Ranking the Top 20 Cities That Produce the Best College Basketball Talent
Over the past decade, Chicago has been one of the best cities in the United States when it comes to producing quality college basketball players.
Home to Anthony Davis, Jahlil Okafor, Jabari Parker, Cliff Alexander and Derrick Rose, the Windy City seems to be churning out top-five talent on an annual basis—but it wasn't quite enough to reach No. 1 on the list.
Still, what an incredibly appropriate cover photo for this list. A product of Chicago (No. 2 on our list), Rose spent his one year of college in Memphis, Tennessee, (No. 3) to play for a coach (John Calipari) who has signed at least one player from virtually every city mentioned.
On the following slide, we'll look through the thought process and mathematics that went into ranking these 20 cities before listing them out with their scores and noting a few key players who came from each one.
If you live in or near any of these cities, make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the next big thing in college hoops.
Criteria Considered
1 of 21
All the data used to rank these cities were compiled from 247Sports.
We pooled together the top 100 players from the 2006 to 2015 freshmen classes, loosely resulting in what were expected to be the 1,000 best college basketball players of the past decade.
If a player was ranked in the top 10 in his class, he was awarded 10 points. If a player was ranked between 11th and 20th, he was awarded nine points. Players ranked 21st through 30th were given eight points. You get the idea.
We then added up the total score for each city.
Some cities—like Winter Park, Florida, which produced Austin Rivers, Chandler Parsons and Nick Calathes—had a couple of great players but simply haven't produced enough top 100 players to make the cut. Conversely, cities like Philadelphia have produced a good number of top 100 players but not nearly enough McDonald's All-Americans to get onto this list.
To be one of the 20 best cities for basketball talent, a city needs to produce a high number of high-quality players.
20. Chatham, Va. (46 Points)
2 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Terry Rozier, Dez Wells, P.J. Hairston, Danjel Purifoy (2015)
Let's get this party started with the first of a handful of prep schools.
A good number of the cities made the list because of a variety of different schools that produced quality players. Others—like Chatham, Virginia—made the list because of one prep school or academy.
In this case, it's Hargrave Military Academy.
Located just a few miles north of the North Carolina border in south central Virginia, Chatham is home to a private boarding school and not much else. In 2013, Chatham had a listed population of 1,491. That means the 10 D-I players the Hargrave Military Academy has produced went off to play on campuses nearly 20 times as populated as the city in which they spent their senior year of high school.
Despite being a city you wouldn't possibly notice on a map unless you're intentionally looking for it, Chatham residents have seen their fair share of basketball talent in recent years. Hargrave Military Academy churned out three top 100 players in 2006 and another four in 2011, including P.J. Hairston and Dez Wells.
2013 product, Terry Rozier, might end up being the best of them all. Through three games this season, he is averaging 16.0 points, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He and Montrezl Harrell will be the keys to Louisville's 2014-15 season.
19. Tilton, N.H. (46 Points)
3 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Nerlens Noel, Georges Niang, Alex Oriakhi, Wayne Selden Jr.
Like Chatham, Tilton has one school to thank for its ranking.
Located almost exactly at the geographic center of New Hampshire, Tilton School has produced seven top 100 recruits, including the No. 1 overall recruit in 2012, Nerlens Noel.
Before suffering a gruesome injury, Noel was every bit as good as advertised during his half season with Kentucky. It's not easy to follow in the footsteps of a once-in-a-generation talent like Anthony Davis, but Noel held his own, averaging 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.4 blocks and 2.1 steals per game.
Now that he's healthy, Noel just needs to get on any roster other than the 76ers to be a star for the next decade.
As far as current college players go, it's hard to argue with the city responsible for potential Big 12 All-Conference players Georges Niang and Wayne Selden Jr. Tilton is also the current home of 2015 freshman Terance Mann, who will be trying to help turn Florida State back into a tournament-worthy program.
