New England 2011 Rankings Announced

New England Recruiting Report | Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

After updating the rankings on a state by state basis over the last two weeks, today we have updated the New England rankings as a whole, beginning with the class of 2011.
 
Only those rising seniors who are returning to the region this year where considered for this set of rankings, meaning incoming prep products will not be included until the fall when we have had a chance to visit the top prep schools and get a first hand look at the new talent in the region. 

Michael Carter-Williams begins the year as the top ranked rising senior in New England.  The six-foot-five guard had a great spring and summer on the Nike EYBL circuit, proving his worth as one of the best scoring guards around and playing his way into a top 20 national ranking from ESPN. 

Brewster Academy’s Naadir Tharpe is the second ranked player in the region.  There may not be another point guard anywhere in the country who has put together a longer resume of winning basketball games, on both the prep and grassroots levels, as Tharpe has practically grown up on the scene and won championships at virtually every step along the way. 

Markus Kennedy is third on the list.  The Villanova bound big man will do a post-graduate year at Brewster Academy after graduating from Winchendon last year.  One of the few dominant low post centers in the country, Kennedy is underestimated on the national level in our opinion as his one on one scoring ability in the post along with his floor vision and passing ability makes him an almost impossible match-up. 

Angel Nunez begins the year in the four spot although we will be watching carefully this fall to see if he has finally started to turn his potential into production. 

Some might be surprised to see Jordan Laguerre in our top five but ultimately we couldn’t justify putting him any lower for two important reasons.  First and foremost, he outplayed every other guard on this list who we saw him go head to head with.  Secondly, not only was he good this summer but he has been consistently good for a long time and so has a more complete body of work than any other guard on this list. 

Pat Connaughton cracks New England’s top ten for the first time after his phenomenal summer.  The story has been told over and over again at this point but the jump his recruiting stock saw during his ten days in July was almost unprecedented and truly well deserved as he played his best basketball when the lights were on the brightest. 

Seventh ranked Dennis Clifford is another guy who we feel should be getting some more attention on the national level.  The bottom line is that Boston College deserves credit for wrapping this one up early as Clifford’s stock would have surely gone through the roof this summer as a skilled seven-footer who shoots threes and scores with his back to the basket. 

The top ten is rounded out by three prep products in Hotchkiss’ Derrick Wilson, Lee Academy’s Keith Coleman, and Northfield Mount Hermon’s Aaron Cosby. 

To view New England’s 2011 rankings in their entirety click here.