ESPN Eval of Gardner

[willie warrior]

They list him at 6'9" and 285. Number 45 rated Center with 88 points.

Anybody know what the 88 equates to?
According to ESPN: Five-star player: 85 to 100
A potential immediate game-changer at the major college level who could push for all-conference recognition as a true freshman. Will enter college with elite skills needed to create mismatches against top-level competition. A future All-American candidate.

Not sure how reliable ESPN's grading system is, but this is not too bad.

[AZWarrior]

Do these ratings / rankings tend to get done prior to, during or after a senior year?

My hope is that is 3-star ranking is based off his performance as a junior.  And that dropping the weight has turned him into a 4-star....   

[Hards Alumni]

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/school?schoolId=269&page=briefingroom&season=2010

the number rating system is anywhere from terrible to inconsistant to just plain stupid on ESPN.com

as a means of comparison, here are some other ranks of players we know.

Dieng = 91
Blue = 100
Crowder = 94
Newbill = 80
Jamail Jones = 100
Reggie Smith = 90
Monterale Clark = 94
Yous Mbao = 88

and my favorite

DJO = 40

so yeah, basically, espn.com recruiting sucks.

[MisterJaylenBrownMU]

Dieng = 91
Blue = 100
Crowder = 94
Newbill = 80
Jamail Jones = 100
Reggie Smith = 90
Monterale Clark = 94
Yous Mbao = 88

and my favorite

DJO = 40

so yeah, basically, espn.com recruiting sucks.

I agree with the conclusion, but I think some of your numbers might be off.  ESPN has Blue as a 95 and Jones as a 94.

[PJDunn]

Either that or to paraphrase Rick Majerus...DJO is the biggest sleeper since Rip Van Winkle.  

[Hards Alumni]

I agree with the conclusion, but I think some of your numbers might be off.  ESPN has Blue as a 95 and Jones as a 94.

I went from the link I provided.

edit: If you do click on their names in the article, it does tell their numbers as Blue = 95 and Jones = 94

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

ESPN's individual player ratings ratings are probably the least reliable on the internet (even moreso than I would Clark Francis and HoopScoop).  In terms of team evaluations, they do pretty well.  However, on individual players, it's all over the place. 

[cheebs09]

ESPN uses the 40 to show that they have not evaluated someone. I don't think they gave DJO a grade of 40. I think anything above 90 is something like a 4 or 5 star.

[LastWarrior]

Text from latest evaluation...

"April, 2010: Davante has come a long way over the last year plus. His number one issue is clearly his weight and he has done a much better job of body maintenance and dropping pounds. He has a lot of skill for a big man; runs pretty well and has really good hands. He can knock down jumpers and does a godd job of scoring in the paint. He's more athletic than he looks. Combine this with an improvement in the classroom and you have a Big East scholarship player. If he keeps getting his body in shape he has the chance to be a really good player for Marquette."

ESPN On the Trail blurb about commitment...

"Golden Eagles add to Top 25 class

Marquette head coach Buzz Williams announced the signing of post player Davante Gardner on Monday, according to a release from the school.

Gardner chose the Golden Eagles over South Florida. He averaged 22.2 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks as a senior at King's Fork.

"We're excited about the addition of Davante," Williams said. "He comes from a great family, and has been an integral part of the success at King's Fork High School. All involved in the process know exactly the work ahead of him in order for his dreams to be fulfilled."

ESPN.com Recruiting Coordinator Reggie Rankin talks about Gardner's improvement over the last year.

"Devante has done a good job of rounding in to shape. He's lost some weight which has led to better performances on the court.

"He has great hands and is much more athletic than he looks," continued Rankin. "He can knock down trail jump shots and is a good overall scorer.

"If he continues to get in the best shape of his life he can be a really productive player for Marquette."

Gardner joins a Golden Eagle class currently ranked No. 16 on ESPN.com and features ESPNU 100 prospects Vander Blue and Jamail Jones along Reggie Smith, Devonte Newbill and the Junior College player of the year Jae Crowder."

[bma725]

Do these ratings / rankings tend to get done prior to, during or after a senior year?

My hope is that is 3-star ranking is based off his performance as a junior.  And that dropping the weight has turned him into a 4-star....   

The ESPN evaluation was done a few hours ago, because I looked at his bio on there this morning and they didn't yet have him as a Marquette commit, his overall rating was 70, and their last evaluation was from December 2009.

[bilsu]

I think Buzz will work Gardner so hard between now and October 15th, that one of two things will happen. He will lose another 20 pounds and be ready to contribute immediately or he will pack his bags and leave before boot camp is finished. We will find out how tough he is.

[Canadian Dimes]

I think Buzz will work Gardner so hard between now and October 15th, that one of two things will happen. He will lose another 20 pounds and be ready to contribute immediately or he will pack his bags and leave before boot camp is finished. We will find out how tough he is.

