Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings 6-19-11

Submitted by Tim on

Rivals has updated most of their 3-stars, so that update is reflected in these rankings. Action since last rankings:

6-8-11 Indiana gains commitment(!) from Alex Todd.

6-12-11 Ohio State gains commitment from Najee Murray.

6-13-11 Wisconsin gains commitment from Kyle Dodson.

6-14-11 Northwestern gains commitments from Connor Mahoney and Mike McHugh. Illinois gains commitment from Cody Quinn.

6-15-11 Illinois gains commitment from Tajarvis Fuller.

6-16-11 Indiana gains commitment from Nick Mangieri.

6-17-11 Minnesota gains commitment from Scott Ekpe.

Big Ten+ Recruiting Class Rankings
Rank School # Commits Rivals Avg Scout Avg ESPN Avg 24/7 Avg
1 Michigan 16 3.44 3.56 3.38 3.56
2 Ohio State 9 3.22 3.67 3.22 3.56
3 Penn State 8 3.63 3.25 3.50 3.75
4 Notre Dame 10 3.20 3.50 3.30 3.30
5 Wisconsin 5 3.80 3.80 3.60 4.00
6 Northwestern 8 2.00 2.50 2.25 1.75
7 Minnesota 7 2.00 2.14 2.33* 2.00
8 Michigan State 5 3.00 2.60 2.80 3.20
9 Illinois 4 2.50 2.50 2.25 2.50
10 Nebraska 2 3.00 3.00 3.50 4.00
11 Indiana 2 1.50 2.50 2.50 1.50
12 Purdue 1 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00
13 Iowa 1 3.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

ESPN's initial rankings are finally out, so their numbers in the table above have switched to star averages, rather than 150 Watchlist prospects.

Full data after the jump.

#1 Michigan - 16 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
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
Tom Strobel DE OH 4 4 3 4
Pharaoh Brown DE OH 4 3 3 4
Devin Funchess TE MI 3 4 4 4
Mario Ojemudia DE MI 3 4 4 3
Kaleb Ringer LB OH 3 4 3 3
Matt Godin DE MI 3 3 3 4
Ben Braden OL MI 3 3 3 3
Anthony Standifer CB IL 3 3 3 3
Caleb Stacey OL OH 3 3 3 3
Allen Gant S OH 3 3 3 3
AJ Williams TE OH 3 3 3 3

Mario Ojemudia, despite being one of only two future Wolverines already committed to the US Army All-American Bowl, is the lowest-rated recruit to Rivals. They're tweener-haters.

#2 Ohio State - 9 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Bri'onte Dunn RB OH 4 5 4 4
Kyle Kalis OL OH 4 5 4 4
Joshua Perry LB OH 4 4 4 4
Warren Ball RB OH 4 4 3 4
Jacoby Boren OL OH 3 3 3 4
Frank Epitropoulos WR OH 3 3 3 3
Blake Thomas TE OH 3 3 3 3
Tyvis Powell S OH 3 3 2 3
Najee Murray CB OH NR 3 3 3

Buckeyes add low-rated DB Najee Murray to the class.

#3 Penn State - 8 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Jarron Jones DT NY 4 5 4 5
Camren Williams LB MA 4 4 4 4
JJ Denman OL PA 4 4 4 4
Brent Wilkerson DE MD 4 3 3 4
Jamil Pollard DT NJ 4 3 3 4
Brian Gaia OL MD 3 3 4 3
Anthony Stanko OL OH 3 3 3 3
Jesse James TE PA 3 NR 3 3

No change for Penn State.

#4 Notre Dame - 10 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Ronald Darby CB MD 4 5 4 4
Tee Shepard CB CA 4 4 4 4
Deontay Greenberry WR CA 4 4 3 4
Taylor Decker OL OH 4 4 3 4
David Perkins LB IN 3 4 4 4
Nick Baratti S TX 3 4 3 3
Justin Ferguson WR FL 3 3 4 3
Mark Harrell OL NC 3 3 4 3
CJ Prosise S VA 3 3 3 3
Scott Daly LS IL NR NR NR NR

Irish holding steady. Their averages may be slightly dinged by the fact that they have a long-snapper committed.

#5 Wisconsin - 5 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
Kyle Dodson OL OH 4 4 3 4
Vonte Jackson RB WI 4 3 3 4
Bart Houston QB CA 3 4 4 4

Big pull for the Badgers, as Kyle Dodson got his long-awaited Ohio State offer - and picked Wisconsin instead.

#6 Northwestern - 8 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Malin Jones RB IL 3 3 2 3
Dean Lowry DE IL 3 3 3 3
Kenton Playko OL OH 3 3 3 3
Ian Park OL PA 3 3 3 NR
Connor Mahoney OL PA NR 3 3 NR
Dan Vitale S IL NR 2 2 NR
Joseph Jones S PA NR 2 NR NR
Mike McHugh WR PA NR NR NR NR

The Wildcats pick up a couple low-rated guys, but their comparable averages and greater volume in comparison to Minnesota move them past the Gophers.

