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The last decade of basketball recruits and what recruiting service got it right.

OhioBoiler51

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May 7, 2015
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Long post warning

This probably has errors all over but it took too long for me to care now

Purdue’s 2022 commits (loyer and Smith) have had great summers so far. Don’t know how Hiede’s done but he did lead his high school team to a state championship. It somehow makes perfect sense that all 3 moved down on the 247 rankings. It is really becoming a joke with how Purdue commits are handled there and I believe it has to be because there isn’t a Purdue presence. In this thread I’m going to look at how the 3 major recruiting services ranked the last decade (2013-2022) of players/commits for Purdue and then see which service came the closest to getting it right.

2013

Bryson Scott
Rivals - 4* ranked 75th
247 - 4* ranked 91st
ESPN - 3* 77 grade and ranked outside top 100
Career - he was really good for IPFW but at Purdue he averaged 5 points and 2 rebounds while having as many turnovers as assists. He also shot 37% from the field at Purdue. Looking back I think ESPN got it right here.

Basil Smotherman
Rivals - 4* ranked 112
247 - 3* ranked 153
ESPN - 3* 78 grade and ranked outside top 100
Career - best year was his freshman season. Never could shoot from deep or from the line. I liked him but don’t know how much better he’d have been if he finished his career. Don’t know where after 100 espn would have him (he was in their top 25 at one point) so I’ll give this one 247.

Kendall Stephens
Rivals - 4* ranked 61
247 - 4* ranked 62
ESPN - 4* 86 grade and ranked 65
Career - wasn’t much more than a shooter but I think he’s still better than he gets credit for here now. The personal issues he dealt with his junior year explain the huge drop in production. Ranked in the 60s is still a bit high imo so got to give it to espn who had him the lowest.

ESPN 2 / 247 1 / Rivals 0

2014

Vince Edwards
Rivals - 3* ranked 124
247 - 3* ranked 165
ESPN - 4* 82 grade and ranked 89th
Career - one of the best players of the last decade and was an impact player from day 1. ESPN got this one

Isaac Haas
Rivals - 4* ranked 71
247 - 3* ranked 144
ESPN - 4* 82 grade ranked 87th
Career - another instant impact. Took starts away from Hammons as a freshman and turned into a force as a senior. Rivals got this one.

Dakota Mathias
Rivals - 3* ranked 147
247 - 3* ranked 210
ESPN - 3* 72 grade
Career - great shooter/passer/defender/ and one of the smartest players painter has had. rivals gets this one

Jacquil Taylor
Rivals - 3*
247 - 3*
ESPN - 3* 75 grade
Career - never got a shot at Purdue but had a really good year at Hofstra. All 3 graded around the same so can’t really give this one to anybody.

PJ Thompson
Rivals - 3*
247 - 3* ranked 315
ESPN - 2* 69 grade
Career - definitely not a 2* career and there weren’t 314 better players in his class so this goes to rivals

rivals 3 / espn 1 / 247 0

2015

Ryan Cline
Rivals - 3* ranked 141
247 - 3* ranked 169
ESPN - 4* 80 grade ranked outside top 100
Career - didn’t really get to stand out until his senior year but was always a 40% shooter from deep and always a really good passer finishing with 2apg and under 1 tpg. I think rivals gets this one right. Not quite the 4* coming out of high school like espn had but definitely top 150 material.

caleb Swanigan
Rivals - 5* ranked 19th
247 - 5* ranked 32nd
ESPN - 5* 94 grade ranked 9th
Career - finishes as NPOY runner up and some rediculous averages. ESPN got this one and 247 having him in the 30s as the lowest 5* in the class is just really bad. Almost like they wanted to drop him to a 4* but knew they couldn’t.

weatherford never played a game for Purdue so I’m not worried about him. Nobody ranked him good anyway

Rivals 1 / espn 1 / 247 0

2016

Carsen Edwards
Rivals - 4* ranked 91
247 - 3* ranked 139
ESPN - 4* 82 grade ranked 89th
Career - probably could’ve been the all time scoring leader in school history if he stayed all four years but won award for best shooting guard in America and was an all American. Highest wins and that’s espn here

espn 1 / rivals 0 / 247 0

2017

Nojel Eastern
Rivals - 4* ranked 77
247 - 4* ranked 59
ESPN - 4* 83 grade ranked 84th
Career - great defender and rebounded for his position. That doesn’t get you ranked in the 50s though. Low end 4* in the 100s would be better. Go figure this is the one recruit 247 ranks the highest. Got to give this one to espn again.

