Hereâs the latest recruiting article from Thad âthe Mummyâ Mumau. Thadâs column runs over at smartnewsnc.com , and he graciously allows us to reprint it here. Thanks Thad!
The Atlantic Coast Conference has two of the nationâs top 10 and four of the top 20 basketball recruiting classes for the early signing period.
Our top 20 results from averaging the rankings of Scout.com, Rivals.com and prepstars.com.
UCLA has the No. 1 class after receiving two of three first-place rankings, with Georgetown No. 2. Wake Forest, which got the other first-place vote, comes in at No. 3, followed by Ohio State and Louisville.
Arizona is No. 6, with North Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Alabama rounding out the top 10. Florida State is No. 15 and Duke is 19th.
Here are the top 20 classes in the country, with the number of signees in parentheses. (Player rankings according to prepstars.com.)
1. UCLA (4) â All four are among the top 25 prospects in the nation, led by No. 12 Jrue Holiday.
2. GEORGETOWN (4) â No. 1 prospect Greg Monroe heads a quartet of top-100 kids.
3. WAKE FOREST (3) â All three are 6-8 and taller and all three are in the top 75, with No. 11 Al-Farouq Aminu the prime catch.
4. OHIO STATE (4) â Three in the top 100; No. 9 William Buford the biggest name.
5. LOUISVILLE (4) â No. 4 Samardo Samuels leads foursome of top-100 players.
6. ARIZONA (4) â Three of the additions are in the top 25, led by No. 2 Brandon Jennings.
7. NORTH CAROLINA (3) â Big men Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller are both ranked in the top 10.
8. FLORIDA (5) â Four are ranked in the top 100, with 6-10 Kenneth Kadji at No. 38 and 6-9 Eloy Vargas No. 40.
9. KANSAS (5) â No. 27 Travis Releford is best of the bunch that has one other top-100 prospect and one juco.
10. ALABAMA (3) â JaMychal Green at No. 17 heads this trio.
11. WASHINGTON (4) â All four are in the top 80, led by No. 47 Elston Turner.
12. OREGON (5) â Two are in the top 100, headed by No. 39 Michael Dunigan.
13. MISSISSIPPI STATE (3) â A trio ranked in the top 56, including No. 29 Scotty Hopson No. 36 Romero Osby.
14. KENTUCKY (2) â High quality makes up for low quantity with No. 30 DeAndre Liggins and No. 34 Darius Miller.
15. FLORIDA STATE (5) â No. 13 Chris Singleton is the headliner among three top-100 additions.
16. SOUTHERN CAL (4) â Demar DeRozan is ranked No. 5.
17. MICHIGAN STATE (3) â Delvon Roe is No. 6.
18. INDIANA (4) â No. 7 Devin Ebanks is the best of this foursome.
19. DUKE (2) â No. 16 Elliot Williams and No. 66 Olek Czyz.
20. LSU (4) â JâMison Morgan is No. 52. He is also 6-10.
Thad Mumau may be reached at thadmumau@smartnewsnc.com.