Recruiting Wrap

2010 class worth the hype?

Posted by: Jeremy Werner

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 11:18 AM

Jereme Richmond, Crandall Head and Meyers Leonard all plan to sign letters of intent to play basketball at the University of Illinois today. For Richmond, it's a day three years in the making. Head and Leonard have had a long wait as well. Head has been committed for almost two years, while Leonard gave his verbal more than 15 months ago.

The wait may have seemed even longer for Illini fans, who have been dreaming of the '10 trio leading the Illini to the school's third Final Four since 1988.

Since Leonard's commitment, the Illini's class of 2010 has consistently ranked among the nation's top recruiting coups. Rivals.com ranks the class fourth overall, while Scout.com lists Illinois as the seventh best class.

Needless to say, the Class of 2010 is one of the most hyped classes ever at Illinois. But is it the best? Get back to us in four years. But there's some evidence that the hype is well-deserved.

The Recruiting Services Ranking Index (RSCI) has provided consensus rankings of high school prospects since 1999. Check out the 2010 rankings here.

Based on these rankings, the Class of 2010 - Richmond is No. 18, Meyers Leonard is No. 36 and Crandall Head is No. 59 - is the best collection of talent Illinois has had sign on the dotted line since 1999 - though the Class of 2002 (remember Dee Brown, Deron Williams and James Augustine?) looked just as good.

Some tidbits on the Class of 2010 based on RSCI's rankings.

• The Class of 2010 marks the first time Illinois has had two prospects (Richmond and Leonard) ranked in the top-40 of the RSCI rankings sign in the same class.
• This marks the first time Illinois has had three recruits in the top 60. The Class of 2002 was the only other class with three or more prospects in the top-100 with Dee Brown (No. 19), Williams (No. 48), James Augustine (No. 78) and Aaron Spears (No. 86).
• Richmond is the first top-20 recruit since Proviso East's Dee Brown signed with the Illini in 2002. Brian Cook was the No. 20 prospect in 2002.
• With freshmen DJ Richardson (No. 35 in 2009) and Brandon Paul (No. 49) already on the roster, the 2010-11 Illini roster will feature back-to-back classes with at least two prospects in the top-55. The last time that happened was 2003 when Rich McBride (No. 28) and Brian Randle (No. 53), along with Warren Carter, joined the highly touted Class of 2002.
• Meyers Leonard is the fourth top-100 true center (not including Cook and Augustine) to join the Illini since 1999. The others were: Nick Smith (No. 78 in 2000), Shaun Pruitt (No. 77 in 2004) and Brian Carlwell (No. 49 in 2006).
• Illinois has now had at least one top-100 prospect sign in nine of the 11 years since RSCI began its rankings. The Classes of 2005 and 2008 did not have a top-100 prospect.

So take it in Illini fans. Based on RSCI's rankings, Signing Day hasn't looked this good since 2002.

But disclaimer: these are just recruiting rankings - recruiting experts projections at how the prospects will develop at the next levels.

First, Richmond (a player many say doesn't consistently give his fullest effort), Leonard (a still-developing 7-footer) and Head (the senior tore his ACL during the summer) have to get on campus, prove themselves on the court and avoid any other setbacks.

But things went pretty smoothly the last time the RSCI rankings rated Illini prospects so high.

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