Wednesday, July 27, 2011

A layman's guide to the Class of 2012


Read More Ranking HereThe July recruiting period is the most important offseason month of the college hoops calendar. The first 10-day stretch caused a handful of players to move up or down on theESPNU 100. The second 10-day stretch -- highlighted by tournaments in Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla. -- began Friday and ends July 31.
So which players do you need to know about? I'm no recruiting expert, but I do happen to work with one, so I asked him -- him being ESPN.com recruiting analyst Dave Telep -- to drop some knowledge on the biggest recruiting developments of July.
Below are Dave's recommendations for players worth watching in the last few days of July and in their upcoming senior seasons, followed by my take on the potential impact of their decisions for the schools each prospect is currently considering.
Call it a July evaluation period tag team. It may be the first of its kind. It may also be the last.
Shabazz Muhammad, 6-6, SF (Las Vegas)

Telep: "He's about to leap from No. 3 to No. 1 in ESPN's rankings if he closes the summer strong. There's a major recruiting tussle for him. Memphis bowed out during the break between evaluation periods. UCLA is the clubhouse leader over Duke, hometown UNLV has emerged as a legit option and there continues to be whispers about Kentucky. Muhammad can shoot and 
leap tall buildings in a single bound, thus making him an elite impact player."
Andre Drummond, 6-10, C (Middletown, Conn.)
Telep: "This is the top post talent in the class. Drummond has an NBA body, talent and size. He doesn't turn 18 until later in the summer. There's been chatter involving him enrolling in the fall, but it looks now like Connecticut, West Virginia, Kentucky or Georgetown will get him."

Mitch McGary, 6-10, PF (Chesterton, Ind.)
Telep: "He may be college basketball's next Tyler Hansbrough; he's that intense an individual and a more diverse offensive player. McGary isn't doing much talking to colleges this summer, but schools are nonverbally communicating with him. Head coaches from Purdue, UConn, Florida, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Texas are omnipresent at his games."
DaJuan Coleman, 6-10, C (DeWitt, N.Y.)
Telep: "For three years, he's pretty much been on the ticket list for games at Syracuse. At one point, Jim Boeheim and the entire Syracuse staff was posted up watching him at the Peach Jam. Could a native of the Syracuse area really leave home? Kentucky is wedged in there with him and is threatening to throw a wrench into the plan to put him in orange."

No comments:

Post a Comment