New England 2012 Rankings Released

New England Recruiting Report | Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Andre Drummond, Khem Birch, Alex Murphy, Ricardo Ledo, and Kaleb Tarczewski.  Put them in any order you want but realize that this is potentially the best five players to come through a single class in New England’s history. 

All five are ranked within the top 25 players in the country, 3 are ranked within the top 10, and Drummond and Birch are one and two respectively on the ESPN Super 60 list.  All but Birch are home grown New England natives and even the Canadian important is practically an adopted son at this point.  

Beyond the top five there are some other interesting storylines:

Depth to Match Star Power

While the top five players in the class certainly catch the majority of the headlines, this class also offers tremendous depth as well.  Virtually every player on this list has at least generated some feelers from the highest levels while there are handfuls of undeniable division I talent beyond the top 20 as well.   

Calling all Point Guards

The one thing missing from the top 20 players in the class of 2012 is a pure point guard.  Clyde Smith and Kris Dunn can both play the position but are more combo-guards by definition, at least at this point in their careers. 

Surplus of Shooters

Pure shooters are becoming more and more of a rarity these days but this class is more of an exception to that rule.  Smith, Nikolaus Stauskas, John Papale, and Chris Braley are all knock down shooters who are virtually automatic when left unchecked.  That has been a successful recipe in recent years as players like Austin Carroll, Keegan Hyland, and Laurent Rivard all ended up with recruitment from the highest levels. 

Frontcourt is Full Too

Shooters aren’t the only typical rarity in ample supply in 2012 as there are also an unusual amount of big men in the class.  Eight of the top 20 players project as either fours or fives at the next level in Drummond, Birch, Tarczewski, Zach Auguste, Timajh Parker-Rivera, Evan Cummins, Georges Niang, and Egi Gjikondi.  Even Murphy and Jake Layman could find themselves playing the face-up four spot at the next level depending on the system they end up in. 

By the Numbers

Although only five of the top 20 players in the class play in their local public high school league, 16 of the 20 are home grown New England natives with eight from Massachusetts, four from Connecticut, two from New Hampshire, and one each from Maine and New Hampshire.