Thursday is National Sighning Day for Basketball

[redbird2001]

How is USF's class shaping up?

[South_Florida_Flip]

Not much there in terms of guards. A couple of big dudes coming in. Still could use some shooters.

[Paisa el Toro]

How is USF's class shaping up?

Relatively lackluster, but the two kids coming in address some front court needs, so they'll hopefully be key contributors in the future. USF still needs a PG badly.

[Vega]

How is USF's class shaping up?

Relatively lackluster, but the two kids coming in address some front court needs, so they'll hopefully be key contributors in the future. USF still needs a PG badly.

Well the bottomline is that USF's class is the worse rated in the entire Big East. We missed out on every single one of our targets on the A, B, and C list. Both Jackson and Omgbehin are projects at best right now. The problem is 1 or both of those guys HAS to contribute right away next season with the lost of Famous and possibly Gilchrist.

This recruiting season took a tremendous hit with the losses of PG Shane Larkin(DePaul), SG Mike Taylor and PF Greg Lewis(both to Rutgers), and SG Ge"Lawn Guyn (Cincy). There are others but those are the BE schools.

Going into the recruiting season the needs were PG, SF, and 2 Bigs. We have the Bigs with the 2 projects but missed on the PG and SF. Ultimately a class is defined by filling the needs so this class is a failure for USF to this point.

Speaking of PG, Elijah Carter is considering USF along with Seton Hall and two other teams. The problem is that USF has just gotten in on him and he's still deciding on whether or not to sign during the early signing period or wait to the spring. Probably in our best interest if he waits in order for Heath to have more time to sell USF's program to him and a chance to see us struggle without a good PG this season. Carter is a good looking prospect, not Larkin level but better then anything USF has right now. You can Google Eli Carter and watch a Youtube video of him. He can really put the ball in the basket.

That's the 411 on USF's recruiting.

[Vega]

Scout.com has USF next to the bottom of the Big East with Seton Hall bringing up the rear.

By Evan Daniels

Recruiting Analyst

Posted Nov 9, 2010

It didn't take Steve Lavin long to make an impact at St. John's and in the Big East conference. The Red Storm are No. 1 in the Big East conference rankings.

Top Class?

Behind a strong recruiting effort by Steve Lavin, St. John’s sits atop the Big East recruiting class rankings.

Signing Week Coverage

* No. 2 Big East

* No. 3 ACC

* Grading The New Coaches

* No. 4 Big Ten

* No. 5 Big 12

* No. 6 PAC-10

* 2011 Rankings

* 2012 Rankings

* National Message Board

Lavin used his national contacts to get out and score commitments from Jakarr Sampson, Dom Pointer, D’Angelo Harrison and Nurideen Lindsey. But he also worked the local angle in pulling in New York native Maurice Harkless.

“A lot of guys don’t really want to stay local,†Harkless told Scout.com. “I’m the first New York guy to stay in New York.â€

The five-man group consists of one five-star prospect – Sampson – a trio of four-star players – Pointer, Harrison and Harrison – as well as Lindsey -- a JUCO scoring sensation.

While their class ranks No. 1 in the Big East, it also stacks up pretty well nationally and ranks among the top five classes in the country.

Other Winners

After St. John’s, Louisville and Syracuse battled it out for the second and third spots.

Big East Rankings

1.  St. John’s

2.  Louisville

3.  Syracuse

4.  Rutgers

5.  West Virginia

6.  Georgetown

7.  Villanova

8.  Pittsburgh

9.  Cincinnati

10.  DePaul

11.  Marquette

12.  Connecticut

13.  Notre Dame

14.  Providence

15.  South Florida

16.  Seton Hall

The Cardinals, with commitments from Wayne Blackshear, Chane Behanan, Zach Price and Angel Nunez, get the slight nod over the Orangemen’s three-man class of Rakeem Christmas, Trevor Cooney and Michael Carter-Williams.

Each class has an elite player, as well as two more top 50 recruits.

For Louisville, Blackshear is the elite scoring talent. His strong frame allows him to muscle up with defenders when he attacks the basket, but his best attributes are his ball skills and jump shot.

Behanan and Price will really boost Louisville’s frontline. Behanan, who was MVP of the NBA Camp, is an undersized monster on the block, while Price is a developing big man that continues to get better.

Jim Boeheim’s class contains an elite shot blocker in Christmas, but also plenty of scoring talent on the perimeter. Cooney has the reputation as one of the best shooter in the country, while Carter-Williams is an electric scorer.

Much like Lavin, Mike Rice managed a pretty strong first year class at St. John’s.

Kadeem Jack is by far their best recruit, but they also have a trio of four-star recruits – Myles Mack, Derrick Randall and Jerome Seagears – as well as Michael Taylor, Greg Lewis and Malick Kone.

Top Big East Prospects

Top Prospect: Rakeem Christmas, Syracuse

Best Scorer: Wayne Blackshear, Louisville

Best Passer: Tyrone Johnson, Villanova

Best Shot Blocker: Rakeem Christmas, Syracuse

Best Floor General: Tyrone Johnson, Villanova

Best Post Player: Chane Behanan, Louisville

Best Shooter: Trevor Cooney, Syracuse

Best Rebounder: Chane Behanan, Louisville

Best Athlete: Dom Pointer, St. John’s

Jack, who is in the midst of a post-graduate season, was ranked No. 43 overall in the 2010 class. At 6-foot-8 and nearly 200-pounds, Jack brings versatility and mobility to the power forward position.

Rutgers also filled their need of a point guard; by picking up a pair of top 20 lead guards in Mack and Seagears. Mack is one of the best shooters in the country, while Seagears brings skill and a nice overall floor game to the table.

How did the Big East stack up?

The Big East, which ranks No. 2 of the big six conferences, faired pretty well this year.

Now the league doesn’t have near as many five star prospects as the SEC, who ranks No. 1, but it does have far more depth than any of the other conferences.

The league will bring 20 four-star recruits and 18 three-star prospects. So while the league has more teams they are also bringing in far more players.

The top rated players headed to the league are Christmas, Blackshear and Sampson.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/2/1020072.html

[redbird2001]

Yeah I like the way our class has shaped up I think UL has the number 5 recruiting class in the country according to the latest ESPN rankings.  Blackshear and Behanan are huge gets.

[redbird2001]

Here are our kids for 2011.

Pos Nat'l

Rank Nat'l

Rating Name

School, Hometown  Video HT/ WT/ PPG  Commit Date Signed LOI? Commit School 

SF  30    Angel Nunez-3 Star

(Notre Dame Preparatory School)

Fitchburg, MA  6-7/190  09/30/2010

  Louisville 

PF  7    Chane Behanan-5 Star

(Bowling Green HS)

Bowling Green, KY  6-7/255  09/07/2010

  Louisville 

SG  3    Wayne Blackshear-5 star

(Morgan Park HS)

Chicago, IL    6-5/215  12/25/2009

  Louisville 

C  7    Zach Price-4 star

(Jeffersontown HS)

Jeffersontown, KY  6-10/230  09/08/2009

  Louisville 

  Also waiting to hear from Angel Rodriguez out of Miami.  His list is UL, Kansas State and NC state.