The class of 2016 has been the talk of the grassroots of college basketball’s recruiting circuit for a solid year or two now, but for different reasons that exist now. It was a good spring and summer for the class as a whole, especially from the next tier — the guys that are not considered elite, but are still program changers.
The class of 2016 had been known for it’s elite talent early, including the trio of Harry Giles (No. 1 ESPN 100, No. 3 247Sports), Jayson Tatum (No. 2 ESPN 100, No. 14 247Sports), and Josh Jackson (No. 3 ESPN 100, No. 1 247Sports). Those three recruits have been heralded since their freshman year, and can almost be flipped flopped among any of the three spots. (Tatum’s ranking on 247’s board is confusing. He might not have “A+ athleticism,” but 14 has to be too low. Whatever.) All three players have their strengths and weaknesses, with outside shooting being a weakness for all three. That is normal for a high school recruit, though, and the three offer great strengths. They are different players in their own right. Ye
While those three brought most of the headlines, Dennis Smith Jr. (No. 4 ESPN 100, No. 6 247Sports), and Malik Monk (No. 5 ESPN 100, No. 2 247Sports) can easily be included in that conversation as well. They have been very impressive, enough to hold spots in the top six.
Then we get to the guys that ESPN and 247Sports start to split opinions on.
Guys like De’Aaron Fox (No. 10 ESPN 100, No. 4 247Sports), Kobi Simmons (No. 6 ESPN 100, No. 19 247Sports), Lonzo Ball (No. 11 ESPN 100, No. 5 247Sports), and Frank Jackson (No. 20 ESPN 100, No. 11 247Sports) are all point guards, but are almost interchangeable on ranking boards.
The forwards are in the same basic position. Miles Bridges (ESPN 100 No. 7, 247Sports No. 13), Edrice Adebayo (ESPN 100 No. 8, 247Sports No. 15), and Jonathan Isaac (ESPN 100 No. 12, 247Sports No. 10) are all similar players in terms of position and play style, and they can be switched in-and-out on the boards.
The centers have the biggest gap. Marques Bolden (ESPN 100 No. 15, 247Sports No. 39) is Exhibit A, as his ranking changes by 24 spots between the two servers. Udoka Azubuike (ESPN 100 No. 19, 247Sports No. 26) does not have as much of a gap, but there is not room for him to move up the board. The next agreed upon center (differences between power forwards and centers are apparently different for ESPN and 247Sports) is Isaac Humphries (ESPN 100 No. 49, 247Sports No. 52) is lowly ranked on both boards.
That is not a knock on the centers in this class, but a testament to how deep the class is overall. Size cannot be taught, so it usually gets the benefit of the doubt in rankings and get the higher spots. When it is repeatedly being passed over, it shows the quality of the players at the other four positions.
In fact, according to ESPN 100, there are zero centers in the top ten, and only one in the top 15. So, basically, there are at least ten players that are safely ranked ahead of the most over-ranked position in high school hoops, which means those ten players are pretty dang good.
The crazy part? It is almost impossible to agree on those ten players.
Most of everyone has Giles, Jackson, and Tatum in their top ten. Smith and Monk are also planted in that conversation.
From there, it gets blurry.
Fox seems to have played his way into a permanent spot, as he should get a boost in his ESPN ranking when their new numbers come out.
Bridges and Adebayo both have a top ten status at ESPN, but are just outside in 247Sports’ rankings. Both players are walking double doubles, but still cannot garnish unanimous top ten sports. Isaac is another guy in that group as well.
Is Kobi Simmons a top ten player, or is Lonzo Ball? Or both? Frank Jackson is not ranked in the top ten, but he’s hovering.
Markelle Fultz has to be a top ten player at this point in the process, and Rawle Alkins made a great impression along with Fultz at the Adidas Nations game.
Other stretch fours — Thon Maker, Wenyen Gabriel, and TJ Leaf — are also considerations, too.
ESPN does not rank non-American players, so Maker is not in there, but he’s ranked No. 8 on 247Sports. Gabriel (ESPN 100 No. 83, 247Sports No. 23) made the biggest stride during the last few weeks, and he will get a huge boost when ESPN comes with new rankings. Leaf (ESPN 100 No. 9, 247Sports No. 22) recently decommitted from Arizona, and is looking to reprove himself.
Two shooting guards with opposite games have been left under the radar in this article already. Terrance Ferguson (ESPN 100 No. 14, 247Sports No. 9) and Josh Langford (ESPN 100 No. 13, 247Sports No. 19) both can push for top ten consideration as well; Ferguson is much more athletically gifted, but Langford may be a better all-around player.
It’s pick your poison with this class. That was 18 non-centers that can make an argument to squeeze themselves into the top ten, but obviously not everyone can make it. While it was the star power at the top of the class that got everyone’s attention in the beginning, it is the mind boggling depth that this class will be remembered for. Not to mention there will be guys that make a huge impact in college or the NBA that we did not even talk about, whether they be a four-star player, or a gym rat that just cannot make anyone’s Top 100 list.
This is just not your normal recruiting class — the talent is overwhelming and has as much potential as any other class in recent memory. Get ready, college basketball (and recruiting) fans.
