Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings 7-10-11

Submitted by Tim on

With more new Michigan commits, we're hitting the front page after a hiatus of a couple weeks. Action since last rankings:

7-5-11 Penn State loses commitment from Jarron Jones.

7-6-11 Minnesota gains commitment from Isaac Hayes.

7-7-11 Minnesota gains commitment from Dominic Twitty. Iowa gains commitment from Jaleel Johnson.

7-8-11 Michigan gains commitment from Jarrod Wilson.

Big Ten+ Recruiting Class Rankings
Rank School # Commits Rivals Avg Scout Avg ESPN Avg 24/7 Avg
1 Michigan 18 3.50 3.56 3.33 3.56
2 Notre Dame 11 3.27 3.55 3.27 3.27
3 Ohio State 9 3.33 3.56 3.11 3.56
4 Penn State 10 3.10 2.70 3.20 3.00
5 Michigan State 10 3.10 3.10 3.00 3.20
6 Wisconsin 8 3.13 3.00 2.75 2.88
7 Northwestern 12 2.33 2.42 2.33 1.92
8 Indiana 11 2.18 2.45 2.45 2.18
9 Minnesota 12 2.08 2.08 2.36* 1.92
10 Nebraska 5 3.40 3.60 3.20 3.80
11 Iowa 6 2.50 2.50 2.50 2.50
12 Illinois 4 2.50 3.00 2.25 2.50
13 Purdue 7 2.43 1.86 2.29 1.86

*ESPN doesn't rate JUCOs, so Isaac Fruechte is not included in Minnesota's average.

On to the full data, after the jump:

#1 Michigan - 18 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
Jarrod Wilson S OH 4 4 4 4
Tom Strobel DE OH 4 4 3 4
Pharaoh Brown DE OH 4 3 3 4
Blake Bars OL TN 4 3 3 3
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 NR 3

Wolverines pick up highly-rated safety Jarrod Wilson. With the most commits and the best average by most services, they have far and away the best class to date.

#2 Notre Dame - 11 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Ronald Darby CB MD 4 5 4 4
Tee Shepard CB CA 4 5 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
John Turner S IN 3 3 3 3
Scott Daly LS IL 2 NR NR NR

No change for the Irish.

#3 Ohio State - 9 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Bri'onte Dunn RB OH 4 5 4 4
Joshua Perry LB OH 4 4 4 4
Warren Ball RB OH 4 4 3 4
De'Van Bogard S 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 2 3 3 3

Buckeyes pass PSU due to losses by the Nittany Lions, not any gains of their own.

#4 Penn State - 10 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Camren Williams LB MA 4 4 4 4
JJ Denman OL PA 4 4 4 4
Joey O'Connor OL CO 4 3 4 3
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 2 3 3
Derek Dowrey DT VA NR NR 3 NR
Austin Johnson OL NJ NR NR NR NR

Nittany Lions lose their top-rated commit Jarron Jones, which kills their averages. They're just about even with Wisconsin and Michigan State.

#5 Michigan State - 10 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Se'Von Pittman DE OH 4 4 4 4
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
Jamal Lyles LB MI 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
Evan Jones TE OH 3 3 NR 3

I put Michigan State past Wisconsin since their averages are higher on three services and they have more commits. HOWEVA, once the Badgers' commits are fully ranked, they'll probably fly back ahead of MSU.

#6 Wisconsin - 8 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 4 3 4
Bart Houston QB CA 3 4 4 4
Hugs Etienne CB CA 3 2 NR NR
Reggie Mitchell CB PA 2 NR NR NR
Arthur Goldberg DT PA NR NR 2 NR

Wisconsin pulls up the rear of the 3-way tie on the basis of fewest commits. They're upwardly mobile with a few "NR"s in the table.

#7 Northwestern - 12 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Adam DePietro OL PA 3 3 3 3
Dean Lowry DE IL 3 3 3 3
Kenton Playko OL OH 3 3 3 3
Jack Schwaba TE PA 3 3 3 2
Ian Park OL PA 3 3 3 NR
Malin Jones RB IL 3 3 2 3
Eric Olson OL MA 3 2 3 3
Connor Mahoney OL PA 2 3 3 NR
Joseph Jones S PA 2 2 NR NR
Dan Vitale S IL NR 2 2 NR
Mike McHugh WR PA NR NR NR NR
Chris Fitzpatrick OL KY NR NR NR NR

There's some disagreement across the recruiting sites (primarily on the part of 24/7 Sports, which you'll see is a bit of a theme) on Northwestern's commit list. Once the new kid on the block gets their act together, the averages will look better.

