[caption id="attachment_7296" align="alignleft" width="220" caption="Larry Sanders went from little known recruit to 1st-round NBA Draft pick."]<a href="http://www.vcuramnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Larry.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-7296" title="Larry" src="http://www.vcuramnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Larry.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="232" /></a>[/caption]
One of the hot topics every offseason is recruiting. For a bad team recruits bring a feeling of hope, for a good team an opportunity to reload. VCU will lose two players from this year's NCAA tournament team: senior starter Bradford Burgess and the fan-favorite but barely-used Reco McCarter. Filling in for those loses is a highly-touted recruiting class that includes Bradford's brother Jordan, an ESPN top-100 recruit who has Ram fans foaming at the mouth, as well as defensive-minded bigs Justin Tuoyo and Mo-Alie Cox. Tuoyo comes to VCU having seen a 4-star ranking prior to his signing with the Rams (which mysteriously dropped him to a 3-star), Alie-Cox, like many VCU greats before him will be more concerned with his stars leaving the Rams, hoping to follow in the footprints of VCU sleepers like Eric Maynor and Larry Sanders.
I decided to dig up some rankings of previous players using only Scout.com rankings for consistency. We're well aware of those who played well above their rankings (Maynor, Sanders, etc), those who find their way to VCU highly ranked and proved they deserved those rankings (Skeen), and well...some who didn't quite live up to the hype.
The Recent Pros:
Eric Maynor: Scout.com 2-star, Position raking NR (20th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft)
Larry Sanders: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR (15th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft)
The Transfers (in):
Jamie Skeen (from Wake Forest): Scout.com 4-star, Position ranking #15 PF
Wil Famini (from Arizona State): Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #34 PF
Eric Davis (from Seton Hall): Scout.com 4-star, Position ranking #15 PF
Jay Gavin (from Marist): Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR (transferred to Bowie State)
Toby Veal (Colorado to NWF State JUCO to VCU): Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
The Transfers (out):
Lance Kearse (Eckerd College): Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Reco McCarter (TBD): Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #50 SF
Franck Ndongo (Augusta State): Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking NR
Terrance Saintil (Walsh): Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Issiah Grayson (Southern Idaho CC to Cal State Bakersfield): Not rated on Scout.com
Recent Rams:
Jamal Shuler: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
BA Walker: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking #69 PG
Bradford Burgess: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #35 SF
Joey Rodriguez: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #37 PG
Brandon Rozzell: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Ed Nixon: Scout.com Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking NR
Nick George: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking NR
Jesse Pellot-Rosa: Not rated on Scout.com
Willie Taylor: Not rated on Scout.com
The current roster:
David Hinton: Not rated on Scout.com
Darius Theus: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Troy Daniels: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #35 SF
Juvonte Reddic: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #35 C
Rob Brandenberg: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
DJ Haley: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Heath Houston: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Treveon Graham: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Briante Weber: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Teddy Okereafor: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Jared Guest: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking NR
The incoming freshmen:
Jordan Burgess: Scout.com 4-star, Position ranking #21 SF
Justin Tuoyo: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking NR
Mo Alie-Cox: Not rated on Scout.com (Rivals.com 2-star)
One of the hot topics every offseason is recruiting. For a bad team recruits bring a feeling of hope, for a good team an opportunity to reload. VCU will lose two players from this year's NCAA tournament team: senior starter Bradford Burgess and the fan-favorite but barely-used Reco McCarter. Filling in for those loses is a highly-touted recruiting class that includes Bradford's brother Jordan, an ESPN top-100 recruit who has Ram fans foaming at the mouth, as well as defensive-minded bigs Justin Tuoyo and Mo-Alie Cox. Tuoyo comes to VCU having seen a 4-star ranking prior to his signing with the Rams (which mysteriously dropped him to a 3-star), Alie-Cox, like many VCU greats before him will be more concerned with his stars leaving the Rams, hoping to follow in the footprints of VCU sleepers like Eric Maynor and Larry Sanders.
I decided to dig up some rankings of previous players using only Scout.com rankings for consistency. We're well aware of those who played well above their rankings (Maynor, Sanders, etc), those who find their way to VCU highly ranked and proved they deserved those rankings (Skeen), and well...some who didn't quite live up to the hype.
The Recent Pros:
Eric Maynor: Scout.com 2-star, Position raking NR (20th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft)
Larry Sanders: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR (15th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft)
The Transfers (in):
Jamie Skeen (from Wake Forest): Scout.com 4-star, Position ranking #15 PF
Wil Famini (from Arizona State): Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #34 PF
Eric Davis (from Seton Hall): Scout.com 4-star, Position ranking #15 PF
Jay Gavin (from Marist): Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR (transferred to Bowie State)
Toby Veal (Colorado to NWF State JUCO to VCU): Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
The Transfers (out):
Lance Kearse (Eckerd College): Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Reco McCarter (TBD): Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #50 SF
Franck Ndongo (Augusta State): Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking NR
Terrance Saintil (Walsh): Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Issiah Grayson (Southern Idaho CC to Cal State Bakersfield): Not rated on Scout.com
Recent Rams:
Jamal Shuler: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
BA Walker: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking #69 PG
Bradford Burgess: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #35 SF
Joey Rodriguez: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #37 PG
Brandon Rozzell: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Ed Nixon: Scout.com Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking NR
Nick George: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking NR
Jesse Pellot-Rosa: Not rated on Scout.com
Willie Taylor: Not rated on Scout.com
The current roster:
David Hinton: Not rated on Scout.com
Darius Theus: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Troy Daniels: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #35 SF
Juvonte Reddic: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking #35 C
Rob Brandenberg: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
DJ Haley: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Heath Houston: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Treveon Graham: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Briante Weber: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Teddy Okereafor: Scout.com 2-star, Position ranking NR
Jared Guest: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking NR
The incoming freshmen:
Jordan Burgess: Scout.com 4-star, Position ranking #21 SF
Justin Tuoyo: Scout.com 3-star, Position ranking NR
Mo Alie-Cox: Not rated on Scout.com (Rivals.com 2-star)
