Rivals150: Inside the numbers
As we like to do whenever rankings are released, it's time to take a look inside the numbers and look at who entered the rankings, how far they climbed and where they are from.
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All told, there are 14 new members of the Rivals150 for the class of 2011. As it turns out, the two highest entrants into the rankings - No. 9 Khem Birch and No. 45 Alex Murphy -- are both players who made the transition from the class of 2011 to 2012.
Outside of Birch and Murphy, the rest of the newcomers all enter into the rankings at the three-star level. Included among the newly ranked are No. 111 Jalen Reynolds, No. 113 TaShawn Thomas, No. 118 Eric Katenda, No. 127 Brandan Kearney, No. 128 Patrick Connaughton, No. 133 Malcolm Gilbert, No. 134 Damiene Cain, No. 137 Martin Breunig, No. 138 DeVante Lacey, No. 141 Jamari Traylor, No. 146 Spencer Dinwiddie, No. 149 George Fant and No. 150 Ryan Anderson.
Star movement and high risers
Looking at the star movement in the final Rivals150 for the class of 2011, the previously mentioned Birch, No. 14 Tony Wroten, No. 18 Nick Johnson and No. 24 Trevor Lacey are the four new five-star prospects.
In addition to Duke bound Alex Murphy, the other players who become newly minted four-star prospects are No. 49 Rodney Cooper, No. 81 Shaquille Thomas, No. 93 Jabarie Hinds and No. 105 Derrick Gordon.
Of those who made moves up the rankings, a total of 13 players climbed 10 spots or more in the rankings. The biggest jump was made by the just mentioned Rodney Cooper who climbs a whopping 68 spots from No. 117 to No. 49 after a monster senior season.
Others making big jumps are Otto Porter (No. 97 to No. 37), Shaquille Thomas (No. 132 to No. 81), Julien Lewis (No. 96 to No. 57), Sir'Dominic Pointer (No. 81 to No. 44), Jabarie Hinds (No. 127 to No. 92), Derrick Gordon (No. 135 to No. 105), Robert Brown (No. 105 to No. 81), Nick Johnson (No. 40 to No. 18), Willy Kouassi (No. 87 to No. 66), Tony Wroten (No. 30 to No. 14), Andre Hollins (No. 126 to No. 110), Shannon Scott (No. 65 to No. 53) and Trevor Lacey (No. 34 to No. 24).
33 states represented in final 2011 Rivals150
Because today's high school players often attend schools away from their homes, picking which state to call home isn't exactly clear cut. We did our best to consider a prospect's home state when counting where they come from. For instance, a guy like No. 34 Ben McLemore who bounced around a bit during his senior still counts towards his home-state of Missouri. But, kids like No. 7 Quincy Miller and No. 79 Marshall Plumlee who spent the majority of their high school years attending schools in North Carolina went with the N.C. total rather than their home states of Illinois and Indiana's totals. Prospects from outside of the country, were counted from the states where they went to school.
With 14 total players included in the rankings, Texas lays claim to the most prospects ranked in the final 2011 Rivals150. California has the next most with 12 while Illinois is the other state to crack double digits with 11 ranked prospects. The greater New York City area also produced quite a few ranked players with 13 prospects hailing from within a stone's throw of the Big Apple.
Other states represented in the rankings are North Carolina (9), Georgia (7), Michigan (7), Mississippi (7), Maryland (6), Tennessee (6), Indiana (5), Virginia (5), Washington (5), Alabama (4), Florida (4), Kentucky (4), Missouri (4), Arkansas (3), Massachusetts (3), Ohio (3), Arizona (2), Iowa (2), Pennsylvania (2), Rhode Island (2), South Carolina (2), Wisconsin (2). Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Oregon each produced one ranked player each.
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