Ranking the ACC's Recruiting Classes

Is there a reason for Roy Williams to be so happy in the opening picture after a horrible season?

Maybe it is because recruiting season is coming to a close and UNC is going to finish towards the top of the recruiting classes once again, but UNC does not bring in the only talented class this year.

The whole ACC recruited well this year, and Scout.com has six ACC teams in their Top-25.

Take a look as we rank the ACC's recruiting classes from top to bottom.

No. 12- Clemson Tigers

Not only did Oliver Purnell leave Clemson, he did not leave a very good recruiting class for his successor Brad Brownell.

Clemson's sole recruit is PG Cory Stanton who is 5'11". Stanton can be a decent point guard, but is not ranked very high.

Bringing in only one mediocre player puts Clemson on the bottom of our list.

No. 11- Boston College

Boston College has a new head coach: Steve Donahue. I project that he will recruit very well in years to come, but this is not his recruiting class.

After originally having two commits both will not be going to the Boston College under Steve Donahue. Point guard Brady Heslip was already attending Boston College, but has decided to transfer out with all four years of eligibility still remaining.

Kevin Noreen a power forward was also let out of his letter of intent.

No. 10- Miami

Miami has commitments from three players, but only one that is ranked very high: shooting guard Rion Brown. The other two players are center Raphael Akpejiori and PF Erik Swoope.

Swoope is not even ranked at Scout.com, and none of the three got in any of ESPN's lists.

Their top recruit, Brown, is very athletic, and seems to be a good fit at Miami.

I do not see anyone in this class that would put Miami above No. 11 in the ACC's recruiting class.

No. 9- Georgia Tech

Paul Hewitt has been able to bring in some talent into Atlanta the last few years, but this year his recruiting class is towards the bottom of the ACC.

Now we have to keep in mind that some of these coaches do not have many scholarships to offer so that could change their method of recruiting.

Georgia Tech has signed one player: small forward Jason Morris. Morris is a good player and very athletic. He is 6'5", 204 lbs. according to ESPN and weighs 15 pounds less than that according to Scout.com.

He is a Top 100 player in the country, and a four-star recruit by most recruiting sources.

No doubt Jason Morris was a good pickup for Paul Hewitt, but he needed more players like him to rank higher in our ACC recruiting class rankings.

No. 8- Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech's recruiting class is similar to Georgia Tech's. In fact, they are about tied in my book, but I will give Virginia Tech a higher spot.

Georgia Tech's Jason Morris is better than Virginia Tech's two recruits, but Greenberg signed two players that are similar in talent.

Those two players are Jarrell Eddie and Tyrone Garland. Eddie is a small forward and Garland is a point guard.

Eddie is a tall small forward at 6'7" and possesses the ability to shoot the 3.

Virginia Tech brought in two pretty good players, but are still towards the bottom of the ACC in recruiting.

No. 7- Maryland

Gary Williams has brought in a solid group of recruits to the University of Maryland.

He has five commitments for the Terps this season, and many of them are decent players.

The one player that stands out is shooting guard Mychal Parker. He is a fairly tall shooting guard at 6'3".

The rest of the class includes: point guard Terrell Stoglin, shooting guard Pe'Shon Howard, power forward Ashton Pankey, and small forward Haukur Palsson.

Both Parker and Stoglin are in ESPN's Top 100. This recruiting class is decent, but in the middle-of-the- pack this year.

No. 6-Florida State

Now we are getting into some top recruiting classes. The rest of the ACC appears in Scout.com's Top 25 classes.

Florida State is bringing in three very good players: center Bernard James, power forward Okaro White, and point guard Ian Miller.

Bernard James is a 6'9' 240 lbs. junior college transfer. He is a very big player, and will be a good addition to this team.

Okaro White is 6'8", 185 lbs. and he may be asked to play some wing at FSU.

Ian Miller is probably a Top-10 point guard in this class, but is not quite a true point guard. He may be more of a shooting guard, but he is short for that position.

