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July is OVER!
Ok everyone at one time. Take a deep breath! July is
OVER!!!! This means the July evaluation period is over and
the summer high school basketball season is coming to an end.
There is a lot to digest from the last three months. We
have had Bob Gibbons' TOC, Memorial Day Classic, Pangos Camp,
Rumble in the Bronx, NBA Top 100 Camp, USA Junior National Team, Nike
All-American Camp, Adidas Superstar Camp, Reebok ABCD Camp, Boo
Williams, Peach Jam, Adidas Super 64, Nike Main Event, Reebok
Big Time Tournament, and now finally the AAU Nationals.
WOW! All of this in 3 months. Players all over the
nation have been making names for themselves with their play
this summer, because everyone knows that players make their name
and rankings in the summer and not necessarily during the high school
season.
Now
that all of the play is over it is time to evaluate what players
have helped or hurt their stock. Which players deserve
5-Star Status? Which players have come off the
radar and that deserve to be in our top 75? The most important
question of all, WHO IS #1???
Battle for #1
Who is the top player in the Class of 2007
is not as easy as it has been in the past. OJ Mayo has
been head and shoulders above everyone in the Class of 2007 ever
since the 7th Grade. After watching the play this summer,
the assumption that OJ is the clear cut #1 is not so easy to
make. Four guys, Kevin Love, Bill Walker, Eric Gordon, and
Derrick Rose could all lay claim to the fact they have
played their way into the top spot. In fact, I would go out
on a limb and say all four of these players probably
outplayed Mayo during the summer. The summer is a big
factor into the Class of 2007 rankings, but it is not all that
goes into it. I take into consideration summer play,
previous high school play, production, college potential, and
NBA potential. After taking all things into consideration, OJ Mayo is still the #1 player in the Class of 2007.
OJ Mayo
has not played unbelievable throughout the summer, but whenever
his team needs him to turn it on he does it. This was no
more evident than when his team was down 3 points with the clock
ticking down against Eric Gordon, Derrick Rose, and the rest of
the Mean Street Express at Big Time. Did they call a
timeout to set up a play? No. They gave it to the
franchise player and boy did he deliver. OJ dribbled it
down court stopped a couple feet beyond the arc and launched one
with it all on the line. MONEY of course. Not only
did he hit the 3, but he got fouled and hit the free throw to
win the game. That is what makes OJ special, is that he
rises to the moment. At times he seems bored because he is
so much better than everyone else, but when someone challenges
his ranking or his game OJ will respond. All in all Mayo
has the most potential of anyone in this class and is right
there with LeBron and Greg Oden as the best players of this
decade. I see him as a NBA combo guard that can play
mostly the SG position, but have the ability to play PG.
He has the most NBA potential of anyone in 2007.
Potentially he could be a perennial All-Star and is the odds on
favorite to be the top overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
The
top challenger for Mayo has been Lake Oswego Oregon power
forward Kevin Love. Love has absolutely played phenomenal
with the best AAU team in the land, the So Cal All-Stars.
He also dominated at the Reebok ABCD Camp. In my opinion
he was the MVP of the Camp. His play was dominant all week
long. Love, who picked UCLA last week, might be a better
college player than Mayo, but his NBA ceiling is not even close.
Love is limited athletically, but plays hard and is an
unreal passer. He is the best outlet passer that I have
EVER SEEN! His shot goes all the way out to the arc.
His So Cal All-Stars went 45-0 with Love in the lineup this
summer and won 5 tournament titles. They have been hyped
as the greatest AAU team EVER and Love is their unquestioned leader.
Bill
Walker
has been in Mayo's shadow his whole life. Walker,
Mayo's AAU and high school teammate, has been best friends with OJ for a long time. At the start it was Walker was just
being hyped because of his play along side of OJ. That has
changed. He is a SUPERSTAR. Walker is the most
electrifying player in the Class by far. The only
comparison is Vince Carter. He gets booed
when he does a lay up and not a 360 windmill. His game has
developed beyond just a crazy athlete on the wing. He is now
a shut down defender with an improving jump shot. Walker's
play was second only to Love at the Reebok ABCD camp in New
Jersey. When he missed the PRIME TIME MATCH UP with his
team the D-1 Greyhounds versus the So Cal All-Stars they got
blown out of the gym. This shows how good Walker is,
considering a month before they only lost by 2 points with Walker. Walker's NBA potential is UNREAL!
