It is a little bit early into their college careers still but here is an early look at how my rankings are doing in college.
Biggest Miss: Chris Bond being ranked 19th. He averaged 7.3 points per game and more impressively 4.3 rebounds in 21 minutes per game for Ball State.
Deshaun Thomas was the number 1 player but a wide margin. I was worried that he was a tweener. He never shot it very consistently from the outside in high school. He dominated the inside, but at only 6’7” I thought most of those opportunities would disappear at Ohio State. He only shot 33% from 3 this year but did average 7.5 points per game for one of the top teams in the nation as a freshman.
Terone Johnson had an unreal senior year for North Central. He led them to the state title and completely dominated the offensive end. My worries about him at Purdue were that he wasn’t tall or explosive enough to play the shooting guard spot and didn’t have the handles to play the point guard position. Johnson struggled shooting the ball especially early in the year and ended as a 29% shooter from 3. I expect a big sophomore year though.
Chrishawn Hopkins might have been a surprise at the 3rd spot. Hopkins was a player that basically burst on the scene during the spring AAU going into his senior year. My AAU team was on the receiving end of the unknown’s scoring barrage during the state tournament where he scored 42 and 38 points on us. Hopkins struggled to find playing time on the national runner-up Butler. He played extremely well in the tournament though. He was most out of place on the defensive end and needs more muscle to become a big-time player.
Jesse Berry had a very good freshman campaign for Ball State. He scored about 9 ppg in 24 minutes per game. We had his weaknesses as decision making and defense. He had 43 turnovers to only 41 assists so that would seem like it is still a weakness. Berry is poised for a large sophomore year though.
Erik Fromm only played 3.4 minutes per game for Butler.
Donnie Hale was at Bridgton Academy and will be a freshman at Purdue this year.
Ethan Jacobs only played in 9 games for Ohio. He is still a work in-progress.
Russell Byrd had foot surgery and sat out the whole season at Michigan State. He just had another foot surgery in May but is expected to play this season.
Khristian Smith was at Maine Central Institute last year and will be a freshman at Indiana State this year.
Travis Carroll at 10th was probably lower than most places had him. I just thought his athleticism was going to hold him back from being a major contributor at the high-major level. It seems like he is going to be able to rebound in the Big Ten though and his offensive game will pick-up.
Here are the complete rankings…
1. Deshaun Thomas 6’7 Bishop Luers H
2. Terone Johnson 6’3 North Central H-
3. Chrishawn Hopkins 6’2 Manual H-
4. Jesse Berry 6’1 Lafayette Jeff H-
5. Erik Fromm 6’8 Bloomington South M+
6. Donnie Hale 6’7 New Albany M+
7. Ethan Jacobs 7’0 Tipton H-
8. Russell Byrd 6’7 Blackhawk Christian M+
9. Khristian Smith 6’3 Pike M
10. Travis Carroll 6’8 Danville M
11. Tyrae Robinson 6’1 Bowman Academy M
12. Jordan Manual 6’8 Howe M+
13. Daniel Turner 6’6 Mount Vernon M
14. Jack Isenbarger 6’3 Zionsville M
15. P.J. Hubbert 6’5 Mount Vernon M
16. Jake Kitchell 6’8 South Central M-
17. LaTroy Taylor 6’2 Gary Wallace M-
18. Michael Harris 6’1 East Chicago L+
19. Christopher Bond 6’4 Bowman L
20. Julian Boatner 6’3 Bloomington North L+
21. Kegan Clark 6’4 Jeffersonville L+
22. Neal Beshears 6’6 Winchester L-
23. DeArmond Davis 6’6 Mount Vernon L
24. Brandon Demmings 6’2 Washington L+
25. Chris Welker 6’4 Zionsville L
26. Andre Hampton 6’1 Howe L
27. Greg Miller 6’6 North Miami L-
28. Mitchell Patton 6’9 South Knox
29. Mike Kibiloski 6’7 Elkhart Memorial L-
30. Colin Maltsberger 6’3 North Montgomery L-
31. Robert Kitzinger 6’6 Carmel L-
32. Thomas Anderson 6’7 Terre Haute North D2
33. Andrew Rudakas 6’5 Wheeler L-
34. Jeff Howard 6’8 Westfield L-
35. John Michael Jarvis - Terre Haute South L-
36. Roddy Richardson 6’2 Lafayette Jeff L-
37. Leland Brown 6’4 Noblesville L-
38. Brad Elam 5’10 Ben Davis L-
39. Jordan Weidner 6’1 Danville L-
40. Willie Rhodes 6’2 Warren Central D2
41. KeVan Ford 5’11 Bowman D2
42. Cyllk Joesph 5’11 Bowman D2
43. Brad Karp 6’4 Valparaiso D2
44. Parker Staufer 6’6 Southridge D2
45. Justin Gill 6’6 Munster D2
46. Kyle Ritz 6’0 Munster D2
47. Zach Starr 6’1 Hamilton Southeastern D2
48. Trip McFall 6’3 North Central D2
49. Jeff Sustarcic 6’1 Union County D2
50. Aaron Bluitt 6’1 North Central D2
51. Jake Browne 6’6 Hamilton Southeastern D2