Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings 5-23

Submitted by Tim on

Just a little bit of change since last week, but ESPN did tweak their ratings a bit. Action since last rankings:

5-16-10 Ohio State gains commitment from Michael Bennett.
5-18-10 Purdue gains commitment from Robert Kugler.

Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings
Rank School # of Commits Rivals 250 Scout Average ESPN 150
1 Ohio State 11 2 3.64 6
2 Notre Dame 9 4 3.56 4
3 Michigan 4 1 3.25 2
4 Michigan State 5 1 3.20 1
5 Indiana 8 0 2.38 0
6 Iowa 3 1 2.67 0
7 Minnesota 2 1 2.50 1
8 Wisconsin 2 1 2.50 0
9 Northwestern 2 0 3.00 0
10 Illinois 2 0 3.00 0
11 Purdue 1 0 3.00 0
12 Penn State 0 0 0 0

I'll only make charts for the teams that currently have commits. Rivals 250 means that a given prospect is on the Rivals 250 to Watch, and ESPN 150 means that a prospect is on the Watch List for the ESPNU 150. Scout ratings are on the 5-star scale.

#1 Ohio State - 11 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Steve Miller DE 250 5 150*
Kenny Hayes DE 250 4 46
Brian Bobek OL NR 4 150*
Chase Farris DE NR 4 150*
Michael Bennett DT NR 4 150*
DerJuan Gambrell CB NR 4 45
Jeremy Cash S NR 3 150*
Jeff Heuerman TE NR 3 150*
Antonio Underwood OL NR 3 46
Chris Carter OL NR 3 46
Tommy Brown OL NR 3 46

All of the Buckeyes' commits are now 3-stars or better to Scout, and they also pick up a talented lineman in Michael Bennett.

#2 Notre Dame - 9 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Ben Koyack TE 250 5 150*
Conor Hanratty OL 250 4 150*
Matt Hegarty OL 250 4 150*
Jarrett Grace LB 250 4 46
Jordan Prestwood OL NR 4 150*
Tony Springmann OL NR 4 46
Brad Carrico OL NR 3 46
Matthias Farley CB NR 3 46
Kyle Brindza K NR 1 45

Everyone but Brindza is now rated by Scout. He is also considered a soft commit to ESPN, for the record.

#3 Michigan - 4 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Delonte Hollowell CB 250 3 150*
Brennen Beyer DE NR 4 150*
Greg Brown CB NR 3 46
Shawn Conway WR NR 3 46

No change for Michigan. This is a moderately depressing development following the BBQ at the Big House. Hopefully a couple will drop after Michigan announces their self-imposed sanctions this week.

#4 Michigan State - 5 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Lawrence Thomas LB 250 5 150*
Onaje Miller RB/Ath NR 4 45
Taiwan Jones Ath/LB NR 3 45
Connor Cook QB NR 2 46
AJ Sims CB NR 2 46

Jones, Cook, and Sims pick up rankings. I'm personally of the opinion that a 2-star ranking is worse than a 1-star ranking, because it means that the Scouts have evaluated you, and they don't think you're any good.

#5 Indiana - 8 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Jake Reed TE NR 3 46
Ralston Evans OL NR 3 46
Max Pirman LB NR 3 45
Kyle Kennedy LB NR 2 46
Tre Roberson QB NR 2 46
Kirk Harris OL NR 2 46
Zack Shaw LB NR 2 46
Mike Replogle LB NR 2 45

Big week for Indiana, as they go from one commit ranked on Scout to all of them (though they didn't grab anyone new). A trio of 3-stars headline the group.

#6 Iowa - 3 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Austin Blythe OL 250 3 46
Marcus Grant WR NR 2 46
JaCorey Shepherd WR NR 3 46

Iowa goes from nobody ranked on Scout to everybody ranked on Scout, and I noticed that Blythe is on the Rivals250 watchlist, which I missed last week. That moves the Hawkeyes up a couple spots.

#7 Minnesota - 2 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Tommy Olson OL 250 2 150*
James Farrow CB NR 3 46

Olson, who both Rivals and ESPN really like, picks up a curious 2-star rating from Scout. It will be interesting to see if the sites ever reach a consensus on him.

#8 Wisconsin - 2 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Jake Keefer LB 250 3 46
Sam Arneson TE NR 2 46

Keefer picks up a 2-star rating from Scout, and Keefer remains constant. I think that bumps the Badgers below Minnesota.