18. Newark, N.J. (48 Points)
4 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Tyler Ennis, Samardo Samuels, Melvin Johnson, Corey Stokes
Newark marks our third straight city that is home to a popular prep school, St. Benedict's Prep.
Newark does have at least a little bit of diversification. Two of its nine players—Corey Chandler (East Side) and Shaquille Thomas (Alif Muhammad's Nia School)—went somewhere other than the all-boys secondary school.
However, the top talent all came from St. Benedict's Prep.
Samardo Samuels was supposed to be the best of the bunch. Rated as the fourth-best player in the class of 2008, Samuels played two solid seasons for Rick Pitino at Louisville before jumping to the NBA, where he struggled to amount to anything.
Samuels was one of five top 100 players to come out of St. Benedict's Prep between 2006 and 2008. After a bit of a dry spell for the school, Tyler Ennis picked up the torch in spectacular fashion last season with Syracuse.
One other product of Newark who didn't do much in college but is suddenly relevant in the NBA is Duke's Lance Thomas. He scored sparingly in college and played sparingly for his first few seasons on the professional circuit, but he has been playing significant minutes this season for an Oklahoma City team riddled with injuries.
17. Los Angeles, Calif. (51 Points)
5 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Renardo Sidney, Solomon Hill, Allen Crabbe, Thomas Welsh
Our first truly diverse city on the list, Los Angeles has produced 10 top 100 players from six different schools.
Not surprisingly, nine of those 10 players ended up staying on the West Coast and playing for Pac-12 teams, but the best one flew across the country to Mississippi State.
Well, actually, Renardo Sidney grew up in Mississippi but went out to Los Angeles to get more exposure in hopes of playing for one of those big-name Pac-12 programs. However, they were all scared off by the NCAA's investigation into improper benefits, which led Sidney to head back home to play for what used to be a good Bulldogs team under Rick Stansbury.
Sidney was supposed to be a can't-miss star, but he was forced to sit out his whole freshman year and part of his sophomore year and never really delivered on that potential.
Could it be a current or near future college player who really puts Los Angeles high school hoops back on the map? Thomas Welsh (UCLA), Parker Jackson-Cartwright (Arizona) and Elijah Stewart (USC) are all 2014 freshmen from Los Angeles, and Arizona has another strong player signed in next year's class in Chance Comanche.
16. Jacksonville, Fla. (52 Points)
6 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Patric Young, Wally Judge, Grayson Allen, Solomon Poole
Jacksonville has produced quite a few promising prospects, but Patric Young is the only one that even remotely panned out.
Wally Judge was a McDonald's All-American, but he played just two disappointing seasons for Kansas State before transferring to Rutgers for two not quite as disappointing years. Jason Bennett—a 7'3" shot-blocking monster—played just one year with Kansas State before transferring to JUCO and then Detroit Mercy, never amounting to much of anything on the court.
Stacey Poole barely saw the court as a freshman at Kentucky. He transferred to Georgia Tech where things weren't much better. His younger brother played with him at Georgia Tech, but Solomon was dismissed from the school last season and has transferred to Florida Atlantic.
Even new players from Jacksonville are struggling. Brandone Francis will sit out this entire season to improve his grades and won't make his debut at Florida until next November. And Grayson Allen has played a total of seven minutes in Duke's last three games.
Were it not for Young serving as a force in the paint over the last three seasons for Florida, Jacksonville would be a complete bust for college talent.
15. Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (53 Points)
7 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Brandon Knight, Kenny Boynton, Fab Melo, Prince Ali (2015)
The biggest difference between Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale was the success of the guards each city sent to Kentucky in 2010.
Jacksonville's Stacey Poole played a total of 45 minutes and scored four points. Fort Lauderdale's Brandon Knight, however, led the Wildcats in both points and assists. Both players spent just one year at Kentucky, but Knight left for the NBA where he has been a stud.
Fort Lauderdale was also responsible for Kenny Boynton, who scored 2,033 points in a great four-year career for the Gators.
