State of Major High School Basketball

With prospects that arrive and depart from campus within a year, college hoops stars are often gone before we get to know them. Maybe it's just me, but I'm always interested in where these guys came from as much as where they end up going. I decided to dig into three recent recruiting classes to see what the numbers tell us about where the future stars of the NCAA tourney and the NBA are coming from.

I went to the excellent website Rivals.com and looked at their top 150 prospects for the 2009, 2010, and 2011 recruiting classes (the John Wall/Sophomores, incoming freshmen, and current high school seniors) and broke them down by home state. The numbers, I must warn, will be slightly skewed because there are some powerhouse prep schools located in states where basketball doesn't necessarily otherwise thrive. For instance, New Hampshire has twelve top 150 prospects over the three year spread, placing them in the middle of the pack statewise, however all twelve went to prep schools and were from other states, including a whopping eight that attended Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro. However, if we're thinking about what we're tracking here, this is where these guys play ball, where they train, where they are coached, and where they compete, so by that token, the numbers are 100% accurate.

The numbers:

1. California: 42

Texas: 42

3. North Carolina: 36

4. Virginia: 28

5. Georgia: 27

6. Illinois: 24

7. Florida: 22

8. Maryland: 16

9. Indiana: 15

10. New York: 14

11. New Jersey: 13

Tennessee: 13

13. New Hampshire: 12

14. Alabama: 10

Nevada: 10

Michigan: 10

Ohio: 10

18. Pennsylvania: 9

Mississippi: 9

Washington: 9

21. Massachusetts: 8

22. Missouri: 6

South Carolina: 6

Arizona: 6

25. Connecticut: 5

Minnesota: 5

27. Arkansas: 4

Kentucky: 4

Oregon: 4

Wisconsin: 4

West Virginia: 4

32. Iowa: 3

District of Columbia: 3

Utah: 3

Louisiana: 3

36. Oklahoma: 2

New Mexico: 2

38. Rhode Island: 1

Kansas: 1

Canada: 1

41. Colorado: 0

Nebraska: 0

Montana: 0

Wyoming: 0

Hawaii: 0

Maine: 0

Vermont: 0

Idaho: 0

North Dakota: 0

South Dakota: 0

Delaware: 0

What I learned:

There was no surprise at the top with large states known for their athletics, and Texas and California lead the way. Colleges like UCLA and University of Texas benefit from this "hometown" advantage in recruiting.

Interestingly, though, there didn't appear to be as much of a "hometown" advantage as in football. The University of Kansas flourishes because of their ability to recruit nationally. Likewise, schools with prominent hoop histories are like Wisconsin, West Virginia, Kentucky, and UConn are forced to draw from all over the country to keep their rosters stocked.

The same high/prep schools kept popping up. Among the schools that had seven or more prospects over the three years are: Hargrave Military Academy (VA), Oak Hill Academy (VA), Brewster Academy (NH), and Findlay Prep (NV). That means in any given year, these teams are fielding full rosters of Division I major conference talent players. Other schools with four or more prospects: DeMatha (MD), South Kent (CT), Rice (NY), Chicago/Whitney Young (IL), Word of God Christian Academy (NC), Quality Education Academy (NC), Arden/Christ School (NC), St.Patrick's (NJ), Christian Life Center (TX), and Mater Dei (CA).

Likewise, certain cities kept popping up. Cities that had three or more high schools sending prospects: Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Raleigh, Chicago, Richmond, Atlanta, Memphis, Jackson (MS), Portland (OR), Washington (DC), Seattle, Birmingham, Phoenix, Baltimore, Charlotte, and New York. Memphis, Chicago, and Dallas were the most prominent. Notable exceptions: Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit, Miami, San Francisco, Denver, Minneapolis/St.Paul, and Oklahoma City.

I also noticed that some programs that not so long ago were considered upstarts are now regularly are attracting top talent. Gonzaga, Butler, and Xavier are dipping from the same pool as Michigan State, Memphis, and Syracuse. They can not be considered underdogs any longer.

I found it interesting that some colleges with past prestige would struggle to recruit in their own cities. In places like Texas where cities like Dallas and Houston are fertile recruiting grounds, there are multiple programs finding success. Last year alone, Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, UTEP, Houston, and North Texas all made the NCAA tourney. By the same token, the city of Memphis supplies talent to in-state powerhouses like Vandy, Tennessee, and Memphis. The two notable exceptions? What about DePaul in Chicago and St. John's in New York? St. John's has struggled to attract local talent with guys like Lance Stephenson (Cincinnati), Durand Scott (Miami), and Tobias Harris (Tennessee), but this year coach Steve Lavin has them on the brink of returning to success. DePaul, meanwhile, has a new coach in Oliver Purnell, but is much further away from competing. If Purnell can get a little something out of what he's got, DePaul could find themselves at the epicenter of Midwest hoops. They may want to hurry up though; next year's class is particularly deep, but the city's top three prospects have already committed to Kentucky, Louisville, and Illinois.

Speaking of Kentucky, does anyone recruit more widely than John Calipari? This year's freshmen include top 100 prospects from Oregon, Florida, California, and Virginia. Next year's class already is drawing top 20 talent from Indiana, New Jersey, Illinois, and Oregon.

Know a great prep matchup coming to your area? Post it in the comments. And keep your eyes open in the coming weeks for our massive NCAA hoops preview as well.

**Photo Courtesy of  Chris Fleck via Creative Commons License