Monday, May 12, 2008

ACC Ballers' ACC recruiting rankings 2008 (updated 7/1/08)

There are several talented freshmen getting ready to step foot on an ACC campus for the first time this summer. While in the past much of the talent seems to congregate on Tobacco Road this year the other ACC schools have struck gold.


1. Wake Forest (signed 3)

This class is loaded. They added a McDonald's All-American in Espn.com's #1 ranked Small Forward Al-Farouq Aminu. He should immediately contribute on the glass and add much needed size and skill to the small forward position. Here's a peak at the 6'8 Small Forward's athleticism:



Before his unfortunate passing Skip Prosser was also able to add two of the top 10 centers in the class of 2008 in Tony Woods (Rome, GA) and in-state product Ty Walker (Wilmington, NC). This is a huge addition to a front line that has already started to come on. Woods, a Jordan Classic Game participant this year is a big time athlete who should come in and immediately help down low.



2. North Carolina (4)

While there doesn't seem to be that spectacular player in this class it's still a pretty very good haul fort he Tar Heels. They were able to bring in Espn.com's #1 ranked Power Forward Tyler Zeller. The 6'11 Zeller is tremendously skilled and can run. He also has a big brother at Notre Dame so I expect he'll be more prepared for his first season than most freshman. Along with Zeller comes the #2 ranked power forward in the country in Richmond, Virginia's Ed Davis. Ed is the son of former NBA player Terry Davis. While somewhat undersized at 6'8 Davis has a number of great post moves that will help his adjustment from high school basketball. Lastly they picked up a highly regarded point guard in Larry Drew Jr. Drew is somewhat undersized but very skilled and can really pass the ball. Like Davis, his dad played in the NBA for a number of years. The last Tar Heel recruit to sign was 6'4 shooting Justin Watts from North Carolina. I don't have much information on him as he just recently signed.

3. Florida State (6)

This is a very important class for Florida State's coach Leonard Hamilton. The program needed an infusion of talent (esp. after the loss of frosh PF Julian Vaughan) after last year's disappointing season. Luckily for Seminoles coach he has some really good players that should contribute sooner rather than later. The headliner of the class is do it all SF Chris Singleton. The 6'8 210 pound power forward was a McDonald's All American who can run and get up to block shots. His skill set definitely plays into the up tempo style Hamilton's teams like to play. Here is a bit of what I'm talking about:



To go along with Chris, Hamilton signed 6'10 Center Xavier Gibson from Alabama. He is highly regarded and should be able to offset the loss of Vaughan. Another member of this class that I expect will help immediately is in-state point guard Luck Loucks. At 6'4 Luke is a big pass first point guard that will help him see over the defense. This could really be an advantage for the Seminoles because he's known to be a great passer. The last 3 players in this class are Espn.com's 44th ranked point guard Pierre Jordan, SG Deividas Dulkys from Nevads, and big Juco point guard Derwin Kitchen.

4. Duke (3)

Initially this new class of Blue Devils were not discussed as much because Coach K had only 2 commitments, the headliner being smooth 6-4 two guard Elliott Williams from Memphis, Tennessee. "E-mail" as he's known is a great ball handler, decent shooter, and a big time athlete. He can really get up and throw it down. Have a look for yourself.



While Williams was a huge get Coach K desperately needed big men in this class. Duke definitely suffered from having little to know height on it's roster and a coaching change at Stanford, coupled with a 2009 commitment, helped them land an Espn.com's top 100 player in 6'11 Power Forward Miles Plumlee (Arden, NC). The story here is that Miles had signed with Stanford in the early signing period and was set to play for Trent Johnson out West. In late February Miles' little brother (not in stature) Mason committed to Coach K for the 2009-2010 season. A month or so after the college basketball season had ended Johnson left Stanford for LSU and Mason was granted a release from his scholarship. Needing more help than Olek Czyz, the other PF Duke picked up in this class, Coach K swept in and garnered a commitment from Miles as well. This is a huge get for the Devils as Miles is a skilled 6'11 player that can get up and down the court and has a high basketball IQ.

5. Virginia (3)

This class is headed by Sylven Landesberg, a 6'6 McDonald's All-American two guard from Flushing, NY. A huge get for Coach Dave Leitao and his staff as Espn.com's 18th ranked player should be able to come in and score right away. Sylven put up big numbers in high school including a 44 point performance this past season against Helen Cox (La.) high school featuring the 6'10 Georgetown recruit Greg Monroe (espn.com #12 ranked player). He can score in a variety of ways in that he can shoot the 3, drive to the basket, and hit the pull up jumper. Look for yourself:



Coach Leitao also felt the need to add size in this class and landed two Espn top 150 Center prospects. The first of which was St. Louis, Missouri's John Brandenburg. Brandenburg (#12 ranked Center) has lots of potential and is a good passer. The second of which is the athletic 7'0 220lbs. Assane Sene (#17 ranked Center) from South Kent School in Connecticut by way of Senegal. Sene has only played one season of basketball in the US but everyone has taken notice of the potential. He went from being virtually unknown less than a year ago to being a highly recruited prospect as Uconn and Syracuse were in the mix.

