ESPN - Biancardi: Duke has the #1 class.

[Mike-D]

Per Biancardi at the alumni game. Whatever you say, buddy.

 

[Pope John Wall II]

He wrong.

 

[minjo]

Blankcardi = Blankmindi

 

[TheTruCatsFan]

He should have just admitted that they were to lazy to update the rankings. He sounded like a guy trying to convince people that vanilla ice cream is better than chocolate.

 

[Pope John Wall II]

He should have just admitted that they were to lazy to update the rankings. He sounded like a guy trying to convince people that vanilla ice cream is better than chocolate.

Vanilla ice cream is hands down better than garbage-ass chocolate.

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

Biancardi needs to drink less less bicardi

 

[Smashcat]

Vanilla ice cream is hands down better than garbage-ass chocolate.

Yep. #1 for me too.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Biancardi is pretty good usually. He is wrong on this one. When we added Humphries it put us over the top, IMHO.

I just don't see. Did he give an explanation?

 

[Smashcat]

Biancardi needs to drink less less bicardi

Not bad. Haha

 

[shutzhund]

I'm not kidding here. Who is Blancardi. Sounds like an Italian beverage. Is he any good or just a mouthpiece?

 

[Mike-D]

I just don't see. Did he give an explanation?

No. Lol. He just said something like "in our opinion, UK has the #2 class."

 

[KyFord]

If I had a choice between our class and the Duke class then I would pick ours every time, even if that means being #2.

Is there really a better trio than Skal, Murray and Briscoe in this class? No way man...

I can't wait for that game in November.

 

[UKDUNK]

ESPN ranked Avery Bradley over John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. Their recruiting rankings mean nothing.

 

[Supafuzz75]

Looked to me he was too lazy to rank Murray.. There wasn't a ranking beside his name when shown the class..

 

[kentuckyboy302]

Didn't even have a ranking beside Jamal Murray's name when ever they showed UK's class so figure that one out.

 

[Noxium]

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

3 top 10 picks including #1 v 1 top 10 pick.
Hmmmmmm......

 

[anon_9qtxg60vqzy0y]

Who the he** is Isaac Williams?

 

[Estil]

The only kind of Dukes I like are the kind that drive the General Lee

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Dont you mean Jamal Williams?

 

[Mike-D]

How do they not have Murray ranked? It's like they just decided not to give him a rating so that Duke could have the #1 class. Lol

How many players have reclassified in this class and got a new ranking? Even Humpheries got one. Duke's guard got one too, right?

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Haters gonna hate. We will see soon enough who "truely" has the #1 ranking, Nov. 17th to be exact.

 

[Aike]

Does ESPN not rank Murray because he never played in the U.S. at all?

 

[Blueisbest]

They don't call them DukESPN for nothing.

 

[BurpinTurpin]

Who the he** is Isaac Williams?

See, this is just stupid. What on Earth are they thinking? I'm not going to suggest there's a "conspiracy" behind this, but- why?

 

[Uk1111]

It really is messed up, and even though it shouldnt, it really does bother me becauseifthe situation was reversed, you know without a doubt that they of updated it.

I guarantee that they updated the rankings the very day that Parker, Winslow, and Okafor verbaled.

 

[bucsrule8872]

I don't think ESPN ranks players outside the U.S. That is probably his justification for it. Pretty weak, though.

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

I hear Isaac "Jamal" Williams is a beast!

Good Lord, they are pathetic.

 

[Federal Cat]

Well he just made the list of another sports analyst/writer/talking head I don't think has a brain, oh by the way butter pecan ice cream is da bomb

 

[BlueSince92]

Our players poop chocolate ice cream.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Two top 5 picks; one other top 20 pick; plus three future 2nd rounders.

Tis better than 1 top 5 pick; one other top 20 pick (Thornton), and three future 2nd rounders (Obi, Jeter, Kennard).


Oh well. I guess UK will just have to win it all after Duke goes home in the second weekend.

