NCAA Basketball Recruiting 2016: Projected Roles for Top Committed Players

Most of the top players in the 2016 recruiting class have yet to make up their minds as to where they'll be playing college basketball, which isn't unusual. With the first signing period not until November (and another available in the spring) there's no rush for prospects to come to such an important decision.

For those who have committed, though, it's likely that choice was impacted by the role they expected to play on their future teams.

Because college basketball has so many underclassmen turn pro each year, it's very common for a freshman to come in right away and be a go-to starter or a key contributor. Some start off as bench players and rise into a more pronounced role, but in many cases the top prospects are in the mix from the outset.

The 2016 recruits won't play in a college game for another 16 months, but at this point we can begin to speculate as to what their roles will be. Using their skill sets and their future teams' projected roster in 2016-17, here's a look at what the top committed players from the 2016 class will be asked to do as freshmen.

PG Lonzo Ball

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'6", 170 lbs

Ranking: 6th

Committed to: UCLA

Projected role: A team-first player

Lonzo Ball has been committed to UCLA for more than 18 months, one of the first notable players from the 2016 class to lock up his future. Since then we haven't heard (or seen) much from the Chino, California, product since he doesn't regularly play on teams at the highest levels of the AAU circuit.

This has led some critics to speculate that he's scared to open himself up to stronger competition, which might mean he's not as good as his rankings would indicate. However, according to Joel Francisco of ESPN, it speaks more to his desire to focus his efforts on his high school team that his two brothers and cousin also play on.

"On the floor, Ball is not about one-on-one matchups, he is about winning—and his overall skill set and Jason Kidd-like approach demonstrates that," Francisco wrote.

At UCLA, Ball is likely to shift over to the 2 during his freshman year before current point guard Bryce Alford will be a senior in 2016-17. That will allow the Bruins to have two floor leaders out there at all times and enable Ball to focus more on his shooting than his distribution early on.

SG Tyus Battle

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'6", 205 lbs

Ranking: 24th

Committed to: Syracuse

Projected role: Offensive dictator

The role Tyus Battle is likely to play for Syracuse in 2016-17 is the same one Michigan had hoped he'd play when he committed to the Wolverines in May. A month later, though, he backed out of that commitment and then flipped to the Orange on July 13.

"They told me I could be a versatile guard who could have the ball in my hands a lot," Battle said of Syracuse, per ESPN's Jeff Goodman and Jeff Borzello.

Syracuse was severely lacking someone that would get the offense in motion this past season, and it might not have such a player this year either. When Battle gets to upstate New York next fall, though, he'll have an opportunity to reverse that trend.

PG J.J. Caldwell

247Sports

Height, weight: 5'11", 180 lbs

Ranking: 64th

Committed to: Texas A&M

Projected role: Facilitator

Texas A&M's youth movement begins this season with a top-tier recruiting class that is heavy on frontcourt players. That group will be sophomores in 2016-17 and in need of someone to get them the ball, since point guard Alex Caruso will have graduated.

Fear not, Aggies fans, because J.J. Caldwell is primed to be the player distributing the ball to all of the varied scoring options that season. He's doing the same this summer, most recently at the Under Armour Finals in Atlanta this past week.

"The four-star prospect is a terrific passer who will do a great job pushing the ball on the break, off the dribble or by applying instant pressure to the transition defense with a quick up-the-floor advance pass," ESPN's Reggie Rankin wrote. "He has the potential to be a double-digit assist man early in his career."

C Zach Collins

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'10", 210 lbs

Ranking: 52nd

Committed to: Gonzaga

Projected role: Patient producer

Depending on how Domantas Sabonis leans following this upcoming season, when Zach Collins gets to Gonzaga in 2016-17 he might have to wait his turn to become a starter and make the most of whatever minutes he gets. The arrival of Missouri transfer forward Johnathan Williams could also impact Collins' playing time, but it's something he's used to.

Collins spent last year backing up a pair of 5-star players at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, playing behind Duke signee Chase Jeter and UNLV signee Ryan Zimmerman. He still managed to average nine points and seven rebounds per game while going all out as a reserve.

