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Graduation Time for
2008!
The time has come for the high school Class of 2008 to hang up
their high school sneakers and prepare for the college
basketball life. This players in this class have been
evaluated against each other and together as a class against
previous classes for years. In the past this class has
gotten the wrap that it is not as good as the previous two class
of 2006 and 2007. This is probably true. Just look
at the top tier NBA and college talent to come out of those two
classes. It is astonishing! There are no Greg
Oden's, Kevin Durant's, Michael Beasley's, or Derrick Rose's in
the Class of 2008, but the top is loaded with about 10 guys who
you could put in any order and it would be tough to argue.
The elite players in this class are very tightly grouped
together. This group will not have the immediate impact on
the college game as past years have, which means that college
basketball fans will get to enjoy most the top players for more
than just one year.
Battle for #1
In previous rankings of the Class of 2008 over the last several
years there have been two players that have held down the top
ranking in the class. In the initial ranking of the class Tyreke
Evans of
American Christian in Pennsylvania held the coveted honor.
Early on in his career Evans showed the ability to score at will
and was pushing a gap between himself and the rest of the guards
in his class. Evans then had his throne overtaken by Greg
Monroe of Helen
Cox High School in Louisiana. Monroe started to show the
potential of a #1 draft choice. He had a smoothness to his
game and looked like he had a world of potential to grow into a
superstar power forward prospect. So the question is, did
Monroe hang on to the #1 spot in the Final Ranking of the Class
of 2008? No, he did not. Actually Monroe took quite
a hit in the rankings, but we will get more into that
later. The new #1 player in the Class of 2008 is Brandon
Jennings of Oak
Hill Academy.
Brandon
Jennings is a
special passer. He is not the biggest PG in the world at
only 6-1 and needs to add on some weight to be able to guard and
compete with bigger PG in the NBA. The positives far
outweigh the negatives though. Jennings is an extremely
flashy passer and ball handler. One might call him an
And-1 type point guard. That can be good and also can be
bad. The good is that he can handle the ball like a yo-yo
and fit the ball into the tightest of spots. The bad is
this kind of play tends to lead to turnovers when playing
against top level competition. I believe that Jennings can
play in the All-Star And-1 type game, but when he needs to he
can play under control and be smart with the ball. The job
of a point guard is to elevate the play of his team. This
will be the test of how special Jennings will be down the
road. This past year he had to be more of a scorer on both
his AAU team and high school team, as he was not surrounded by
the type of surrounding talent that he had been accustomed to in
previous years. I truly think that Jennings can be the
pure point guard that can take over a game with his speed,
vision, passing ability, and when he has to he can score. Congratulations
Brandon, you will forever be known as the #1 player in the Class
of 2008.
Jrue Holiday
finished at #2 in the final rankings. Holiday is just a
winner and UCLA likes winners. Holiday is not overly
flashy, but just gets the job done. His game is similar to
that of Dwayne Wade. He has a strong body and has the
ability to get to the hoop and finish through contact. The
future Bruin uses both hands well and delivers crisp passes,
leading some to believe he could be the future point guard of
the Bruins even though I rank him as a shooting guard.
Holiday is the most highly touted perimeter defender in his
class. His strength and athleticism make him a monster one
on one defender on the perimeter. This is what makes him a
spot higher than fellow California shooting guard DeMar Derozan.
Speaking of the future Trojan, DeMar
Derozan checks
in at #3. One word to describe DeMar Derozan?
EXPLOSIVE!!! He is the Vince Carter of this class.
Yea, I know Bill Walker was the next Vince Carter. DeRozan
is right in that category of elite athletic ability. Once
Derozan beats his man off the dribble it is over, because the
big man is about to be on a poster. That is what he is
most known for, but DeMar will tell you that he wants to be
known as a complete player. That he is. He has
improved his perimeter shot to the point where when he gets
going it is tough to stop. The future Trojan will take
over for OJ Mayo as the instant impact scorer that USC
needs. Derozan could have the highest ceiling of any
player in the entire class, but he has to put it all together on
a consistent basis.
