Did Henderson drop in rankings pre or post Miami? Or has he stayed steady and Rivals is just an outlier?
2025 Men's Basketball Recruiting
- Thread starter DavidBenAkiva
- Start date
I'm not certain, but I think he started dropping before he decommitted from Duke and committed to Miami and then continued dropping after. Like I say, I could be wrong about that.
DBKilby
Member
I noticed the huge drop post decommitment. Services in the know said the jump shot wasn't going in leading up to him opening things up.
FWIW, I re-ran the RSCI without Rivals. The Duke related players rankings change to:
Cam Boozer #3 (with Rivals also #3)
Nik Khamenia #15 (w/ Rivals #16)
Cayden Boozer #20 (w/ Rivals #19)
Sebastian Wilkins #40 (w/ Rivals #48)
Dame Sarr #67 (w/ Rivals #81, but meaningless either way)
Shelton Henderson #27 (w/ Rivals #22)
So I guess it's not that big a difference, but it is a difference and I still I think it's a mistake to include Rivals.
Both 247 and On3 also publish "composite" rankings, that each seem to basically do the same thing as RSCI -- combine the rankings from 247 (in-house), On 3 (in-house), ESPN and Rivals.
Each claims that it does so through an undescribed "proprietary algorithm":
247: "The 247Sports Composite is a proprietary algorithm that compiles rankings and ratings listed in the public domain by the major media recruiting services….” https://247sports.com/season/2026-basketball/compositerecruitrankings/?InstitutionGroup=highschool
[Note: while the 247 site doesn't identify which "major media recruiting services" it is referring to, and Wikipedia says it is 247, ESPN and Rivals, according to this Reddit thread, after On3 started in 2021, 247 added On3's rankings to its "composite" -- while I can't find documentary evidence of that, logically it makes sense.
On3: "The On3 Industry Ranking is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services [On3, Rivals, 247, ESPN].” https://www.on3.com/news/on3-industry-ratings-rankings/
Neither discloses much about their purported proprietary algorithms, but this piece from Georgia's 247 site in 2020 does offer some further explanation, namely that 247's composite: (i) "converts average industry ranks and ratings into a linear composite index capping at 1.0000," (ii) gives "all major media services ... an equal percentage in the Composite Rating," and (iii) "equally weights this percentage among all services that participate in a ranking for that specific prospect." https://247sports.com/college/georg...t-247sports-rating-process-143324123/#1365356
Wikipedia also claims (again, I didn't see this as actually supported by the cite Wikipedia linked to but it strikes me as reasonable) that 247 "does not include [in its Composite] any athletes that do not yet have a recruiting profile on 247Sports in order to prevent spoofs from other sites."
So, at least 247's methodology may weed out some of the ways in which RSCI ends up being obviously "wrong." For instance, last year, 247's in-house ranking of Maluach was #4, and On 3's was #9, but ESPN and Rivals didn't rank him b/c he was an International. RSCI had him as #51 because it counted the non-ratings by ESPN and Rivals as 0, whereas the 247 Composite had him as #6.
The Reddit thread suggests that one other factor contributing to differences between the 247 and On3 Composites was due to how they converted Rivals ratings to the 1.000 scale, but there's no way exactly to know how they do that.
On Kedsey's point about inclusion of Rivals ratings, I would suspect that, with the recent acquisition of Rivals by On3 and the announced restructuring of the On3 business, soon enough both On3 and 247 will phase out inclusion of Rivals ratings and that going forward each of them (and RSCI) will just be averages (obscured in some form of purported "proprietary algorithms") of the three of ESPN, 247 and On3/Rivals.
Not to downplay your excellent work sleuthing this all out, Nugget, but I couldn't help but think of the following when reading about "proprietary algorithms":
Not sure about the limitations of this data, but here are Shelton's historic 247 composite rankings. The most recent composite ranking (from February) had him ranked 22 when he decommitted on April 17. His ranking when up a few spots to 19 when they updated that ranking later in April. The most recent update has him at 23. He's down from his peak (in January) at 16, but generally speaking he has been a low 20s prospect consistently for the last year or so. Doesn't seem like the decommit moved the needle from that baseline in any meaningful way.
My understanding of the merger is the Rivals brand will continue to exist and will handle high school rankings, while On3 will focus on the portal. So RSCI etc. will likely include a Rivals ranking but not an On3 one in the future (since there won't be an On3 high school ranking).
MChambers
Member
The Hokies add a big man from Dematha: https://hokiesports.com/news/2025/6/6/tech-boosts-frontcourt-with-6-11-solomon-davis-from-dematha
brevity
Member
Mike Young might just be warming up. In addition to 6-11 center Solomon Davis, Virginia Tech added 6-5 point guard Brett Freeman last week. And today, they received a contingent verbal commitment from Greek 6-8 forward Neoklis Avdalas.