Fab Melo had some academic issues, but he was one heck of a shot-blocker when he was allowed to play.
Fort Lauderdale also has two key players in the class of 2015. Prince Ali will be an immediate weapon in the backcourt for UCLA, and Haanif Cheatham should be a big boost to what Steve Wojciechowski is hoping to do at Marquette.
14. Cincinnati (53 Points)
8 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Semaj Christon, Bill Walker, Yancy Gates, Jordan Sibert, Devin Williams
It certainly appears that scouts aren't doing a good enough job of recognizing talent in Cincinnati. With noteworthy players like these, it's hard to believe this city didn't make it into the top 10.
Though Cincinnati has churned out great players, it has been shut out of the nation's most prestigious high school All-Star game.
Bill Walker would have been Cincinnati's only McDonald's All-American of the past decade, but he exhausted his eligibility before what should have been the spring semester of his senior year. Walker's career was further derailed by multiple knee injuries, but we got to watch him average 16.1 points per game during his one full season with Kansas State.
With Walker never really panning out, Semaj Christon stands as the best player to come out of Cincinnati in the past decade. Playing for the hometown Musketeers, he averaged 16.2 points per game in his two seasons at Dayton, helping Chris Mack's club make the NCAA tournament last season despite transitioning from the A-10 to the Big East.
What's next for Cincinnati, though? It had no top 100 players in 2014 and does not currently have any in 2015 or 2016.
13. Houston (56 Points)
9 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Joseph Young, Rasheed Sulaimon, Justise Winslow, L.J. Rose
If nothing else, Houston has done a great job of producing players who eventually transfer.
Joseph Young started out with the Houston Cougars before transferring to Oregon. L.J. Rose left home to play for Baylor but came back to Houston. Shaquille Cleare spent the past two years at Maryland but has transferred closer to home to play for the Longhorns.
Tommy Mason-Griffin didn't transfer, but he did foolishly bolt for the NBA after just one year with Oklahoma.
Even little-known players from Houston have taken their talents to the transfer market. Lawrence Gilbert played one year at Miami before finishing his college career with Louisiana-Monroe. Harrison Smith scored a total of 49 points in three years with Texas but decided to spend his senior year at Texas Southern.
And after finding himself in Mike Krzyzewski's doghouse early last season, there was certainly speculation that Rasheed Sulaimon would pursue other options.
So far, so good with Justise Winslow, though. The only transferring he'll need to consider is how much money to put in a Swiss bank account after his big payday at next year's draft.
12. Santa Ana, Calif. (57 Points)
10 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Stanley Johnson, Tyler Lamb, David Wear, Travis Wear
Santa Ana is right up there with Houston in terms of churning out players who eventually transfer.
Seven of the nine top 100 players to come from Mater Dei High School have suited up for multiple schools in their collegiate career. Taylor King, Tyler Lamb, Katin Reinhardt, David Wear, Travis Wear, Keala King and Gary Franklin all felt that their original decision wasn't the right one.
Is there any chance of Stanley Johnson eventually joining that club?
By far the best player to come through Santa Ana, Johnson has been a starter from Day 1 with Arizona, averaging 11.7 points per game. Once he cuts down on turnovers (10 in three games), he should be one of the most valuable freshmen in the nation.
11. Rockville, Md. (58 Points)
11 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Kevin Durant, Markel Starks, Greivis Vasquez, Allonzo Trier (2015)
Not only has Montrose Christian School in Rockville sent nine top-100 players to D-I programs in the past decade (three to Villanova), but it also produced one of the greatest players of this generation: Kevin Durant.
Durant single-handedly changed expectations for freshmen as we know it. He was one of the first players who were required to play at least one year of college ball, and he immediately made us wonder if that rule even made sense.
In his one year of school at Texas, Durant averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. It wasn't just one of the best seasons in recent memory by a freshman—it was one of the best single seasons posted this century.
