Trent Montemayor took our inquiry for help to heart and volunteered to construct and maintain a running database of Big Ten Recruiting Rankings. The idea is borrowed from MGoBlog, who maintains a similar list for football classes. There will likely be some tweaks in future iterations but for now, here’s the current data:
| Rank | School | # Commits | Rivals Avg. | Scout Avg. | ESPN Avg. | 24/7 Avg. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indiana | 5 | 4.00 | 3.60 | 3.60 | 3.20 | |
| 2 | Michigan State | 3 | 4.00 | 3.67 | 4.00 | 3.67 | |
| 3 | Purdue | 3 | 3.67 | 3.67 | 3.67 | 4.00 | |
| 4 | Michigan | 2 | 4.00 | 3.50 | 4.00 | 4.00 | |
| 5 | Iowa | 3 | 3.33 | 3.00 | 3.33 | 1.33 | |
| 6 | Northwestern | 3 | 1.00 | 2.67 | 2.33 | 1.00 | |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 1 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | |
| 8 | Minnesota | 1 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | |
| 9 | Penn State | 1 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | |
| 10 | Nebraska | 1 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| T11 | Illinois | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| T11 | Ohio State | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Team by team data after the jump.
Indiana
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Ferrell | PG | IN | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Jeremy Hollowell | SF | IN | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Peter Jurkin | C | NC | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR | |
| Ron Patterson | SG | IN | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
| Hanner Perea | PF | IN | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Indiana heads up the initial Big Ten Recruiting Rankings with 5 commits and 3 consensus 4+ star recruits. As you will see below, like in football, 24/7 is seriously behind in ranking recruits and adding kids to commit lists.
Michigan State
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Costello | PF | MI | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Kenny Kaminski | PF | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | |
| Denzel Valentine | SF | MI | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
MSU comes in second for these rankings. They’re close with Purdue but State seems to have better addressed their needs in grabbing 2 bigs to replace Draymond Green and Delvon Roe.
Purdue
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raphael Davis | SG | IN | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
| Ronnie Johnson | PG | IN | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Jay Simpson | PF | IN | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
Purdue grabs a solid class with three 4-star level commits. They could use another big though with the loss of Robbie Hummel after this season and no proven back-ups. Johnson is not on 24/7’s commit list.
Michigan
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Robinson III | SF | IN | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Nick Stauskas | SG | CAN | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
Michigan fans are familiar with the Wolverines’ pair of four star commits but Michigan lags behind Michigan State and Purdue with just two commitments in the class.
Iowa
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Gesell | PG | IA | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Patrick Ingram | SG | IN | 3 | 2 | 3 | NR | |
| Kyle Meyer | C | GA | 3 | 3 | 3 | NR |
Iowa’s off to a solid start in this class. We’ll keep them behind Michigan since Michigan has 2 solid 4-stars. Ingram and Meyer not on 24/7’s commit list but both are on the other sites.
Northwestern
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kale Abrahamson | SF | IA | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Sanjay Lumpkin | SG | MN | NR | 3 | 2 | NR | |
| Alex Olah | C | IN | NR | 2 | 2 | NR |
Same number of commits as Iowa but most sites don’t know who they are. Lumpkin and Olah aren’t on 24/7’s commit list.
Wisconsin
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Dekker | SF | WI | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Don’t expect Wisconsin to be in this spot for long. They have the third highest rated recruit in theBig Ten (after only Ferrell and Perea). Once they got another commit they’ll move up quick.
Minnesota
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wally Ellenson | SG | WI | 3 | NR | 3 | NR |
Ellenson is NR nor on the commit list of 24/7.
Penn State
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akosa Maduegbunam | SF | MA | NR | NR | 2 | NR |
Maduegbunam, hopefully a finalist for Name of the Year, is the first recruit of the Patrick Chambers era. Most sites don’t know who he is. 24/7 doesn’t have him on their commit list.
Nebraska
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Coleman | PF | IA | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Coleman is a JUCO transfer He’ll have 3 years of eligibility once he hits campus.
Ohio State and Illinois
Both schools have yet to land a 2012 commitment at this time.
