Big Ten Recruiting Rankings: 5-6-12
By request, recruiting rankings front-paged to bump that creepy picture off the top. Given the glut of early commitments in the class of 2013, it was inevitable that we'd start to see some recruits have a change of heart. It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that Ohio State suffered a couple of decommits this week, though the circumstances surrounding Alex Anzalone's decision are obviously highly unusual. Other than then happenings in Columbus, nothing changed at the top of the board, though there were several pickups by teams in the middle of the pack. Changes since the last rankings:
4-29-12: Wisconsin picks up Chikwe Obasih.
4-30-12: Illinois picks up Merrick Jackson.
5-1-12: Lewis Neal decommits from Ohio State. Illinois picks up Jarrod Clements. Northwestern picks up Blake King.
5-3-12: Wisconsin picks up Jack Keeler.
5-5-12: Alex Anzalone decommits from Ohio State. Nebraska picks up Christian Lacouture. Illinois picks up Austin Schmidt.
Chart? Chart:
| Big Ten+ Recruiting Class Rankings | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | School | # Commits | Rivals Avg | Scout Avg | 24/7 Avg | ESPN Avg | Avg Avg^ |
| 1 | Michigan | 17 | 3.76 | 4.06 | 3.88 | 3.88 | 3.90 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 11 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 3.82 | 3.82 | 3.91 |
| 3 | Notre Dame | 12 | 3.42 | 3.75 | 3.67 | 3.83 | 3.67 |
| 4 | Penn State | 8 | 3.50 | 3.38 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 3.47 |
| 5 | Nebraska | 6 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 3.00 | 3.38 |
| 6 | Michigan State | 7 | 3.14 | 3.00 | 3.14 | 2.86 | 3.04 |
| 7 | Iowa | 7 | 3.14 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 2.71 | 2.96 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 6 | 3.17 | 3.17 | 3.17 | 3.00 | 3.13 |
| 9 | Illinois | 8 | 2.88 | 2.88 | 2.75 | 2.38 | 2.72 |
| 10 | Northwestern | 2 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.50 | 3.00 | 3.13 |
| 11 | Minnesota | 1 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 2.00 | 2.75 |
| 12 | Purdue | 1 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 2.00 | 2.75 |
| 13 | Indiana | 0 | - | - | - | - | - |
^The average of the average rankings of the four recruiting services (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.
NOTE: Unranked recruits are counted as two-star players.
On to the full data after the jump.
| #1 Michigan - 17 Commits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Patrick Kugler | OL | PA | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Shane Morris | QB | MI | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Dymonte Thomas | S | OH | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Kyle Bosch | OL | IL | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Jake Butt | TE | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| David Dawson | OL | MI | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Chris Fox | OL | CO | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Ben Gedeon | LB | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Jourdan Lewis | CB | MI | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Mike McCray | LB | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Logan Tuley-Tillman | OL | IL | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Wyatt Shallman | ATH | MI | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Taco Charlton | DE | OH | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Gareon Conley | CB | OH | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| DeVeon Smith | RB | OH | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Jaron Dukes | WR | OH | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Khalid Hill | TE | MI | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
No change for the Wolverines.
| #2 Ohio State - 11 Commits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Cameron Burrows | CB | OH | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Jalin Marshall | ATH | OH | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Joey Bosa | DE | FL | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| J.T. Barrett | QB | TX | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Marcus Baugh | TE | CA | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Evan Lisle | OL | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Billy Price | DT | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Eli Woodard | CB | NJ | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | RB | MO | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Jayme Thompson | S | OH | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Tracy Sprinkle | DE | OH | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
The Buckeyes maintain the #2 spot despite losing Lewis Neal and Alex Anzalone, though there's speculation that Joey Bosa could also decide to leave the class after the events of the past week.
| #3 Notre Dame - 12 Commits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Hunter Bivin | OL | KY | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Steven Elmer | OL | MI | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Mike Heuerman | TE | FL | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Malik Zaire | QB | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| John Montelus | OL | MA | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Mike McGlinchey | OL | PA | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Colin McGovern | OL | IL | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Jacob Matuska | DE | OH | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| James Onwualu | WR | MN | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Corey Robinson | WR | TX | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Devin Butler | CB | DC | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Rashad Kinlaw | ATH | NJ | 3 | NR | 4 | 4 |
No change for the Irish.
