Phantom Warrior
04-11-2013, 12:59 AM
For the NBE to ultimately succeed, the key is to attract quality recruits. For the class of 2013, that has not happened to the degree it needs to.
In looking at the current rankings of five of the seven services used by RSCI, there are only four players who currently rank in the Top 100 on all five sites, though that number could increase to five tomorrow if Rysheed Jordan commits to St. John's as Zagoria opined.
The other four are Brandon Austin (Providence) and Wilson, Johnson, and Burton of MU. That's it.
The last RSCI - from the summer - lists those five players as well as Kris Jenkins (Nova), Billy Garrett (DePaul), and Reggie Cameron (Georgetown). Josh Hart (Nova) made three individual Top 100 lists at #65, #90, and #91, but those were not enough to land him in the RSCI Top 100.
In fact, looking at last summer's RSCI Top 100 for this class, not a single NBE commit ranks among the Top 40. Not one. And the only one in the Top 50 is Jordan (#41).
The rest? Burton (#52), Johnson (#57), Austin (#58), Wilson (#60), Jenkins (#68), Garrett (#76), and Cameron (#83).
In all fairness, Aquille Carr, who was ranked #59 on RSCI, committed to Seton Hall but then decided not to go the college route (if memory serves).
The bottom line is this: programs in the NBE must be able to attract players that will keep the league playing at a level that will then attract even more recruits in subsequent years. Quality players want to play with - and against - other top quality players. Seven or eight Top 100 recruits among 10 teams just will not cut it, especially if none are viewed as top 40 and only one as Top 50.
One problem, of course, is that two of the newcomers - Butler and Creighton - despite their on-court success, have no history of attracting Top 100 recruits, while the third - Xavier - seems to get one about every two years.
Another problem is that Seton Hall and DePaul have generally not been able to land highly-rated high school players, and Providence lands only an occasional highly-regarded recruit.
That leaves MU, Nova, and GTown - as well as St. John's under Lavin - to do the heavy lifting in terms of the league's recruiting image. That's four schools out of 10, and one of them only for the last two or three years.
Unfortunately, neither the Wildcats nor the Hoyas pulled together the kind of recruiting class in '13 that their fans have grown reasonably accustomed to.
The 2014 class is crucial to the future of the NBE. It absolutely must create the image, the perception, that a couple of Top 20-25 recruits want to play in the NBE, that a handful of Top 40-50 recruits want to do the same, and that at least a dozen or so Top 100 high school stars want to cast their lot with the new league.
Nova, GTown, and MU have to continue to bring in talent, and St. John's has to pull in some New York/New Jersey kids. But Butler, Creighton, Xavier have to tap into the Top 100 kids as well.
I'm not pushing any panic buttons; it's way too early for that. But we need to get four or five NBE schools listed among the Top 25-30 recruiting classes on a consistent basis if we don't want to end up the equivalent of the A-10.
And I know that RSCI and individual rankings are often invalid, and rankings can end up being meaningless. but at this stage of the new league's existence, perception is more important than reality.
In looking at the current rankings of five of the seven services used by RSCI, there are only four players who currently rank in the Top 100 on all five sites, though that number could increase to five tomorrow if Rysheed Jordan commits to St. John's as Zagoria opined.
The other four are Brandon Austin (Providence) and Wilson, Johnson, and Burton of MU. That's it.
The last RSCI - from the summer - lists those five players as well as Kris Jenkins (Nova), Billy Garrett (DePaul), and Reggie Cameron (Georgetown). Josh Hart (Nova) made three individual Top 100 lists at #65, #90, and #91, but those were not enough to land him in the RSCI Top 100.
In fact, looking at last summer's RSCI Top 100 for this class, not a single NBE commit ranks among the Top 40. Not one. And the only one in the Top 50 is Jordan (#41).
The rest? Burton (#52), Johnson (#57), Austin (#58), Wilson (#60), Jenkins (#68), Garrett (#76), and Cameron (#83).
In all fairness, Aquille Carr, who was ranked #59 on RSCI, committed to Seton Hall but then decided not to go the college route (if memory serves).
The bottom line is this: programs in the NBE must be able to attract players that will keep the league playing at a level that will then attract even more recruits in subsequent years. Quality players want to play with - and against - other top quality players. Seven or eight Top 100 recruits among 10 teams just will not cut it, especially if none are viewed as top 40 and only one as Top 50.
One problem, of course, is that two of the newcomers - Butler and Creighton - despite their on-court success, have no history of attracting Top 100 recruits, while the third - Xavier - seems to get one about every two years.
Another problem is that Seton Hall and DePaul have generally not been able to land highly-rated high school players, and Providence lands only an occasional highly-regarded recruit.
That leaves MU, Nova, and GTown - as well as St. John's under Lavin - to do the heavy lifting in terms of the league's recruiting image. That's four schools out of 10, and one of them only for the last two or three years.
Unfortunately, neither the Wildcats nor the Hoyas pulled together the kind of recruiting class in '13 that their fans have grown reasonably accustomed to.
The 2014 class is crucial to the future of the NBE. It absolutely must create the image, the perception, that a couple of Top 20-25 recruits want to play in the NBE, that a handful of Top 40-50 recruits want to do the same, and that at least a dozen or so Top 100 high school stars want to cast their lot with the new league.
Nova, GTown, and MU have to continue to bring in talent, and St. John's has to pull in some New York/New Jersey kids. But Butler, Creighton, Xavier have to tap into the Top 100 kids as well.
I'm not pushing any panic buttons; it's way too early for that. But we need to get four or five NBE schools listed among the Top 25-30 recruiting classes on a consistent basis if we don't want to end up the equivalent of the A-10.
And I know that RSCI and individual rankings are often invalid, and rankings can end up being meaningless. but at this stage of the new league's existence, perception is more important than reality.