Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings 1-8-12

Submitted by Ace on

The recruiting rankings return after the dead period and a New Year's Day siesta. Despite the dead period, there were a fair amount of commitments since the last rankings, including the Wolverines picking up Jehu Chesson (yes, it's been a while since I did one of these). Action since last rankings:

12-18-11: Ohio State picks up Noah Spence. Steffon Martin decommits from Purdue.

12-19-11: Indiana picks up Ryan Thompson. Illinois picks up Mason Monheim.

12-20-11: Nebraska picks up Mohammed Seisay.

12-21-11: Michigan picks up Jehu Chesson. Indiana picks up David Cooper. Ryan Frain re-committed to Illinois.

12-22-11: Indiana picks up Antonio Marshall.

12-26-11: Purdue picks up James Prince and Jason King.

12-29-11: Notre Dame picks up KeiVarae Russell. Penn State picks up Jamil Pollard. Purdue picks up Ryan Watson.

1-3-12: Iowa picks up Greg Garmon. Keith Brown decommits from Illinois. Nebraska picks up Jared Afalava and Avery Moss.

1-4-12: Sebastian Smith decommits from Indiana.

1-5-12: Illinois picks up Teko Powell.

1-7-12: Notre Dame picks up Elijah Shumate.

UPDATE 1-8-12: Ronald Darby decommits from Notre Dame (to answer your question: no, he is not considering Michigan, or at least they're not among his planned visits—Clemson, Florida State, and possibly LSU).

Chart? Chart:

Big Ten+ Recruiting Class Rankings
Rank School # Commits Rivals Avg Scout Avg ESPN Avg 24/7 Avg Avg Avg^
1 Michigan 24 3.50 3.63 3.33 3.54 3.50
2 Ohio State 19 3.52 3.74 3.42 3.63 3.58
3 Notre Dame 17 3.47 3.71 3.47 3.53 3.54
4 Wisconsin 12 3.42 3.33 3.17 3.50 3.35
5 Penn State 14 3.14 3.21 3.14 3.29 3.20
6 Michigan State 14 3.14 3.14 2.86 3.07 3.05
7 Iowa 17 3.00 2.88 2.94* 2.94 2.94
8 Nebraska 11 3.45 3.09 3.10* 3.55 3.30
9 Purdue 25 2.92 2.48 2.72* 2.76 2.72
10 Northwestern 20 2.75 2.65 2.55 2.65 2.65
11 Indiana 23 2.74 2.43 2.29* 2.52 2.50
12 Illinois 14 2.64 2.64 2.50 2.79 2.64
13 Minnesota 26 2.31 2.19 2.04* 2.31 2.21

*ESPN doesn't rate JuCos, so they are counted as unranked recruits for the sake of consistency (trust me, it makes sense when you look at the spreadsheet).

^The average of the average rankings of the four recruiting services (aka the previous four columns). The figure is calculated based on the raw numbers and then rounded, so the numbers above may not average out exactly.

On to the full data, after the jump.

 

#1 Michigan - 24 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Kyle Kalis OL OH 5 5 4 4
Royce Jenkins-Stone LB MI 4 4 4 4
James Ross LB MI 4 4 4 4
Joe Bolden LB OH 4 4 4 4
Terry Richardson CB MI 4 4 4 4
Erik Magnuson OL CA 4 4 4 4
Jarrod Wilson S OH 4 4 4 4
Amara Darboh WR IA 4 4 3 4
Tom Strobel DE OH 4 4 3 4
Ondre Pipkins DT MO 4 4 3 4
Blake Bars OL TN 4 3 3 3
Devin Funchess TE MI 3 4 4 4
Chris Wormley DE OH 3 4 4 4
Mario Ojemudia DE MI 3 4 4 3
A.J. Williams TE OH 3 4 3 3
Matt Godin DE MI 3 3 3 4
Kaleb Ringer LB OH 3 3 3 3
Ben Braden OL MI 3 3 3 3
Jehu Chesson WR MO 3 3 3 3
Jeremy Clark S KY 3 3 3 3
Caleb Stacey OL OH 3 3 3 3
Allen Gant S OH 3 3 3 3
Sione Houma FB UT 3 3 2 3
Drake Johnson RB MI 3 3 2 3

The Wolverines add Jehu Chesson.