The NBA loves athletic wings that can run and jump. Walker
might have his opportunity to get to the league before he
originally thought. Walker was ruled ineligible for the
upcoming high school basketball season. He will be 19 by
next June and by Ohio rules he is a member of the Class of 2006.
These would fill the NBA's requirements for him to enter the
2007 NBA Draft. The NBA will fight to keep him out tooth
and nail. If he does get in, he is a top 10 selection. For right now I
consider Walker the #3 player in the Class of 2007 rankings.
Eric
Gordon has played better than almost anyone this summer.
Some have even talked about him in consideration for the top
overall spot. Gordon played great at the Adidas Superstar
Camp and then teamed up with Derrick Rose on the AAU circuit
with the Mean Street Express. They were the best backcourt
in the country and started showing it at the Peach Jam.
Gordon lit it up in the scoring department and he didn't stop
when they got to Vegas. The one word to describe Gordon is
SCORER! He has the mentality that no one can guard him.
He might be right. If you take away the drive from him, he
will pull up and nail the three in your face. The Illinois commit was
averaging 60% from the arc at one point during the Big Time
Tournament. He moved up only one spot in our rankings, but
that is no slight with the caliber of players above him.
He will start off the high school basketball season at #4 and
will take his shot to move up from there.
Derrick
Rose
is a true playmaker in every sense of the word. Rose
went to the Reebok ABCD camp to get his shot to go one on one with OJ Mayo. Well unfortunately, he got hurt before the match
up and was very disappointed. He did get his chance at
Mayo in Vegas and he did not disappoint. Rose
recorded a TRIPLE DOUBLE with 21 points, 14 rebounds, and 12
assists. WOW! That is what everyone wanted to see.
This was no fluke! At the Peach Jam he took the ball with the
clock ticking down and being guarded by the top player in the
Junior class, Tyreke Evans. He crossed him over, then got in the
lane, and over a bigger defender maneuvered his body to get a
shot off and got it to go for the win. The gym went crazy.
Rose who is down to Memphis and Illinois, showed that he can do
it all from the point guard position. He has the potential
to be a very high pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, but will be a
dominant player in college basketball before that. He did
fall one spot to AAU teammate Eric Gordon, but that was not
because of how he played this summer.
The Next Level
Those five guys
are clearly in a league of their own. The next level of
players are not that bad either.
Kyle Singler leads this
group. The Oregon wing can do it all from the small
forward position.
He is a very skilled player. Duke or UCLA will no doubt be
lucky to get him.
Michael Beasley played very well at the
Adidas Superstar and Adidas Super 64 tournament. Beasley
was in that top teir of players, but his game has not continued
to develop like the other top tier players have.
Anthony Randolph is a wiry Power
Forward that can block shots.
DeAndre Jordan and
JJ
Hickson both moved up considerably with great summer play.
Their post play and shot blocking have boosted their stock into
the top 10.
Jerryd Bayless, who de-committed from Arizona,
has played OK, but not spectacular over the summer.
The two big movers
over the summer have been #13
Patrick Patterson
and #15 Corey
Fisher.
Patterson impressed recruiting analysts and coaches with his
athletic ability and shot blocking. Fisher is a true
leader at the point. He is small, but can get in the lane
at will.
Are you 5-Star?
Everyone in the recruiting world knows what 5-Star status is.
It is the top of the top. The ELITE players in the nation.
There is no set number of players that can be in 5-Star, but
that player has to fill the "SPECIAL" quality that makes a
player 5-Star. We expanded it from 20 players to 26
players. The six newcomers to the exclusive club are: #18
Taylor King,
#19 Corey
Stokes, #23
Darquavis Tucker,
#24 James
Harden, #25
Alex Legion,
and #26 Austin
Freeman.
These players have proven to me that they are worthy of being
considered elite players with the capability to become superstar
players on the college level and possibly the NBA.
Taylor King has
kind of grown on me. King was rated at the top of this
class along with OJ when they entered high school. He had
even already committed to UCLA (which he later de-committed
from). Things have changed. He dropped out of some
peoples top 30 overall. The more and more I watch him play
he shows me why everyone thought he was so special. He can
shoot the 3, score in the post, and pass the ball very well.
