyle Singler didn't play up to his ranking. But he walked out of college as a major success story. All of this is relative. From your perspective as a draft analyst, he probably didn't achieve at the level he was projected to. But from my perspective, he was ACC Tournament MVP, NCAA Tournament Final Four Most Outstanding Player and a national champion. That's a pretty good resume.
Moving down the list, we find a number of players who came into college with a great deal of fanfare but leave with little to no chance of being drafted on June 23. These players include Austin Freeman (#15), Corey Fisher (#22), Jamelle Horne (#26), Corey Stokes (#27), Taylor King (#28) and Gary Johnson (#30).
King transferred twice, from Duke to Villanova and then again to Concordia college in the NAIA, and will have one more season of eligibility next year. He's just one of many top 100 players to transfer multiple times over the course of his college career.
A Restless Class
Amazingly enough, of the players in the 60-100 range of the RSCI in 2007, only 14 had normal college careers, meaning only 14 players played four seasons without transferring, redshirting or being outright dismissed.
Twenty-eight of the top 100 players in the 2007 high school class still have NCAA eligibility remaining at this point, after electing to transfer from their original school.
Telep: This is when I get ready to bug out, talking about this topic. That number doesn't shock me at all. I can tell you from the research we've done, players ranked from 75 to 100 transfer schools 51% of time. It's a sobering statistic. When you're ranked like that, you have no ability to handle not being the man all of the time. And you have your entourage behind you pumping you up non-stop. When the [stuff] hits the fan, our culture is to transfer. If not good enough, go to the next place. It's a cultural thing.
Some of these players appear to be completely out of basketball from what we gather, which is sad considering the amount of talent it takes to be considered one of the top 100 prospects in America in a particular age group.
Alex Legion (#39), for example, started his career at Kentucky, but he elected to transfer after just six games. He landed closer to home at Illinois, but wasn't happy in a season and a half there either, prompting him to transfer once again, this time to Florida International. Legion's next tenure under Isiah Thomas only lasted 10 games, as he was dismissed for a violation of team rules. Legion has since been tweeting up a storm but there is no news about the next move in his basketball career.
The whereabouts of Corey Chandler (#69), Jason Henry (#77), Mike Holmes (#97), Eshaunte Jones (#102) and Darnell Dodson (#105) are similarly unknown.
Telep: All those guys have one thing in common: high maintenance, high probability for failure. Am I surprised? Not in the least. All guys who were never as good as they thought they were. Add Keenan Ellis to that list. And Eddie Rios. Those guys were low-hanging fruit. Trouble. I'm not in the least bit surprised. Take the class of 2011 and I'll tell you the guys who will fall into that category. If I'm right you can call me a lawyer. It's like an episode of 'Criminal Minds.' The profile fits. Coaches get excited when they get a commitment from a kid like this, but I just shake my head.
Previous High School Class Evaluations
-2004
-2005
-2006
Edited by Patrick Crawley, managing editor of Basketball Fiend and a featured contributor for Larry Brown Sports .
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