Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

7/6/2010 at 6:07pm

The rich seem to be getting richer in the SEC when it comes to basketball, with Kentucky dominating anything related to recruiting. The Wildcats, who had five players drafted in the first round of the recent NBA Draft, are reloading for another run at an SEC title and NCAA Tournament run.

Many expected freshman-dominated Kentucky to win the tournament last year after the way the Wildcats ran through the regular season. But they came up short and didn't make the Final Four, losing to West Virginia in the Elite Eight.

Kentucky Coach John Calipari is generally considered the top recruiter in college basketball, based on his success in building Massachusetts into a power in the mid-1990s before an ill-fated turn in the NBA, and then re-establishing the Memphis Tigers' standing in his eight years there before he moved on to UK. In following up last year's powerhouse recruiting class, the Wildcats recently finished atop the Class of 2010 rankings by Rivals.com.

Kentucky signed six players, including the No. 3 player in the Class of 2010, power forward Enes Kanter. The Turkish import has dazzled at big-time events and may be another one-and-done recruit for Calipari.

The No. 6 player in the nation, point guard Brandon Knight, also cast his lot with the Big Blue. Knight is expected to pick up where guards John Wall and Eric Bledsoe left off before heading to the NBA -- Wall was chosen first by the Washington Wizards and Bledsoe went to the Los Angeles Clippers.

A trio of other Kentucky signees were rated among the Top 33 players in the nation by Rivals.com.

The next SEC school in the rankings is Bruce Pearl's Tennessee squad. Rivals.com ranks the Volunteers No. 9. The headliner of the class is power forward Tobias Harris, who is the No. 7 player nationally per Rivals.com and is expected to be an impact recruit.

Florida and Coach Billy Donovan haven't enjoyed as much success as when they were winning back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and Al Horford left for the NBA after their junior seasons in 2007 and the Gators haven't gotten back to that level again yet. Rivals.com rates the Gators latest recruiting efforts No. 19 in the nation. The top recruit is power forward Patric Young, who Rivals.com rates No. 27 in the nation.

South Carolina is No. 22 and LSU is No. 24 with both schools hoping to ride the recruiting success to better seasons on the court. Power forward Damontre Harris is the Gamecocks' top recruit while small forward Matt Derenbecker sits at the top of LSU's class.

*  *  *

The 2011 NBA Draft is expected to be filled with younger players, with most of the top players projected for the draft entering college as freshmen this fall. Kentucky signee Enes Kanter is projected by ESPN's Chad Ford as the No. 5 player in the 2011 NBA Draft. Ford does a Top 100 each year projecting how the draft will turnout. Kanter is the top player from the SEC being eyed by NBA teams, according to Ford.

Wildcats signee Brandon Knight is just behind him at No. 8 in the draft. Ford rates Kanter the No. 1 center and Knight No. 3 at point guard.

Kentucky small forward Terrence Jones is rated the No. 14 player in the draft. So, once again, it appears the NBA lottery could have a strong Kentucky flavor to it, if Ford is accurate.

Ford also projects Vanderbilt small forward Jeff Taylor to be the No. 15 player in the entire 2011 draft, followed at No. 16 by Florida center Patric Young.

Other top SEC players projected to go high in the 2011 NBA Draft are Georgia power forward Trey Thompkins (6-foot-9, 247 pounds) at No. 29, and the Bulldogs' Travis Leslie, a shooting guard, rated next at No. 36. Since the first round contains 30 picks, it looks as if Georgia could have one selection near the end of Round 1 and another at or near the top of Round 2.

Others from the SEC projected in the Top 60 for next year's draft - there's just two rounds and 60 players drafted - are Alabama power forward JaMychal Green at No. 47 and Mississippi State power forward Arnett Moultrie at No. 50. Moultrie, a Memphis product, recently transferred from UTEP to Mississippi State. Just outside the Top 60 are Mississippi State power forward Renardo Sidney at No. 63, Tennessee small forward Tobias Harris at No. 66 and Florida shooting guard Kenny Boynton Jr. at No. 67. Tennessee shooting guard Scotty Hopson is rated No. 72, but could move up significantly with a strong season.

Mississsippi State's Sidney has yet to play in Starkville, thanks to SEC and NCAA concerns about his  amateur status after coming out of Los Angeles. He had to sit the entire 2009-10 season, but he's been cleared to play after sitting out an additional 11 games to start the 2010-11 season.

* * *
In the Class of 2011, schools in the SEC and around the nation are already securing commitments from the nation's top prospects.

It's little surprise that Kentucky has already secured a verbal commitment from Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick forward Mike Gilchrist. Gilchrist heads up the Rivals.com rankings for that class and will sign with Kentucky in November.

The Wildcats have also managed a commitment from Indianapolis (Ind.) Pike guard Marquis Teague, who Rivals.com rates the No. 5 player nationally.

St. Louis Chaminade guard Bradley Neal is rated No. 6 in the Class of 2011 by Rivals.com and is headed to Florida.

Others in the SEC are also getting into the act of getting top players to their schools:

* Alabama  has a commitment from Madison (Ala.) Jones guard Levi Randolph and Phenix City (Ala.) Russell County guard Rodney Cooper;

* Arkansas has Jonesboro Westside power forward Hunter Mickelson and Little Rock Parkview small forward Aaron Ross;

* Mississippi State has Jackson (Miss.) guard Deville Smith;

* Tennessee has Memphis Oak Ridge Academy guard Chris Jones and Conyers (Ga.) Rockdale County guard Kevin Ware;

* South Carolina has Charlotte (N.C.) Christian forward Anthony Gill.

All these recruits are in Rivals.com's national Top 150.

Otis Kirk's "Recruiting 360" column appears every Tuesday. His recruiting reports and message board postings also can be read regularly at hawgsports.com, a part of the Rivals.com network.