#2 Ohio State - 19 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Noah Spence DE PA 5 5 5 5
Adolphus Washington DE OH 4 5 4 5
Bri'onte Dunn RB OH 4 5 4 4
Tommy Schutt DT IL 4 5 4 4
Joshua Perry LB OH 4 4 4 4
Se'Von Pittman DE OH 4 4 4 4
Warren Ball RB OH 4 4 3 4
De'Van Bogard S OH 4 4 3 4
Michael Thomas WR VA 4 4 3 3
Najee Murray CB OH 3 4 3 3
Pat Elflein OL OH 3 3 4 3
Ricquan Southward WR FL 3 3 4 3
Jacoby Boren OL OH 3 3 3 4
Cardale Jones QB OH 3 3 3 4
Frank Epitropoulos WR OH 3 3 3 3
Blake Thomas TE OH 3 3 3 3
Roger Lewis WR OH 3 3 3 3
Luke Roberts LB OH 3 3 3 3
Tyvis Powell S OH 3 3 2 3

The Buckeyes get another huge pickup from another Big Ten school after flipping consensus five-star DE Noah Spence from Penn State in consensus five-star DE Noah Spence (who was not a Penn State commit—that's an error on my part).

#3 Notre Dame - 18 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Jarron Jones DT NY 4 4 4 5
Tee Shepard CB CA 4 5 4 4
Sheldon Day DT IN 4 5 4 4
Deontay Greenberry WR CA 4 4 4 4
Elijah Shumate S NJ 4 4 4 4
Ronnie Stanley OL NV 4 4 4 4
William Mahone RB OH 4 4 4 3
Taylor Decker OL OH 4 4 3 4
KeiVarae Russell RB WA 4 4 3 4
Nick Baratti S TX 3 4 3 3
C.J. Prosise S VA 3 4 3 3
Justin Ferguson WR FL 3 3 4 3
Mark Harrell OL NC 3 3 4 3
Romeo Okwara DE NC 3 3 3 4
Chris Brown WR SC 3 3 3 3
John Turner S IN 3 3 3 3
Scott Daly LS IL 2 2 2 2

The Irish pick up a pair of commits in Elijah Shumate and KeiVarae Russell. They're dead-even with Ohio State in terms of average ranking, but are in third due to having one two fewer commits.

UPDATE: And now they lose cornerback Ronald Darby, a five-star to Scout and a four-star to the other three services.

#4 Wisconsin - 12 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Dan Voltz OL IL 4 4 4 4
Vince Biegel LB WI 4 4 4 4
J.J. Denman OL PA 4 4 4 4
Kyle Dodson OL OH 4 4 3 4
Vonte Jackson RB WI 4 4 3 4
Bart Houston QB CA 3 4 4 4
D.J. Singleton S NJ 3 4 4 3
Walker Williams OL WA 3 3 3 3
Arthur Goldberg DT PA 3 3 2 3
Hugs Etienne CB CA 3 2 3 3
Reggie Love WR FL 3 2 2 3
Reggie Mitchell CB PA 2 2 2 3

No change for the Badgers.

#5 Penn State - 14 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Camren Williams LB MA 4 4 4 4
Eugene Lewis WR PA 4 4 4 4
Armani Reeves CB MA 4 4 4 4
Jamil Pollard DT NJ 4 3 3 4
Brent Wilkerson DE MD 3 3 3 4
Brian Gaia OL MD 3 3 4 3
Skyler Mornhinweg QB PA 3 3 4 3
Anthony Stanko OL OH 3 3 3 3
Nyeem Wartman LB PA 3 3 3 3
Jesse James TE PA 3 3 3 3
Austin Johnson OL NJ 3 3 NR 3
Malik Golden ATH PA 3 3 3 3
Jake Kiley CB NH 2 3 2 2
Derek Dowrey DT VA 2 3 3 3

The Nittany Lions manage to stem the tide of recruits heading for less-tumultuous situations and even pick up DT Jamil Pollard. We'll see how Penn State can finish out the class with Bill O'Brien—who plans to continue as the offensive coordinator of New England through the NFL playoffs, which could conceivably last through signing day—at the helm.

