Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings 5-15-11
The Michigan commitment train never stops. Back to the front page we go! Action since last rankings:
5-9-11 Penn State gains commitment from Brian Gaia.
5-12-11 Michigan gains commitment from Matt Godin. Illinois gains commitment from Jason Robertson.
Big Ten+ Recruiting Class Rankings | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | School | # Commits | Rivals Avg | Scout Avg | ESPN Watchlist | 24/7 Avg |
1 | Michigan | 11 | 2.09 | 3.55 | 4 | 3.00 |
2 | Ohio State | 6 | 3.00 | 4.00 | 3 | 3.50 |
3 | Notre Dame | 6 | 2.50 | 3.50 | 2 | 2.67 |
4 | Penn State | 7 | 2.71 | 3.14 | 3 | 3.17 |
5 | Wisconsin | 4 | 3.75 | 3.75 | 3 | 4.00 |
6 | Minnesota | 3 | 2.00 | 3.00 | 1 | 2.33 |
7 | Michigan State | 4 | 1.00 | 2.50 | 1 | 1.50 |
8 | Northwestern | 3 | 1.67 | 3.00 | 0 | 1.67 |
9 | Nebraska | 2 | 1.00 | 3.00 | 1 | 2.50 |
10 | Illinois | 2 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 0 | 1.00 |
11 | Purdue | 1 | 0 | 1.00 | 0 | 3.00 |
12 | Iowa | 1 | 0 | 1.00 | 0 | 1.00 |
13 | Indiana | 0 | - | - | - | - |
Rivals has released their initial rankings, so instead of watchlist guys, I'm going on the 5-star system for them. Remember, currently unranked prospects by any service receive 1 star.
Full data after the jump.
#1 Michigan - 11 Commits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Royce Jenkins-Stone | LB | MI | 4 | 4 | 150* | 4 |
James Ross | LB | MI | 4 | 4 | 150* | 4 |
Joe Bolden | LB | OH | 4 | 4 | 150* | 4 |
Pharaoh Brown | DE | OH | 4 | 3 | NR | 4 |
Devin Funchess | TE | MI | NR | 4 | 150* | 4 |
Mario Ojemudia | DE | MI | NR | 4 | NR | 3 |
Kaleb Ringer | LB | OH | NR | 4 | NR | NR |
Matt Godin | DE | MI | NR | 3 | NR | 4 |
Ben Braden | OL | MI | NR | 3 | NR | 3 |
Caleb Stacey | OL | OH | NR | 3 | NR | NR |
AJ Williams | TE | OH | NR | 3 | NR | NR |
Michigan continues to dominate in terms of sheer volume. The averages will look even better once Rivals starts ranking more 3-stars.
#2 Ohio State - 6 Commits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Bri'onte Dunn | RB | OH | 4 | 5 | 150* | 4 |
Kyle Kalis | OL | OH | 4 | 5 | 150* | 4 |
Joshua Perry | LB | OH | 4 | 4 | 150* | 4 |
Warren Ball | RB | OH | 4 | 4 | NR | 4 |
Jacoby Boren | OL | OH | NR | 3 | NR | 4 |
Frank Epitropoulos | WR | OH | NR | 3 | NR | NR |
Still nothing new for OSU. I'd be surprised if they get any non-local commits until the NCAA verdict comes out.
#3 Notre Dame - 6 Commits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Ronald Darby | CB | MD | 4 | 5 | 150* | 4 |
Tee Shepard | CB | CA | 4 | 4 | 150* | 4 |
Taylor Decker | OL | OH | 4 | 4 | NR | NR |
Nick Baratti | S | TX | NR | 4 | NR | 3 |
Justin Ferguson | WR | OH | NR | 3 | 150* | 3 |
Scott Daly | LS | IL | NR | NR | NR | NR |
No change for ND.
#4 Penn State - 7 Commits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Jarron Jones | DT | NY | 4 | 5 | 150* | 5 |
Camren Williams | LB | MA | 4 | 4 | 150* | 4 |
Brent Wilkerson | DE | MD | 4 | 3 | NR | 4 |
Jamil Pollard | DT | NJ | 4 | 3 | NR | NR |
Brian Gaia | OL | MD | NR | 3 | 150* | NR |
Anthony Stanko | OL | OH | NR | 3 | NR | 4 |
Jesse James | TE | PA | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Nittany Lions pick up a middle-of-the-pack lineman in Brian Gaia.
