Rivals.com compiled a list of what they believe are the top 10 prep basketball players in the nation for the year 2011. Among those top 10 players, the University of Memphis and the University of Kentucky are pursuing three of the top five.
At present, LaQuinton Ross is considered to be the top player in the nation according to Rivals. In addition to the Tigers and Wildcats, the 6-8 guard from Jackson, Mississippi has received attention from Florida, Tennessee, Baylor, Mississippi State, North Carolina State and Ole Miss.
Mike Gilchrist is currently rated as the No. 3 overall prospect and Memphis is believed to be high on his list among those schools recruiting him. The 6-6 forward from Elizabeth, New Jersey is also being pursued by the Wildcats, UConn, Rutgers, Villanova and Virginia.
Gilchrist is rated as the No. 1 overall prospect by ESPNU and was recently named the Most Promising Player at the NBPA Top 100 camp on June 21 after helping his team win the camp championship game. Gilchrist finished the game with 14 points.
Damien Leonard, a 6-3 guard from Greenville, South Carolina is being recruited by Memphis and Kentucky, along with virtually every other SEC and ACC school.
Clemson is considered to be the leader for Leonard’s services, having visited the Tigers campus at least a dozen times over the last year and recently attended a camp run by Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell.
As you might imagine, Scout.com has a different take on the players they consider to be the top 10 for the class of 2011.
Tony Wroten, a 6-4 shooting guard from Seattle, Washington is Scout’s overall top rated prospect. Wroten is being recruited by Memphis and Louisville, in addition to Syracuse, Texas, Washington and UNLV.
Wayne Blackshear is the No. 8 overall prospect according to Scout and the 6-8 shooting guard from Chicago, Illinois is being recruited by Memphis and Kentucky, along with Illinois, Kansas, LSU, Marquette, Purdue, Southern Illinois, Texas, USC and Wisconsin.
Rakeem Christmas is No. 10 on Scout’s list of prospects and the 6-8 center from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a hot commodity for several of the nation’s elite basketball programs, including Memphis and Kentucky.
ESPNU lists Christmas as their No. 13 prospect for the class of 2011 and apparently the young man has a “very high basketball IQ.”
A quick recap shows Memphis is recruiting three of Rivals top five prospects, four of Scouts top 10 and six of ESPNU’s top 25. Among those players – most notably Ross, Gilchrist, Leonard, Blackshear and Christmas – are listed as being recruited by Memphis and Kentucky.
The chase for the nation’s best prep basketball players in the class of 2011 is shaping up as a potentially interesting battle between the Tigers and Wildcats, two school’s that are uniquely intertwined and will remain so as long as John Calipari is the coach at Kentucky.
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