RANKINGS: 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2019 Team Rankings
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Who is the best prospect in the 2019 class? We unveiled the updated Rivals150 last week and Vernon Carey remained on top of the rankings, but that doesn’t mean James Wiseman, Cole Anthony, Jaden McDaniels or Isaiah Stewart might not finish ranked No. 1 overall next April.
In the meantime, we polled 25 power conference head and assistant coaches of who they thought was the nation's best senior prospect. We asked them to rank the top five players and assigned five points for a first-place vote, four for a second, three for a third, two for a fourth and one for a fifth.
At the end of the day, Carey edged out Wiseman as the coaches' collective choice. Carey finished with 108 points overall and Wisemen finished with 97. They were the only two prospects to appear on all 25 ballots.
Just four prospects received first-place votes, with Carey receiving 14, Wiseman with six, Anthony with four and McDaniels with one.
We asked some of the coaches that participated to explain their first-place vote.
1. VERNON CAREY
“He’s the most versatile player in the class. You can not put a box around him and say he is a certain position. He’s just on the floor and makes things happen, especially on the glass.” -- An SEC assistant coach
“There’s no better combination of size, skill, power and athleticism in the 2019 class. Vernon Carey is as elite as they come and his production speaks for itself.” -- An ACC assistant coach
“He checks all of the boxes when you think about a dominant post player. Runs, hands, feel nasty streaky and physical.” -- An SEC assistant coach
2. JAMES WISEMAN
“He has been one of the most consistent prospects in recent years. Every time you see him, he has more to his game. He is what a modern day big is supposed to look like.” -- A Big 12 assistant coach
“He has some God-given attributes with his size, strength, length and athleticism, mixed in with his skillset that he has developed up until this point in his career where there isn’t anyone close to him. Scary part is, I think he is just scratching the surface of what he can become. Once it becomes just basketball for him, he will take off. He will be a better pro than a college player.” -- An SEC assistant coach
3. COLE ANTHONY
“Cole Anthony has always been a physical guard that can take anyone off the bounce but he has evolved into a serious threat from well beyond the arc, making him virtually impossible to guard by his peers.” -- A Big East assistant coach
4. JADEN MCDANIELS
“Jaden is the perfect mix of versatility, shot making, and overall upside. He has shown a killer streak at times and I just love where he will be in 18 months.” -- A Pac-12 assistant coach
In all, 16 prospects received a vote.
There is still an entire high school season and a bevy of all-star festivities to be completed but with where things currently sit, Rivals.com's assessment is not too different than what the coaching industry sees. The Rivals150's top seven matches the survey's top seven, before Tyrese Maxey overtakes Precious Achiuwa within the coaches’ poll compared to our ranking of Achiuwa ahead of Maxey.