#5 Wisconsin - 4 Commits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Dan Voltz | OL | IL | 4 | 4 | 150* | 4 |
Vince Biegel | LB | WI | 4 | 4 | 150* | 4 |
Vonte Jackson | RB | WI | 4 | 3 | NR | 4 |
Bart Houston | QB | CA | 3 | 4 | 150* | 4 |
No change for Wisconsin.
#6 Minnesota - 3 Commits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Andre McDonald | WR | MN | 4 | 3 | 150* | 3 |
Philip Nelson | QB | MN | NR | 3 | NR | 3 |
Maxx Williams | TE | MN | NR | 3 | NR | NR |
Minnesota actually has a Rivals 4-star(!).
#7 Michigan State - 4 Commits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Benny McGowan | OL | OH | NR | 3 | 150* | NR |
Riley Bullough | LB | MI | NR | 3 | NR | 3 |
Zach Higgins | OL | OH | NR | 3 | NR | NR |
Evan Jones | TE | OH | NR | NR | NR | NR |
No change for MSU.
#8 Northwestern - 3 Commits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Malin Jones | RB | IL | 3 | 3 | NR | 3 |
Kenton Playko | OL | OH | NR | 3 | NR | NR |
Ian Park | OL | PA | NR | 3 | NR | NR |
No change for Northwestern.
#9 Nebraska - 2 Commits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Michael Rose | LB | MO | NR | 3 | 150* | NR |
Jordan Westerkamp | WR | IL | NR | 3 | NR | 4 |
Highly-rated wideout Jordan Westerkamp picks the Huskers.
#10 Illinois - 2 Commits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Elliot Faerber | WR | KS | NR | 3 | NR | NR |
Jason Richardson | WR | IL | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Illini pick up another wideout.
#11 Purdue - 1 Commit | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Jordan Shine | S | IN | NR | NR | NR | 3 |
24/7 Sports gives Shine a 3-star rating.
#12 Iowa - 1 Commit | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 |
Mitch Keppy | OL | IL | NR | NR | NR | NR |
No change for Iowa.
Indiana is the reverse-champion this year, taking the longest to receive any commitments.
how PSU had such a slow developing class last year but seem on top of things this year. If we picked up a "middle-of-the-pack" OL would it be described as that or as "a solid pick up at a huge point of need"? Just sayin.
Nice stream of consciousness post. /s
I do think PSU just had an unusual recruiting cycle last year; I wouldn't be surprised to see them get back to stronger, more typical PSU classes this season and next.
As for the middle-of-the-pack OL comment, I think that is pretty much how you would describe a recruit that is currently unranked by two services, receives a three star rating from rivals, and ESPN has on a watchlist, no?
Baratti is supposed to become a 4 star once rivals gets more tape on him
Jimmy Claussen and Brady Quinn still suck...no more tape needed.
do you just post the first thing that pops into your head?
It's always going to be difficult to pull top guys as long as OSU stays successful. Even if Tressel is fired, OSU needs to get some scholarship penalties to deplete their ranks or they need to have a couple of years where the top recruits don't pan out too well. If Braxton Miller ends up just being okay, Michigan would really benefit--as that's the obvious hole going forward at OSU.
...for each Michigan commit is accurate (6 4*, 5 3*), the Scouts average is 3.55, not 3.27.
Whoops, didn't update the averages after the recent commitment.
I'm surprised that Wisconsin is hauling in a near 4 star average class. All their recruits to date are highly rated. What's changed?
<br>
<br>Don't remember them getting elite talent in abundance
Maybe because they won the Big Ten last year?
but MSU proves otherwise. Unless they are an outlier - which I can believe
MSU was obviously the worst of the tri-Champions though.
In the 3 losses of the co-champions this year, MSU's was the worst and to the worst team. (By the same logic Spartans were using to say MSU should go to the Rose Bowl because MSU was better than Wisco, Minnesota was a better team than Iowa, who was a much better team than MSU. Logic ain't their strong suit.) Aside from that, they struggled to beat a middle-of-the-road ND team, a middle-of-the-road NU team, a lousy Purdue team, and a middle-of-the-road PSU team. Not the glory that Spartan fans think it is. It's an accomplishment, but most of those games could've gone either way, and left them 7-6 like we were. Also, they got demolished in their bowl game, and OSU won and Wisco barely lost.
It may be that MSU is viewed by the recruits as the lesser of the tri-champs, but I suspect that MSU's poorer recruiting results so far are a product of how Hoke and Company are beating their butts with in-state recruiting.
It was only a matter of time. They have a solid program that produces many pros.
