Well- I'm glad to have Christian aboard and never saw him play, but 15 pts & 6 rebs
as a senior in HS dont scream top 150 ( I'd bet we've had walk ons that averaged better)
I can discount the reduced #'s (12.0/5.0) @ IMG as being in a stacked team so less minutes.
Stats dont say everything, but without knowing the intangibles (that our staff obviously does)
him not being ranked doesnt seem like a huge oversight.
According to Maxpreps http://www.maxpreps.com/athletes/7T4_J5xWREOBs3wklmWk-Q/basketball-winter-11-12/stats-nerlens-noel.htm Nerlens Noel averaged 12 pts and 7 rebounds this past season at Tilton.
Our own Amir Garrett averaged 12 pts and 5 rebounds at Findlay Prep.
Other IMG teammates - Jordan Dickerson is going to SMU to play for Larry Brown after a 10pt/8reb year at IMG. It looks like OK State commit Kamari Murphy averaged 13/7.
I was going to use Noel too but Blocks set him apart. Good job finding the others.
Rivals used to have stats on their pages but I spot checked a few and didnt see any.
Unfortunately the recruiting Gurus have migrated away from reporting stats. In evaling kids, they report on body type, explosiveness, length, "feel" - a lot of stuff that while measureable, is really in the eye of the beholder. If if they're a guru with a good track record, I have no problem with that. It's just it's gone to the EXTREME - stats DO have a place in recruiting. Yes you have to put them in perspective, mitigate them with a lot of other factors. But a Noel, supposedly the NUMBER ONE recruit in the country at 6'10, only pulls down 7 boards a game? Sorry - that's a major red flag. Maybe it means you have to more for those mitigating circumstances, but a red flag nonetheless. What REALLY ticks me off is that you can almost NEVER find one of the MOST important high school stats: Free Throw Percentage. The one stat that really (statistically) doesn't change from HS to College. The shot is 15 feet way at a 10 foot hoop no matter what level you're playing at once you hit middle school. In addition to being a relative constant, a strong FT% also is an indication of a decent midrange shot. I get so tired of getting my hopes up over some supposed great scoring guard or wing, and have him show up with no midrange game, and a bricklayer at the line. If someone had told me the kid hit 53% FTs in high school, rather than that he was "long and explosive with great feel", I'd have had a better idea what to expect!
End of rant