Researching the rankings

With the new class of 2007 Rivals150 out, we break down where the talent comes from, where it is going and what conference is making the most of the home grown talent. National basketball recruiting analyst Justin Young spent some time looking at the trends and researched the rankings from top to bottom.

Home sweet home

Look closely at the Rivals150 and there is a trend with the verbal commitments. Players are staying closer to home. Of the 76 commitments, 41 are committed to a state school. Only 22 are leaving for a school that is a state that borders his residence. Only 13 are leaving to a school at least two states away from their residence. Coaches are locking up the state borders in a big way.

The Big Ten is keeping the most talent home. Of the 20 conference commitments, only one player bucks the trend of staying within a conference region. Georgia native Chris Allen is headed to Michigan State. The other 19 players come from areas close to the respective Big Ten area.

Purdue has four commitments and they all hail from Indiana. Ohio State also dipped into the home grown talent for four in-staters and a Chicago star in Evan Turner. Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois all scored a pair of in-state guys for their 2007 recruiting haul.

For those 13 players who are leaving from home, most are staying within their own time zone. However, California native Taylor King and London native via South Kent (Conn.) forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning are making the biggest moves. King is headed to Duke while Bryan-Amaning is Washington bound.

Thirty eight states are represented in the rankings. Keeping up with trends, California and Texas have the most players in the Rivals150, with 30 total players in the rankings.

Two states make their debut in the Rivals150. James Johnson is the first basketball player from Wyoming to be ranked by Rivals.com. Same goes for Idaho's Scott Thompson. Both players were pleasant surprises at the Nike All-America camp. Montana is finally represented as well with forward Derek Selvig.

Here is how the commitments break down by conference in the Rivals150:

Big Ten – 20

ACC – 11

Pac-10 – 11

SEC – 10

Big East – 10

Big 12 – 8

West Coast Conference – 4

Atlantic 10 – 1

Conference USA – 1

State breakdown of where the Rivals150 players come from:

California – 17

Texas – 13

Maryland, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan – 8

Illinois – 7

Florida, New York – 6

Louisiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania – 5

North Carolina – 4

Minnesota, Oregon, Washington – 3

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Canada, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington D.C., West Virginia – 2

Connecticut, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming – 1

How the positions break down in the Rivals150:

Point guards: 24

Shooting guards: 28

Small forwards: 44

Power forwards: 39

Centers: 15