Top 10: Crowd-pleasing players
MORE: Meyer's Mailbag | Weekly Whispers
Each week, Rivals.com recruiting analysts Jerry Meyer and Eric Bossi break down the top 10 in a different category. This week's top 10: crowd pleasers.
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School: Winter Park (Fla.)
The Buzz: The No. 1 player in the 2011 Rivals150, Rivers is the closest thing to a rock star in high school basketball. Fans come out in packs to see him play and his high-scoring style featuring difficult shots and attacking off the dribble keeps the crowd involved.
School: Indianapolis (Ind.) Pike
The Buzz: Crowds love when the guy who has the ball in his hands the most is the most dangerous player on the floor. That's virtually always the case with the Kentucky-bound Teague. He's a super athlete with blinding quickness and a flair for making flashy, crowd-pleasing plays.
3. Jahii Carson
School: Mesa (Ariz.)
The Buzz: Crowds love a little guy who dribbles with flash, makes lots of no-look passes and scores the ball at a high rate. Not only does Carson do all of that, but he's a threat to throw down a dunk that can shut the gym down at any moment.
4. Nick Johnson
School: Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep
The Buzz: Few players in the country can match the 6-foot-3 Johnson when it comes to aerial antics. His YouTube videos are known to fans in just about every gym he enters and if they aren't, he catches their attention in warmups and keeps it throughout the game with his dunks.
5. LeBryan Nash
School: Dallas (Texas) Lincoln
The Buzz: The Oklahoma State-bound wing is a crowd pleaser of different sorts. He's not flashy with the dribble and doesn't play to the crowd. Actually, he plays much of the game with a scowl on his face. But that scowl and his propensity for posterizing defenders turns him into a fan favorite.
6. Tony Wroten
School: Seattle (Wash.) Garfield
The Buzz: Playing under the microscope since the beginning of his senior year, Wroten is a hometown hero who is sticking around town to play at Washington. A flashy playmaker, his no-look passes and alley-oop finishes have been causing major stirs for a while.
7. Deuce Bello
School: High Point(N.C.) Westchester Country Day
The Buzz: A four-star wing who is headed to Baylor, the long-armed Bello is a true high flyer. Crowds wait eagerly for him to attack the rim and he usually rewards them several times a game with dunk contest quality jams in traffic or on the break.
School: Auroroa (Ill.) East
The Buzz: As we wrote earlier, crowds love little guys who play with flash and that's what the Connecticut-bound Boatright does. He's a threat to go for 50 when he takes a high school floor and dunks in ways players 6 or 7 inches taller don't think of trying in game situations.
School: Ft. Bend (Texas) Dulles
The Buzz: The St. John's signee is a totally different kind of entertainer. Cut somewhat out of the mold of BYU's Jimmer Fredette, he's an unabashed gunner from deep. He spends much of the game handling the ball. He's a threat to shoot from just about anywhere past halfcourt and carries a crowd when he's got it rolling.
10. Cezar Guerrero
School: Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco
The Buzz: A trickster with the ball who always plays in attack mode, Guerrero rang up huge numbers during a terrific high school career. His game features lots of direction change, spins and willingness to let it fly and score under duress.
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