I agree with everything you say...i just want to qualify the contribute immediately to probably 3-5 minutes a game.  Anyone expecting more will most likely be disappointed.  With that said my hope is that by his Junior year he is a significant contributor to our program.  Only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

[MarkCharles]

On ESPN:
Blue is a 95, which is typically the top 20-45 guys. There are usually very few above 96--and I think only Lebron James would be a 100.
A 92-94 is usually somehwere in the bottom half of the top 100.
A rating of 88 would be about top 225-300 guys nationally (I'm making an educated guess here)
I'm not sure where those ratings of 100 for Blue and Jones came from, or why ESPN is unreliable. From what I've seen, they seem pretty good to me. 

[bma725]

It isn't that ESPN as an evaluation site is completely unreliable, but there are some issues.

They used to have all their grading done by long time talent evaluator Bob Gibbons, but he left them last year and now they have a whole panel of guys.  So what happens is one guy sees a kid in August and grades him an 80.  Then the other sees him in December and moves him down to 70.  Then a third guy sees him in February and grades him a 90.  There's no sort of consensus among their guys, they all seem to work independently, and as a result their ratings fluctuate wildly.

ESPN is, however, unreliable when it comes to what schools are recruiting a kid.  They generally list only 5, and most of the time it's not a top 5.  So you have a situation like Kevin Noreen, who literally has 20 high major schools after him including some very good ones.  But by looking at ESPN you'd think he's only getting bottom tier schools in the big conferences to give him a look...and that causes fans to think he's not that good.

[VegasWarrior77]

So based on what you just wrote I'm guessing they're about 90% unreliable!?

[94Warrior]

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/school?schoolId=269&page=briefingroom&season=2010

the number rating system is anywhere from terrible to inconsistant to just plain stupid on ESPN.com

as a means of comparison, here are some other ranks of players we know.

Dieng = 91
Blue = 100
Crowder = 94
Newbill = 80
Jamail Jones = 100
Reggie Smith = 90
Monterale Clark = 94
Yous Mbao = 88

and my favorite

DJO = 40

so yeah, basically, espn.com recruiting sucks.

The 100's you see mean that they are ranked in the ESPNU Top 100.   100 is not the ranking.

[94Warrior]

According to ESPN, here's where we stand in 2010 compared to 2009.  

Vander Blue         95     ESPNU 100
Jamail Jones        94     ESPNU 100
Jae Crowder        94
Reggie Smith       90    
Davante Gardner  88    
Devonte Newbill   80


Dwight Buycks          94
Junior Cadougan        92     ESPNU 100
Jeronne Maymon        91     ESPNU 100
Erik Williams              91     ESPNU 100
Youssoupha Mbao       88    
Darius Johnson-Odom  40 (Not rated)

   

[77ncaachamps]

Top 25 Recruiting Class?

Buzz and Staff, this is something I can get used to!

[94Warrior]

Top 25 Recruiting Class?

Buzz and Staff, this is something I can get used to!

2010 - 16th ranked class
2009 - 14th ranked class

Other rankings of interest:
Kevin Noreen      - 92
Monterale Clark   - 94
Branden Dawson  - 97
Rodney Hood       - 94
JP Tokoto            - 96
Junior Lomomba     - 90

I know some think these rankings are for the most part meaningless.  But, most people would agree a team with a bunch of guys in 94-95 range versus the 84-85 range would stand a better chance to do some damage in the Big East and NCAAs. 

[MarkCharles]

It isn't that ESPN as an evaluation site is completely unreliable, but there are some issues.

They used to have all their grading done by long time talent evaluator Bob Gibbons, but he left them last year and now they have a whole panel of guys.  So what happens is one guy sees a kid in August and grades him an 80.  Then the other sees him in December and moves him down to 70.  Then a third guy sees him in February and grades him a 90.  There's no sort of consensus among their guys, they all seem to work independently, and as a result their ratings fluctuate wildly.

ESPN is, however, unreliable when it comes to what schools are recruiting a kid.  They generally list only 5, and most of the time it's not a top 5.  So you have a situation like Kevin Noreen, who literally has 20 high major schools after him including some very good ones.  But by looking at ESPN you'd think he's only getting bottom tier schools in the big conferences to give him a look...and that causes fans to think he's not that good.

I would rather have a panel of people doing the rating than one guy. I'd always rather have collaboration than  one opinion deciding things. Also, are you saying that one man rated every high school player in America? That would be a superhuman feat. I'm sure Bob Gibbons had a staff that helped him rate players, and that there was disagreement.

I've only followed ESPN's recruiting page for a couple years, but I haven't noticed that much fluctuation unless its guys like Gardner who really come on late. They also seem to be in agreement with Rivals and Scouts more often than not. 
I agree ESPN isn't great about who is recruiting a kid, unless he expressly states who. That kind of thing moves too fast.