The pride of the North Carolina recruiting class is at #4 in Ed
Davis. I
have Ed ranked ahead of some of the other lists that you might
see, because I believe with added weight he could turn into a
elite player. Davis' put up consistent double doubles
throughout the high school season. Davis had 25 points and
15 rebounds against highly ranked Oak Hill Academy in a 1 point
victory. Davis's monster game early in the season was a
triple double in front of yours truly at the Tournament of
Champions against Hales Franciscan. Easy Ed recorded 17
points, 10 boards, and 13 block shots. The shot blocking
display that he put on was simply amazing. Davis is a
efficient and effective scorer in the post and can extend his
game out to a mid range jumper. The Tar Heel recruit has
quick post moves and finishes strong. Like I said, once
Davis gets in the weight room with Psycho T, he could go to
another level in Chapel Hill.
The #5 spot is locked down by the #1 center in the Class of 2008
Samardo Samuels.
The game that really made me a believer in Samardo was in the
IS8 against Boys and Girls. He was on a team with fellow
5-stars Ed Davis and Devin Ebanks, but 'Mado TOOK OVER! He
looked like a shorter version of the big daddy. A few
times I thought he was going to rip the rim off of the back
board. The future Cardinal gets great deep positioning and
when he does the defender is completely defenseless. 'Mado
also has very soft hands in the post. He is your pure put
him on the block and get out of his way center. His height
at 6-8 is the factor that will hold him back slightly as a NBA
prospect, but he will be a BEAST at the 'Ville in 2008-2009.
So how
far did the previous two #1's fall? Greg
Monroe fell to
the #8 position in the class. The reason for this is that
Monroe doesn't consistently put out the effort and production
that a top 5 player should. One night he looks like a
cross between Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard, which is the
potential that he showed at an early age, but the next time out
he leaves you wondering where is the production equaling his
talent. In a way he is to unselfish. At this level
he should be dominating games when his team needs him to.
I just didn't see it consistently enough. Monroe picked
the picture perfect school in Georgetown to fit his style of
play. He will be able to uses his passing and high post
abilities in JT3's Princeton system. Tyreke
Evans fell an
additional spot from his end of summer rankings to #9. I
still like Tyreke, but like Monroe there are a lot of
questions. The first is does he make his team
better. He played on a good team at American Christian
which also had PG Jeremiah Kelly in the top 125. In a way
it is the Kobe Bryant two years ago question. He can be a
great one on one scorer, but will it help his team as a
whole. I do believe Evans started to show that some toward
the end of the year including the Nike Hoop Summit. He is
no doubt a scoring 2-guard. The other major concern I have
with Evans is his jump shot. To be frank, IT IS
UGLY! The release point is above his head and he is
falling backwards when he shoots all the time, not just a fade away.
It is hard to consistently get that shot to drop with such a
inconsistent release point and being off balance. To
Tyreke's credit he does get it to drop at times, but I would
like to see him refine this part of his game.
Other Notable
5-Stars
I want to talk
a little bit about some other 5-Star kids that I really
like. I am a huge Kemba
Walker
fan. He makes everyone around him better. Walker is
a floor general in the truest sense of the word. The point
guard directs his team, leads his team, distributes for his
team, and when need be can take over the game for his
team. Walker is a winner. He played on both a
storied AAU team in the NY Gauchos and for the famed Rice High
School in NYC. Walker will be the next in a long line of
great UConn floor leaders. Walker finishes his career at
#11.
Elliot Williams
is a guy I really enjoy watching play. He has great length
which is a huge asset to Williams on the defensive end of the
floor. The future Blue Devil has top flight athletic
ability which is shown when he beats his man off the dribble for
a dunk. His lefty perimeter shot is a thing of
beauty. Williams could develop into a lottery pick with a
few good years at Duke. Williams finds himself at #14.
Another
player I am very high on is Romero
Osby out of
Mississippi. The game that proved to me Osby was a 5-Star
talent was at the Bob Gibbons TOC against the Indiana
Elite. Osby showed off his small forward skills and how he
can score getting to the basket off hard drives. He is
very aggressive and is an attacking scorer. Most list him
as a PF, but I see him more as a SF especially at the NBA
level. Osby has the type of game where he could explode on
the scene for Mississippi St. next year. Osby ends up at
#17 in the final installment of the rankings.
