Ranking the freshman seasons of former number one high school recruits

SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 23: Former Syracuse Orange player Carmelo Anthony (C) receives his jersey from athletic director Daryl Gross (L) as his number is retired during a ceremony at half time during the game against the Georgetown Hoyas at the Carrier Dome on February 23, 2013 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Nate Shron/Getty Images) /

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Samardo Samuels (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Ranking the freshman seasons of former number one high school recruits: 19. Samardo Samuels

Freshman stats: 11.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.3 bpg

Brandon Jennings received a ridiculous amount of hype when he was in high school. That shouldn’t be surprising.

On the offensive side of the ball, there was simply nothing he couldn’t do. He could either light up the scoreboard or set up his teammates with the perfect pass. In what turned out to be a complete shock, Jennings decided to bypass the whole college route and played basketball overseas instead. For that reason, we have to go to the consensus second-best player of the 2008 high school class, Samardo Samuels.

At St. Benedict’s Prep, Samuels led his ball club to a 24-1 record and made both the McDonald’s All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic Game as well.

His time at Louisville was a good one from a team perspective as they finished with a 31-6 record. In terms of his individual play though, he wasn’t impressive.

The hulking big man scored 11.8 points per game and only 4.9 boards. With so much expectations placed on his shoulders, it’s safe to say that Samuels didn’t meet the criteria as the second-best high school player in the nation.

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