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NBA Stars & past recruiting rankings

Mar 5, 2006
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I thought this was interesting:

2003 rivals class. Of course, Lebron James was #1, Chris Paul was #14....but Paul Millsap was #130! UK Players Sheray Thomas (112), Bobby Perry (115), Shagari Alleyne (80) were all ranked ahead of him.

2004 - Dwight Howard #1, Joakim Noah #75, Rodney Stuckey #131. UK Players - Joe Crawford (9), Randolph Morris (10), Rajon Rondo (25)

2005 - Gerald Green #1, Wesley Matthews #85. UK - Jared Carter #113.

2006 - Greg Oden #1, Ryan Anderson #98. UK - Derrick Jasper (38), Jodie Meeks (39), Perry Stevenson (63)

2007 - Michael Beasley #1, Evan Turner #49, Jeff Teague #57, Lavoy Allen #142. UK - Pattrick Paterson (17), Alex Legion (44), A.J. Stewart (149).

2008 - B.J. Mullins #1, Klay Thompson #51, Isaiah Thomas #92, Reggie Jackson #115, Draymond Green #122, UK - Deandre Liggins (28), Darius Miller (42),

Just a reminder during this crazy recruiting season: 1. The best scouts don't always get it right. 2. Man, have we been spoiled since Coach Cal arrived! GBB
 
You make it sound more dramatic than it actually is. Of the 20 most valuable players this season by PER, 8 were rated in the top 10 of their HS class (and Chris Paul may have been 14 by Rivals, but his consensus rating was 6), and another 3 were Mickey D AA's. 3 are foreigners (both Gasols and Nikola Vucevic).

There are simply things you can't scout, something that holds true in every sport ever invented. You can't look at Steph Curry when he's a smallish, skinny, not particularly athletic 18 year old and know that 7 years later he's not only going to be the greatest shooter anyone has ever seen (because lots and lots and lots of guys can go to the gym and drain jumpers in practice), but also a basketball genius of sorts. This is because you can't know a players' capacity to keep improving. You could watch Michael Jordan at 18 and know that he had huge potential. If you had said that he was going to dominate an entire era, you would have sounded wildly unrealistic
 
You also gotta think about the coaching some of these players got. If you are a player wanting to make the NBA, this is where you want to make the best college decision possible.
 
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