If able to start, Collins will also shine. This summer he's starred in various showcase events, including the NBPA Top 100 Camp.

SG Jarron Cumberland

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'4", 200 lbs

Ranking: 61st

Committed to: Cincinnati

Projected role: Go-to scorer 

Cincinnati hasn't been known for explosive offense in recent years, as the Bearcats have tended to be among the more plodding teams in the nation. Look for that to change once Jarron Cumberland arrives in 2016-17, since he's been instant offense throughout his prep career.

"Cumberland will arrive to the Bearcats as a ready-made offensive weapon," Bleacher Report's Tim Daniels wrote. "He's showcased the ability to challenge defenses in a multitude of ways, whether it be attacking the rim or pulling up for an outside jumper."

From nearby Wilmington, Ohio, Cumberland averaged 24.5 points per game for his high school team in 2014-15 and nearly 18 points per game for his AAU squad this spring, per Chad Brendel of 247Sports.

C Derek Funderburk

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'9", 210 lbs

Ranking: 50th

Committed to: Ohio State

Projected role: Consistent paint producer

Ohio State had one of the most electric scorers in the country this last season in guard D'Angelo Russell, but it lacked anyone on the interior who could give the Buckeyes a one-two punch. They've addressed that interior need for 2016-17 with Derek Funderburk.

He might be better served to play the 4 in college but even at that spot he'll be looked to as a source of inside production that is critical to being successful in the Big Ten. Ohio State's best teams under Thad Matta have had such players, like Greg Oden and Jared Sullinger, but that's not been the case the last few seasons.

The Lakewood, Ohio, native picked OSU in April.

PG Temple Gibbs

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'2", 180 lbs

Ranking: 62nd

Committed to: Notre Dame

Projected role: Physical backcourt presence

Temple Gibbs is the third of his brothers to play Division I basketball (following former Pittsburgh guard Ashton Gibbs and Sterling Gibbs, who has played for Texas and Seton Hall and will finish his career at Connecticut) and might be the best of the lot. He chose Notre Dame over offers from Connecticut, Georgetown, Miami (Florida) and Virginia, among others.

Gibbs has been described as "sturdily constructed to the point of being stocky," per Rob Harrington of Scout.com, not what you'd normally hear about a point guard. But he uses this physicality to his advantage, muscling his way to the basket rather than play the point with flash and flair.

Jerian Grant was able to do this for the Fighting Irish, but he was also 6'5" and 205 pounds. For Gibbs to do it with a smaller frame speaks to his strength and aggressiveness.

PG Alterique Gilbert

247Sports

Height, weight: 5'10", 155 lbs

Ranking: 32nd

Committed to: Connecticut

Projected role: Floor leader

Connecticut's teams this decade have been defined by the play of the point guard position more than anything else. Whether it was Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier or Ryan Boatright, the man running the point for the Huskies has been the one responsible for success or shortcomings.

The next person in that line figures to be Alterique Gilbert, a small but sizzling guard from Georgia who pledged to UConn on July 4.

Gilbert is even smaller than his predecessors, but what he lacks in height he makes up for in flair and drive. He's shined this week at the Nike Global Challenge in Chicago, showing off great speed and ball-handling ability that should translate well into what UConn coach Kevin Ollie will look for from his point guard position.

PG Kyle Guy

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'2", 155 lbs

Ranking: 45th

Committed to: Virginia

Projected role: Sharpshooter

Virginia might have three different players capable of handling the point guard spot in 2016-17 with Kyle Guy and fellow commit Ty Jerome joining senior-to-be London Perrantes. In order to get his minutes, Guy will need to bring something that the others cannot.

Odds are that will come in the form of lights-out shooting, which college coaches first saw last summer when he shot better than 44 percent from three-point range during the Adidas Gauntlet in 2014 and then followed that up with 51.6 percent outside shooting at the Adidas Super 64 event last July.

PF Jay Huff

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'10", 185 lbs

Ranking: 57th

Committed to: Virginia

Projected role: Rim protector 

One of three 4-star players who have pledged to Virginia for 2016, Jay Huff is the one that is likely to be used most on the defensive end because that's the part of his game that's best developed at this point. He plays high school ball for a small school in Durham, North Carolina, where he averaged 16.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.0 blocks per game.