 

[Bkocats]

just wondering why any of us would get up in arms about it? It's ESPN for heaven's sake - not exactly MENSA

 

[blubo]

Who the he** is Isaac Williams?

wow! we've got the #1 center, and #9 center? that cal snuck that one by me.

 

[Ajax10]

Clearly rating a class without including a potential 1st round draft pick is ignorant. The only thing that matters is the wins and losses. There is not a coach or analyst in the country that would not trade classes with UK including Duke. Like my father always used to say, "don't get in a pissin' contest", ESPN's ranking clearly are flawed.

 

[Catclass15]

During the game Isaac Humphries was also referred to as:

Isaac Hicks
Isaac Williams lol

 

[bigc45157]

Embarrassing display of recruiting expertise.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Who the he** is Isaac Williams?

This graphic tells the whole story. They don't have any rating or ranking for Jamal Murray, and he's UK's second best player in the class. My thought is that Murray may turn out to be the best player in the class. He's already shown that he can dominate excellent competition. What he did for Canada is obvious when you look at the fact that they didn't even qualify without him. If ESPN ranked Murray properly, he'd be a top 5 recruit.

In my opinion, when Murray signed, UK topped Duke's class. And when Humphrey signed, it widened the gap.

And who the heck is Isaac Williams? ESPN is a joke on this one. They should just go ahead and say, "We decided back in May that Duke had the best class and it didn't really matter what happened since, we weren't changing our minds. Kentucky has had the #1 class nearly every year lately and it's time to give someone else a turn." After all, recruiting rankings for ESPN have become as much political as scientific. And it's become more about scratching the backs of their cash cows than about actual rankings.

 

[W_Heisenberg]

Oh no, does that mean we have to give them the banner we got for having the top recruiting class? Darnit!

 

[BlueBlood66]

After all, recruiting rankings for ESPN have become as much political as scientific. And it's become more about scratching the backs of their cash cows than about actual rankings.

You don't think UK is a cash cow?

 

[IL Wildcat]

Just to drive the point home. Look at the rankings of the 2 classes (ESPN has no rating for Murray- not sure the holdup, but Rivals does)

Kentucky
Rivals #1 Skal Labissierre (ESPN #2, 247 #2) 5-star
Rivals #9 Jamal Murray (247 #10, ESPN no rating) 5-star
Rivals #10 Isaiah Briscoe (247 #12, ESPN #13) 5-star
ESPN #42 Charles Matthews (Rivals #48, 247 #59) 4-star
247 #50 Isaac Humphries (Rivals no rating, ESPN no rating) 4-star
247 #15 JUCO Mychal Mulder (rivals no rating, ESPN no rating) 4-star

Duke
ESPN #3 Brandon Ingram (Rivals #4, 247 #3) 5-star
ESPN #11 Chase Jeter (Rivals #16, 247 #20) 5-star
Rivals #14 Derryck Thornton (247 #18, ESPN #17) 5-star
247 #21 Luke Kennard (ESPN #24, Rivals #25) 4-star
247 #183 Antonio Vrankovic (ESPN NR in top 100, Rivals NR in top 150) 3-star

If one were making an argument for can't miss kinds of players, it's clear that UK wins hands down. Labissiere, Murray, and Briscoe are all top 10 players in this class. Ingram is a sure thing, without question, for Duke. Jeter and Thornton are in the next tier, in my opinion. Even the recruiting gurus disagree about them, with Jeter ranking from 11 to 20 and Thornton from 14 to 18. They're good, of course, but are they can't miss guys? I don't think so. There are always players in that range that just don't do as well as expected. Kennard is a guy who will likely struggle with the speed and athleticism of the college game. And Vrankovic is barely on anyone's radar.

Kentucky also has a between-semesters recruit coming in- Tai Wynyard. I'm not sure how he is counted but he's playing in 2015-16 season, so it seems to me that he should be a 2015 recruit.

So, if one were making an argument for number of quality players in a class, it's also UK, hands down. Every player UK is bringing in has the potential to make an impact this season, and there are 7 players coming in.

Bottom line: if ESPN had Murray and Humphries ranked properly, UK would be #1 and it wouldn't even be that close.