The more things change, the more they stay the same.
That age-old philosophy was upheld by CBS Sports/MaxPreps football recruiting expert Tom Lemming, who Friday came out with his updated Top 100 list for the Class of 2011.
Here is the list. Indeed 22 new players were added to the elite group, but then again 25 remained the same.
The most impressive newcomer was
Demetrius Hart, a 5-foot-8, 185-pound running back from
Dr. Phillips (Orlando, Fla.) who leaped all the way to the No. 45 spot.
"It was impossible to leave him out of the top 100 after his incredible senior year," Lemming said. "He broke records at Dr. Phillips and will be an impact freshman at Alabama."
Other newcomers among the top 70 were athlete
Odell Beckham (Newman-New Orleans, La.) at No. 59, defensive back
Valdez Showers (
Madison-Madison Heights, Mich.) at No. 61, running back
Mike Blakely (
Manatee-Bradenton, Fla.) at No. 66, wide reciever
Malcolm Mitchell (
Valdosta, Ga.) at No. 68 and linebacker
Lamar Dawson (Boyle County-Danville, Ky.) at No. 69.
Beckham is going to LSU, Showers and Blakely to Florida and Mitchell to Georgia. Dawson is uncommitted.
"If they have remarkable senior seasons and get better, they get (bumped) up," Lemming said of his newcomers.
The new No. 1 player is no stranger to being head of the class.
South Pointe (Rock Hill, S.C.) defensive end
Jadeveon Clowney has been at the top of most lists and after another remarkable season - 162 tackles and 29.5 sacks - he is Lemming's top recruit as well.
Clowney replaced
Plant (Tampa, Fla.) running back and linebacker
James Wilder, who moved to the No. 2 slot. Wilder is headed to Florida State and Clowney is uncommitted.
"(Clowney) is a freak of nature," Lemming said of the 6-foot-6, 240-pound senior who has reported marks of 4.6-seconds in the 40-yard dash and 36 inches in the vertical leap. "He's the best I've seen since Mario Williams. He got better his senior year, while Wilder had some injuries and didn't play as well as his junior season."
The biggest riser on the list was defensive back
Doran Grant, a 5-11, 180-pound defensive back from
St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio). The Ohio State-bound standout jumped 59 spots to No. 32 overall.
Other big leapers into the top 10 were
St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City, N.J.) running back
Savon Huggins - 45 spots to No. 5 - and
Menendez (St. Augustine, Fla.) linebacker
Tony Steward up 22 spots to No. 6.
Aaron Lynch, a 6-6, 240-pound defensive end from
Island Coast (Cape Coral, Fla.) moved up a whopping 39 spots to No. 22.
Both Huggins and Steward are uncommitted. Lynch is headed to Notre Dame.
"Out of all the backs I saw on tape and in person, Huggins impressed me the most," Lemming said. "And (Lynch) impressed everyone at the Army All-America game. He was the best player on the East according to their coaches."
Steward was part linebacker group that Lemming considered the best of all positions among the 100.
"(Steward) and
Stephone Anthony were the two best linebackers in the country," Lemming said.
Director of Editorial Content Steve Montoya contributed to this report.
