JTIII has assembled a very good class for next year. Rivals reports that the following members of the top 100 are set to sign with the Hoyas next month: Greg Monroe (No. 1), Chris Braswell (No. 63), Henry Sims (No. 64), and Jason Clark (No. 89). That said, Rivals still ranks the Hoyas' class #2 nationally, giving a slight edge to UCLA. I think that Braswell in particular is highly underrated. He was a top #15 recruit according to Rivals when he committed to GU, but after sitting out his junior year for academic reasons, his stock dropped. I have no reason to believe that this reduced his potential to be a major impact player on the college level, though. He will be the first true down-low banger I think we've seen JTIII coach.
The piece, excerpted below, also notes that Renaldo Woolridge has settled on Tennessee. Most reports indicate that Jeff Green's scholarship will then go to Gus Gilchrist, who de-committed from VATech after the shootings there. My understanding is that Gilchrist is fully eligible and could play this year. He is a 4-star, top 100 recruit from last year's class and could give Hibbert valuable backup minutes. I saw him play over the summer and was impressed. He'll be a good one and, unlike Sims or Monroe, is a back-to-the-basket center, not a floater likely to pop off jumpers from the top of the key (which is what JTIII's offense frequently demands). Should be interesting. Stay tuned Hoyas fans.....
High ceiling for Hoyas
After a little bit of waffling as to whether UCLA or Georgetown should be No. 1, I slid Georgetown into the No. 2 spot (see above). Both classes are extremely strong and headlined by the top prospect at his position. Monroe is the top power forward and Jrue Holiday is the No. 1 point guard. Monroe and Holiday also have the ability to play other positions. In addition, Monroe is the best passing big man in the class. Holiday is the best perimeter defender in the class. John Thompson III's 2008 recruiting class at Georgetown could push UCLA for the top spot.The one thing that takes a little glitter off both classes is that they both have positional overlap. Georgetown is three deep at power forward, and UCLA is three deep at guard. However, UCLA can easily play three of its guards together and potentially play all three at the same time. Holiday has the strength to match up on a lot of threes, and Malcolm Lee looks to still be growing. Georgetown could play two of their forwards at the four and the five, but it would be very difficult to play all three of them at the same time in the Hoyas' system. So basically, the ability of UCLA to play all four of its recruits at the same time - and the fact that their recruits' rankings average out higher than Georgetown's - give UCLA the edge. Georgetown just lost out on four-star small forward Renaldo Woolridge to Tennessee, so the Hoyas will likely wait it out with another small forward, Wesley Witherspoon. He has indicated that he will wait until the spring signing period. Another possibility for Georgetown is four-star forward Augustus Gilchrist. The former Virginia Tech signee and local product is looking to enroll after the first semester and was in attendance at Georgetown's "Midnight Madness" event.
http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=728513
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