6. Miami (2)

While Heath brings in a small class for 2008 it is not short on talent. The player everyone is raving about is 6'6 5 star SF DeQuan Jones from Wheeler, GA. DeQuan is a super athlete that can throw down with the best of them. A Scout.com evaluation says Dequan has a "body built to fly." I've personally never seen anyone fly but you're left to assume that Mr. Jones can get up with the best of em'.

Take a look for yourself:




and again:



The other recruit in this class is 6'9 262lbs. Center Reggie Johnson from North Carolina. He should provide yet another big body for the Canes'.

7. Georgia Tech (just one recruit, but he's really good)

Iman Shumpert (Oak Park, Ill.) is the only player Paul Hewitt signed in this class and he happens to be one of the top 20 players in the class of 2008. The 6'4 Combo Guard is very smooth and has a big time perimeter jump shot. The kid got an offer from UNC, that should say enough. I don't think he's a one and done type but he will be an upper echelon ACC guard at some point in his ACC career. He'll give Georgia Tech the scoring threat that they desperately needed during their infamous scoring droughts of last season.

8. Clemson (4)

Oliver Purnell signed 4 talented players in this years class that should really help the program a few years from now. While the recruiting services seem to be all over the board on these players the highlight of the class has to be Catalin Bacui, the 7'0 225lb Center from Romania. The foreign born Center played high school basketball in North Carolina and is known for his excellent passing ability and his mid range game.

Last season Clemson had two glaring issues. A) They couldn't shoot and B) They had trouble handling the ball on the perimeter. Well, the coaching staff realized this and picked up commitments from two very talented Guards in Scout.com's 6th ranked point guard Andre Young (Albany, GA) and 6'5 shooting guard Tanner Smith (Norcross, GA). Young should help Clemson control the ball a bit better and Tanner Smith should provide the Tigers with a shooting option outside of Terrence Oglesby. You might remember Oglesby (#22) yanking Maryland's tournament hopes away with this shot last season....



The other signee in this class is 6'6 Small forward Bryan Narcisse from South Carolina. Bryan is apparently very young for his class and was being looked at by several mid major and ivy league schools.

9. Maryland (2....Tyree Evans was denied admission. Augustus Gilchrist transferred.)

Gary Williams did a great job of actually acquiring some in-state talent for the third season in a row. Granted, they didn't pick up one of the several future NBA players that seem to leave the state each year but they have a solid class coming to College Park next season. The first get for the staff was 4-star two guard Sean Mosley from Baltimore. At 6-4 Mosley has good size to play in the backcourt and from what I'm hearing he is an excellent defender. The next addition to the class was 6-10 250lbs. center Steve Goins. While not highly ranked (Scout.com's #27 ranked Center for the 2008 Class), Goins received interest from South Florida, Kentucky, and a handful of other schools. Steve is actually really young for his class and with some better conditioning he could have a decent impact for the Terps.

10. North Carolina State (2)

The Wolfpack added two players at need positions for them. They had a rough year with injuries in the backcourt and attempted to address the issue by signing 6'5 two guard C.J. Williams and 6'2 point guard Julius Mays from Indiana. While these two are solid players they aren't regarded as players who will come in and start right away but they should contribute nonetheless. I can imagine Sidney Lowe, a former point guard himself, never again wants to be in the position he was in last year where he had to rely on a freshman who was really not ready to play in this conference.

11. Virginia Tech (3)

The Hokies have 3 players coming in and at least 2 should be able to help relatvely soon. 6'9 225lbs. Center Victor Davila is the headliner of the class and is considered one of the top 20 center prospects in the class of 2008. He can is good low post scorer and can rebound. The second player the Hokies have coming in is undersized shooting guard Kendall Durant (Washington, DC). Durant is a physical and aggressive guard that should contribute in time. The other player in this class is 6'11 260lbs project Gene Swindle from Florida. Gene is a big kid and should get better under Coach Greenberg's tutelage.

12. Boston College (3)

Coach Skinner needed to add some size to the Eagles' roster and he didn't get it done with this class. With the loss of Shamari Spears' the Eagles will probably struggle again in conference. On the bright side, Skinner brought in a few wing player that should definitely provide some scoring punch. The primary recruit in this is class is 6'3 two guard Reggie Jackson for Colorada. Jackson apparently has a tremendous wingspan and high level jumping ability. The other two additions are 6'5 two guard Dallas Elmore (Fort Collins, CO) and 6'7 245lbs. power forward Evan Ravenel (Brandon, FL)
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