Greivis Vasquez played with Durant at Montrose Christian, coming into the college ranks in the same season as Durant before compiling 2,171 points and 772 assists in his four years with Maryland.
Whether you want great one-and-done players or wily four-year vets, Rockville has you covered.
10. Marietta, Ga. (63 Points)
12 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Ryan Harrow, Richard Howell, J.J. Hickson, Charles Mitchell, Glen Rice Jr., Jaylen Brown (2015)
Oddly enough, Marietta has been a popular stomping ground for North Carolina State. J.J. Hickson and Richard Howell were studs in the paint for the Wolfpack. Ryan Harrow didn't fit well at N.C. State (or Kentucky), but he is thriving at Georgia State right now.
The Wolfpack aren't the only ACC team mining Marietta, either. Georgia Tech (Glen Rice Jr.), Maryland (Charles Mitchell), Miami (DeQuan Jones) and Wake Forest (Ari Stewart) have all made successful recruiting visits to the city just a few miles northwest of Atlanta.
A lot of very good players have come out of Wheeler and Walton high schools in Marietta, but the best may be yet to come.
Jaylen Brown is rated as the second-best player in the class of 2015, per ESPN.com. The 6'7" small forward hasn't yet committed to a school for next season, but Kentucky and Kansas are among the leaders in the clubhouse for his impeccable talent.
Wherever he lands, Brown will join a fairly long list of quality players to come out of Marietta.
9. Montverde, Fla. (72 Points)
13 of 21
Noteworthy Players: James Bell, D'Angelo Russell, Dakari Johnson, Kasey Hill, Ben Simmons (2015)
Just like Marietta, the best of Montverde is yet to come.
Ben Simmons (committed to LSU) is the No. 1 player in the class of 2015, according to 247Sports. Along with Noah Dickerson (Florida) and Doral Moore (Wake Forest), Simmons joins a class that will give Montverde Academy a total of 12 top-100 players in less than a decade.
Simmons certainly won't be the only McDonald's All-American in the school's history. In fact, he'll be the fourth in a span of three years, joining Dakari Johnson (2013), Kasey Hill (2013) and D'Angelo Russell (2014) as recent representatives of the prep school.
Until we get the full picture on how those recent studs turn out, though, James Bell is looking like the best player to come from Montverde. It took him a couple of seasons to really shine at Villanova, but he was completely indispensable by his senior year.
8. Huntington, W.Va. (87 Points)
14 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Andrew Wiggins, O.J. Mayo, Patrick Patterson, Gorgui Dieng
Before producing the phenom for the Jayhawks that no one could stop talking about last season, Huntington Prep struck gold in 2007 with two McDonald's All-Americans in the form of O.J. Mayo and Patrick Patterson.
Aside from those two players, Louisville's Gorgui Dieng was the only top-100 player to come from Huntington between 2006 and 2011. Over the past couple of years, though, it has been a smorgasbord of top talent.
Andrew Wiggins was No. 1 overall in 2013, but he was one of just four top-80 players from Huntington Prep. Once again in 2014, the school was responsible for four top-80 players. There are already two top-40 players from Huntington in the 2015 class.
As such, it may be another year or two before we fully appreciate what the private school in West Virginia is doing, as we're just beginning to scratch the surface of 2013 guys like Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Moses Kingsley—let alone the 2014 players we've barely even had a chance to watch yet.
7. Dallas (88 Points)
15 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Le'Bryan Nash, Emmanuel Mudiay, Darrell Arthur, Phil Pressey
A total of 10 schools in Dallas are represented by the 13 top-100 players from that city.
We missed out on a real gem when Emmanuel Mudiay left to play in China. He would have been the highest-rated player from Dallas to step foot on a college court in the past decade.
Instead, that honor still belongs to Oklahoma State's Le'Bryan Nash.
