Final 2010 Rankings Announced

New England Recruiting Report | Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

With the high school and prep school season now in the books and the vast majority of the post-season all-star games having come and gone, it’s now time to release our final set of rankings in the class of 2010. 

It is hard to deny Will Barton’s place atop the list as the Brewster Academy product took a clean sweep of post-season honors, being named the NEPSAC Class A MVP, the Class A Tournament MVP, and the National Prep Championship MVP.  Barton also finished the year as a consensus top twelve prospect in the country by every major national scouting service. 

Nate Lubick finishes his career as the top ranked New England native and second overall prospect.  While he has been tremendously consistent at both the high school and grassroots levels, it was last summer that Lubick proved his worth beyond a shadow of a doubt on the national level.  After being named one of the top ten players at an NBA Players Association Camp that featured 95 of the top 100 players in the country, Lubick went on to stand out at the Adidas It Takes 5ive Tournament and then led his New England Playaz squad to the finals of the Adidas Super 64.  It was more of the same during his senior season at St. Mark’s as he was selected the Gatorade Player of the year in Massachusetts for the second consecutive year while also being named a Parade All-American. 

Coming in third on the list is Tilton’s Gerard Coleman.  The West Roxbury native couldn’t have started his senior season any better as he rattled off numerous 30 point performances before Christmas.  He didn’t slow down much following the break as he continued to show why he is one of the best scorers in the entire country.  He also leaves behind a winning pedigree having captured NEPSAC titles in both of his years at Tilton, helping the Rams to a National Prep Championship as a junior, and winning countless titles on the AAU circuit with his BABC team. 

South Kent’s J.J. Moore is number four on our list as we believe him to be one of the most underrated players in the country.  At 6’6” with absolutely explosive athleticism, Moore has all the physical tools you could dream of to play either of the swing positions at the next level.  Combine that with a three-point shot that has developed into a major weapon, a smooth slashing game, and an evolving mid-range arsenal and there isn’t a whole lot he can’t do. 

Shabazz Napier created some last minute movement on this list when he committed to UConn for next fall and in so doing left the class of 2011 to join the class of 2010.  Of all the players on this list, Napier may be the most talented with the ball in his hands and it is hard to argue that anyone was more important to their respective team than he was for Lawrence Academy this year, leading them to a perfect season and a Class C championship.  The only question is whether Napier is currently physically strong enough to withstand the wear and tear of the Big East season.  Our belief is that if he can add another 15-20 pounds of muscle during the next year then you could very possibly see him blossoming into one of the next great UConn point guards. 

Central Catholic High School’s Carson Desrosiers is at number six and his story is similar to Napier’s in many ways.  He had a tremendous senior season and led his team to an MIAA state championship.  He also is tremendously skilled with the ball, especially for a big man, and that ability will set him apart from others players his size at the next level.  But much like Napier, and perhaps even more so, the concern in the immediate future will be his ability to handle the physicality of a conference like the ACC, but once he hits the Wake Forest weight room this is one guy that has all the tools to have a very long career playing this game. 

Middlesex’s Rod Odom, Brewster’s C.J. Fair, New Hampton Evan Smotrycz, and Hotchkiss’ Jason Morris round out the top ten in New England’s class of 2010 at seven, eight, nine, and ten respectively.  Odom was one of the major breakout performers of last summer and ultimately chose Vanderbilt over a host of other high-major options.  Fair stopped at Brewster Academy on his way north to Syracuse and gave the national champions their most consistent interior player.  Smotrycz grew up in front of our eyes over the last four years going from a virtual unknown when he won the MVP at Eastern Invitational to a star at Reading High School and then a highly sought after high major prospect at New Hampton.  Finally, Morris emerged as one of the most explosively athletic players in the country over the course of his career at Hotchkiss and has a big time future as he continues to expand his skill set on the perimeter. 

In total the top 100 prospects were ranked in New England’s class of 2010 along with 50 in Connecticut and Massachusetts, 30 in New Hampshire, 25 in Maine, and 10 in Rhode Island and Vermont. 

To view the New England 2010 rankings in their entirety please click here.