For those of you super-interested in stars, rankings, and how our somewhat non-conventional, highly-weighted juco class compares to more traditional high school ones. I've done a little analysis of 247's rankings (not their composite), and how they have our JUCO's pegged in their latest rankings. Keep in mind that, as of right now, they probably give the overall most favorable rankings of all the recruiting sites to our guys, so other sites mostly have our guys at lower levels. Also, these rankings will change some between now and when things get finalized next spring (for the good or bad). With that said, here you go:
-Overall, they've got our recruiting class ranked as #25 in the nation and #2 in the Big 12
http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings
http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=Big-12
-Here is now a quick breakdown of each guy:
Solomon Young
# Stars: 3 star
Recruiting Score: 89 (not a ranking, just their overall score)
National Ranking (High School): 123 (they do this based on the above recruiting score)
http://247sports.com/Player/Solomon-Young-35849
Donovan Jackson
# Stars: 4 star
Recruiting Score: 91
Juco National Ranking: 7
High School Equivalent Ranking: #94 - #104 Range (based off of a recruiting score of 91)
http://247sports.com/Player/Donovan-Jackson-85927
Emmanuel Malou
# Stars: 4 star
Recruiting Score: 93
Juco National Ranking: 3
High School Equivalent Ranking: #56 - #65 Range (based off of a recruiting score of 93)
http://247sports.com/Player/Emmanuel-Malou-83684
Now, you can see a little of why CW says Malou is our best recruit since Craig Brackins, even though I think he is using more than just rankings to base that statement on (other offers, videos, other rankings sites... etc.). From a rankings standpoint, Matt Thomas was probably the closest with a 247 national high school ranking of #69. However, I'd disagree with CW's statement, not based off of Matt Thomas, but rather based off Royce White (4 star #26 national 247 high school ranking as a Minnesota recruit). Now the naysayer to me would say that Royce was a transfer and not a recruit, but couldn't you somewhat say the same thing about Malou being a Juco transfer? Regardless, it all depends where you draw the line I guess.
Also, when I say Malou compares to a #56 - #65 high school guy, does he really exactly? On the one hand, he is probably more physically and mentally mature than his high school equivalent due to being a couple years older. However, on the flip side, you've got 2 years of eligibility compared to 4 years for a high school kid. Shoot, even Royce came with 3 years eligibility (even though he only did one). Regardless, hopefully someone finds this useful to put things in perspective. If not, I'm sure someone will criticize me with the standard "stars are stupid and completely don't matter" cliché. However, I find it funny that posters use that line more in football (where we get crappy, low-star recruits), and less in basketball (where we get decent, higher-star recruits). Play-on.