#9 Northwestern - 2 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Sean Cotton S NR 3 46
Jarrell Williams CB NR 3 46

Cotton and Williams get 3-star ratings from Scout.

#10 Illinois - 2 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Zeph Grimes S NR 3 46
Hunter Wells OL NR 3 45

Illinois is a touch behind Northwestern, by the slimmest of margins (1 point on ESPN).

#11 Purdue - 1 Commit
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Robert Kugler TE NR 3 45

Purdue comes into the picture, picking up a pretty good tight end in Robert Kugler, the son of Steelers OL coach Sean Kugler.

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Comments

jg2112

May 23rd, 2010 at 7:35 PM ^

FWIW - Farrow is now keeping his commitment but is looking around again. He sounds like he wants to get away from Minnesota, which, well, is not unusual the past few years.

Joined: 11/24/2008

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Don

May 24th, 2010 at 10:36 AM ^

Those kids who care only about winning, TV appearances, and PT and not much about the institution of the University of Michigan and the educational opportunities that come with it will largely scatter to other schools. The kids who commit to us after sanctions are levied will be making an opposite statement, and it'll be a test of our recruiting and marketing abilities to ensure those kids are competitive with the other schools' recruits.

Joined: 06/30/2008

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maizenbluenc

May 24th, 2010 at 11:16 AM ^

I don't believe the sanctions that will be levied when all is said and done will stop "those kids who care only about winning, TV appearances, and PT" from committing.

Not saying that any of the potential commits from the BBQ are that type of recruit, but if I were a recruit that may have committed at the BBQ, I would wait two or three days for the UofM response / self-sanction announcement: if for anything, just so I wouldn't look like a fool three days later and could say I made my decision with the sanctions already on the table.

I think we will see delayed commitments this year just due to the coaching uncertianty. Once we get to mid season, and have a sense for how Big Ten play is going (and thus whether Rich and staff are stable), then we'll probably see more action. Even then, if they manage to lock down 8 or 9, then they can turn up the pressure because there are not that many slots this year.

Joined: 07/21/2009

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Tim

May 24th, 2010 at 11:23 AM ^

Not saying that any of the potential commits from the BBQ are that type of recruit, but if I were a recruit that may have committed at the BBQ, I would wait two or three days for the UofM response / self-sanction announcement: if for anything, just so I wouldn't look like a fool three days later and could say I made my decision with the sanctions already on the table.

Excellent point.

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wolfman81

May 25th, 2010 at 10:49 AM ^

Both with what Tim agreed with and with this:

I think we will see delayed commitments this year just due to the coaching uncertianty. Once we get to mid season, and have a sense for how Big Ten play is going (and thus whether Rich and staff are stable), then we'll probably see more action.
"Will my coach still be there?" is a big question for these recruits, and one that will hopefully* be answered by mid-season. * I say "hopefully because I think that if the team does well, gets bowl eligible early, and wins 8+ games Rich Rod is safe. However, Brandon has said that he supports Rich Rod...and I think that a poor season this year merely brings the heat up even higher next year.

Joined: 12/17/2008

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Tater

May 24th, 2010 at 3:34 PM ^

I wonder if some recruits are looking at Michigan's roster and deciding that the depth chart may be a little hard to crack?  Obviously, there are a few positions that need help, but most of the team is starting to shape up pretty nicely.  The sliver lining to this is that those who do sign will be kids who either aren't afraid of competition and/or think they are so good that it doesn't matter. 

To me, it's a win either way.

Joined: 08/13/2008

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wolfman81

May 25th, 2010 at 10:40 AM ^

We're talking about a kicker guys...Kickers don't get 5 stars, and there is a reason for that.  Kickers are more about what is between the ears.  Shoot, give me a couple years with Barwis and I could knock in 50 yard + field goals.

Joined: 12/17/2008

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OneFootIn

May 24th, 2010 at 8:29 PM ^

The only problem with tracking the recruiting process so closely is that it becomes much harder to fantasize about catching back up to OSU anytime soon. They are kicking our ass, some more. I have been watching long enough to know OSU must have felt this way to some degree under previous regimes, but frankly we beat a series of Buckeye teams that had better teams overall than ours. This situation, in which they are both kicking our ass on the field AND destroying us in recruiting suggests that we could be in for a very long haul. Maybe I just need another beer.

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