Matt Haarms
Rivals - 3*
247 - 3* ranked 313
ESPN - 4* 80 grade
Career - much better than most thought. Very mobile for his size. Over 2 blocks per game every year of his career and in the right offense like what Purdue had carsens last year he was very good on offense as well. Probably should’ve been ranked in the top 150 so ESPN again gets my pick

Sasha stefanovic
Rivals - 3*
247 - 3* ranked 349
ESPN - not ranked
Career - awesome to see the player he’s turned into. Rivals wasn’t dumb enough to say 348 players were better so they get the point here.

Aaron Wheeler
Rivals - 3*
247 - 3* 162
ESPN - 3* 78 grade
Career - he’s had an ok career. Probably a 3* fringe 150 player on either side like all 3 have him. Can’t pick 1 above the rest.

espn 2 / rivals 1 / 247 0

2018

Emmanuel Dowuona
Rivals - 3*
247 - 3* ranked 209
ESPN - 4* ranked 91
Career - injuries and illness have derailed his career. Can’t judge this one.

Eric Hunter
Rivals - 4* ranked 121
247 - 4* ranked 144
ESPN - 4* grade 80 outside top 100
Career - very good defender. Has turned into a good point guard and had a really good scoring year as a sophomore that will return this season. Don’t know where he’d slot in for espn so I think rivals gets it here.

Trevion Williams
Rivals - 4* ranked 128
247 - 3* ranked 175
ESPN - 4* 80 grade
Career - all conference player and one of the best in college ball now. Same situation as Hunter with espn so I’ll give this to rivals

rivals 2 / espn 0 / 247 0

2019

Mason Gillis
Rivals - 4* (left him 4* after injury)
247 - 3* ranked 205
ESPN - 4* 82 grade outside top 100
Career - early so far but after 2 years off he still had a very solid freshman season. Rivals gets my pick for the way they handled his ranking.

Brandon Newman
Rivals - 4* ranked 85th
247 - 3* ranked 159
ESPN - 4* 82 grade outside top 100
Career - really early but nearly a 40% shooter from deep his freshman season and will eventually be a lockdown defender too. Rivals gets is imo

Isaiah Thompson
Rivals - 3*
247 - 3* ranked 213
ESPN - 4* 82 grade
Career - at this point it’s clear he’ll be better off the ball as a shooter but he is an excellent shooter. Not the 4* espn had and probably a bit better than 213 where 247 has him. I’ll go with Rivals

Rivals 3 / Espn 0 / 247 0

2020

zach Edey

rivals - 3*
247 - 3* ranked in the 450s. I didn’t look
ESPN - 3* 75 grade
Career - early but obvious that everyone was massively wrong here. Nobody getting this one

Jaden Ivey

rivals - 4* ranked 79
247 - 4* ranked 101
ESPN - 4* ranked 84
Career - everyone is low here too but rivals had him the highest so I’m giving it to them. Imagine thinking 100 freshman were better than Ivey last year.

Ethan Morton
Rivals - 4* ranked 88
247 - 4* ranked 139
ESPN - 4* ranked 83
Career - can’t be judged off last year so too early to tell

Rivals 1/ espn 0/ 247 0

2021

Nobody here on out has obviously played a game so no one can be right yet. I will say with furst making a spot on the 19U team the highest ranking is already looking the best there.

Caleb Furst
Rivals - 4* ranked 51
247 - 4* ranked 63
ESPN - 4* ranked 71

Trey Kaufman
Rivals - 4* ranked 38
247 - 4* ranked 47
ESPN - 4* ranked 43

Brian Waddell
Rivals - 3*
247 - N/A
ESPN - N/A

2022

Camden Heide
Rivals - 4* ranked 77
247 - 4* ranked 90
ESPN - 4* 81 grade outside top 100

Fletcher Loyer
Rivals - 4* ranked 102
247 - 3* ranked 133
ESPN - 4* 80 grade outside top 100

Braden Smith
Rivals - 3*
247 - 0 stars but just dropped rating
ESPN - no profile

overall I gave rivals 11 / espn 7 / 247 1 / a few I didn’t give to any

rivals was the highest on at least 14
247 was the highest on 1 (Eastern lol)
ESPN was the highest on at least 8

247 who I question was the lowest on at least 19 and by a large margin on quite a few.

2023 probably won’t change since 1 247 contributor is calling Colvin a mid major plus.
 
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