#7 Minnesota - 7 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Andre McDonald WR MN 4 3 4 3
Dinero Moss S FL 3 2 3 3
Philip Nelson QB MN 3 3 3 3
Maxx Williams TE MN NR 3 NR NR
Josh Ballesteros LB FL NR 2 2 2
Scott Ekpe WR MN NR NR NR NR
Isaac Fruechte WR MN NR NR JC NR

Minnesota picks up another sleeper prospect. I get the vibe that they'll shoot down the rankings once other teams start getting caught up in volume.

#8 Michigan State - 5 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
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
Evan Jones TE OH 3 3 NR 3

No change for Michigan State. If they start getting camp commits, they're very upwardly mobile. They're just about even with Minnesota as-is.

#9 Illinois - 4 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Elliot Faerber WR KS 3 3 2 NR
Cody Quinn CB OH 3 3 NR 3
Tajarvis Fuller LB FL 3 NR 3 3
Jason Robertson WR IL NR 3 3 3

Illinois picks up a couple of commits, and they move past Nebraska on volume alone.

#10 Nebraska - 2 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Michael Rose LB MO 3 3 4 4
Jordan Westerkamp WR IL 3 3 3 4

No change for the Huskers.

#11 Indiana - 2 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Nick Mangieri DE IL 3 3 3 3
Alex Todd OL OH NR 2 2 NR

Not only do the Hoosier have commits(!), they're good enough prospects to move IU out of last place in the conference, as well.

#12 Purdue - 1 Commit
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Jordan Shine S IN 3 3 3 3

No change for the Boilers.

#13 Iowa - 1 Commit
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Mitch Keppy OL IL 3 NR NR NR

No change for Iowa. Now at the rear of the pack, thanks to Indiana's newfound competence.

Comments

Farnn

June 19th, 2011 at 12:35 PM ^

Apparently he was very good at their camp, so I don't think you can dismiss the offer just because he is a 3 star.  I know MIchigan has had commits over the past few years who were low rated but everyone felt good about becuase they were camp offers.

WolvinLA2

June 19th, 2011 at 12:50 PM ^

Although I agree with you that UM has been excited about camp offers before, we're usually not as excited about them as we are about the universally heralded recruits, which is who OSU has been getting the last few years. 

This OSU commit is their Courtney Avery, when they're used to getting Blake Countess's and Terry Richardsons.  It's totally possible that Courtney Avery ends up being better than Blake Countess or Terry Richardson, but it's less than 50-50, I would argue.  So if I had to pick between OSU picking up a high 4-star CB or a low 3-star who impressed at their camp, I'd pick the latter every time. 

MGoDC

June 20th, 2011 at 3:55 PM ^

Courtney Avery is a terrible example to use. He was in the same class as 4* Christian and consistently outplayed him. Thats a same class, same school real life example of how a 3* that actually impresses at camp can be better than a 4* that coaches only know from film. I think you have zero ground to say that Avery has a greater than 50/50 shot to be worse than Countess or Richardson considering Avery got plenty of experience as a true freshman and looks to be a starter for the foreseeable future.

Logan88

June 19th, 2011 at 11:32 AM ^

Wisconsin's class, thus far, is pretty darned impressive. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain this pace for an entire class, but even if they don't land another 4* prospect they already have about as many 4*'s as you usually see in a Badger class.

Conversely, MSU, who had the same record as Wisconsin last year, hasn't seen any real benefit thus far in their recruiting efforts, although I think McGowan may be a little underrated. I believe that Sparty is holding a camp right now for prospects; perhaps they will net a few good ones soon.

In regards to Penn State, I can't help but wonder what they are telling recruits about the JoePa situation. I seriously doubt he will still be the HC by the time the 2012 class has been on campus a few years. Will PSU promote an assistant to HC and keep the bulk of the staff? It just seems like there would be a lot of uncertainty at PSU and it is hard to believe they are recruiting as well as they are with the coaching uncertainty combined with the 7-6 season.

74polSKA

June 20th, 2011 at 10:06 AM ^

If (and that's a HUGE if) they are really a finalist for Kiel, they must be doing something right over there.  A 5* would definitely bump them up the list, not to mention the potential guys he could bring with him.

Wait, I just realized I'm talking about Indiana football.  I really can't wait for the Western game!!

jka347

June 20th, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^

Here's something I've wondered about for a while.  How is the "ranking" column determined (the ranking of each school's class compared to the other B1G+ schools)?  I'm assuming it's a combination of both number of commits and average commit ratings but is there a specific formula you use?  I'm sure this has been explained in the past but I don't usually read all the comments, so feel free to ignore me... :)