Vermont 2011 Rankings Announced

New England Recruiting Report | Friday, August 20th, 2010

Today the process of updating our 2011 rankings officially begins with the state of Vermont. 

Vermont Academy’s incoming post-grad Ryan Romich is the top overall prospect competing within the state’s borders.  With a steady dose of division I recruitment Romich will be the go-to player for a Vermont Academy program that is obviously on the rise. 

But when it comes to the true Vermont natives Jake Donnelly is still in the top spot in our opinion.  With a limiting number of true point guards still playing the game, Donnelly has value because of his ability to run a team but also proved his ability to create offense against a higher level of competition this year during the AAU circuit. 

Perhaps the biggest winner on this year’s AAU circuit was Ben Ferris, the six-foot-two swingman from Essex High School, who just wrapped up a great summer.  Ferris proved his worth from Providence to Quinnipiac this season as a versatile perimeter player who consistently made winning plays for his team while also showing a nice shooting stroke. 

Next up is Evan Tullar, the six-foot-four forward from Spaulding High School who has had plenty of impressive moments of his own playing against top competition because of his ability to compete with them athletically. 

Rounding out the top five is Vergennes graduate Connor Merrill who will stay in Vermont as a post-graduate at Vermont Academy.  Merrill was particularly impressive at Hoop Mountain’s Super Week I Camp this summer. 

Alex Snyder, the six-foot-seven big man from Rutland, is sixth on the list.  Because of his size and productivity in the paint we expect Snyder to be well recruited during his final year of high school. 

Snyder’s Rutland teammate Troy Davine comes in one spot lower and it is only fitting these two come in next to each other as they promise to be one of the top inside-out tandems in the state this year. 

South Burlington’s Josh Varney is eighth.  With a great combination of size, power, and athleticism in the post, Varney has always had a higher upside than most of his counterparts in the state. 

Another big man, Clayton Palmer, is ninth on the list but the Mount Anthony Union post will need to do his work without the benefit of a top flight point guard this year as Kyle Callanan has moved on. 

Rounding out the top ten is a new name to our prospect list as U-32’s Ryan Shea has proven himself worthy of recruitment from the next level.