Argument can be made on paper Cats top 5-6 just as talented as this yr.

[KWilt43atbuzz]

skal #1
poy #9
briscoe #10
murray #10
Thats 4 players in their respective classes top 10.

 

[JonathanW]

HS class rankings don't mean much.
But, the OP is right about the top 5-6. Last year's team was great because their was little drop off to the 2nd 5.

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

I think Murray is better than advertised.
The key will be Poy.
If he can come back strong from that knee surgury watch out!

 

[Kaizer Sosay]

I honestly think we will have a better back court than last year. More consistency. I love the prospect of Ulis running the team for an entire game. He is a true PG...a facilitator first and foremost. I also think we will shoot the 3 better because I think Ulis and Briscoe will be more selective.

The big drop off will be in the paint. Losing KAT is a swift punch in the nads. Gonna be hard to replace his offensive production and the pressure he took off of everyone else due to the double teams he attracted. And everyone seems to be taking pot shots at WCS on RR lately but the dude was a presence in the paint. Led the team in steals and 2nd in blocked shots.

Gonna be hard to replace those two...real hard. Hopefully some of the new dudes can produce early and often and Poythress is gonna need to stay healthy. Need him in a big way this year as a leader on both ends of the court...especially on the boards.

 

[brianpoe]

skal #1
poy #9
briscoe #10
murray #10
Thats 4 players in their respective classes top 10.

Has Murray's rating been posted somewhere?

Last year's probably wins on paper by recruiting points...

Townes #5
Harrison #5
Harrison #7
Dakari #9 (#7 on ESPN)
Lyles #13 (#6 on ESPN)

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Thats the thing overlooked from last year. We were legitimately 12 players deep with Poythress. We easily had the best roster 1-10. You can only put 5 on the floor at a time, and we only had 1 standout in KAT. Wisconsin had a better starting 5 than us. Duke maybe did too.

This season, we'll put a better 5 on the floor. The bench wont be as good, but it really wont need to be.

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Murray's reclassification kinda has his ranking screwed up but hes a legit top 10 recruit.
You dont lead all scorers at the Nike Summit unless you are for real.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

Thats the thing overlooked from last year. We were legitimately 12 players deep with Poythress. We easily had the best roster 1-10. You can only put 5 on the floor at a time, and we only had 1 standout in KAT. Wisconsin had a better starting 5 than us. Duke maybe did too.

This season, we'll put a better 5 on the floor. The bench wont be as good, but it really wont need to be.

I don't think Wisconsin had a better "best 5" than UK. I just think UK never figured out who its best 5 was. And it's really hard to say at the end who that was. I think Ulis not being in the game some at the end of the Wisconsin game cost UK bigtime.

I agree we will put a better 5 on the floor as we know who that will be most likely. The bench will be fine. Lee, Mulder and Matthews is not that huge a step down. It's not like Lee can't do what DJ did. Yeah Ulis and Booker are better than Matthews and Mulder, but those latter two can fill their roles they are asked to fill just fine with lower expectations than even Ulis/Booker had off the bench.

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

My Lord we are loaded again!

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

Has Murray's rating been posted somewhere?

Last year's probably wins on paper by recruiting points...

Townes #5
Harrison #5
Harrison #7
Dakari #9 (#7 on ESPN)
Lyles #13 (#6 on ESPN)

Rivals has him unranked right now in 2015 but is a 5star he was I think 15 in the loaded 2016 class. That would put him I guess 8-11 or so in this class.

Scout has him as the number 2 pg in the class behind Newman and ahead of Briscoe. Newman is 8, Murray is 12th and Briscoe is 13th.

247 has him as the top shooting guard in the class 10th overall ahead of Briscoe at 12.

Espn is out in left field somewhere has him ranked at a grade of 92 and a 5 star.

Of course these places will always rank tall guys higher because they are tall and what they might become in the future and not necessarily on how good they are now like they do guards. Personally I do not like ranking guys that way as I like to rank them on how good they will be in college because I don't give a rats ass about the nba.
I would think if u ranked guys on their present abilities I would say Murray is around a top 5 player in the class with Skal, Ingram, Simmons, and Newman ahead for sure. Newman because he is a slightly better scorer but Murray is a far better over all player. So that could sway him as being a better overall player if Newman is forced to be a facilitator and not a scorer.
I think next year Newman will have the best numbers as he will be asked to score and I could see him averaging 25 a game if he adjusts ok. If his teammates are not that good you could see doubles on him a lot to shut him down.
Look for Brown to put up Stanley Johnson type of numbers for Cal.