#6 Michigan State - 14 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Aaron Burbridge WR MI 4 4 4 4
Jamal Lyles LB MI 4 4 3 3
Benny McGowan OL OH 3 3 4 3
Tyler O'Connor QB OH 3 3 3 4
Riley Bullough LB MI 3 3 3 3
Zach Higgins OL OH 3 3 3 3
Josiah Price TE IN 3 3 3 3
Nick Tompkins RB GA 3 3 3 3
Kyle Kerrick WR PA 3 3 3 3
MacGarrett Kings WR FL 3 3 3 3
Jermaine Edmondson S OH 3 3 3 2
Kodi Kieler OL MI 3 3 3 3
Evan Jones TE OH 3 3 NR 3
Ezra Robinson CB FL 3 3 NR 3

No change for the Spartans.

#7 Iowa - 17 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Faith Ekakitie DE IL 4 4 4 4
Greg Garmon RB PA 4 4 4 4
Jaleel Johnson DT IL 4 4 4 4
Ryan Ward OL IL 4 3 4 3
Maurice Fleming CB IL 3 3 4 3
Ruben Lile ATH MI 3 3 3 3
Cameron Wilson WR OH 3 3 3 3
Anthony Morgan S TX 3 3 3 3
Mitch Keppy OL IL 3 3 2 3
Michael Malloy RB IA 3 3 2 3
Drew Ott DE NE 3 2 3 3
Daumantas Venckus DE FL 3 NR 3 2
Greg Mabin WR FL 3 NR 2 3
Laron Taylor LB MI 2 3 3 3
Kevin Buford CB MI 2 3 3 3
Connor Kornbrath K WV 2 3 2 2
Tevaun Smith WR CT 2 3 JC NR

The Hawkeyes snag four-star running back Greg Garmon, leaping Purdue and Indiana in the process.

#8 Nebraska - 11 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Paul Thurston OL CO 4 4 4 4
Greg McMullen DE OH 4 3 3 4
Jordan Westerkamp WR IL 4 4 3 4
Mohammed Seisay CB AZ 4 3 JC 4
Zaire Anderson LB CA 4 2 JC 3
Michael Rose LB MO 3 3 4 4
Tommy Armstrong QB TX 3 4 3 3
Jared Afalava LB UT 3 3 4 4
Thomas Brown LB CA 3 3 3 3
Avery Moss DE AZ 3 3 2 3
Sam Cotton TE NE 3 2 3 3

Nebraska gets off the schneid and picks up three recruits: Mohammed Seisay, Jared Afalava, and Avery Moss. With only 11 commits but a very nice average, I really have no idea what to do with the Huskers, so for now I'm slotting them behind Iowa.

#9 Purdue - 25 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Ryan Watson DE MD 4 4 3 4
Jordan Shine S IN 3 3 3 3
Ryan Morris TE NJ 3 3 3 3
Austin Appleby QB OH 3 3 3 3
Jordan Roos OL TX 3 3 3 3
Bilal Marshall QB FL 3 3 3 3
Kingsley Ike DE TX 3 3 3 3
Dion Witty CB FL 3 2 3 3
Jonathan Curry TE AL 3 3 3 3
Paul Griggs K NC 3 3 3 3
Aloyis Gray ATH IN 3 3 2 3
Andy Garcia LB FL 3 2 2 2
Cameron Cermin OL TX 3 2 3 3
B.J. Knauf WR FL 3 3 2 3
Jimmy Herman S IN 3 3 2 3
Devin Smith OL AZ 3 3 JC 3
Carlos Carvajal TE NY 3 3 3 3
Anthony Brown CB FL 3 2 2 3
Danny Anthrop WR IN 3 2 2 2
Greg Latta DE CA 3 2 JC 2
Cameron Posey WR FL 3 NR 2 3
James Prince OL TX 3 NR NR NR
Jordan Woods WR MI 2 3 2 3
Thomas Meadows K VA 2 2 2 2
Jason King OL AK 2 NR 3 NR

The Boilermakers lose Steffon Martin but pick up a trio of commits in Ryan Watson, James Prince, and Jason King.

