suntimes top 25

[KillerB]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2011/11/the_top_25_college_prospects_i.html

[Future Walk-On]

Not a lotta love in the comments....

[Braves4Life]

Typical Chicago-area bias in that list. smh

[45otseoj]

Typical Chicago-area bias in that list. smh

3 downstate kids on the list.

Who would you place on this list that isn't there now?

Henricksen likes Taphorn, but his game didn't explode this summer.

AJ Riley is on the cusp...

Peyton Allen may work his way up but sat out most of the summer.

I agree that more downstate kids could be included, but I don't see some egregious ommision either.

[tornado]

..I don't see some egregious ommision either.

well I have always had a problem when a guy makes a list and claims it is the BEST 25 high school prospects regardless of class...
then he includes kids who have never played a single minute of high school basketball!
ESPECIALLY considering the guy never brings up his horrible track record over the past several years of picking guys to be the top prospects who turn out to be pretty solid flops...

He is entitled to his opinion, of course, but he obviously has nothing to go on...some of those kids have never played a single minute of a game against high school competition, and I am sure we have all seen how those "prospect rankings" have gone in the past...

I can think of dozens and dozens of kids who were rated in the Top 5, or the Top 2 or 3, or even rated #1 in the state who never blossomed or who turned out to be decent midmajor players at best - no different than 4 or 5 of the current Manual players.....

Cully Payne, Alphonso Dillard, Aziz N'Diaye (was ranked #1 in the state), Kyle Rowley & Beas Hamga (BOTH were also was once ranked #1 in the entire state by these guys), etc..

Here's a perfect example of Joe Henricksen's prowess picking top prospects...

http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2008/11/super_65_in_2009.html

Just two years ago he ranked Chris Colvin, Jack Cooley, Darius Smith, and Angus Brandt in the TOP six players in the state!!! Then in the next six - he had Terry Johnson, Nik Garcia...
And then well below all those guys who are all barely making any waves at all..
he listed a few also-rans like...Drew Crawford, DJ Cooper, Marcus Jordan, Dyricus, Jordan Prosser, Kyle Cain, etc..

In 2007 he ranked Kenyon Smith (going to ISU) and Mike Dunigan (going to Oregon) ahead of John Shurna & Iman Shumpert!!!!!

http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2007/11/biggest_winners_on_signing_day_1.html

...and of course most recall how he drooled for years about the great college prospects Jereme Richmond and Brian Carlwell were going to be!!!

"Richmond is the real deal, the next great player out of this state. (ahead of Derrick Rose!!)"

http://citysuburbanhoopsreport.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

[buschsquirrel2011]

Predicting who will be college stars is a crapshoot at best. I don't expect the guy to announce when he has been wrong...as anyone willing to put together such a list will often times be wrong.

Does any recruiting "expert" have a better % of predictions than anyone else? I can't imagine so. I like reading those lists in that it gives me some information about players. I don't put too much stock into it one way or another.

[45otseoj]

"Richmond is the real deal, the next great player out of this state. (ahead of Derrick Rose!!)"
http://citysuburbanhoopsreport.blogs...1_archive.html

Richmond was the real deal; that's the sad part.

[Future Walk-On]

...and of course most recall how he drooled for years about the great college prospects Jereme Richmond and Brian Carlwell were going to be!!!

Don't you think we can let Carlwell slide a bit....