#8 Indiana - 11 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
Mike Cotton LB IL 3 3 3 NR
Adam Kranda TE IN 3 3 3 3
Jacob Bailey OL IN 2 2 3 3
Tanner Kearns TE OH NR 3 2 NR
Alex Todd OL OH NR 2 2 NR
Caleb Cornett WR IN NR NR NR 2
Dawson Fletcher S OH NR NR NR NR

Hoosiers picked up steam after a slow start.

#9 Minnesota - 12 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Andre McDonald WR MN 4 3 4 3
Isaac Hayes OL MN 3 3 4 3
Philip Nelson QB MN 3 3 3 3
Dinero Moss S FL 3 2 3 3
Dominic Twitty DT NJ 3 2 3 3
Drew Davis LB NC 2 2 3 NR
Maxx Williams TE MN NR 3 NR NR
Josh Ballesteros LB FL NR 2 2 2
Scott Ekpe DT TX NR NR NR NR
Isaac Fruechte WR MN NR 2 JC NR
Eric Murray CB WI 2 NR NR NR
Mitch Leidner QB MN NR NR NR NR

Minnesota's commit list is totally different across the four recruiting sites. Also, 24/7 Sports hasn't a clue what they're doing.

#10 Nebraska - 5 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Paul Thurston OL CO 4 4 4 4
Greg McMullen DE OH 4 4 3 4
Michael Rose LB MO 3 4 4 4
Jordan Westerkamp WR IL 3 4 3 4
Sam Cotton TE NE 3 2 3 3

I moved Nebraska down solely because they have so few commits compared to the schools ahead of them. It's likely they'll move up the list as they pick up more prospects.

#11 Iowa - 6 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Jaleel Johnson DT IL 4 4 4 4
Maurice Fleming CB IL 3 3 4 3
Cameron Wilson WR OH 3 3 3 3
Mitch Keppy OL IL 3 2 NR NR
Drew Ott DE NE NR 2 NR 3
Connor Kornbrath K WV NR NR 2 NR

Hawkeyes light on the commits, but they did pick up a new headliner in Jaleel Johnson.

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

No change for Illinois.

#13 Purdue - 7 Commits
Name Position State Rivals Scout ESPN 24/7
Jordan Shine S IN 3 3 3 3
Ryan Morris TE NJ 3 3 3 3
Austin Appleby QB OH 3 3 3 3
BJ Knauf WR FL 3 NR 2 NR
Paul Griggs K NC 2 NR 3 NR
Thomas Meadows K VA 2 NR NR NR
Steffon Martin LB AZ NR NR NR NR

Purdue is hurt by having lots of unrated guys, and also two kicking specialists early in the class. They have a commit list that is radically different across recruiting services, as well. Scout is the incompetent premium site in Purdue's case.

Comments

Dennis Talbott…

July 10th, 2011 at 11:32 AM ^

You say 24/7 doesn't have a clue what they're doing, but they're ratings don't strike me as being that different from the other services.  It seems that there's just a few more guys that they haven't gotten around to rating.  I suspect thay by fall they will have most of this sorted out.  Also, speaking of 24/7, I know they, along with ESPN rate their players out of 100, while Rivals rates their players out of 6.2 or something weird.  I wouldn't mind seeing these averages as well.  But thanks, as always Tim!  It's good to see just how clearly Michigan is dominating.

MilkSteak

July 10th, 2011 at 11:36 AM ^

Looking good, I like that the averages are going up too! 

On a side note, does anyone else think Ohio State recruited Frank Epitropoulos just for his name? It seems like too much of a coincidence that as soon as Sanzenbacher graduated, they bring this guy in. 

umhero

July 10th, 2011 at 11:41 AM ^

It's nice to see how universally the ratings for this class are high.  It confirms what we all believe.

As a point of comparison, last year on Scout, USC had a 26 member class with an average of 3.50 and they were ranked fourth overall.  Florida State had a 26 member class with an average of 3.65 and they were second overall.  And Auburn had a 25 member class with an average of 3.76 and they were number one overall.

It looks like, if we finish with a 26 member class filled with some of the remaining targets on our board, we will be in the top five  (assuming our current players remain committed and don't slip in the rankings).  What a nice way to start the new regime!

Gobluegr

July 10th, 2011 at 12:10 PM ^

To add onto that, our class could be the number one class on scout according to last years rankings. Our next 8 commits could be: Kalis (5 star), Diamond (5 star), Stanford (4 star), Peyton (4 star), some runningback or fullback (3 star), Washington (5 star), Pipkins/O'brien (4 star), and Wormley (4 star). We would have 26 commits with a star rating of 3.77. This would have been number one last year.

WolvinLA2

July 10th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^

Not only that, but it's possible that guys like Braden, Standifer and/or Pharaoh Brown get a 4th star on Scout since they're pretty close and are guys who seem to be on the up and up.  A few guys getting an extra star would make a huge difference in your average as well.

