2013 Basketball Recruiting Thread

[CDu]

I wonder where DraftExpress gets their data. It seems close, but not exactly the same. Matt Jones, for example, is listed on DraftExpress as #30 but on the actual RSCI website as #34.

On an even weirder note, Draftexpress has Parker at #5 (behind both Harrison twins). RSCI has Parker at #3.

Still, I think it's close enough that, for discussion's sake, either is applicable. I mean, whether Thornton was #130 or #150, he clearly wasn't in the top-100. And whether Jones is #30 or #35, he's not in the top-25.

[airowe]

Not to be too much of a company man, but 247Sports does composite rankings as well. Here they are for 2013: http://247sports.com/Season/2013-Bas...oup=HighSchool

Formula explained here: http://247sports.com/Article/247Rati...lanation-81574

[Bluedog]

I wonder where DraftExpress gets their data. It seems close, but not exactly the same. Matt Jones, for example, is listed on DraftExpress as #30 but on the actual RSCI website as #34.

"RSCIhoops.com developed the Recruiting Services Consensus Index. Our RSCI data differs from theirs in that we don't penalize 5th year high school players who don't appear in some rankings due to some services not considering them part of the same class."

draftexpress.com/RSCI

[Kedsy]

Not to be too much of a company man, but 247Sports does composite rankings as well. Here they are for 2013: http://247sports.com/Season/2013-Bas...oup=HighSchool

Formula explained here: http://247sports.com/Article/247Rati...lanation-81574

This year, RSCI included 247Sports as part of its composite.

[airowe]

This year, RSCI included 247Sports as part of its composite.

I saw that, pretty cool. The 247Composite also factors in 247Sports as well. It's interesting to see how they differ.

[Steven43]

On an even weirder note, Draftexpress has Parker at #5 (behind both Harrison twins). RSCI has Parker at #3.

Still, I think it's close enough that, for discussion's sake, either is applicable. I mean, whether Thornton was #130 or #150, he clearly wasn't in the top-100. And whether Jones is #30 or #35, he's not in the top-25.

Does anyone know if the general consensus among recruitniks and NBA scouts is that Jabari Parker is no longer the 'Best High School Player Since Lebron James' that he was widely pereived to be before his injury? To go from that super-lofty perception to not being thought of as the best or even second-best player in his own class is a definite fall in status. Some services even put him as low as fifth. Yes, that is still a very high ranking, but it puts him within a group of elite players rather than above the group. I wonder if his injury has robbed him of a portion of what made him special, if he was perhaps just a bit overrated to begin with, or maybe (and this is, of course, what I hope) he is still recovering from the injury and will soon show everyone that he is as good or better than Andrew Wiggins?

[CDu]

Does anyone know if the general consensus among recruitniks and NBA scouts is that Jabari Parker is no longer the 'Best High School Player Since Lebron James' that he was widely pereived to be before his injury? To go from that super-lofty perception to not being thought of as the best or even second-best player in his own class is a definite fall in status. Some services even put him as low as fifth. Yes, that is still a very high ranking, but it puts him within a group of elite players rather than above the group. I wonder if his injury has robbed him of a portion of what made him special, if he was perhaps just a bit overrated to begin with, or maybe (and this is, of course, what I hope) he is still recovering from the injury and will soon show everyone that he is as good or better than Andrew Wiggins?

I don't know that the "best high school player since LeBron" was necessarily ever accurate. I mean, for a couple of years now Wiggins has widely been considered the better prospect (even before the foot injury to Parker). It's just that he was in the 2014 class until this year.

I think the "best high school player since LeBron" was really more of a Sports Illustrated invention, and I suspect that a good deal of it was the Mormon angle. I mean, he's a REALLY good prospect, and winning 4 straight Illiniois state titles is really impressive. But I don't know that he's necessarily any greater a prospect (coming out of high school) than, say, Mayo, Love, Durant, Barnes, and Oden were thought to be.

The injury certainly hurt him this year. Even still, he was always neck and neck with Randle, and he was always behind Wiggins (it was just a matter of whether Wiggins was or wasn't in this class). Wiggins bumped him to 2nd, and the injury probably dropped him from 2nd to 3rd (and his struggles in the All Star games probably dropped him to 5th in a few places).

[bluedev_92]

A little off topic perhaps, but who would you rather have coming to Duke - Parker or Wiggins? I would rather have Parker - no question. When you talk about a guy who has all of the qualities a coach/team could look for - attitude, work ethic, athleticism, drive, decision making, team player, etc., Parker has them all. I don't care what the services say - their focus, in my opinion, is too narrow.

[Ichabod Drain]

A little off topic perhaps, but who would you rather have coming to Duke - Parker or Wiggins? I would rather have Parker - no question. When you talk about a guy who has all of the qualities a coach/team could look for - attitude, work ethic, athleticism, drive, decision making, team player, etc., Parker has them all. I don't care what the services say - their focus, in my opinion, is too narrow.

I agree with you that I would rather have Parker and think he will be very good for us next year. At the same time I haven't seen or heard anything to suggest that Wiggins doesn't have these same traits as well.

What I have seen and heard is that Parkers game is more developed than Wiggins'. Wiggins relies heavily on his athleticism to score and his shooting is spotty. In time if he develops his game his ceiling is very high. But next year, I think Parker will be the better player.

Also note Randle is the RSCI #2 player ahead of Parker as well.

[UrinalCake]

The other reason to prefer Parker over Wiggins is that he can play the 4 or even the 5, where as Wiggins as I understand is more of a 2/3, where we already have a ton of depth. So adding Wiggins to our roster would require displacing someone else and would give us less of a marginal gain. On that vein, you could argue that Randle would be more valuable to us than either Parker or Wiggins due to positional need. But Im glad we got Parker, he's going to be a great one and he really fits the Duke mold.