Emmanuel Negedu
is an undersized power forward that is not afraid of
anyone. He will attack his man in the post and go right
after him. Negedu is a beast on the boards using his
explosion and toughness to out fight bigger interior
players. His body is very strong for his age. Negedu
finishes at #28.
The
last 5-Star I want to talk about is Angel
Garcia.
Garcia has a European type game despite being from Puerto
Rico. He stretch his shot out to the 3 point line.
He is a college 4 and an NBA 3 man. Garcia is very skilled
for his age and uses the glass very nicely. Garcia falls
in as the final member of 5-star status at #30.
Are you 5-Star?
5-Star expanded 1 spot to a total number of 30. Some moved
into 5-Star and some moved out of the prized category. New
members included Yancy
Gates at #20, Terrence
Jennings at
#22, Darius
Miller at #23, Malcolm
Lee at #
25, J'Mison
Morgan at #27, Larry
Drew at #29,
and Angel
Garcia
at #30.
Prospects that moved out of 5-star were John
Riek
from #19 to #47, Iman
Shumpert
from #22 to #44, Michael
Dunnigan
from #23 to #33, Tony
Woods
from #26 to #31, JayMychael
Green
from #28 to #35, and Drew
Gordon
from #29 to #40.
Underrated and
Overrated
This is always the hot debate. Who is overrated and who is
underrated? For this debate I am going to look at the
players in the 4 and 3 star categories.
Underrated
Ater
Majok is a guy
that jumped out on film when I watched the Derby Classic this
past month. He is skilled. Also Majok has good
shooting ability which includes a pick and pop shot, mid range
shot, and even a 3 point shot. He hustles, runs the floor,
and plays hard. Majok could be a late steal for the UConn
Huskies!
Torres
Roundtree is
the steal of the shooting guard crop this year. SIU got
him early and if they didn't the high majors would have been
beating down the door of the smooth scoring 2 man.
Roundtree is an explosive scorer that can stroke it from deep or
take his man off the dribble with his bounce. He also
showed nice defensive ability when guarding his man 1 on 1.
Lewis
Jackson is
small, but is not afraid of anyone. The sub 6 foot point
guard will be a great playmaking lead guard for the Purdue
Boilermakers. Jackson is super fast. I sat front row
at one of his games this year and he was zooming right past me
in transition every possession. One fan setting behind me
at Vandalia high school said that it was like watching an NBA
game. Lew Jack gets in the paint off the dribble fairly
easily and does not shy away from the contact on the
interior. Jackson has extremely good vision as well.
Overrated
Iman
Shumpert does
not do it for me. He burst onto the scene over the summer
and I was not even that familiar with him despite being from
Illinois like myself. The times I have seen him he just
didn't look like a potential NBA talent. He just went
through the motions. He could score when he wanted, but
wouldn't do it for some reason. Shumpert does have a nice
looking jump shots. I would like to see Shumpert be more
aggressive attacking the hoop off the dribble at GT next year.
The other player I don't get is John
Riek. Yes
I am very aware that he is 7-2 and has arms that could stretch
from NYC to LA, but he can't play basketball. Does he have
potential? Absolutely, he has potential, but he needs to
show more refined basketball skills to be a higher rated
prospect. The times I have seen Riek, it looks like he has
two moves. Catch and throw everything at the rim is one
and the other is a shot that I think he double or triple pumps
his shot and releases it. I don't care how tall you are,
if you triple pump on your shot it will be blocked. On
Riek's side is his shot blocking ability. Riek has made a
big mistake in my book by entering the 2008 NBA Draft. If
he went to college and developed like Hasheem Thabeet did he
could grow into something. Setting on a bench for 4 years
is not going to help his development.
Where Are They
From?
These are players by the states that their high school is in (i.e. Virginia and Oak Hill).
This might not necessarily be where they are from especially in
the Prep School's cases.
The state with the
most 5 star prospects is a tie between California with 4
(Holiday, DeRozan, Lee, Drew) and Ohio (Mullens, Roe, Buford,
Gates).
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