Updating The 2013 ESPN100's Michigan Commits And Targets

In some of the better news of the offseason for Michigan basketball, ESPN has released their updated rankings for the 2013 class.  This takes all of the summer play that has occured into account so they can adjust their rankings.  Although these rankings are not cemented and are just about guaranteed to change before the players get on campus, this is when the list starts to get pretty solidified and it's much rarer to see players move too far up and down.  The scouts have finally gotten a good look at just about everyone and have seen for themselves whether they are the real deal or not.

Just a few quick reminders.  First, I have generally found that ESPN's basketball recruiting coverage has been the best of all the major recruiting services.  It's not perfect, but it has been the best.  Other services have done some great things and I think that they have improved in some areas, but overall, I still give the nod to ESPN.  The most important thing, however, is to compare where recruits are placed on different lists.  If a person uses just one or two services, they are probably going to get a limited idea of a recruit's potential.  Combining different recruiting services, offer lists, and videos seems to be the bes method for review.  You can see all the major scouting rankings for each class here.  Regardless, here are the rankings for the ESPN100 in 2013:

Carlton Brundidge Transfers To Detroit

In recent days, the final transfer from Michigan's 2011-2012 squad has announced that he will be transferring to Detroit.  Most speculated that this was his most likely destination so it shouldn't come as a major surprise for those following the situation. He is one of three players that announced they would be transferring following the season.  I was a bit surprised when I first heard the news, especially considering that he was only a freshman, but if a player doesn't fit it does them no good to stay around.

Brundidge was one of Michigan's most heralded recruits in Michigan's 2011 recruiting class.  He was rated as a 4* by ESPN and was Michigan's highest recruit on the ESPN100 at #76 (Trey Burke was #84).  To see a player come into a program with those types of ratings and then do little to nothing is pretty disappointing.  Most expected him to be a big part of Michigan's team in the future.  However, it just never seemed to quite work out with him.

Scout's 2013 Rankings Hurt Michigan

As I wrote about earlier, Michigan's 2013 basketball recruiting class has been receiving a lot of love from the recruiting services.  ESPN has ranked the class #2 in the nation and as the best in the Big Ten.  Scout has expressed a similar sentiment, but not quite as positive.  Scout has put Michigan's 2013 class as #6 in the nation, but as only the 3rd best in the Big Ten, behind Purdue and Indiana.

I'm not one that claims Michigan's recruits are always underrated like many analysts seem to do, but I would like to point out the differences between ESPN and Scout's rankings.  ESPN's basketball coverage has almost always been superior to Rivals and Scout, so I tend to lean towards their rankings, but that's not the only reason I think ESPN's rankings are more accurate for Michigan's 2013 recruiting class.

Michigan Basketball's 2013 Recruiting Class Ranked #2 In Nation

ESPN have released their 2013 recruiting class rankings and Michigan basketball has fared quite well.  Michigan is currently ranked as the #2 recruiting class in the nation and are only trailing ACC powerhouse North Carolina.  Fellow Big Ten squads Indiana and Purdue are ranked #5 and #6 respectively.  What is perhaps more astonishing is that neither Michigan State or Ohio State are ranked in the top ten recruiting classes, despite their recent success on the court.

Michigan's class is built off the recruits strong performances in the ESPN100.  Right now,  3 of the members of the 2013 recruiting class are ranked inside the ESPN100 and the final member needs an asterisk next to his name.  Austin Hatch was involved in a near fatal airplane crash and his status as a basketball player is still up in the air.  If he hadn't been in that horrible tragedy, Michigan may actually be ranked #1 right now and ultimately, if Hatch recovers as many assume, Michigan's class may be much more talented than it looks in the current rankings.