Playing with Kevin Love would make even me look better, but King
is a great player on his own. He will be a great fit for
Duke. Maybe he is not the most flashy player, but he gets
the job done.
Other Players That
Impressed
Tracy Smith of Mt. Zion Academy in North Carolina played way
better than anyone expected at the
Reebok ABCD Camp. Smith has lost the weight and his game
shows it. He was active on the glass and showed explosive
athletic ability. He is a player to watch out for during
the High School season. He moved up to #32.
Josh Miller is
small. Yes, I do know that. He is only 5-7, but he
is a player. Miller is my sleeper in the Class of 2007.
No one else has him in their top 100, but I have him at #40.
Miller gets in the lane at will and is not afraid to challenge
the big boys while he is in there. He will hit some
amazing shots while fading away from bigger defenders. His
passing ability is above average. His wings are OJ Mayo,
Bill Walker, and Alex Tyus. Yea, that might help a little!
Millers schools are Xavier, Marshall, Toledo, and Akron.
What??? Have the major schools not seen this kid? I
think he will be the steal of the Class of 2007.
Tim Flowers is not
flashy. He gets the job done. Flowers the 6-5 240
lbs. power forward from Simeon is the teammate of Derrick Rose
in High School and on the AAU circuit. Flowers is small,
but he fights hard on the boards, has nice footwork, and gets
deep post position. He plays bigger than 6-5.
Flowers, #51 in our rankings, is looking at Michigan, Iowa, and
San Diego St. This is the type of player that just helps a
team win.
Already Committed?
44 Players have already committed out of the top 75. That
is 58.7%. Players are committing earlier and earlier these
days. Of course these are not binding until they sign
National Letters of Intent in November. Most of the time
verbal commitments stay true to their word, but not always.
16 of 26 (61.5%)
5-Star players have committed including 4 Top 10 players.
19 of 30 (63.3%)
4-Star players have committed.
9 of 19 (47.4%) 3-Star players have committed.
Where Are They
From?
These are players by the states that their high school is in (i.e. Virginia and Oak Hill). Bill Walker and Keenan
Ellis who's schools are up in the air right now count for the
state of Ohio and Michael Beasley counts for Virginia.
Ohio leads in
5-Star players with 4 players in OJ Mayo, Bill Walker, Kosta
Koufos, and Alex Tyus. California, New Jersey, Maryland,
Virginia, Oregon, and Texas each have 2 5-Star Players.
Ohio is the top
overall state with 8 players ranked in the top 75. They
are followed closely by Illinois with 7.
Overall here is the break down by state:
Ohio-8 (Mayo, Walker, Koufos, Tyus, Lauderdale, Miller,
Ellis, Diebler)
Illinois-7 (Rose, McCamey, Turner, Flowers, Cass, Koshwal, Cole)
Virginia-6 (Beasley, Legion, Vaughn, Smith, Allen, Wallace)
California-5 (King, Harden, Hackett, Horne, Gant)
Texas-5 (Randolph, Jordan, Johnson, Lucas, Rusher)
Florida-4 (Calathes, Alabi, Rios, Stewart)
Georgia-4 (Hickson, Allen, Lawal, Hillman)
Indiana-4 (Gordon, Moore, Martin, Hummel)
Michigan-4 (Tucker, Lucas, Summers, Harrris)
New Jersey-3 (Fisher, Stokes, Chandler)
Pensylvania-4 (Pope, Jones, Jackson)
Louisiana-2 (Dunn, Washington)
Maryland-2 (Green, Freeman)
Minnesota-2 (Aldrich, Leur)
New York-2 (Flynn, Akol)
Oregon-2 (Love, Singler)
Washington-2 (Thomas, McMillian)
Alabama-1 (Pickett)
Arizona-1 (Bayless)
Arkansas-1 (Anderson)
Conneticut-1 (Amaning)
District of Columbia-1 (Wright)
Kansas-1 (Reed)
North Carolina-1 (Smith)
Oklahoma-1 (Griffin)
West Virginia-1 (Patterson)
Wisconsin-1 (Nankivil)
Our Rankings will
again change once the season starts, but this is our rankings
for the Post-Summer addition. Watch out for the Class of
2008 and Class of 2009 Rankings coming out very soon.
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