The NBA Draft withdrawal deadline for international players is June 15. I was under the impression that any early entrant who wanted to play NCAA college hoops would have to withdraw by the May 30 deadline, even international players. I figured that was why Paul Mbiya withdrew at that time, so he could attend NC State. But maybe not?
brevity
Member
Jon Chepkevich answers my question, specifically mentioning Paul Mbiya and Neoklis Avdalas. International players who declared as early entrants for the NBA Draft can withdraw by the June 15 deadline and sign with an NCAA team.
The full text:
For what it’s worth, Paul Mbiya’s withdrawal prior to the NCAA’s deadline was likely not necessary to maintain his collegiate eligibility and join NC State next season.
There is precedent — most notably Zvonimir Ivišić having tested the 2022 and 2023 NBA Draft waters, withdrawing after the NCAA’s deadline each time, and subsequently enrolling at Kentucky.
Other similar previous cases include Tomislav Ivišić, Liutauras Lelevičius, Fedor Žugić, Saša Ciani, Mihailo Bošković, etc.
As such, other international early entrants considering the NCAA path (Avdalas, Henshall, etc.) should be in the clear on this piece of the eligibility equation so long as they withdraw by the NBA’s deadline.
brevity
Member
The NBA's loss is Virginia Tech's gain. Jonathan Givony reports that Neoklis Avdalas is withdrawing from the draft.
brevity
Member
It's now official: Neoklis Avdalas will play for the Hokies.
Hokies land elite international talent Neoklis Avdalas
Ranked as the No. 2 international newcomer in the 2025 class by 247Sports, Avdalas spent the past two seasons competing in Greece’s top-tier HEBA A1 league, first with AS Karditsas in 2023-24, and most recently with Peristeri BC. As an 18-year-old playing against seasoned professionals, he averaged 7.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 18.5 minutes per game across 26 contests. He recorded shooting splits of 43.6% from the field, 35.7% from deep and 70.3% at the line.
He was impressive at the 2025 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, Illinois, where Avdalas competed in two scrimmages alongside top international and college prospects. On day one, he recorded eight points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal in 21 minutes. The following day, Avdalas produced 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 23 minutes, showcasing his all-around impact.
If you're wondering, Duke's Dame Sarr tops that 247 Sports list of the 10 best incoming international players. (It's behind a paywall, but the headline mentions Sarr and UNC's Luka Bogavac, while this free SI article says that Avdalas is ranked only behind Sarr.)
MChambers
Member
I just want to point out that Avdalas goes by "Neo" (according to Mike Young), which I think is coolIt's now official: Neoklis Avdalas will play for the Hokies.
Hokies land elite international talent Neoklis Avdalas
hokiesports.com
Ranked as the No. 2 international newcomer in the 2025 class by 247Sports, Avdalas spent the past two seasons competing in Greece’s top-tier HEBA A1 league, first with AS Karditsas in 2023-24, and most recently with Peristeri BC. As an 18-year-old playing against seasoned professionals, he averaged 7.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 18.5 minutes per game across 26 contests. He recorded shooting splits of 43.6% from the field, 35.7% from deep and 70.3% at the line.
He was impressive at the 2025 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, Illinois, where Avdalas competed in two scrimmages alongside top international and college prospects. On day one, he recorded eight points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal in 21 minutes. The following day, Avdalas produced 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 23 minutes, showcasing his all-around impact.
If you're wondering, Duke's Dame Sarr tops that 247 Sports list of the 10 best incoming international players. (It's behind a paywall, but the headline mentions Sarr and UNC's Luka Bogavac, while this free SI article says that Avdalas is ranked only behind Sarr.)
JasonEvans
Host, The Duke Basketball Roundup
JasonEvans
Host, The Duke Basketball Roundup
NC State loses the African/Euro big man who was probably going to play a big role for them as their primary post player... altho we have seen that Lubin could do that as well. Wonder if this may be a reaction to Lubin coming to the Pack.
This is a really big get for the Hokies. A versatile 6'8" guard who projects as a first round pick next year and already has experience against high level competition.
brevity
Member
Or worse, a reaction to Will Wade promising Ven-Allen Lubin all that frontcourt playing time when he said "the other school was too dumb to play him".
It's probably neither. Paul Mbiya's decommitment from NC State coincided today with the Wolfpack's addition of former Wyoming center Scottie Ebube from the transfer portal. I couldn't tell you which is the action and which is the reaction.
I've read that Kansas and Oregon were pursuing Mbiya before he committed to NC State, but they've since re-secured Flory Bidunga (withdrew from the portal) and Nate Bittle (withdrew from the draft), respectively. No idea what happens next; I'm not even sure Mbiya is stateside at this point.
Highlights from last year: