Michigan hasn’t landed a commitment in the class of 2015, but 20 prospects have already committed to Big Ten schools. With the final July evaluation period in full swing for rising senior prospects, we compiled our first Class of 2015 Big Ten Recruiting Rankings.
| Rank | 247 Comp. | School | # | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | Avg. | Ave. Score | Cum. Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 (2) | Ohio State | 4 | 3.75 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 3.94 | 116.37 | 1465 | |
| 2 | 2 (5) | Illinois | 2 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 82.66 | 730 | |
| 3 | 3 (7) | Michigan State | 2 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 3.50 | 3.88 | 81.35 | 730 | |
| 4 | 4 (8) | Penn State | 3 | 3.00 | 3.33 | 3.33 | 3.00 | 3.17 | 76.50 | 930 | |
| 5 | 5 (25) | Northwestern | 2 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 56.38 | 575 | |
| 6 | 7 (32) | Wisconsin | 1 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 4.00 | 3.75 | 52.71 | 340 | |
| 7 | 8 (35) | Minnesota | 1 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.50 | 52.43 | 350 | |
| 8 | 6 (28) | Iowa | 2 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 2.50 | 3.00 | 2.88 | 52.32 | 545 | |
| 9 | 9 (46) | Purdue | 1 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 2.00 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 35.18 | 265 | |
| 10 | T-10 (T-55) | Nebraska | 1 | 3.00 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 2.25 | 26.42 | 220 | |
| 11 | T-10 (T-55) | Rutgers | 1 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 22.77 | 215 | |
| T-12 | N/A | Indiana | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| T-12 | N/A | Maryland | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| T-12 | N/A | Michigan | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Ohio State leads the way with four commitments with an average of 4-stars, while Illinois and Michigan State have also started building solid recruiting classes. The Buckeyes are putting together one of the top classes in the Big Ten for the second consecutive season. Maryland, Michigan and Indiana have all yet to land a class of 2015 commitment after finishing 1st, 3rd and 4th in the class of 2015 rankings.
After the jump find a team-by-team run-down of Big Ten commitments to this point.
Big Ten Commitments
- Jun 12, 2013 – Penn State adds commitment from Mike Watkins
- Aug 12, 2013 – Ohio State adds commitment from A.J. Harris
- Aug 22, 2013 – Ohio State adds commitment from Mickey Mitchell
- Oct 2, 2013 – Rutgers adds commitment from Austin Burnette
- Oct 20, 2013 – Nebraska adds commitment from Keanu Pinder
- Nov 5, 2013 – Illinois adds commitment from D.J. Williams
- Dec 11, 2013 – Michigan State adds commitment from Deyonta Davis
- Jan 4, 2014 – Illinois adds commitment from Aaron Jordan
- Mar 9, 2014 – Iowa adds commitment from Brandon Hutton
- Mar 19, 2014 – Northwestern adds commitment from Jordan Ash
- May 4, 2014 – Ohio State adds commitment from Austin Grandstaff
- May 12, 2014 – Iowa adds commitment from Andrew Fleming
- May 12, 2014 – Penn State adds commitment from Deividas Zemgulis
- May 22, 2014 – Wisconsin adds commitment from Brevin Pritzl
- Jun 2, 2014 – Purdue adds commitment from Ryan Cline
- Jun 6, 2014 – Michigan State adds commitment from Kyle Ahrens
- Jun 7, 2014 – Northwestern adds commitment from Derek Pardon
- Jul 1, 2014 – Penn State adds commitment from Josh Reaves
- Jul 4, 2014 – Ohio State adds commitment from Daniel Giddens
- Jul 12, 2014 – Minnesota adds commitment from Kevin Dorsey
1. Ohio State
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Grandstaff | SG | TX | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Daniel Giddens | C | GA | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | ||
| A.J. Harris | PG | OH | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Mickey Mitchell | SF | TX | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
OSU is off to a hot start with the 2015 class just like they were with the 2014 class. All commits are 4-stars in 247’s Composite Rankings.
2. Illinois
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Jordan | SG | IL | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||
| D.J. Williams | SF | IL | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
John Groce continues to dip into local talent pools as he nabs commitment from Illinois products Aaron Jordan and D.J. Williams.
3. Michigan State
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Ahrens | SG/SF | OH | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Deyonta Davis | PF | MI | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
With Davis in the fold, MSU looks to add their first 5-star prospect since Gary Harris.
4. Penn State
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Reaves | SG | VA | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Mike Watkins | C | PA | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Deividas Zemgulis | SF | MD | 3 | 3 | NR | 3 |
Mike Watkins owns the distinction of being the first prospect in the 2015 class to commit to a Big Ten school. Will Chambers finally be able to hold a 4-star commitment in both he and Reaves?
5. Northwestern
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Ash | PG/SG | IL | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Derek Pardon | PF | OH | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Chris Collins maintains some good recruiting momentum in his second year with 2 early commits from the Midwest.
6. Wisconsin
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevin Pritzl | SG | WI | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
After blowing up on the AAU circuit this spring, Pritzl ended his recruitment shortly after when committing to Wisconsin.
7. Minnesota
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Dorsey | PG | VA | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
With Deandre Mathieu graduating in the spring, Minnesota lands their PG of the future in Dorsey. Dorsey is also the highest ranked recruit for Richard Pitino during his Minnesota tenure.
8. Iowa
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Fleming | SG | TN | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Brandon Hutton | SF | IL | 3 | 3 | NR | 3 |
Iowa off to a decent start with a couple of 3-star recruit in the fold. Will their recruiting profile start to climb with last year’s Tourney appearance?
9. Purdue
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Cline | SG | IN | 3 | 3 | NR | 3 |
Local product Cline is an early commit to Purdue.
10. Nebraska
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keanu Pinder | SF | KS | 3 | NR | NR | NR |
Miles goes into neighboring Kansas to gain a commitment from Pinder.
11. Rutgers
| Name | Position | State | Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 247 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Burnette | SF | NC | NR | NR | 1 | NR |
Rutgers has an early commit from under the radar prospect Austin Burnette.
T-12. Indiana
No commitments.
T-12. Maryland
No commitments.
T-12. Michigan
No commitments.
Ranking Explanations
Every player is given a normalized score on a 100 point scale for each of the three major scouting services. That score breaks down like this:
| Player Score | |
|---|---|
| 100 = | 5* Player |
| 95 = | 4* and top 50 player |
| 90 = | 4* player not in top 50 |
| 85 = | Top 150 player or top 30 at position |
| 80 = | Top 40 at position |
| 75 = | Top 50 at position or 3* player unranked at his position |
| 70 = | Top 75 at position |
| 65 = | Top 100 at position or 2* player unranked at his position |
| 60 = | Top 300 player or 1* player unranked at his position |
| 50 = | Player who has no star rating or position ranking |
That much is relatively simple. Those scores are combined into two cumulative metrics: Class Average Score and Class Cumulative Score.
- Class Average Score: Average normalized scores by service multiplied by the square root of the number of commitments/3.25 (13 total scholarships over 4 years) as well as our additional factor the square root of average ranking over 3.
- Class Cumulative Score: Sum of all normalized score for all recruits based on all services
The system is far from perfect but we favor the current system to generate some sort of consistent, objective basis for comparing classes. Special thanks to Trent Montemayor for compiling all of the data. Note: Ohio State tops Maryland despite a lower cumulative score because the average ranking is adjusted for the average star rating.
