Thursday, April 23, 2009

A KAKE viewer wants to know, “Who says Xavier Henry is the top recruit? How is that determined?” Good question.

There are a number of factors deciding how players are tanked. Size, position, scoring, average and performance in highly regarded camps are a few. It’s also based on hype. Some players in high school get more “hype” and therefore find themselves ranked pretty high, whether they’re worthy or not.

Just about everyone ranks the players. Websites like rivals.com, sports networks like ESPN, recruiting services, bloggers, sports writers and fans are some examples.

In determining the “top recruit”, it really comes down to the law of averages. In the case of Henry, rivals.com and ESPN have him as the third-best prospect. Others say he’s number one and some have him ranked as low as the fifth best. Add them all up and you could argue that he is the overall top prospect.

Of course, it doesn’t really matter once the season starts.

Send your good questions to news@kake.com.