Enes Kanter Makes His Debut and Brandon Knight Drops

I have a feeling this guy is going to be pretty good.

Rivals.com just released the final rankings of the class of 2010. In a surprise, Josh Selby (point guard) overtook Brandon Knight (point guard) as the #1 high school player in the land. Knight dropped down to the #6 spot. "Why the drop?", you ask. I think much of this has to do with Knight's performances in the All-Star games of which he participated. Knight did not light up the world in any of the games he was in but he did hit a game winning three during the McDonald's All American game.

Enes Kanter (center) made his debut on the list and he sky-rocketed to the #3 player in the land and overtaking Jared Sullinger (center) as the #1 big man. Kanter impressed and wowed everyone when he played in the Nike Hoops Summit game. That huge double-double will be legendary for a while. Not many people have seen Kanter in person but the word is out about him and he is being looked at as one of the best, if not the best, high school player in the nation. Maybe even the world.

Other Cats on the list: Doron Lamb (shooting guard) stayed steady at #21 and Stacey Poole (forward) fell out of the top 20 to #33. Poole did not impress at the Derby City Classic but did contribute.

Future Cats: The only other Wildcat target listed is Terrence Jones (forward) and he stayed at #13. Jones is rumored to be going to Kentucky since rival power forward CJ Leslie (forward) committed for sure to play for NC State. This could be the in that Jones was looking for.

Dirty Cards: Gorgui Dieng (center) makes his debut at an impressive #44. Not much was known about this kid until he received the MVP at the Derby City classic. He may be a project but he is a good project to have. He is athletic and has unlimited potential. If Samardo Samuels goes to the NBA then Dieng could be called upon to contribute right away.

Justin Coleman (Forward) dropped out of the top 40 to #50. I'm not sure why exactly because he had an impressive run at the DCC as well. I am not sure if they are factoring in his academic trouble into the equation but it is possible.

UofL commit Russ Smith (point guard) was not listed in the top 150 and UK target Marcus Thornton (forward) sits at #121.

What does this all mean? Absolutely nothing. We UK fans love to track recruits and high five each other when we land them. The truth of the matter is that we won't know how good they are until they put on that uniform and play against other college guys. Terrence Jennings was the #18 recruit in the country and listed as a 5 star player in 2008 and has been mediocre at best. DeAndre Liggins was a four star recruit and listed at #28. He has been inconsistent in play and consistently in the dog house but did show some improvement this year under Calipari.

Does anyone remember 4 star Louisville recruits Amir Johnson and Bryan Harvey? I didn't think so. How about 5 star Derrick Caracter? Oh yea, he flopped at UofL and then went and played decent for UTEP. Jodie Meeks was a 4 star player and ended up looking 5 star. Let's see what happens once the ball is in play.

P.S. Don't expect any less smack-talk when the Cats land top prospects. It's still a good indicator of where your program is going if you can land top talent and then get them to perform.