Ranking the top 100 (and one) college basketball players for 2017-18

[HooperScooper]

Ranking the top 100 (and one) college basketball players for 2017-18

Just 1 UConn player.

66. Jalen Adams | UConn | Junior | Point Guard

Adams averaged a team-best 14.4 points and 6.1 assists last season while earning First Team All-AAC honors. He'll need to be close to that, or even better, this season if UConn is going to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years.

 

[tcf15]

On UConn's schedule this year:

Oregon
77. Elijah Brown, Senior, Shooting Guard
78. Troy Brown, Freshman, Wing
86. Payton Pritchard, Sophomore, Point Guard
100. MiKyle McIntosh, Senior, Power Forward

Michigan State
1. Miles Bridges, Sophomore, Small Forward
41. Nick Ward, Sophomore, Power Forward
47. Jaren Jackson, Freshman, Power Forward
85. Cassius Winston, Sophomore, Point Guard

Syracuse
71. Tyus Battle, Sophomore, Shooting Guard

Arizona
7. Allonzo Trier, Junior, Shooting Guard
8. DeAndre Ayton, Freshman, Center
28. Rawle Alkins, Sophomore, Shooting Guard

Auburn
55. Mustapha Heron, Sophomore, Wing

Villanova
5. Jalen Brunson, Junior, Point Guard
27. Mikal Bridges, Junior, Small Forward
54. Omari Spellman, Freshman, Center
93. Donte DiVincenzo, Sophomore, Shooting Guard

Wichita State
21. Landry Shamet, Sophomore, Point guard
88. Markis McDuffie, Junior, Wing

UCF
83. B.J. Taylor, Junior, Point Guard
101. Tacko Fall, Junior, Center

SMU
29. Shake Milton, Junior, Point Guard

Cincinnati
43. Jacob Evans, Junior, Small Forward
57. Gary Clark, Senior, Small Forward

Houston
51. Rob Gray, Senior, Shooting Guard

 

[awfuldan]

Rob Gray fifteen spots higher than Jalen Adams

*insert GIF of Adams staring down Gray from AAC tournament*

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Tacko is very low

 

[HooperScooper]

I thought Oregon lost everyone and was going to be decimated this season? Two top 100 seniors and one sophomore, and one freshman to boot, isn't exactly a bare cupboard.

 

[gtcam]

Thanks HS
However, to me, another meaningless list - I almost puked when I saw Grayson Allen

 

[HooperScooper]

Thanks HS
However, to me, another meaningless list - I almost puked when I saw Grayson Allen

They're always fun to look at. Plus it's good bulletin board material and at the end of the season we can laugh hard at Gary Parrish.

 

[awfuldan]

I thought Oregon lost everyone and was going to be decimated this season? Two top 100 seniors and one sophomore, and one freshman to boot, isn't exactly a bare cupboard.

Well they did lose Dylan Brooks, Chris Boucher, Jordan Bell, Dylan Ennis, and Tyler Dorsey, among others. That's basically the starting line-up to a Final Four team.

It is insane that they still have 4 top 100 players though.

 

[tcf15]

Well they did lose Dylan Brooks, Chris Boucher, Jordan Bell, Dylan Ennis, and Tyler Dorsey, among others. That's basically the starting line-up to a Final Four team.

It is insane that they still have 4 top 100 players though.

And their seniors are 5th year transfers and we get them early enough in the season when the team is potentially still figuring things out. Granted, UConn is kind of in the same boat.

 

[WrenchFan69]

And their seniors are 5th year transfers and we get them early enough in the season when the team is potentially still figuring things out. Granted, UConn is kind of in the same boat.

I think Elijah Brown is painfully overrated, and Pritchard might be underrated. They should be pretty good by the end of the year, but beatable

 

[Burnsbros23]

What's funny about Oregon to me is Mikyle McIntosh is their best player! Certainly better then Elijah brown. Guess u can make an argument for the other two. But you don't know what ur getting out of Troy Brown always thought he was overrated coming out.

 

[Storrs South]

Rob Gray fifteen spots higher than Jalen Adams

*insert GIF of Adams staring down Gray from AAC tournament*

 

[awfuldan]

Thank you. Knew you were gonna come through with that.

 

[AntG168]

That stare had me hyped! Lol. Jalen needs to come out game 1 agaisnt Colgate with that attitude

 

[UConnStats]

What's funny about Oregon to me is Mikyle McIntosh is their best player! Certainly better then Elijah brown. Guess u can make an argument for the other two. But you don't know what ur getting out of Troy Brown always thought he was overrated coming out.

Granted he could be more efficient at a lower shooting volume, but Elijah Brown has been such a chucker that you could argue he’s not a good player at all. I think Pritchard will end up being huge for their program though.

 

[champs99and04]

I don't think anybody has ever looked at a list like that and been happy with everything. There have been worse than this one. Among returning players, I think they got it right with Bridges, Colson, and Brunson leading the pack in some order. Total studs, can't be disputed. Allen and Trier in the top ten are fine.

Angel Delgado at #11 strikes me as ambitious. Generally speaking, I think guys who pile up gaudy assist and rebound numbers tend to be overrated on lists like this (Kyron Cartwright is another example of this).

Beyond that, the best teams seem over-represented. Theo Pinson is an example of somebody nobody would even think about putting on a list like this if he didn't wear the UNC jersey. Averaged 6 ppg on 38% shooting last season in 23 mpg. Freshman in general are so hit and miss that it's tough to criticize their presence on these lists, but guys like Trae Young (#23 composite recruit 2017) and Shamorie Ponds (#46 2016) are emblematic of how out of proportion the valuation of freshman vs. sophomores is. Young is ranked 58th, Ponds 95th despite Ponds putting up over 17 PPG as a freshman for a St. Johns team that turned out better than expected. Players tend to make a big jump between freshman and sophomore year and then another one between sophomore and junior year. Unless a player is can't-miss, they're probably overrated as a freshman and underrated after that. People forget how hard college basketball is, which means the under-valued guys are usually the former top recruits who have had the shine taken off them (sometimes this isn't the case, see Rodney Purvis circa November 2016).