Thier B10 title does seem to have raised their national profile more than it did for MSU. Witness all the primetime games ABC and ESPN gave them. Plus they have a smallish class (at least relative to UM) so far. Maybe they were focusing on their top recruits and as the summer and the season goes on, they'll leaven the class with a bunch of 3-stars.
We are still in the hunt for Brionte Dunn and Jarron Jones from PSU is planning an Ann Arbor visit. Imagine the siesmic shift flipping those guys would cause to this year's recruiting.
I've read a lot about Dunn's recruitment, but haven't heard much about Jones'. What's the story there? Is he visiting/allowing visits from other teams like Brionte is?
I believe he's a soft verbal to PSU and has insisted on taking visits to schools like Michigan.
it is also fair since every team is subject to the same "penalty."
I just think we're heading into a very exciting era of M Football, Hoke is only going to dominate even more as he settles into his position and lays the groundwork. All the relationship building is gonna add to that domination with big time recruiting classes, the way it should be in AA.
I can't wait for the season to start, TSIO we're coming for you, you friggin' cheaters!!!
It'll be interesting to watch how each scouting service changes the recruits standings as the summer and fall wear on. Ben Braden went from an average 3star on Scout initially to a 79 rated prospect on ESPN in line with low 4 star prospects. Jaleel Johnson was virtually unranked at DT but after the Army Combine performance his numbers across the board will go up. Kaleb Ringer was a 3 star but is being scouted for the Army All American Game now. Naturally Rivals comes along and torpedos every midwest recruit they can get their hands on, but Lemmings, Scout, 247, and ESPN have very high marks for our commits and likely prospects. I'm hoping, of course, that Hokes first full class rates higher than that school in ohio but it'll probably stay a close race until the 2011 season is well underway. Kids like James Ross and Jordan Diamond will likely be solid 5 stars as time goes by but we've got a good number of borderline 4+star kids who could move up to 5 in time. Some services rate JJ Denman, Ron Thompson, Aaron Burbridge, Greg Garmon, Brionte Dunn, Sheldon Day, Chris Wormley, Jenkins-Stone, Kaleb Ringer, Wayne Morgan, and Terry Richardson as top prospects or in the 5 star range but none of them can agree on many of them, and several may or may not commit to Michigan anyways. Depending on the kids and the services rankings we could land a top 10 class this year.
1 Star seems like the wrong default. 90% of those guys are going to be 3 stars. using 1 makes the calculus top heavy.
I don't think we should be worrying about averages right now.
Are you serious? Tim acknowledges that the rankings are incomplete right now and that the averages are off as a result. A lot of people are making a big deal about it for no reason. When the rankings are finished, these averages will be back up to par. I don't have any problems with Tim's rankings/averages.
For what it's worth, here are the averages of the players we offered but have lost to other Big10/ND teams:
Ohio St-Scout-Rivals
RB Dunn-5-4
OL Kalis-5-4
=>5/4 average
ND-Scout-Rivals
RB Darby-4/4
OL Decker-4/4
=>4/4 average
PSU-Scout-Rivals
DE Wilkerson-3/4
DT Jones-5/4
LB Williams-4/4
=>4/4 average
Wisc-Scout-Rivals
LB Biegel-4/4
=>4/4 Average
It's fun to see we've landed the kids that sparty wanted and that we're competing for Brionte Dunn but I hope our class isn't locked in before these kids have their senior year. They still have a lot of developement time that they need. Wormley looked like the next Jadaveon Clouney as a sophomore but he's an early bloomer and has put on the wrong kind of weight as a junior and seems slower than before, who knows how he'll be in a year, while unknown or lesser regarded prospects like Vincent Valentine constantly talk about improving their speed, technique, and strength and as a senior could look like the better player. I love this early enthusiasm from the recruits but they've got a long way to go still and there are quite a few diamonds in the rough worth looking at. Ndamukong Suh was the 6th or 7th rated DT in high school because he wasn't as big as some other DT's, he was all motor, though.
This is obviously great news, but I wonder if it's a little early too draw any conclusions. Obviously, Notre Dame, Penn State and Wisconsin will fill out their classes, presumably with guys in the same rankings range they have now (though I suspect based on the past that Wisky will be 3-star heavy). Ohio State's level will depend, I assume, on what the NCAA does.
It looks to me that if we keep recruiting as we are now (roughly an even mix of 3s and 4s) we'll probably end up behind Notre Dame and possibly OSU, but likely ahead of Penn State.
Does anyone know why Nebraska is starting so slow? Is this typical for how they recruit?
Moreso than the rating gurus. I like every single kid on the UM list so far and do we ever need each and every one of them.
Comments