EDIT:  To clear up the math:  Every extra star a prospect gets raises our star average by .04 for a class of 25. 

WolvinLA2

July 10th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^

I don't understand the hate for 247 either, I actually like that site the most at this point. 

EDIT:  I understand why Tim gets frustrated with 247 because he's calculating averages and it's harder to do that when a site has a handful of unrated guys.  However, if you look at who they haven't rated, it's almost always guys that other sites haven't rated either (rarely are they the only site not to rate a guy) and if other sites have rated him, it's usually a 2 star.  So it's not like 247 is missing on any of the guys whose rankings are important. 

Maybe a NR should go into the system, by default, as a 2 star, since nobody is ranked lower than that, and if they aren't ranked at this point, they won't be more than one star higher than that anyway.  That will help preserve the averages for the schools with NR players.

Maize n Blue

July 10th, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^

Although I'm used to seeing this by now, could you imagine being say... a Wisconsin fan and comparing these recruiting classes. I would be quite sad. Now that we have our bases covered I'm looking forward to some 4* WRs and top flight recruits like Diamond, Kalis, Wormley, Pipkins, etc. to wrap this class up and put a bow on it.

08mms

July 10th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^

I haven't been paying attention to much recruiting thus far, do we have any 5*'s that could possibly end up in this already awesome class?

WolvinLA2

July 10th, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^

It depends on the service - Kalis and Diamond are both 5 stars on Scout and many feel good about our chances with those guys.  Washington is a longer shot, but still a possibility and he's a 5 star on Scout as well.  Bri'onte Dunn also has 5 stars on Scout.

Rivals, OTOH, doesn't give as many 5 stars out at the beginning, and then gives out more as the season goes.  Magnuson and Kalis are both on the cusp of 5 stars on Rivals.

Shittu, who is still a possibility, is a 5 star. 

Dagger

July 10th, 2011 at 12:31 PM ^

I've thought of another way to look at rankings, and I'd be curious to see what the MGoCommunity thinks.

What about aggregating the rankings (by stars) for each service?  My inspiration being ESPN and how they rank their fantasy football players each week based on the aggregate rankings of the experts.

For instance, Michigan would have the following ranks, based on the average stars of each commit from each of the seperate services:

  1. Rivals:  (1)
  2. Scout:   (2)
  3. ESPN:  (1)
  4. 24/7:     (2)

Giving Michigan an average aggregate ranking of 1.5.  This would be best in the conferance, with Nebraska a close second with a 1.75 aggregate ranking.  This aggregate measure does a good job of measuring recruit quality, but fails to account for class size.  But over time, as the class sizes fill, this becomes less of an issue.

Thoughts?

Here's the entirety of the aggregate rankings, with aggregate average in parenthesis:

 

  1. Michigan (1.5)
  2. Nebraska (1.75)
  3. Ohio State (3)
  4. Notre Dame (3.5)
  5. Michigan State (5.5)
  6. Penn State (5.75)
  7. Wisconsin (6.25)
  8. Iowa (8.75)
  9. Illinois (8.75)
  10. Indiana (10)
  11. Northwestern (10.75)
  12. Minnesota (11.5)
  13. Purdue (12)

Stephen Y

July 10th, 2011 at 1:31 PM ^

An even better way to rank the recruits would be on a point system where the number of stars from each service determines the recruit's point value. For instance, Ross would be worth 16 points since he is a 4-start recruit to all services (4+4+4+4), while Strobel would be worth 15 points since he is a 4-star to three services and a 3-star to one (4+4+4+3). This covers the issue of both quality and quantity simultaneously.

FreddieMercuryHayes

July 10th, 2011 at 2:35 PM ^

There really is a decent chance. To be a top 5 you have to have 5 star prospects. With scout, Kalis, Diamond, and Washington are all 5 stars already. Rivals has Kalis as the highest ranked 4 star in the nation (kind of like Dee Hart was last year until the end), and Magnuson has an outside shot at a fifth star. And the only three stars I see us taking at this point are if we take a FB, a QB, or we strike out on our receiver targets and take a lesser rated one. Good way to start the Hoke years.

GehBlau

July 10th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^

I don't know how to input charts, but I real quick added Kalis to a copy-and-pasted chart and updated our averages, given that Kalis is a 4* per Rivals, 247, and ESPN and a 5* per Scout:

Rivals- 3.53 (before Kalis was 3.5)

Scout- 3.63 (3.56)

ESPN- 3.37 (3.33)

247- 3.58 (3.56)

 

ChicagoB1GRed

July 10th, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^

so in your system probably wont grade out very high. I never thought using number of recruits as a ranking factor made much sense, but that's the way most do it.

Well, you're likely to see Nebraska's average stars stay very high, as they will be very picky about recruiting such a small class.