| #4 Penn State - 8 Commits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Adam Breneman | TE | PA | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Christian Hackenberg | QB | VA | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Greg Webb | DT | NJ | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Garrett Sickels | DE | NJ | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Ross Douglas | CB | OH | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Brendan Mahon | OL | NJ | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Curtis Cothran | DE | NJ | NR | NR | 3 | NR |
| Andrew Nelson | OL | PA | NR | NR | NR | NR |
No change for the Nittany Lions.
| #5 Nebraska - 6 Commits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Marcus McWilson | S | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | NR |
| Josh Banderas | LB | NE | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Tre'vell Dixon | ATH | LA | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Christian Lacouture | DE | TX | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| A.J. Natter | DE | WI | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Courtney Love | LB | OH | 3 | 3 | 4 | NR |
The Huskers reel in Christian Lacouture, who held a Michigan offer and had the Wolverines in his final group.
| #6 Michigan State - 7 Commits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Jon Reschke | LB | MI | 4 | 4 | 4 | NR |
| Shane Jones | LB | OH | 4 | 3 | 3 | NR |
| Caleb Benenoch | OL | TX | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Gerald Holmes | RB | MI | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Jalyn Powell | S | OH | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
| R.J. Shelton | RB | WI | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Damion Terry | QB | PA | NR | NR | 3 | 4 |
No change for the Spartans.
| #7 Iowa - 7 Commits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| David Kenney | DE | IN | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Colin Goebel | OL | IL | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Delano Hill | S | MI | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Brant Gressel | DT | OH | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
| John Kenny | LB | IN | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
| Derrick Willies | WR | IL | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
| Nathan Bazata | DT | NE | 3 | NR | 3 | NR |
No change for the Hawkeyes.
| #8 Wisconsin - 6 Commits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Chikwe Obasih | DE | WI | 4 | 3 | 4 | NR |
| Rob Wheelwright | WR | OH | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Austin Ramesh | ATH | WI | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Garret Dooley | LB | IL | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Jack Keeler | OL | IL | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| T.J. Watt | ATH | WI | 3 | 3 | NR | NR |
The Badgers pick up in-state DE Chikwe Obasih, who had some Michigan interest but no offer, and Illinois lineman Jack Keeler. I'm leaving Wisconsin just behind MSU and Iowa for now, but another commit could see them vault past both teams.
| #9 Illinois - 8 Commits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Aaron Bailey | QB | IL | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Jarrod Clements | DE | OH | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
| Christian DiLauro | TE | OH | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
| Merrick Jackson | DT | IL | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
| Dillan Cazley | CB | IL | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Kendrick Foster | RB | IL | 3 | NR | 2 | NR |
| Jesse Chadwell | OL | MI | NR | 3 | 3 | NR |
| Austin Schmidt | OL | OH | NR | NR | 2 | NR |
The Illini continue to gain steam of the heels of Aaron Bailey's commitment, picking up Jarrod Clements, Merrick Jackson, and Austin Schmidt this week.
| #10 Northwestern - 2 Commits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Matt Alviti | QB | IL | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Blake King | OL | IL | NR | NR | 3 | NR |
The Wildcats gain a commitment from in-state OL Blake King. Thus ends Northwestern's reign with the best star average in the conference.
| #11 Minnesota - 1 Commit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Keelon Brookins | CB | MN | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
No change for the Gophers.
| #12 Purdue - 1 Commit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 | ESPN |
| Danny Etling | QB | IN | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
No change for the Boilermakers.
Indiana is the lone Big Ten school without a commit.
any idea when Rivals will do a revamp of their rankings? Conley has to jump up right?
Not sure, though they're certainly due for an update. I would guess that both Conley and Smith have a good shot at getting bumped up.
Is there serious speculation about Bosa or just a couple of panicky message board posters?
A couple of insiders who would qualify as more trustworthy than panicky message board types. Nothing concrete, though—just speculation at this point.
This seems to have died down, Bosa is a firm commitment, at least for the moment
What is up with ESPN's rankings? After the top 5 teams more than half of the prospects are unranked including some of the higher ranked guys from State.
