Harrison maintains top spot in 2013
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The summer is complete and after revisiting the class of 2012 Rivals150 last week, it's time to move to the class of 2013. While the rankings have been expanded from a pre-summer list of 100 to this post-summer list of 150, the player at the top remains unchanged, as Andrew Harrison maintains the No. 1 position in the 2013 class.
While he faced stiff competition, the 6-foot-5 point guard from Fort Bend (Texas) Travis is a unique enough prospect to hold onto the top spot, according to Rivals.com lead national basketball analyst Jerry Meyer.
"At the top of the ranking is the premier point guard in the 2013 class," Meyer said. "At a burly 6-foot-5, Andrew Harrison is physically unique for his position and has a complete and refined skill set to go along with his physical prowess."
That doesn't mean that Harrison's spot at the top is secure. In fact, a major run is being made by Chicago (Ill.) Simeon's star wing Jabari Parker. The 6-foot-7 Parker has drawn favorable comparisons to a young Paul Pierce and has improved at in impressive rate over the last year.
"There is no doubt, however, that Harrison has some stiff competition right behind him, most notably from Parker," Meyer said. "The top wing scorer in the class, Parker is also an outstanding rebounder and a strong all-around player. He made impressive strides over the past year, and it will be interesting to see the path his improvement continues to take."
Sliding into the third spot is 2013's top interior presence, Nerlens Noel. While there has been chatter that he could move into the class of 2012, Noel is staying in the junior class and projects as an imposing defender with improving offense.
"The top interior player in the class, Noel is also a legitimate contender for the top spot," Meyer said. "He is a dominant defender already. The question is how far he can go as an offensive player."
Rounding out the top five are Texas power forward Julius Randle and Denver-bred shooting guard Chris Thomas.
Additional five-star prospects include the sixth-, seventh-, eighth- and ninth-ranked players - Aaron Gordon, Aaron Harrison, Chris Walker and Solomon Poole.
"The top nine prospects have distinctly separated themselves in the 2013 class as the cream of the crop," Meyer said. "What is interesting about the nine is that they make a terrific nine-man rotation that could win a lot of games over the course of a lot of years.
"The top five makes a cohesive starting five and then you have four players who can play multiple positions backing them up."
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