The Cavaliers had one of the top defenses in the country the last two seasons, and players like Huff are being drawn to Charlottesville because of the allure of being part of such a system. He'll need to put on more mass to be able to handle the offensive side of being a post player at the Division I level, but for now he has the defensive instincts to make an impact.

SF Jonathan Isaac

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'10", 185 lbs

Ranking: 10th

Committed to: Florida State

Projected role: Defense stretcher 

What Jonathan Isaac has going for him in terms of skills and upside is countered by the fact he's massively underweight for his size. The strength issue is something that could get him in trouble at the college level, as Bleacher Report's Matt Fitzgerald noted earlier this month after he chose Florida State.

"Although he has shown the ability to finish in the rim, he can be susceptible to punishment when driving into the paint," Fitzgerald wrote.

Because he'll need to put on mass to become a true force inside, Isaac figures to rely more on a strong perimeter game to make his mark early on. Most teams will struggle to effectively defend a 6'10" player on the outside, so he can serve to create matchup nightmares when on the court.

SF Justin Jackson

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'7", 195 lbs

Ranking: 29th

Committed to: UNLV

Projected role: Diverse scorer

Justin Jackson grew up in Canada but is finishing his high school career in the United States at renowned Las Vegas-area prep school Findlay Prep. From there he'll be the next in a growing line of Findlay standouts to play for UNLV. This could have happened even earlier had Jackson chose to reclassify to 2015 as it looked to be the case earlier this year.

Instead, Jackson has one more year at Findlay before moving to the Runnin' Rebels, where—depending on which of their recruits from 2015-16 are still around—he could be their go-to scorer in another year. He's shown he can do this in a variety of ways, according to Findlay coach Andy Johnson.

"He's the total package as far as being able to score from all three levels," Johnson told Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com.

SG Ty Jerome

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'4", 175 lbs

Ranking: 49th

Committed to: Virginia

Projected role: Cerebral scorer

Virginia gets noticed mostly for its defense under coach Tony Bennett, but its offensive system deserves accolades as well for being some of the smartest basketball players at the power-conference level. Ty Jerome will fit in perfectly with this approach, since that's what he's become known for at the prep and AAU levels.

A point guard in high school but one who's likely to play more at the 2 for the Cavaliers, Jerome will bring a point-guard mentality to that position and will make for one of the most heady backcourts in the country along with fellow 2016 commit Kyle Guy.

According to Zach Braziller of the New York Post, "a college coach said Jerome 'is smarter than most of the coaches recruiting him.'"

SF V.J. King

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'6", 189 lbs

Ranking: 23rd

Committed to: Louisville

Projected role: Energetic scorer

After landing graduate transfer Damion Lee from Drexel this past spring, Louisville coach Rick Pitino said the acquisition was critical for addressing his team's need for aggressive scorers. Lee will only be around for one season, however, so that need exists for 2016-17 and beyond as well.

V.J. King can fill that role if he continues to work on being "more of a killer," his high school coach told Jeff Greer of the Louisville Courier-Journal.

"He's a natural scorer, but he's such a great teammate that he will defer a little bit," Glenn Farello told Greer. "The other stuff, his skill set, is just natural. He plays within the system. He's very efficient."

King, originally from Ohio, played for Paul VI Catholic in Washington, DC, this past season.

CG Joshua Langford

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'5", 200 lbs

Ranking: 15th

Committed to: Michigan State

Projected role: His team's Denzel Valentine

Michigan State is loaded for this upcoming season, bringing back several key players from last year's Final Four team while also bringing in some key recruits. The heart and soul of the 2015-16 Spartans could be Denzel Valentine, the team's top returning scorer, rebounder and assist man.

Valentine will be a senior this fall, but a season later his role very easily could be filled by Joshua Langford, the highest-rated player (per 247Sports' composite rankings) that Tom Izzo has landed since Delvin Roe in 2008.

Langford, from Alabama, averaged 24.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game last year for Madison Academy.