[CDu]

The other reason to prefer Parker over Wiggins is that he can play the 4 or even the 5, where as Wiggins as I understand is more of a 2/3, where we already have a ton of depth. So adding Wiggins to our roster would require displacing someone else and would give us less of a marginal gain. On that vein, you could argue that Randle would be more valuable to us than either Parker or Wiggins due to positional need. But Im glad we got Parker, he's going to be a great one and he really fits the Duke mold.

I don't think there's any doubt that Parker is a better fit for Duke next year than Wiggins would be. And I believe this for 3 reasons:
1. Parker is a college PF who can possibly C; Wiggins is a wing. We are nothing if not deep and talented at wing, while we're shorthanded a bit inside.
2. Parker is probably a bit further along in his development; Wiggins is still more untapped potential.
3. Parker has shown he can do the little things to win (4 state titles); Wiggins has been more susceptible to drifting when he doesn't have the ball.

Wiggins is almost certainly going to be a terrific player next year for Kansas. But he's a better fit there than he would be at Duke.

[fgb]

I mean, for a couple of years now Wiggins has widely been considered the better prospect (even before the foot injury to Parker). It's just that he was in the 2014 class until this year.

so before wiggins reclassified to the class of 2013, parker was the best high school player since lebron, and wiggins was the best high school player since jabari.

[CDu]

so before wiggins reclassified to the class of 2013, parker was the best high school player since lebron, and wiggins was the best high school player since jabari.

I don't think that's quite right. Since Wiggins was considered a better prospect than Parker, Wiggins was always the best high school player since LeBron. He just wasn't as hyped as early as Parker was.

[Kedsy]

I don't think that's quite right. Since Wiggins was considered a better prospect than Parker, Wiggins was always the best high school player since LeBron. He just wasn't as hyped as early as Parker was.

Dwight Howard, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, John Wall, Anthony Davis and a lot of other amazing high school players all came after LeBron. I don't see how either Wiggins or Parker are the best anything since LeBron.

[CDu]

Dwight Howard, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, John Wall, Anthony Davis and a lot of other amazing high school players all came after LeBron. I don't see how either Wiggins or Parker are the best anything since LeBron.

I agree. I was simply discussing the argument between the two players (i.e., it's not appropriate to say that Wiggins is the best since Parker, since Wiggins is considered the better prospect). But yes, as I said earlier, the "best high school player since LeBron" argument with regard to Parker was never really accurate, and was just an SI-manufactured argument.

[BD80]

I agree. I was simply discussing the argument between the two players (i.e., it's not appropriate to say that Wiggins is the best since Parker, since Wiggins is considered the better prospect). But yes, as I said earlier, the "best high school player since LeBron" argument with regard to Parker was never really accurate, and was just an SI-manufactured argument.

Using a formula involving recruiting rankings, state championships won, and academic achievement, I'd say Parker is easily the best high school player since LeBron. Arguably of all time.

[Olympic Fan]

This may have already been mentioned, but very recently Dale Telep -- he sees more of these guys than any of us -- said that while Wiggins is a better long-term prospect, because of his super athleticism, he thinks Parker will be a better player next season because he has a more mature game.

If he's right, then Duke got the best of the deal -- since both are probably one-year college players (although if either is going to stay two years, it's more likely to be Parker).

[TexHawk]

This may have already been mentioned, but very recently Dale Telep -- he sees more of these guys than any of us -- said that while Wiggins is a better long-term prospect, because of his super athleticism, he thinks Parker will be a better player next season because he has a more mature game.

If he's right, then Duke got the best of the deal -- since both are probably one-year college players (although if either is going to stay two years, it's more likely to be Parker).

Was there a "deal" here? Parker never really considered KU seriously, same with Wiggins and Duke (I think).

Backtracking a few posts here... But Wiggins did not fill a pressing need for KU on the court this season, as the 2/3 positions were already filled with good (albeit young) players. Of course, his presence obviously makes that position a whole lot stronger, and likely puts KU in the national title hunt. But if we were to have this conversation in January, most KU fans would have taken Julius Randle over Wiggins 10 out of 10 times, as a big man to rebound and take pressure off of Perry Ellis was the more prevalent concern. With Black in the fold, that big man gap has been filled (not totally, but hopefully enough).

Of course, I don't want to send Wiggins back, by any means. But his presence comes at a cost. It will take minutes from Brannen Green (top 30ish recruit) and Andrew White (who may redshirt now). I am willing to accept that though, since I'd argue Wiggins at KU means more for the long-term future of the program than his one season on the court*, unless he wins a national championship, of course.

* See here.

[UrinalCake]

So there is chatter on twitter and other boards that Goodluck Okonoboh may reclassify from 2014 to 2013 (he was originally in the class of 2013 but last fall reclassified to 2014). As discussed in the 2014 recruiting thread, he just received an offer from Duke. I hope this isn't premature speculation but there appears to be an outside chance that he could play for us THIS FALL. As a 6'9 shot blocker, could he be exactly what we need?

[jipops]

So there is chatter on twitter and other boards that Goodluck Okonoboh may reclassify from 2014 to 2013 (he was originally in the class of 2013 but last fall reclassified to 2014). As discussed in the 2014 recruiting thread, he just received an offer from Duke. I hope this isn't premature speculation but there appears to be an outside chance that he could play for us THIS FALL. As a 6'9 shot blocker, could he be exactly what we need?

Didn't he reclassify from 13 to 14 last year? Would seem strange to change his mind now wouldn't it?