Between Marcus Smart, Markel Brown and Phil Forte, Nash has been overlooked for the entirety of his career with the Cowboys. Once upon a time, though, he was a 2011 McDonald's All-American. He even won the Slam Dunk contest. Nash has averaged just shy of 14.0 points per game in his career.
And who can forget Phil Pressey? That game against UCLA in 2012 when he had 19 points and 19 assists still feels like it happened yesterday. It was one of the most ridiculous box scores in recent memory.
6. Indianapolis (89 Points)
16 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Greg Oden, Eric Gordon, Marquis Teague, Trey Lyles, Yogi Ferrell
Most cities are lucky to have two top-10 talents in the same decade, but Indianapolis was spoiled with the No. 1 overall player in the country in back-to-back seasons.
First, it was Greg Oden in 2006. Before becoming the punch line of injury and old man jokes, Oden was incredible. He had surgery before the season on his shooting wrist and still averaged 15.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game.
Kelly Olynyk holds the record for most win shares per 40 minutes in a single season since 2009-10 with a ratio of 0.3182, per Sports-Reference.com. Well, Oden's ratio for the 2006-07 season was 0.355. Even at less than 100 percent health, he was one of the greatest to ever play college basketball.
The following year, Eric Gordon was the No. 1 overall recruit. In his one season at Indiana, he averaged 20.9 points per game. That's still the highest single-season scoring average for a Big Ten player since Kris Humphries put up 21.7 points for Minnesota in 2003-04.
Throw in Kentucky's Marquise Teague and Trey Lyles as other top-10 players, and it's hard to believe Indianapolis isn't in the top five. It's more of an issue of volume than quality, though. Indianapolis has 14 top-100 players in the past decade, but the top five cities have at least 18 each.
5. Wolfeboro, N.H. (98 Points)
17 of 21
Noteworthy Players: T.J. Warren, Thomas Robinson, Mitch McGary, Jakaar Sampson, Will Barton
Who would have guessed that New Hampshire would be represented twice in the top 20?
Behold the power of prep schools.
Tilton had a couple of noteworthy players at No. 19, but Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro has produced 19 top-100 players in less than a decade.
However, only one of those 19 players (Memphis' Will Barton) was rated in the top 22 in his respective season. Brewster has simply been churning out 4-star players year after year.
Of the bunch, it's hard to argue with T.J. Warren being the best player from Wolfeboro—even though he's actually from Durham, N.C. Warren had a simply phenomenal 2013-14 season for North Carolina State, averaging 24.9 points per game to carry an otherwise pedestrian team into the NCAA tournament.
A total of 16 different schools have benefited from the prep school in New Hampshire, but Kansas has been the biggest benefactor, adding Thomas Robinson, Naadir Tharpe and current freshman Devonte Graham.
4. Mouth of Wilson, Va. (122 Points)
18 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Ty Lawson, Brandon Jennings, Nolan Smith, Juwan Staten
Mouth of Wilson—home to Oak Hill Academy—is another one school town that has produced a ridiculous amount of grade-A talent. With a current population of less than 1,200, there are barely enough people living there to even appreciate the skill on display.
In addition to the four players listed above, Oak Hill was also responsible for the likes of A.J. Hammons, Jordan Adams, Lamont "Momo" Jones, D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, Quinn Cook, Keith "Tiny" Gallon, Roscoe Smith and Doron Lamb. It's one of three cities with at least 22 top-100 players in the past decade.
We're relieved Mouth of Wilson didn't finish in the top three, though, considering its best recruit of the past decade (Brandon Jennings) didn't even play college ball. The No. 1 player in the class of 2008 committed to Arizona but instead elected to play a year overseas in Italy.
Still, it's quite a collection of players who actually did participate in college. Ty Lawson led North Carolina to a national championship in 2009, and Nolan Smith did the same for Duke in 2010.
3. Memphis, Tenn. (123 Points)
19 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Jarnell Stokes, Thaddeus Young, Joe Jackson, Adonis Thomas
First things first, hats off to Josh Pastner.
