ESPN gives Big East recruiting grades

ND should have been top 10. I won't fault writers for predicting that.

so every year, the paid pundits say we'll suck.  we'll argue that they don't know what they're talking about.

then the season begins and we suck.

go figure.

these types of ratings dont mean anything...there just a writers opinion thats all. find an other ESPN analyst and he would give st johns a different "grade." get 10 writers/analysts and you'll get 10 different grades. its not like we're judging these players on test scores...theres too many intangibles to give a recruiting class a letter grade.

The rankings also come miles short of taking two huge aspects into consideration:  teem need and length of the recruit's college career.

For example, if Duke has four amazing players 1-4 that are only sophs and they pickup a handful of five star guards but not the center they so desperately needed, is that better than a team that grabs a single five star player to fill their only need?  Also, what good is a five star big man that only stays a year and takes off for the NBA as soon as he can even function in a college game?  Wouldn't you rahter have a four-star player that sticks around all four years and is NASTY by the time he is a junior? 

The rankings also come miles short of taking two huge aspects into consideration:  teem need and length of the recruit's college career.

For example, if Duke has four amazing players 1-4 that are only sophs and they pickup a handful of five star guards but not the center they so desperately needed, is that better than a team that grabs a single five star player to fill their only need?  Also, what good is a five star big man that only stays a year and takes off for the NBA as soon as he can even function in a college game?  Wouldn't you rahter have a four-star player that sticks around all four years and is NASTY by the time he is a junior?

I'd love to have this type of center, but he read the message boards and went elsewhere

When talking about the ESPN rankings, I don't think they use the same rating system in 07 as they did in 08 as they do now.  Look at St. John's recruits (I guess those archives are gone...) - the highest rated player was 83, I think, Paris Horne.  With Burrell and Boothe grading in at 82 or 80 or something.  Now any player who could sniff a high D-1 offer gets a mid 80's rating.  Not saying that Burrell is the top of the line, but Malik Stith isn't considered a higher grade recruit at the time, meaning that their system  in previous years had a different baseline.

(Actually now Paris Horne's a 93, making him by far the best player they signed in that year by their standards... this from a guys who was considering St. Bonaventure and the like.)

  Do you think the fact that Norm didn't land Lance knocked the grade downa bit?  I would assume that's the reason its so low.  Being graded on recruiting also takes into account who you lost out on as well.

Just compare our incoming class to Jay Wright's incoming class and that = a C or C+. Lance was never a lock to come to STJ.

Also, know that 40 is ESPN's default grade.

Rivals does better among their top 150, scout does better overall.  I think ESPN likes really high numbers; pretending you can define the potential impact of a recruit on that granular a level is friggin' silly.

These class rankings are inherently flawed.  It's very hard to quantify. For example, if I get John Wall and a three star player and Tha Kid gets a handful three and four star players, who has the better class?  I'd put more weight into a class ranking that was qualitative and assembled by a respected basketball mind.

Depends who the better coach is

If marillac is Norm Roberts and I'm Coach K, I'll take a handful of 2 and 3 stars and we'll make the NCAA before Norm makes it with John Wall.

However if Marillac is Calipari and I'm Norm Roberts...the reverse happens...

Well the funny thing about ESPN rankings that I noticed when Brownlee was in highschool he was 90+ now that he is JUCO he is a 40 which means they don't know shit about him.

That seemed odd. He is ranked as the 4th overall Juco in one publication, but I couldn't even tell you where I saw that.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=4184147

How does everyone think we stack up in class strength of '09 ?

I prefer quality over quantity and felt it was impossible to ignore the contributions of the incoming transfers as part of an overall recruiting class.
Villanova
UConn
Pitt
Marquette
Notre Dame
West Virginia
Louisville
S.Hall
Rutgers
STJ
Georgetown
Providence
South Florida
Syracuse
Cincy
DePaul