NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Ranking the last 10 No. 1 overall prospects
By Joey Loose
10. Derrick Favors – 2009
The best prospect of 2009 didn’t pick Kansas, Kentucky, or any other high-profile title contenders. Favors committed to play at Georgia Tech under Paul Hewitt, the coach who had led the Yellow Jackets to the national title game just five years earlier. Favors was solid in a tough ACC and was named the ACC rookie of the year for 2010. Even while Duke danced to another title, Favors put Georgia Tech in a position for success. The Yellow Jackets made the NCAA Tournament as an 8-seed, losing in the second round to Ohio State.
Favors put up 12.4 ppg and 8.4 rpg, helping lead the Yellow Jackets to their greatest season in recent memory. The top prospect stayed home in Georgia, but was the forward’s impact really felt? Kentucky stars John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins ranked just below him and it’s hard to argue with their results, both on the college and professional level. On the other hand, we can’t ignore what the Yellow Jackets did during that season with Favors on the roster. Georgia Tech has neither been ranked nor played in the NCAA Tournament since that 2010 season.
It’s true that Favors’ impact is still felt for a Georgia Tech program trying to claw back to relevancy. While he was the 2010 NBA Draft’s third overall pick, he wasn’t an All-American and he couldn’t do enough to power this team past the Buckeyes in the Tournament. He wasn’t the best scorer or rebounder in the 2009 class, but he did develop into a more than serviceable forward at both the college and professional level. However, there aren’t exactly going to be statues erected in his honor.