NCAA Basketball: Re-evaluating the top 12 players from 2020 recruiting class

The 2020-21 NCAA Basketball freshmen have had the non-conference schedule and a handful of conference games to acclimatize to the NCAA atmosphere.

Every year by September when the AAU circuit is completed and class is back in across high schools in America, then, when the high school basketball season is complete the Recruiting Services Consensus Index (RSCI) release their top 100 rankings. The RSCI is an attempt to streamline the rankings and create a consensus among the four major NCAA Basketball recruiting experts; Verbal Commits, 247/sports, Rivals, and ESPN.

This article is a reevaluation now that these players have shown what they are capable of against Division I competition. It is not a list of the top 12 freshmen, it is a reranking of those who were in the top twelve. There are some freshmen who currently belong in the top 12 but were not originally so they are omitted. As well, RSCI had Prolific Prep combo guard Jalen Green as the No. 2 recruit, since he decided to go to the G-League he is not included in this reevaluation as well.

This list includes twelve very talented young players who are playing for teams that are having various degrees of success, who excel in different stat categories, as well as having a range of roles on their particular team. Much in the fashion that RSCI attempts to create a consensus, the goal of this article is to combine the factors that contribute to the success of a player in order to rank them.

Prior to getting to the top 12 recruits coming into college, let us give an honorable mention to three players, who, in retrospect could be in the top 12 themselves. Who they would replace? Is something you can decide.