FSU's best hope for him is that he can transition into a true point guard with scoring abilities.

FSU also has another junior college transfer commitment: 7'0" center Jon Kreft.

This is certainly a solid recruiting class for Leonard Hamilton and FSU.

No. 5- Virginia

The Virginia Cavaliers have brought in a very good recruiting class. It ranks in the Top 25 at Scout.com.

Tony Bennett has received six commitments: point guard Billy Baron, power forward Akil Mitchell, center James Johnson, shooting guard K.T. Harrell, shooting guard Joe Harris, and center Will Regan.

It certainly is a big class with several good prospects in it.

James Johnson and K.T. Harrell both rank in the Top 10 at their position by Scout.com and both were in the ESPNU Top 100 overall.

With this deep class that includes a couple of top prospects, I expect Virginia to be much improved in the years to come.

No. 4- Wake Forest

Jeff Bzdelik is the new head coach at Wake Forest, but this outstanding recruiting class is the work of Dino Gaudio, in the picture.

Granted, Jeff Bzdelik was able to convince these guys to keep their commitments.

Wake Forest has been given the current No. 13 spot in the Scout.com rankings. Not shabby at all.

It is easy to see with the recruits they have coming in. This list includes: shooting guard J.T. Terrell, small forward Travis McKie, center Carson Desrosiers, power forward Melvin Tabb, and point guard Tony Chennault.

Everybody except for Chennault are in the ESPNU 100. Very impressive.

Carson Desrosiers at 6'11" is a Top 10 center according to Scout.com, and Travis McKie is also a Top 10 small forward.

J.T Terrell just might be the best of the groups even though he does not project in the Top 10 at his position.

Wake Forest is in good shape for years to come.

No. 3- Duke

Mike Krzyzewski just won a national championship, and he just picked up one of the best recruiting classes in the country.

Certainly, the highlight of this class is super point guard Kyrie Irving who has been compared to Jay Williams (known by Jason while at Duke). He has certainly shown his talent in the recent All-Star games.

Along with Irving will be power forward Joshua Hairston, point guard Tyler Thornton, and junior college transfer Carrick Felix, a small forward.

Irving is one of the best point guards in the country, and Hairston is a Top 10 power forward.

Irving is good enough to start this year, and Hairston will see valuable minutes on a good Duke team. Thornton could be a solid backup point guard as well.

After losing Scheyer the addition of Kyrie Irving will help their chances of returning to the National Championship next season.

No. 2- North Carolina State

North Carolina State just made a splash across the country with the signing of C.J. Leslie. Leslie has the ability to make Coach Lowe not sweat quite so much.

Leslie who was a big steal from Kentucky is either in the Top 10 or just outside of it in all 2010 player rankings. He is a very athletic player, and should make an instant impact.

Leslie will complement point guard Ryan Harrow and shooting guard Lorenzo Brown. Both of which are five star players.

Lowe has finally brought in a stellar recruiting class, and now they must produce on the floor.

N.C. State jumped ahead of Wake Forest and Duke with the signing of C.J. Leslie. Only one team could top them.

No. 1- North Carolina

UNC takes the recruiting title in the ACC for 2010.

Roy Williams will not have to worry about another trip to the NIT in 2011. He now has quality talent.

The gem of this class is highly-touted Harrison Barnes who is a 6'8", 209 lbs. small forward with shooting ability and basketball smarts. He is No. 1 on Scout.com and ESPNU's rankings and No. 2 in Rivals.com's updated rankings.

Barnes will be a difference-maker in Chapel Hill, and he just may be the No. 1 draft pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

They also add shooting guard Reggie Bullock who is 6'6" and is an ace from the three-point line.

Roy Williams also has signed a Top 10 point guard in Kendall Marshall who is commonly referred to as the best passing point guard in his class.

UNC once again has one of the top classes in the country. Now, it must translate to the court.