Dating back to the 2010 class, the city of Memphis has produced 14 top 100 players—all of them in the top 60, in fact—and Pastner and the Memphis Tigers have been able to convince seven of those players to stay at home. That includes two of the three top 100 players from Memphis in the class of 2015.
That's not an easy task with other nearby big-name schools like Kentucky and Tennessee calling their names.
Between Thaddeus Young, Adonis Thomas and 2015 phenom Skal Labissiere, Memphis has produced a few top-10 players, but it thrived in these rankings by having a ton of players worth a handful of points. Of Memphis' 18 top 100 players, 11 were ranked between 32 and 60, including Leslie McDonald, Tarik Black, Jajuan Johnson and Chris Chiozza.
Memphis is one of just two schools in the top five that isn't completely supported by one prep school. A total of 11 different schools are represented by the city's 18 players, emphasizing the fact that Memphis breeds talented basketball players rather than importing them.
2. Chicago (133 Points)
20 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Anthony Davis, Jabari Parker, Derrick Rose, Jahlil Okafor, Cliff Alexander
This is where the ranking system sort of fell apart.
Chicago has produced 24 top-100 players over the past decade—two more than any other city.
Chicago has produced five top-five players and two players (Anthony Davis and Jahlil Okafor) who were the No. 1 overall recruits in their respective season.
Yet, Chicago finishes in second place because only 10 of its 24 players were ranked in the top 50 while Henderson, Nevada, has 15 such players.
Long story short, the players after Chicago's top five simply weren't that great.
You have got quality names like Sherron Collins, Wayne Blackshear and Sam Thompson, but where are the All-Americans? We don't want to call top-100 players "scrubs," but it looks like Chicago took the stars-and-scrubs strategy in building its fantasy basketball lineup.
But, man, those stars are bright.
You can expunge it from the record books, but you can't erase Derrick Rose nearly leading Memphis to a national championship from our memories. Anthony Davis did win a title with Kentucky. Jabari Parker was one of the only players in the same stratosphere as Doug McDermott last season. And we can't wait to see what Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander accomplish this year.
When it comes to one-and-done stars, Chicago is king.
1. Henderson, Nev. (144 Points)
21 of 21
Noteworthy Players: Anthony Bennett, Avery Bradley, Kelly Oubre, Rashad Vaughn, Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph, Nick Johnson, Brandon Ashley, Nigel Williams-Goss, Myck Kabongo, Winston Shepard, Stanford Robinson
Findlay Prep—also known as Henderson International School—is just a short drive southeast of Las Vegas.
If you had to bet on any school to produce a McDonald's All-American in any given year, Findlay Prep is the one.
It's the only school in Henderson that has produced a top-100 player in the past decade, but it has produced 22 of them. As mentioned on the previous slide, 15 of those 22 players ranked in the top 50. Eight of them ranked in the top 20.
Findlay Prep hasn't had the No. 1 overall type of talent of Indianapolis or Chicago. Avery Bradley (ranked No. 4 in 2009) is the only player from Findlay Prep to be ranked in the top five in the past decade.
However, the school is a breeding ground for McDonald's All-Americans. In the past six years, Findlay Prep has sent nine players to the McDonald's All-American Game—and it's ridiculous that Nick Johnson didn't make the roster in 2011.
Any number of players could have been used for the photo on this slide, but we went with Anthony Bennett. Rated No. 6 overall in advance of the 2012-13 season, Bennett played just one season before being taken with the first overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft.
Could Rashad Vaughn or Kelly Oubre follow a similar path this season?
2015 is a bit of a down year for Findlay Prep with only one top-100 player at the moment, but Henderson is already responsible for three of the top 100 players in 2016. It should continue to be one of the top producers of college basketball talent for the foreseeable future.
Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "EDGE-Rush Duos Power Rankings 📊")
.jpg?w=600 "Mendoza Impressing at Minicamp")
.jpg?w=600 "QBs Under Most Pressure ♨️")