With the start of the early signing period last week, we’ve taken the time to refresh our Big Ten class of 2013 rankings. The rankings incorporate numbers from Rivals, Scout and ESPN into a composite average score to rank the best incoming classes in the conference.
| Rank | School | Commits | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | Avg. | Avg. Score | Cum. Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indiana | 6 | 3.67 | 3.83 | 3.33 | 3.61 | 129.61 | 1565 | |
| 2 | Illinois | 5 | 3.60 | 3.40 | 3.20 | 3.40 | 111.36 | 1265 | |
| 3 | Michigan | 3 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 102.93 | 835 | |
| 4 | Purdue | 3 | 3.67 | 3.67 | 3.33 | 3.56 | 88.91 | 765 | |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 5 | 2.60 | 2.60 | 3.00 | 2.73 | 88.01 | 1115 | |
| 6 | Ohio State | 2 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 81.52 | 540 | |
| 7 | Penn State | 4 | 3.00 | 2.25 | 2.50 | 2.58 | 75.92 | 885 | |
| 8 | Northwestern | 2 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.50 | 3.17 | 65.15 | 485 | |
| 9 | Nebraska | 3 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 3.33 | 2.44 | 64.56 | 670 | |
| 10 | Minnesota | 2 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 57.53 | 440 | |
| 11 | Iowa | 1 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 41.60 | 225 | |
| 12 | Michigan State | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0 |
Find a run-down of new commitments and team-by-team breakdowns after the jump.
Action since last update:
- Oct 4, 2012: Illinois adds commitment from Jaylon Tate
- Oct 14, 2012: Minnesota adds commitment from Alex Foster
- Oct 15, 2012: Penn State adds commitment from Graham Woodward
- Oct 28, 2012: Indiana adds commitment from Troy Willliams
- Nov 10, 2012: Indiana adds commitment from Noah Vonleh
- Nov 11, 2012: Wisconsin adds commitment from Nigel Hayes
- Nov 12, 2012: Illinois adds commitment from Austin Colbert
1. Indiana
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Davis | SF | IN | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| Luke Fischer | PF | WI | 3 | 4 | 3 | |
| Collin Hartman | SF | IN | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| Stanford Robinson | SG | VA | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Noah Vonleh | PF | MA | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
| Troy Williams | SF | VA | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Indiana continues to stockpile talent by adding super-recruit Vonleh and consensus 4-star Williams. Indiana jumps to #1 in our rankings.
2. Illinois
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Colbert | PF | NJ | 4 | 3 | 3 | |
| Malcolm Hill | SG | IL | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Maverick Morgan | C | OH | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Kendrick Nunn | SG | IL | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Jaylon Tate | PG | IL | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Colbert and Tate commit to the Illini. Illini jump Michigan for the #2 spot in our rankings.
3. Michigan
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Donnal | PF | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Zak Irvin | SF | IN | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Derrick Walton | PG | MI | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Commitments for other teams move Michigan to #3 in our rankings.
4. Purdue
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryson Scott | SG | IN | 4 | 4 | 3 | |
| Basil Smotherman | SF | IN | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Kendall Stephens | SG | IL | 4 | 4 | 4 |
No change for Purdue.
5. Wisconsin
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vitto Brown | PF | OH | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| Riley Dearring | SF | MN | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Nigel Hayes | PF | OH | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jordan Hill | SG | CA | NR | NR | 2 | |
| Bronson Koenig | PG | WI | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Wisconsin gets another Ohio big man in Hayes. Wisconsin jumps OSU with the commitment.
6. Ohio State
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc Loving | PF | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Kameron Williams | SG | MD | 4 | 4 | 4 |
No change for Ohio State.
7. Penn State
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payton Banks | SF | CA | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| Julian Moore | PF | PA | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Geno Thorpe | PG | PA | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Graham Woodward | PG | MN | 3 | NR | 2 |
Penn State gets their second PG in the class with Woodward
8. Northwestern
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaren Sina | PG | NJ | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
| Nate Taphorn | SF | IL | 3 | 3 | 3 |
No change for Northwestern.
9. Nebraska
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Fuller | SF | WI | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Nathan Hawkins | SG | TX | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Tai Webster | PG | New Zealand | NR | NR | 4 |
No changes for Nebraska.
10. Minnesota
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alvin Ellis | SF | IL | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Alex Foster | PF | IL | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Tubby Smith dips into Chicago again to get a commitment from Foster. Minnesota jumps Iowa in the rankings.
11. Iowa
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Jok | SF | IA | 3 | 3 | 3 |
No changes for Iowa.
12. Michigan State
Michigan State still without a commitment in the class.
Ranking Explanations
Every player is given a normalized score on a 100 point scale for each of the three major scouting services. That score breaks down like this:
| Player Score | |
|---|---|
| 100 = | 5* Player |
| 95 = | 4* and top 50 player |
| 90 = | 4* player not in top 50 |
| 85 = | Top 150 player or top 30 at position |
| 80 = | Top 40 at position |
| 75 = | Top 50 at position or 3* player unranked at his position |
| 70 = | Top 75 at position |
| 65 = | Top 100 at position or 2* player unranked at his position |
| 60 = | Top 300 player or 1* player unranked at his position |
| 50 = | Player who has no star rating or position ranking |
That much is relatively simple. Those scores are combined into two cumulative metrics: Class Average Score and Class Cumulative Score.
- Class Average Score: Average normalized scores by service multiplied by the square root of the number of commitments/3.25 (13 total scholarships over 4 years) as well as our additional factor the square root of average ranking over 3.
- Class Cumulative Score: Sum of all normalized score for all recruits based on all services
The system is far from perfect but we favor the current system to generate some sort of consistent, objective basis for comparing classes.
Special thanks to Trent Montemayor for compiling all of the data.
