New England Shines in ESPN Super 60

New England Recruiting Report | Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

ESPN released their first Super 60 list for the class of 2012 on Wednesday, ranking the top 60 rising juniors in the country. 

New England dominated the list as the region boasted the top ranked prospect in the country, two of the top three prospects, three of the top ten, four or the top eleven, and six of the top sixty. 

Andre Drummond regains the top ranking after temporarily being ousted by DaJuan Coleman this winter.  Coleman comes in at number two but number three is Notre Dame Prep's Khem Birch.  Alex Murphy is the tenth ranked player in the country by ESPN while Ricardo Ledo is next at 11.  Kaleb Tarczewski and Nerlens Noel both crack the national rankings for the first time, debuting at 46 and 55 respectively. 

Drummond was named to Team USA 17-and-under national team this weekend and will travel to Germany at the beginning of July for the World Champions.  The cornerstone of a Connecticut Basketball Club program that took the title at the Northeast Hoops Festival and recently made a run to the finals of the Rumble in the Bronx, Drummond solidified his return to the top spot with a positive showing at the recent Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions. 

Birch's rise up the rankings isn't so much due to one or two dominating performances, but instead a six month period of consistency at the highest level.  He had a widely succesful prep school season at the Winchendon School, prior to transferring to Notre Dame this spring, and an equally succesful start to the spring with his Expressions Elite squad.  Birch is also representing his country this summer, starring for Canada's 18-and-under national team that will attend the FIBA America's Championship later this month, and recently returned from a trip to the NBA Player's Association Camp. 

Murphy's stock seems to have received a boost after virtually each national event that he has played in this spring.  He received high praise at the Real Deal on the Rock and Jayhawk Invitational, but like Drummond, he received his biggest boost from his performance at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, earning a subsequent scholarship offer from Duke and Coach K.  He also attended the recent NBA Camp and was also selected for Adidas Nations. 

Ricardo Ledo, who will be debuting for South Kent next season after transferring from St. Andrew's, was dominant for stretches at the Providence Jam Fest, leading his Expressions team to the u17 final.  But his most notable performance of the spring likely came at the Nike Baltimore Elite Invitational where multiple reports had him outplaying the top ranked player in the national class of 2011, Michael Gilchrist. 

Tarczewski is a guy who cracks the national rankings for the first time, but is no stranger to high major college coaches as the budding star has a caller i.d. that reads like a who's who BCS head coaches.  While his best basketball is just beginning to come out of him, the New Hampshire native's biggest headlines came at the Kansas Elite camp where he scored a scholarship offer and the recent NBA Camp. 

Noel is a guy who is just getting back to 100% after missing time with a leg injury.  Nonetheless, he was one of the driving forces behind BABC's late run in the Nike EYBL league, finishing with an 8-6 record and consequently qualifying for the EYBL Finals at the Nike Peach Jam.  Most recently, Noel stood out in leading BABC's u16 team to the Rumble in the Bronx championship.