Then there is the fallacy of listing players that play for K or Cal or Izzo simply because they play for K, Cal, or Izzo. Guys like Bagley or Bridges or even Diallo are ranked where they are independent of that. Other guys may not be. There is more incentive to find that blooming flower and give him every benefit of the doubt when they play for big time programs. On one hand, that's fair, on the other, it's not necessarily an accurate representation of the intrinsic value of these players. My hunch is that guys like Gilbert and Larrier (who I don't think should be on the list, FWIW) would have found their way on if they played for a member of the prestigious Champions Classic fraternity.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Horrible list. Too many freshmen and they are too high up. A few will be great, others good, some will struggle. Meanwhile a bunch of upperclassmen not on this list will eat their lunch. NBA prospects do not equal great college performance. How high would Drummond have been on a list like this? Top 5? He wasn't top 100. Malik Newman is #42, but was probably top 10 two years ago out of HS and did nothing.

 

[AntG168]

Horrible list. Too many freshmen and they are too high up. A few will be great, others good, some will struggle. Meanwhile a bunch of upperclassmen not on this list will eat their lunch. NBA prospects do not equal great college performance. How high would Drummond have been on a list like this? Top 5? He wasn't top 100. Malik Newman is #42, but was probably top 10 two years ago out of HS and did nothing.

I don't understand why someone like malik Newman is even that high. He hasn' done anything to earn that

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't understand why someone like malik Newman is even that high. He hasn' done anything to earn that

Well let's see. He was the #1 rated guard in his class. He's now a junior age wise, and is a sophomore academically. He practiced with KU all last year, learning from Frank Mason and Graham and the staff. Jalen Brunson is ranked #5, despite having no minutes at this level. What has he done to earn #5? It shows why these lists are so idiotic. These are definitely not the top 100 players in college basketball.

My guess, Newman will be better than Brunson. Perhaps a lot better, even though he's sharing a back-court with Graham and Vick (who is going to be very good this year). He will probably be the leading scorer, ahead of Graham, who is #10 on this list. Vick is like a taller, more talented, slightly older Christian Vital. He'll start at SF at 6'5" and KU will play small like UConn.

 

[awfuldan]

Well let's see. He was the #1 rated guard in his class. He's now a junior age wise, and is a sophomore academically. He practiced with KU all last year, learning from Frank Mason and Graham and the staff. Jalen Brunson is ranked #5, despite having no minutes at this level. What has he done to earn #5? It shows why these lists are so idiotic. These are definitely not the top 100 players in college basketball.

My guess, Newman will be better than Brunson. Perhaps a lot better, even though he's sharing a back-court with Graham and Vick (who is going to be very good this year). He will probably be the leading scorer, ahead of Graham, who is #10 on this list. Vick is like a taller, more talented, slightly older Christian Vital. He'll start at SF at 6'5" and KU will play small like UConn.

What do you mean by this? Jalen Brunson averaged 25 minutes per game for the National Championship team, and then was one of the better players on last year's Villanova team.

Jalen Brunson

 

[HuskyHawk]

What do you mean by this? Jalen Brunson averaged 25 minutes per game for the National Championship team, and then was one of the better players on last year's Villanova team.

Jalen Brunson

Ugh. Messed up and meant to say Trevon Duval. Wasn't even looking at names, tried to pick the first freshman guard I saw. What an epic fail...I'll show myself out to the room of shame.

 

[AntG168]

B

Well let's see. He was the #1 rated guard in his class. He's now a junior age wise, and is a sophomore academically. He practiced with KU all last year, learning from Frank Mason and Graham and the staff. Jalen Brunson is ranked #5, despite having no minutes at this level. What has he done to earn #5? It shows why these lists are so idiotic. These are definitely not the top 100 players in college basketball.

My guess, Newman will be better than Brunson. Perhaps a lot better, even though he's sharing a back-court with Graham and Vick (who is going to be very good this year). He will probably be the leading scorer, ahead of Graham, who is #10 on this list. Vick is like a taller, more talented, slightly older Christian Vital. He'll start at SF at 6'5" and KU will play small like UConn.

But he hasn' shown anything at the college level to deserve being seen as a top 50 player. Guys like Jalen Adams and a slew of other players have shown more. Not saying he isn't potentially top 50 good, but at least let him show it on a D1 court first

 

[Pudge]

My eye is on ...

WHINING Boneyard members that are constantly complaining that we are not getting top 20 type players.

Well ... sheesh ... I look at the 3 of the top 15 (and could expound to maybe many more). We had our shot with Colson ... with Brunson ... with Brown. We evaluated them correctly. This is what college basketball is about today. If you are NOT Kentucky or Duke, you must grab solid development guys to lead you to the NCAA and wins. We are not that far removed; despite the echos in these posts.

 

[HuskyHawk]

B

But he hasn' shown anything at the college level to deserve being seen as a top 50 player. Guys like Jalen Adams and a slew of other players have shown more. Not saying he isn't potentially top 50 good, but at least let him show it on a D1 court first

Ok, but can't you apply that to any freshman on the list? Bagley is #2. I flubbed it badly, but my point was that the freshmen are being vastly overrated, and guys who had good freshman years and were probably high on the list, drop behind new freshmen when they become sophomores. It's completely illogical. The list is garbage.