Recruiting

Class of 2015 Big Ten Recruiting Rankings: May 21st, 2015

Big Ten recruiting has all but wrapped up this spring as the late signing period came to a close on Wednesday. Here’s a rundown of the top classes and best signings in the conference.

Big Ten recruiting has all but wrapped up this spring as the late signing period came to a close on Wednesday. Here’s a rundown of the top classes and best signings in the conference. Our model (explained below) tends to overweight volume so we’ve bolded the five classes that have the best ‘average stars’ measure.

Ohio State touts the conference’s best class while Maryland and Purdue add the two highest rated players to the mix. Read below for the rankings, the top ten incoming prospects and class by class breakdowns.

Rankings

Rk 247 School # Rivals Scout ESPN 247 Avg Ave Cml
1 1 (10) Ohio St. 5 4.00 4.00 4.00 3.80 3.95 129.52 1820
2 11 (48) Minnesota 5 3.20 3.40 3.20 3.20 3.25 121.35 1880
3 2 (16) Illinois 4 3.75 3.50 3.50 3.75 3.63 102.90 1350
4 3 (17) Michigan St. 3 3.67 4.00 4.00 3.67 3.83 96.84 1070
5 5 (34) Nebraska 5 3.20 3.20 3.00 3.20 3.15 93.73 1475
6 9 (45) Wisconsin 5 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.20 3.05 91.61 1465
7 4 (26) Indiana 3 3.33 3.67 3.67 4.00 3.67 90.73 1025
8 6 (36) Purdue 3 3.67 3.67 4.00 3.67 3.75 89.96 1005
9 13 (81) Iowa 6 3.00 2.67 2.83 2.83 2.83 89.41 1625
10 9 (45) Rutgers 5 3.20 2.60 2.80 3.40 3.00 88.06 1420
11 8 (41) Penn St. 3 3.00 3.33 3.33 3.33 3.25 81.25 975
12 12 (59) Northwestern 3 3.33 3.00 3.33 3.33 3.25 76.67 920
13 7 (39) Maryland 2 4.00 3.50 3.50 4.50 3.88 73.55 660
14 14 (104) Michigan 1 4.00 4.00 2.00 2.00 3.00 38.83 280

Commit List

  • Aug 2, 2014 – Purdue adds commitment from Grant Weatherford
  • Aug 10, 2014 – Iowa adds commitment from Ahmad Wagner
  • Aug 22, 2014 – Minnesota adds commitment from Dupree McBrayer
  • Aug 31, 2014 – Nebraska adds commitment from Glynn Watson
  • Sep 4, 2014 – Rutgers adds commitment from Corey Sanders
  • Sep 5, 2014 – Minnesota adds commitment from Jonathan Nwankwo
  • Sep 10, 2014 – Indiana adds commitment from Juwan Morgan
  • Sep 12, 2014 – Minnesota adds commitment from Jarvis Johnson
  • Sep 21, 2014 – Wisconsin adds commitment from Alex Illikainen
  • Sep 22, 2014 – Nebraska adds commitment from Edward Morrow
  • Sep 23, 2014 – Illinois adds commitment from Jalen Coleman-Lands
  • Sep 25, 2014 – Michigan State adds commitment from Matt McQuaid
  • Oct 13, 2014 – Northwestern adds commitment from Aaron Falzon
  • Oct 15, 2014 – Indiana adds commitment from O.G. Anunoby
  • Oct 15, 2014 – Wisconsin adds commitment from Charlie Thomas
  • Oct 20, 2014 – Maryland adds commitment from Jaylen Brantley
  • Nov 2, 2014 – Iowa adds commitment from Isaiah Moss
  • Nov 6, 2014 – Rutgers adds commitment from Kejuan Johnson
  • Nov 9, 2014 – Rutgers adds commitment from Justin Goode
  • Jan 6, 2015 – Nebraska adds commitment from Jack McVeigh
  • Jan 29, 2015 – Ohio State adds commitment from Jaquan Lyle
  • Feb 12, 2015 – Wisconsin adds commitment from Khalil Iverson
  • Mar 16, 2015 – Iowa adds commitment from Christian Williams
  • Mar 27, 2015 – Maryland adds commitment from Diamond Stone
  • Apr 2, 2015 – Rutgers adds commitment from Jonathan Laurent
  • Apr 4, 2015 – Indiana adds commitment from Thomas Bryant
  • Apr 5, 2015 – Michigan adds commitment from Moritz Wagner
  • Apr 14, 2015 – Nebraska adds commitment from Bakari Evelyn
  • Apr 20, 2015 – Iowa adds commitment from Dale Jones
  • Apr 23, 2015 – Minnesota adds commitment from Ahmad Gilbert
  • Apr 27, 2015 – Rutgers adds commitment from Deshawn Freeman
  • May 11, 2015 – Wisconsin adds commitment from Andy Van Vliet
  • May 15, 2015 – Minnesota adds commitment from Jordan Murphy
  • May 18, 2015 – Jonathan Nwankwo decommits from Minnesota.
  • May 19, 2015 – Caleb Swanigan commits to Purdue.

Top 10

Here are the top ten signing in the conference measured by average rank as well as our rating system. Ohio State leads the way with three top ten additions while Diamond Stone and Caleb Swanigan are the top ranked prospects headed to the conference.