#10 Northwestern - 20 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Ifeadi Odenigbo DE OH 4 4 4 4
Greg Kuhar DT OH 4 3 3 3
Adam DePietro OL PA 3 4 3 3
Dean Lowry DE IL 3 3 3 3
Kenton Playko OL OH 3 3 3 3
Eric Olson OL MA 3 3 3 3
Jack Schwaba TE PA 3 3 3 2
Ian Park OL PA 3 3 3 3
Eric Wilson WR MI 3 3 3 3
Malin Jones RB IL 3 3 2 3
Traveon Henry RB FL 3 3 2 3
Terrance Brown S CA 3 2 2 3
Mike McHugh WR PA 3 2 2 2
Dwight White CB TX 3 2 2 2
Connor Mahoney OL PA 2 3 3 2
Dan Vitale S IL 2 2 2 2
Joseph Jones S PA 2 2 2 3
Chris Fitzpatrick OL KY 2 2 2 2
Jaylen Prater LB OH 2 2 2 3
Andrew Scanlan WR PA NR NR 2 NR

The Wildcats get a big pickup in four-star DE Ifeadi Odenigbo and vault above Indiana and Illinois in the rankings.

#11 Indiana - 21 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Nick Mangieri DE IL 3 3 3 3
Dan Feeney OL IL 3 3 3 3
Jordan Wallace LB IN 3 3 3 3
Kevin Davis WR IN 3 3 3 3
Adam Kranda TE IN 3 3 3 3
Wes Rogers OL IN 3 3 3 3
Mike Cotton LB IL 3 3 3 3
Shawn Heffern DE IN 3 3 3 3
Jason Spriggs TE IN 3 3 3 3
Jacarri Alexander LB IA 3 3 JC 2
Shaine Boyle CB CA 3 2 JC 3
Darius Stroud LB KS 3 NR JC 3
David Cooper LB KS 3 2 JC 3
Antonio Marshall CB GA 3 NR JC 2
Ryan Thompson S MS 3 NR JC NR
Caleb Cornett WR IN 3 3 2 2
Ralphael Green OL TX 3 2 2 NR
Tanner Kearns TE OH 2 3 2 3
Alex Todd OL OH 2 3 2 3
Jacob Bailey OL IN 2 2 3 3
Dawson Fletcher S OH 2 2 2 2
Tregg Waters S AZ 2 2 JC 2
Justin Rayside DE CA 2 2 JC NR

The Hoosiers lose Sebastian Smith but gain a trio of JuCos in David Cooper, Antonio Marshall, and Ryan Thompson.

#12 Illinois - 14 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Dami Ayoola RB FL 3 3 3 3
Tajarvis Fuller LB FL 3 3 3 3
Cody Quinn CB OH 3 3 3 3
Joseph Spencer OL OH 3 3 3 3
Vontrell Williams DT IL 3 3 3 3
Zach Jackson S FL 3 3 3 3
Elliot Faerber WR KS 3 3 2 2
Robert Bain OL IL 3 3 2 3
Tyler Barton S FL 3 2 2 2
Teko Powell DT FL 3 2 NR 2
Jason Robertson WR IL 2 3 3 3
Joey Warburg OL KY 2 2 3 3
Ryan Frain K IN 2 NR 2 2
Mason Monheim LB OH NR 3 2 3

Illinois loses their top recruit in linebacker Keith Brown, who ended up at Louisville. The Illini do regain kicker Ryan Frain, who had decommitted in December, and add DT Teko Powell and LB Mason Monheim.

#13 Minnesota - 26 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Jonah Pirsig OL MN 3 4 3 4
Isaac Hayes OL MN 3 3 4 3
Jamel Harbison WR NC 3 3 4 3
Philip Nelson QB MN 3 3 2 3
Jack Lynn LB IL 3 3 2 3
Dinero Moss S FL 3 2 3 3
Brian Nicholson LB FL 3 2 2 2
Jordan Hinojosa DT FL 3 2 NR 3
Martez Shabazz CB TX 3 2 JC 3
Nick Rallis S MN 3 3 2 3
Maxx Williams TE MN 3 3 NR 3
Rodrick Williams RB TX 3 2 NR 3
James Gillum RB MS 3 2 JC NR
Mitch Leidner QB MN 2 3 2 3
Drew Davis LB NC 2 2 3 3
Samad Hinds TE FL 2 2 3 2
Josh Ballesteros LB FL 2 2 2 2
Eric Murray CB WI 2 2 NR 2
Scott Ekpe DT TX 2 2 2 3
Isaac Fruechte WR MN 2 2 JC 2
Jeremy Baltazar CB TX 2 NR JC NR
Alex Keith DE MO NR NR 2 NR
Antonio Johnson S OH NR NR 2 NR
Damarius Travis S FL NR NR NR NR
Lincoln Plsek DE TX NR NR NR NR
Briean Boddy CB KS NR NR JC NR

No change for the Gophers.

