NEW RELEASE: Class of 2018 team rankings
Our first edition of the 2018 team rankings are out and after a big year in 2017, Arizona is off to an even better start with this year’s senior class.
Sean Miller and the Wildcats already have a pair of five-star prospects – point guard Jahvon Quinerly and power forward Shareef O’Neal – in the fold and open up with the top-ranked class in the country.
Obviously, things are still very early and there will be plenty of change to the rankings. But it’s hard not to be impressed with the early efforts of Arizona and the rest of the top five: Michigan State, USC, Louisville and Maryland.
CLASS OF 2018 TEAM RANKINGS STORYLINES
1. HOOPS RANKINGS ARE NOW AUTOMATED
For the first time, we’ve automated our team rankings in basketball. The formula is pretty simple. Points are assigned to each recruit depending on where they are ranked and then the totals for all of a team's commitments are totaled. The higher a recruit is ranked – the maximum value is 1,500 points for the No. 1 player in the country – the more weight his commitment holds.
2. NEARLY HALF OF THE 2018 RIVALS150 IS OFF THE BOARD
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a trend developing where the top recruits have been taking their time when it comes to making their college choices. The class of 2018 seems to be reversing that trend. A whopping 67 of the current Rivals150 already made their college choices.
At No. 8 overall, Duke-bound Tre Jones is the highest-ranked committed player and only eight of the 27 five-star prospects have made their decisions, so there are still several high-value prospects left on the board. The four-star prospects have been hit much harder with 52 of 92 already committed.
3. CAN DUKE REPEAT WITH THE TOP CLASS?
As mentioned above, Duke currently holds a commitment from Jones. The strength of his commitment is enough to give the Blue Devils the No. 17 class at this point. But after the late addition of Marvin Bagley III pushed them to No. 1 overall in 2017, can the Blue Devils repeat in 2018?
The answer is they are certainly going to be in the mix. The Blue Devils are in great shape with top-five wing Cameron Reddish and are also heavily involved with 2018’s top player, R.J. Barrett, along with five-stars Zion Williamson, Dairus Garland and Emmitt Williams, among others.
Of course, Kentucky has been the Blue Devils' biggest recruiting foil over the past few years as the two have been the consistent heavyweights in college recruiting. The Wildcats don’t have a commitment yet, but they are involved with many of the same high-value targets. If history is any indicator, John Calipari is going to put together a monster class.
Finally, given Arizona's start and the number of big-timers considering the Wildcats, they are very much in play to lead wire to wire.