Name Rating Avg Rank School
Diamond Stone 100 6.5 Maryland
Caleb Swanigan 100 17.8 Purdue
Thomas Bryant 96.3 22.0 Indiana
Deyonta Davis 95.0 28.5 Michigan State
Jalen Coleman-Lands 95.0 36.5 Illinois
Jaquan Lyle 93.75 40.7 Ohio State
Daniel Giddens 91.25 50.3 Ohio State
Austin Grandstaff 92.5 53.3 Ohio State
D.J. Williams 92.5 54.8 Illinois
Brevin Pritzl 90.0 68.0 Wisconsin

Ohio State

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Daniel Giddens C GA 4 4 4 4
Austin Grandstaff SG TX 4 4 4 4
A.J. Harris PG OH 4 4 4 3
Jaquan Lyle PG/SG IN 5 4 4 4
Mickey Mitchell SF TX 3 4 4 4

OSU adds Jaquan Lyle to the conference’s top recruiting class.

Minnesota

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Kevin Dorsey PG VA 4 4 4 4
Ahmad Gilbert SF PA 3 3 NR 3
Jarvis Johnson PG MN 3 3 4 3
Dupree McBrayer SG NJ 3 4 3 3
Jordan Murphy SF TX 3 3 3 3

Large class for Minnesota is highlighted by 4-star PG Kevin Dorsey.

Illinois

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Jalen Coleman-Lands SG IN 4 4 4 4
Aaron Jordan SG IL 4 4 4 4
Darius Paul PF IL 3 NR NR 3
D.J. Williams SF IL 4 4 4 4

Illinois adds former Michigan target Coleman-Lands as well as JUCO Darius Paul who is the brother of former Illini star Brandon Paul.

Michigan State

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Kyle Ahrens SG OH 3 4 4 3
Deyonta Davis PF MI 4 4 4 4
Matt McQuaid SG TX 4 4 4 4

MSU adds Matt McQuaid to the fold.  Biggest news though is the commitment and subsequent decommitment from 5-star Caleb Swanigan.

Nebraska

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Bakari Evelyn PG MI 3 3 NR NR
Michael Jacobson PF IA 3 3 3 3
Jack McVeigh SF Australia NR 3 NR 3
Edward Morrow PF IL 4 3 4 4
Glynn Watson PG IL 4 4 4 4

Tim Miles lands his first consensus 4-star in Glynn Watson.  Keanu Pinder who we showed in the 2015 class originally is now in the 2016 class.

Wisconsin

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Alex Illikainen PF MN 3 3 4 4
Khalil Iverson SF OH 3 3 2 3
Brevin Pritzl SG WI 4 4 4 4
Charlie Thomas PF MD 3 3 3 3
Andy Van Vliet PF Belgium NR NR NR NR

After losing 3 starters and 2 key back-ups Wisconsin loads up on a big class.  Will it be enough to continue the streak of all top 4 finishes in the Big Ten under Bo Ryan?

Indiana

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
O.G. Anunoby SF IN 3 3 3 3
Thomas Bryant C IL 4 4 4 5
Juwan Morgan PF IL 3 4 4 4

Indiana adds much needed size to their front court with their 3 commits.  Indiana also picked up a preferred walk-on in PG Harrison Niego but our rankings don’t include walk-on commits.

Purdue

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Ryan Cline SG IN 3 3 4 3
Caleb Swanigan C IN 5 5 5 5
Grant Weatherford PG IN 3 3 3 3

Purdue lands a big commitment in the late signing period by adding Caleb Swanigan.  Will there be enough minutes for he, Hammons and Haas?

Iowa

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Andrew Fleming SG TN 3 3 3 3
Brandon Hutton SF IL 3 3 3 4
Dale Jones PF IA 3 NR NR 2
Isaiah Moss SF IL 3 3 4 3
Ahmad Wagner SF/PF OH 3 3 3 3
Christian Williams SG IL 3 NR NR NR

Iowa lands a big class but seems to be low on top tier talent.

Rutgers

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Deshawn Freeman SF/PF NC 4 NR NR 4
Justin Goode SG VA NR 2 NR 3
Kejuan Johnson SF GA 3 3 3 3
Jonathan Laurent SF FL 3 NR 3 3
Corey Sanders PG FL 4 4 4 4

Eddie Jordan has a big class headlined by highlight reel special Corey Sanders.  Early commit Austin Burnette decommitted from the Scarlet Knights.

Penn State

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Josh Reaves SG VA 3 4 4 3
Mike Watkins C PA 3 3 4 4
Deividas Zemgulis SF MD 3 3 3 3

Northwestern

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Jordan Ash PG/SG IL 3 3 3 3
Aaron Falzon PF MA 4 3 4 4
Derek Pardon PF OH 3 3 3 3

Northwestern goes after size during this recruiting cycle.

Maryland

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Jaylen Brantley PG MA 3 NR NR 4
Diamond Stone C WI 5 5 5 5

Maryland adds the consensus top player entering the conference in Diamond Stone.  JUCO PG Brantley is also added to the mix, but low numbers push this class down our rankings.

Michigan

Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 247
Moritz Wagner PF Germany 4 4 NR NR

Michigan goes international for their only commitment in 2015 with German Moe Wagner.  Brent Hibbits is also committed as a preferred walk-on.

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 (Ave): 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 (Cml): 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.

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