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Here's an assessment based not on need, but strictly on the RSCI rankings of the players that have committed to a given school.
Since RSCI tends to give more weight to quality over quantity, only top 100 caliber players (i.e. they appear in one of the top 100 lists that make up the RSCI rankings) are listed.
- Duke
- #3 Jason Williams
- #9 Carlos Boozer
- #16 Casey Sanders
- #25 Michael Dunleavy
- Nick Horvath
- The addition of Carlos Boozer makes Duke the hands down leader with a class that could rival the "Fab Four" class of Brand, Burgess, Battier, and Avery.
- Florida
- #1 Donnell Harvey
- #7 Brett Nelson
- #38 Matt Bonner
- Billy Donovan does it again with what may be the best set of back to back recruiting classes in the nation.
- Kentucky
- #2 Keith Bogans
- #5 Marvin Stone
- #92 Marquis Estill
- Derek Smith
- The only school with 2 top 5's. Add in a couple of top 100 caliber players and this group is near the top of the heap. The tragic death of #84 John Stewart,
who had committed to UK, causes this group to drop a bit from it's midseason ranking.
- Cincinnati
- #13 Kenny Satterfield
- #17 DerMarr Johnson
- John Grove
- Leonard Stokes
- Johnson, who leads Hoop Scoop's prep school list, came out artificially low in the RSCI rankings because he wasn't included with the rest of the high schoolers.
He and Satterfield are top-shelf talent, though.
- Michigan
- #6 LaVell Blanchard
- #26 Kevin Gaines
- #48 Jamal Crawford
- Gavin Groninger
- Leland Anderson
- Getting Blanchard dramatically improved the quality of a class that already had a substantial quantity of excellent prospects.
- North Carolina
- #4 Joe Forte
- #14 Jason Parker
- Short on quantity but long on quality. Though not on any of RSCI's underlying top 100's, John Holmes may make a few lists when the final rankings come out.
- Kansas
- #21 Andrew Gooden
- #22 Nick Collison
- #56 Kirk Hinrich
- Is Collison really a top 5 like a few services believe or merely a top 50 as the others indicate?
The value of this class hinges greatly on the answer to that single question.
- NC State
- #10 Damien Wilkins
- #33 Marshall Williams
- #81 Clifford Crawford
- Herb Sendek rebounded nicely from the unexpected transfer of Adam Harrington by bringing in Williams, who is rated similarly coming out of high school.
Crawford could be a sleeper.
- Virginia
- #23 Majestic Mapp
- #28 Travis Watson
- #37 Roger Mason
- NC State wins out by the slimmest of margins with top 10 caliber Wilkins. In any case, a fabulous haul for Pete Gillen's first try at UVa and he may not be done yet.
- Alabama
- #27 Rod Grizzard
- #53 Kenny Walker
- #66 Erwin Dudley
- Terrance Meade
- If you consider the impact of Shea Cotton, a former top 10 high schooler, this class would rank even higher.
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