North Carolina's No. 1 in recruiting, too
Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 4:18 PM
Filed Under:
ACC, Recruiting
North Carolina is the heavy favorite to win it all this season. Get used to it.
Wednesday’s early signing period secured more riches for the nation’s No. 1 team. Recruiting sites Scout.com and Rivals.com both gave the Tar Heels the top classes for 2009, which features an elite prospect in power forward John Henson.
True, several other top recruits haven’t committed to a school yet, but the Heels are bringing in an elite class no matter who everyone else gets.
The last time UNC snagged the top recruiting class? Two years ago, which featured guards Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington.
Of course, the Heels won’t be as dominant as the last two years. UNC loses at least four players after this season – seniors Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, Marcus Ginyard and Bobby Frasor – and could potentially lose Lawson and Ellington as well.
Still, Roy Williams has re-stocked the roster with NBA talent. Don’t expect a huge dropoff.
The other schools who snagged star classes are the usual suspects.
Texas was a consensus No. 2 (two elite prospects and another top 50 player), while Villanova, Florida, Kansas and Indiana were rated in the top seven by both Rivals and Scout. (Duke was No. 5 in Scout, but 11th in Rivals.)
Some not-so-usual suspects in the top 25 were UAB (thanks to elite recruit DeMarcus Cousins) and Washington (Abdul Gaddy’s switch from Arizona boosted the Huskies).
So who’s left? Here’s a rundown.
For some historical perspective on recruits, check out Dave Telep’s story from Scout.com. It’s interesting that no top prospect this century has won a national title (by Scout’s rankings) and that the Pac-10 has beaten the ACC for the most top 10 players since 2006.
