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| Prospect-Central: Class of 2015 Final Rankings |
Written by: Prospect-Central
Reclassification has always been prevalent in high school & middle school basketball. The one difference is middle school players tend to reclassify down a grade, while high school players usually reclassify up a grade. This year was certainly no different when it came to high school players wanting to get a jump on their college careers.
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| Ben Simmons: No. 1 Class of 2015 |
In total, there were eleven juniors from c/o 2016 that made the jump to c/o 2015 and subsequently are now in PC's final class rankings. These players include; Jamal Murray (Kentucky), Derryck Thornton, Jr. (Duke), Mamadi Diakite (Virginia), Isaac Humphries (Kentucky), Maverick Rowan (N.C. State), LaGerald Vick (Kansas), Jayce Johnson (Utah), Tai Wynyard (Kentucky), Kassoum Yakwe (St. John's), and Nolan Narian (San Diego State).
The icing on the cake of course happened yesterday. Dennis Smith, Jr., the No.1 pg from c/o 2016 announced he'll graduate early and enroll at N.C. State in January. Since he's recovering from a torn ACL, he'll be able to rehab his knee under the watchful eye of the Wolfpack training staff, which should serve quite beneficial. It was close and even though he's hurt, in the end Dennis Smith, Jr. barely edged out Kentucky's Jamal Murray for PC's No. 1 pg from c/o 2015.
That's a lot of talent to reclassify this late in the year, but it's not the overwhelming story line for c/o 2015. For that you would have to look no further than to one player; Ben Simmons. Hailing from the land down under, Simmons would enter high school in the United States late in his sophomore year, before ultimately leading Montverde Academy (Fla.) to 3 consecutive National Championships. He would go onto win a number of National Player of the Year awards, on his way to finishing his high school career as essentially the consensus No.1 recruit in the entire country.
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| Skal Labissiere: No. 2 Class of 2015 |
If there's one player from c/o 2015 that could possibly overtake Simmons in the future, no doubt it would have to be the No. 2 player in the class; Skal Labissiere. Another player PC was well ahead of the curve on, Labissiere was actually featured in PC's very first published article back in July of 2011, when he was named a pre-season All-American before he even entered his freshman year of high school. The native of Haiti is very athletic, extremely long, and has skills for days. If he can stay healthy and add some muscle to his 220-pound frame, Skal Labissiere could have a realistic chance at becoming the best player from this class; he's just that good.
Patience is virtue and good things happen to those who wait, so it's going to take a few years before we know exactly what we're getting when it comes to c/o 2015. As a whole, the class is not as talented as in years past and it's certainly not as talented as the upcoming 2016 class. Of course, you never truly know how everything will turn out until the best players from the class have a couple years in the league under their belt. So while tonight might be Friday the 13th and officially the start of the 2015-16 college basketball season, it also symbolizes the end of four years of blood, sweat, and tears on the HS hardwood. Now it's time to find out just how good these college freshmen can be. Until then, I leave you with none other than Prospect-Central's Final Rankings for c/o 2015.
c/o 2015 Top 25
PG / SG / SF / PF / C
Prospect-Central Grading System
**** Lock for NBA Success: 10
*** Potential NBA Early Entry: 18
** Potential High-Major Big-Time Player: 67
* Potential High-Major Solid 4 Year Contributor: 5
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