PF T.J. Leaf

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'9", 215 lbs

Ranking: 12th

Committed to: Arizona

Projected role: Matchup nightmare

When he committed to Arizona last fall, T.J. Leaf had the reputation of being a finesse player who did his damage without drawing much contact. But this spring and summer he's showed off more of an ability to get physical and bang around inside. If he can do both at the college level he'll make it very difficult for Arizona's opponents to properly defend him.

Compared by 247Sports' Jerry Meyer to a cross between Kyle Singler and Chandler Parsons, Leaf is playing for Israel's 18-and-under team at FIBA Europe U-18 championships in Austria. In a recent exhibition against Russia, Leaf had 29 points (on 11-of-14 shooting) and 11 rebounds.

SF Matthew Moyer

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'8', 210 lbs

Ranking: 46th

Committed to: Syracuse

Projected role: A multi-use weapon

Because of scholarship limitations that have been imposed on Syracuse in the wake of an NCAA investigation, the Orange will have to get more out of its recruits than normal. That means finding guys who can handle multiple positions and roles, something Matthew Moyer was already known for before the sanctions were imposed in the spring.

Moyer, from Columbus, Ohio, had committed to Syracuse several months before these sanctions. He remains loyal to the Orange and is transferring to South Kent Prep School in Connecticut for his senior year in order to be closer to his future program and to continue working on being a versatile player.

Along with recent commit Tyus Battle, Moyer will be asked to switch around to different roles depending on the scenario to help Syracuse deal with its lack of scholarship players.

C Omari Spellman

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'9", 269 lbs

Ranking: 20th

Committed to: Villanova

Projected role: A Big East throwback

Realignment caused the Big East that we know from the past to go away, though there's still a version of that league playing today. Villanova has owned the new-look conference the past two years and figures to remain in that position with incoming freshman Jalen Brunson at point guard and then Omari Spellman banging around inside next year.

Spellman is the kind of player that the Big East used to be known for, a physical presence down low who struck hear in the hearts of opponents. Classic Big East teams from Georgetown, Syracuse and others regularly had a big man like Spellman defending the rim, but Villanova hasn't had someone of his ilk in a while.

Assuming the Ohio product can make proper use of his size by remaining in good shape, look for the Wildcats to remain the cream of the new Big East crop.

PF Jayson Tatum

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'8", 195 lbs

Ranking: 3rd

Committed to: Duke

Projected role: All-around contributor

The highest-rated player in the 2016 class to commit, Jayson Tatum chose Duke over Kentucky, North Carolina and hometown school of Saint Louis during the final day of the Peach Jam event on July 12 in Atlanta. This was in the midst of leading that elite event in scoring at 24.8 points per game and not long after coming back from Greece where he was part of Team USA's title at the FIBA Under-19 World Championships.

Tatum has done it all lately, and that's exactly the kind of role he'll be asked to fill with the Blue Devils, as someone who can contribute on both ends of the court. He might end up being in a similar position to this year's Duke freshmen, as someone who has to be a leader despite not having played college ball before, if most of the 2015-16 newcomers bolt to the NBA after one season like much of the 2014-15 crop did.

Tatum plays a similar position to incoming Duke freshman Brandon Ingram, but Ingram is widely considered a one-and-done player so there's not much chance of the two having to split minutes.

PF Nick Ward

247Sports

Height, weight: 6'8", 241 lbs

Ranking: 44th

Committed to: Michigan State

Projected role: Enforcer

Had Michigan State managed to hold on to Caleb Swanigan for 2015, it could have been set up to have one of the toughest frontcourts in the country for quite some time. Instead, Swanigan backed out and signed with Purdue, but with Nick Ward coming in for 2016 it won't be long before the Spartans have a beast in the paint again.

Ward, whom MSU plucked out of Ohio State's backyard in Columbus, will pair up nicely with Deyonta Davis (who will be a sophomore in 2016-17) and give the Spartans a tandem that will be like a two-headed version of what Adreian Payne was for the program through 2013-14.

"Our game complements each other," Ward told 247Sports' Mike Wilson.

Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.