I don't think they have as big of a network dedicated to recruiting as the other three sites, so they didn't evaluate as many prospects for their initial offering. They seemed to focus on recruits committed to high-profile schools, too, but they obviously didn't get to everyone. Also, I think they evaluated more guys in SEC country than in the Midwest, so the lack of coverage really shows up for the Big Ten guys.
Not liking Ohio having a higher avg avg than us...
As always thanks for the update- always look forward to it!
Don't worry- not losing any sleep over the .01 difference.
Poorly executed sarcasm is all.
I'm intrigued by the Nebraska / Penn State battle for 3rd place in B10 recruiting.
I think one of the more interesting things about recruiting so far is that PSU is putting together a pretty solid class
Nebraska is climbing the boards... My boss in Nebraska grad and I was having fun with their recruiting class being at the bottom of the B1G...
Oh well, at least they passed little brother...
Thank you for bumping that creeper picture down the board.
I still have to see it whenever I scroll down to look at the board. We need a commitment right now!
Like I said in the post, I was very close to jumping Wisconsin, but didn't for three reasons:
1. The star rating difference is very small.
2. MSU and Iowa do have one more recruit each, and when numbers are that low it makes a bigger difference.
3. MSU and Iowa both have a large number of unranked recruits almost entirely due to ESPN not having enough guys evaluated. If you chalk up most of those guys as three-stars (and that's conservative when it comes to a guy like Reschke), the star average difference is eliminated. I realize Obasih is a guy for whom this is also the case, but it's currently having a bigger impact on the Spartans and Hawkeyes.
Poor Indiana.
-I was going to post that very same comment, but I was busy looking at a couple of recruiting sites to see if they were in on any recruits of note; not only do they have absolutely no 2013 verbal commitments, there really are relatively few kids with IU on their interest lists. I then looked back at their list of 2012 commitments and found that 7 of their 25 commits were 2*'s. Nobody 4* or better was signed in '12 (although they briefly thought they had QB Gunner Kiel before he played hopscotch on them and LSU and signed with ND) ; if HC Kevin Wilson is going to somehow turn IU around, I wonder what his plan is.
I have no love for IU, but it would be nice for the B1G to see IU be at least competitive from time-to-time.
It's his younger brother.
Ace, do you think Shane has a chance of nabbing a 5th star from Rivals before all is said and done, given his strong performances at the various camps? I know it would mostly be a vanity thing; we all know the kid is 100% legit, but it'd be nice to flaunt.
If he stays in the position he's at on Rivals (#16 overall), he'll get that fifth star when they start handing out a few more—last year, the top 32 got five stars. The fact that Morris is willing to put himself out there and appear at so many camps should also help his cause, as will making the Elite 11 finals. Unless he has too many more performances like he did in Dallas, I'm guessing he'll earn that five-star honor.
A fifth star would be nice, but I think many of us would agree that the ranking is pretty much immaterial at this point in that we are getting the "right kid" on the team. Its nice to be recognized nationally in recruiting, but if Shane wins 11 games per year as a starter, we could care less whether he was a four or five star. Not discounting what you said, but just pointing out that Shane's talents are already recognized and he's already doing a great job getting more kids into the fold...the fifth star would just be icing on the proverbial cake.
Edit: And now I've read the rest of your post. Yes, you're 100% right. He's 100% legit.
RTFQ...my bad.
What is your take on the real need for commits (any commits) to be constantly attending these events? One school like you allude to is it shows competitiveness, desire, etc. The other perspective is that these events really only benefit the recruiting sites so that they have something to write about and the colleges if given a choice would like their guys to minimize the chance for injuries.
I think it's a very good thing for guys to do these camps. Not only can they get a rankings boost, but they're exposed to elite coaching that's tough to find on the high school level. Also, at a camp—where contact is minimal—there's very little (certainly not none, but not much) injury risk.
Then there's the added benefit of having commits like Morris go to these camps and recruit for his school. With so many elite guys showing up at events like last weekend's NFTC, it never hurts to have a strong contingent of commits out there making their presence known.
But boy, does Rivals like ND's recruiting class far less than the other services.
Crap. There goes Northwestern's perfect 4.0 star ranking. They should have just stuck with the one recruit.
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