Through this week Prep Girls Hoops Illinois will be releasing updated rankings in the classes o 2021, and 2022, and we have posted our first set of 2023 rankings. We fully understand that as we do this there will be players that are considered to be “missed”, “undervalued” and “overvalued”. First and foremost please understand that we will always have different opinions on players and where they belong or do not belong in our rankings. Second, please understand that unless Jacob or I can confirm information about a player via seeing them live or via game film we cannot just put someone in the rankings because someone else said they were good. That is not fair and certainly not an accurate way of doing things. Jacob and I try to see as many players as we can and will seek out and watch film via the internet or from coaches where possible. Trust me, we do not want to miss out on anyone or misjudge someone. That is another reason, especially at the top part of the rankings where we use the information given to us by college coaches via offers. If one player has 4-5 D1 offers and another has no offers then the player with the offers will be ranked higher. If you see a player that is missing from the list, please reach out to us and let us know. There are updates done multiple times per year and we want to get it right. If you believe someone is ranked too high or too low, we may have to agree to disagree but we certainly welcome all feedback.
There are many misconceptions out there about stats. While stats matter, they are not always a reliable factor in determining rankings. A player that plays at a 1A level averaging 10 points per game is not equal to a player playing at the 4A level averaging 10 points per game. Even within the same level, a player averaging 8 points per game on a loaded, deep team could be better than a player averaging 15 points per game on a team that is rebuilding. In addition the player averaging 8 points per game might also be getting 8 rebounds or 5 assists per game. The stats that get your name in the paper usually revolve around points, but a college coach sees more and needs more in the players they recruit.
The other argument we hear quite often is that ” we shut her down when we played them”. Congratulations. Great scheme and great game for your team. However, the other 30 games that player had where they did not get shut down mean more to our rankings than the one game you shut her down. Coaches use different defensive schemes to stop players. Some teams have an outstanding defender that can slow someone down. These players are not robots, they do have an off day. So, we cannot base a ranking on what happened in one game, we are looking for consistent results.
I also think that geography is a big factor for the state of Illinois. Everyone knows that there are a large amount of people that reside in the northern part of the state. Jacob lives in that area but he cannot possibly cover every player. I live in the southern part of the state but because of the distance from where I work in St Louis to get to a game in some of these areas I cannot possibly see everyone. In addition you have an area in the middle of the state where we do not have someone covering the players. So, some get left out from being noticed. In addition, as stated before the larger school kids are going to play better competition and gain some traction that way. Look around in the southern part of the state, other than the Southwest Conference where do you find 4A teams? You don’t even see that many 3A conferences/teams. So, that comes into play as to where a player gets ranked.The advantage small school players tend to have is that they are more likely to crack the varsity lineup as a freshman and get noticed. Often I am seeing younger girls at the 2A and 1A levels make the list as freshman but then move down the list as sophomores and juniors as players in the bigger schools get their minutes and start getting recruited. While this may seem like a negative thing for the 1A or 2A player I submit that it is better to get the recognition early and try to maintain it than to not get the recognition at all.
The way we arrive at these rankings to evaluate each player and where their best fit will be in college. By dividing the players into bigger buckets of D1, D2, NAIA/D3/JC we have a starting point. From there we will then divide again. Is someone the top level D1 player that Dawn Staley or Geno Auriemma will be recruiting for South Carolina and UConn or is this a Power 5 conference player but not the best of the best? Are they a mid major or maybe a lower level D1/high level D2. We take each level and further segment them into these buckets. This allows us to then be able to put them in order of top to bottom in what level they will most likely be able to play. From that point the players that fall in the same segment will be placed based on personal preference and our opinion on who a college coach would prefer. In the end, as I mentioned before, to some level you are what your offers say you are. We will certainly use our own eye to rank someone based on what we see and know. Recruiters make mistakes or maybe they have not had a chance to see a player. But, for the most part we trust what attention we see from college coaches.
Like recruiting, this isn’t a clear cut black and white process. It is as gray as gray gets. If you feel we have missed someone, please reach out to Jacob and via email. Mine is don_halling@yahoo.com and Jacob is prephoopsjacob@gmail.com. I hope you enjoy the rankings and the articles to come from both of us.