Meet your #1 Point Guard in the USA

Per Rivals.com and their new 2006 rankings, Javaris Crittenton is now ranked as the #1 Point Guard in the country. Hey UNC - nanny, nanny booboo. Tywon who?......... Actually, we all look forward to more monumental PG battles in the ACC.......... Congratulations to OUR man JC. That is just fantastic. Here are the new rankings:


Top Point Guards per Rivals.com
#1... Javaris Crittenton (GT)...... was #5
#2... Tywon Lawson (UNC)........... was #1
#3... Mike Conley (Ohio St)........ was #7
#4... Sherron Collins.............. was #2
#5... Derrick Jasper...............
#6... Willie Kemp.................. was #6
#7... Edgar Sosa (Louisville)...... was #8
#8... D.J. Augustin................ was #3
#9... Eric Hayes (Maryland)........
#10.. Demond Carter (Baylor)
#11.. Will Walker


Now, Javaris also shows up in the top 10 overall players in the country at #7, and he is looked at as the best NBA Point Guard prospect with his combination of size, athleticism and skills. Why did he jump in the rankings? Well, he proved that he could run the point in outstanding fashion, consistently setting up teammates. He managed to take his high school team to the state finals without the help of Dwight Howard. No small feat. He clearly improved his outside shot, which was a weakness. Lastly, he has the most NBA-Ready Point Guard body in his class.............. Here are the top 10 overall prospects:


Top 10 Overall Prospects from Rivals.com
#1... Greg Oden (Ohio St)
#2... Kevin Durant (Texas)
#3... Thaddeus Young (GT in final 7)
#4... Brook Lopez (Stanford)
#5... Brandan Wright (GT still on the list)
#6... Davon Jefferson
#7... Javaris Crittenton (GT)
#8... Spencer Hawes
#9... Wayne Ellington (UNC)
#10.. Chase Budinger


So is Javaris truly the next truly GREAT Point Guard at Georgia Tech? Is he going to be in the caliber of Kenny Anderson / Stephon Marbury - because now he's got that hype coming out of high school. Jarrett Jack was great, but not as highly ranked out of high school, and just plain worked and worked to improve his game while at Tech. Same with Mark Price. Same with Travis Best. Highly touted, but not listed as "the best"..............


There's another discussion that is going on - how long will Javaris stay at Georgia Tech. We know it will be a minimum one season. But my guess is that he sticks around for 2-3 years. I still believe that getting them to school is the trick. It is still rare for college players to leave after their freshman year (an average of 2 per season the last 3-4 years). Yeah, we've had a couple with Marbury and Bosh. But can you name the other guy who left with Bosh - try a kid named Carmello. That was it for freshman..............


Now, for other notables on the list for Tech fans:


#3... Thaddeus Young (GT in final 7)
#5... Brandan Wright (GT still on the list)
#7... Javaris Crittenton (GT)
#12.. Vernon Macklin
#14.. Stanley Robinson
#27.. Lance Thomas
#28.. Duke Crews
#34.. Jodie Meeks
#50.. Quincy Pondexter
#51.. Solomon Tat
#62.. Perry Stevenson
#67.. Alex Stephenson
#94.. Jejuan Jones
#106. Jonathan Mandeldove
#140. Cameron Tatum


Where does recruiting stand? Well, the Jackets are likely to sign 2-3 more players, and they are most likley to be in the 3-4-5 spots. A big man is a must, but of course "big man" these days sometimes means a 6'9" widebody, not the classic 7 footer. On the wing spots we are likely to sign 1 or 2 players in the range of 6'5 - 6'8". So there is a ways to go.


As for the class of 2005, that is not a dead issue either. Stay tuned.........


Things are also looking quite solid for the class of 2007 and the right seeds are being planted for the class of 2008. Just know that your coaching staff is making strides. I see this staff reaching interesting plateau's. These seam to be the stages of progress:


1. Land mostly 75-100 caliber players, land an occasional big player (Bosh), but not in serious contention for most high ranked kids.
2. Legitimately compete with the BIG name schools (Duke, UNC, UConn, KY, etc) for more of the highly ranked kids (10-50), but still not break through the top 25 often.
3. Legitimately compete for a number of the elite kids (1-25), and start signing a few. The class will probably be spread from 1-100, but average ranking higher.


I think we are in stage 3. Stage 4 starts to get into Duke / UNC territory, which basically means most of the players you sign are in the top 50 with at least half in the top 25 and you only fill out your roster with 50-100 ranked kids. At that stage, you also get to almost "pick" the kids you want. While nothing is ever that black-and-white, we all know that if Duke gets on a player early and they want him, they usually get him. Doesn't always work late in the process (Lewis Clinch was pursued by Duke and Kansas late), but you get the point.


Now, we have to remember that rankings vary by recruiting service and of course nobody knows rankings better than the coaching staff and they don't share their evaluations with us. But hey, as it stands now, I think Rivals really knows what they are talking about!!!!!!!