Comments

massblue

January 8th, 2012 at 6:00 PM ^

what is happening to MSU?  They are not picking up anyone.  You have to give MD credit for finding some diamonds in the rough, but this is not good for their future.

JCV16

January 8th, 2012 at 6:24 PM ^

we're going to have a very good class, but ND and OSU are going to end up with better prospects on average across the board.  Ours will only be better because of volume.  Oh well. 

93Grad

January 8th, 2012 at 7:35 PM ^

I'm really surprised that we have closed strong given our on field success. We could still pull Garnett and some others but I frankly would not be surprised if we don't pick up anyone else. Oh well still a great class and maybe our success this year bears fruit in next years class.

DMAC4REAL

January 9th, 2012 at 5:27 PM ^

1. ND preaches great academics. IK UofM has great academics, but ND really preaches this being a 40 year decision. ND boasts the #1 business school in the nation, and that brings a lot of positive attention. 

2. Tradition. You can hate ND, but its tradition is remarkable and only UofM has a better one (and it could be debateably tied)

3. Great Facitilities 

4. Faith. Those of the Catholic denomination love the fact that ND is THE Catholic University. (and manti teo who is mormon, thought it improved his faith)

5. Campus is beautiful. One of the best in the nation. 

6. BK preaches a good future, and kids are buying it. 

7. ND is just for some kids. For most it is not. But there a select few every year that love ND and what it represents. 

kmedved

January 9th, 2012 at 10:48 AM ^

Recruiting rankings are a good predictor of how good a player you will be, but the difference between 3.50 and 3.52 is really comfortably in the "too small to matter" category. If you go off the rates given here by Hinton, then Michigan's class (using Rivals), projects to have 0.34 All Americans in this class. Ohio State's number is 0.29.

As far as the pure average issue goes, "only better because of volume" isn't really something to be totally ignored. Put another way - if you remove Wormley and Ojemudia from this class then the average Rivals ranking is 3.54, and now Michigan has both a better average class, and better total class.

Paying attention to the average, and ignoring the value of volume leads to a conclusion that the Michigan class without Wormley and Ojemudia is stronger than the class they actually have. That class would still rate above Ohio State overall on this list, but also have a better average star rating. To me, that seems like a crazy conclusion. There's a reason you can't do these ratings purely by average, and that people care about volume. It matters.

DMAC4REAL

January 9th, 2012 at 5:31 PM ^

ND graduates 3/4 of the D backfield. Needs to replace a lot. We lose another next year, and lose a couple back ups this year. Last year We pulled for DLine (Lynch, Tuitt, Williams, Springman, Hounshell, Niklas) this year its D backfield. On the redshirting, that is unknown. Tee Shepard wil play. If Darby stays with us (prolly wont) hell play. Then some of the safties will play. 

chally

January 8th, 2012 at 8:26 PM ^

Spence looked great in the Under Armor All-Star game.  That's a huge pickup for Ohio.  It will be fun watching him match up against our terrific O-line recruiting class for the next four-five years.

Ball Hawk

January 8th, 2012 at 8:47 PM ^

Ace, why do you think coaches have cooled on Yuri? Maybe it is just a rumor but I keep reading that thats the case. We cooled on him before the AA game so it was before we saw him in action.

Ace

January 8th, 2012 at 9:09 PM ^

The reason I've seen put forward the most—and this makes sense if you watched him in the Army AA Game—is that he's pretty raw as a corner and quite possibly projects better as a safety. Michigan is in the market for a true corner, not a safety, so it would make sense that they would be more interested in a guy like Armani Reeves, who's a lot more polished at corner at this point.

elaydin

January 9th, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^

I don't buy the low ranking for Nebraska.  The way I see it, the major powers can get an entire class of 3 star talent if they wanted to (minus long snapper, kickers and maybe fullbacks).  I like to look at "Stars above replacement level". 

Nebraska has more 4 star recruits than Iowa, MSU or PSU.  Can you really say UN's 3.3 average with 11 recruits is that much worse than Wisconsin's 3.35 with 12 recruits?

Hunter.M

January 10th, 2012 at 10:34 AM ^

You always take the time to provide us with some of the best information we could ask for. I hope that you will continue and I hope that more information will come your way to share.

 

Football, basketball, or any other sport has a ton of stats that should really be held to a standard like the one that is provided here, since it is not impossible.