Michael Gilchrist
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
We released our
2011 Top 100 today and – no surprise here – Michael Gilchrist of St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) remains in the No. 1 spot.
Austin Rivers of Winter Park (Fla.) made a strong challenge during a junior campaign that included averages of 23.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Rivers saved his best work for high-profile outings against nationally-ranked New Jersey power St. Benedict's Prep (45 points), Brandon Knight and Pine Crest (41 points) and North Carolina's Christ School (39 points) in the National High School Invitational.
Chicago product Wayne Blackshear, North Carolina's P.J. Hairston and Virginia forward Dorian Finney-Smith also put together monster junior seasons that sent their stock skyrocketing.
Tony Wroten Jr., Cody Zeller and LaQuinton Ross are other notables that experienced notable movement in the Top 100.
Wroten Jr. missed the 2009-10 season at Seattle's Garfield after leading the Bulldogs to the Class 4A state title game as a sophomore. The athletic guard is at the top of the list of prospects outside the top 10 that could play their way in.
Zeller made a huge splash in leading Washington High School to Indiana's 3A title, pulling down 26 boards in the final. Zeller's brother Tyler plays at the University of North Carolina.
Ross, ranked No. 71, was once considered an elite prospect in the 2011 class but slid down the list as expectations seemed to consume his promising career. After a nice stint with Life Center Academy in Burlington, N.J., late in the season, his stock could be on the way back up.
A couple of other Top 100 considerations were left out because it doesn’t appear that they will pursue basketball beyond high school.
Bakersfield, Calif., guard Cody Kessler averaged 29.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.2 assist per game this winter at Centennial High School. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder is also a big-time quarterback prospect and all signs are pointing to a college gridiron career.
The same goes for Jay Rome of Valdosta, Ga. The 6-5, 240-pounder was a second team Class AAAAA All-State selection but is even more highly-regarded as a tight end.
