2009 Winners

1) Kentucky (365 pts)

#2 John Wall

#3 Demarcus Cousins

#19 Daniel Orton

#52 Eric Bledsoe

#64 John Hood

John Calipari made an immediate impact in his new job adding two top 5’s (Wall and Cousins) and a top 50 (Bledsoe) to a class that already included a top 25 (Orton) and a top 100 (Hood). If RSCI included Jucos, Darnell Dodson would probably figure as a top 100 and put the point total just shy of 400 -- second only to the UNC class of 2006 (429 pts) in RSCI history.

2) North Carolina (357 pts)

#5 John Henson

#24 Dexter Strickland

#38 Travis Wear

#37 David Wear

#44 Leslie McDonald

Any other year and this class would be #1 but Kentucky’s top end talent get edges out the Tarheels. Still, Henson is a star on an already loaded team that will add lots of depth with four more top 50’s.

3) Villanova (284 pts)

#12 Mouphtaou Yarou

#19 Dominic Cheek

#23 Maalik Wayns

#66 Isaiah Armwood

Yarou’s stock improved nicely over the course of his senior year taking him from #34 to #12. The later addition of Cheek gave Villanova a clear lead over #4 Kansas. No one seems to be able to pry Jay Wright away from Villanova and with a class like this one, it’s easy to see why.

4) Kansas (244 pts)

#6 Xavier Henry

#25 Elijah Johnson

#28 Thomas Robinson

Kentucky wasn’t the only team to benefit from John Calipari’s departure from Memphis as Kansas picked up it’s marquee recruit (Henry) when he decided to ask reopen his recruiting. If Lance Stephenson signs on, this class would leapfrog Nova.

5) Texas (222 pts)

#4 Avery Bradley

#22 Jordan Hamilton

#55 Shawn Williams

Rick Barnes has a bona fide star in Bradley who will lead a talented supporting cast to loads of wins for the Longhorns.

6) Georgia Tech (200 pts)

#1 Derrick Favors

#34 Mfon Udofia

#78 Kammeon Holsey

#91 Glen Rice, Jr.

Brian Oliver

Favors is the cream of the RSCI crop this year. Landing him guarantees a super class but Paul Hewitt didn’t stop there and brought in the talent infusion that should put Tech back in the conversation in the ACC.

7) Oklahoma (182 pts)

#10 Keith Gallon

#30 Tommy Mason-Griffin

#81 Andrew Fitzgerald

Steven Pledger

Kyle Hardrick

Gallon is the star that leads this deep class that is sure to put Jeff Capel in the win column on a regular basis in the land of the Sooners.

8) Duke (170 pts)

#14 Ryan Kelly

#18 Mason Plumlee

Who says highly skilled big men don’t grow on trees? Evidently Coach K has one in his backyard as this pair honed their skills right in Duke’s home state of North Carolina.

9) Florida (150 pts)

#9 Kenny Boynton

#43 Erik Murphy

Losing #80 Deshawn Painter to NC State dinged this class a bit but with a future star like Boynton still onboard, there’s plenty to be excited about.

10) UCLA (149 pts)

#32 Tyler Honeycutt

#57 Mike Moser

#65 Brendan Lane

Reeves Nelson

Anthony Stover

An argument could be made for putting UCLA over Florida due to their greater quantity of talent but either way it’s still a top 10 class, which is plenty to get fired up about.

Honorable Mention:

  • NC State (137 pts)

  • Connecticut (136 pts)

  • Indiana (126 pts)

  • Minnesota (125 pts)

  • Louisville (121 pts)

  • Illinois (118 pts)

  • Oklahoma State (118 pts)

  • Marquette (116 pts)

  • Mississippi State (113 pts)

  • Pittsburgh (102 pts)