New England’s Top 50 of 2017

New England Recruiting Report | Friday, August 26th, 2016

After a long summer on the grassroots circuit and with the fall recruiting period just a couple of weeks away, we've taken inventory in the class of 2017 beginning with yesterday's release of updated rankings in all six New England states.

Today comes the announcement of the top 50 in the rising senior class, a list which does not yet include incoming prep products.

The top 50 begins with the 7 products who were included in the updated ESPN 100 - Hamidou Diallo, Tremont Waters, Makai Ashton-Langford, Jermaine Samuels, Kimani Lawrence, Christian David and Wabissa Bede.

The rest of the top ten is comprised of players who all could have made a case to be national top 100 caliber recruits - Hasahn French, Kellan Grady and Andrew Platek.

French couldn't have been much better this spring or summer. Whether it was perfecting the role of the junkyard dog inside or when he needed to step up to prove he could go for 20 and 10 on virtually any given night. Grady was limited by injury for virtually the entire spring and summer while Platek played his way into a commitment to North Carolina with his shot-making from downtown.

On the cusp of the top ten are Geo Baker, Anthony Gaines, Marcus Santos Silva, Tomas Murphy and Terrell Brown, who all took their games to unprecedented levels this spring and summer. Baker has turned himself into a true scorer and playmaker in the backcourt, with an elite ability to shoot off the dribble. You won't find many more valuable two-way players and perimeter rebounders than Gaines while Santos Silva exceeded everyone's expectations during the last five months. Murphy was playing at a high level in April before heading to Europe for FIBA competition while Brown finally started to realize his vast potential.

Ultimately, that's just the tip of the iceberg as this class has proven to be better than most initially anticipated and full of prospects ready to make an impact next year at the college level.

Click here to view the 2017 New England rankings in their entirety.