Ariel Atkins
Who grabbed the No. 1 spot in the ProspectsNation.com ELITE 150?
As the 2014 recruiting class has graduated officially to senior status with the start of the school year, ProspectsNation.com unveils its first ELITE 150. The class top ranked player, Kelsey Mitchell, the 5-foot-7 guard from Cincinnati, Ohio, held on to her spot after another terrific summer.
This summer also saw several other elite players solidify their status as every player from the top 10 heading into the summer finds herself still in that impressive grouping. However, one player, Ariel Atkins of Duncanville, Texas, jumped up from within the previous top 10.
Atkins, the 5-10 wing who has committed to Texas, moved up two spots to No. 3 and really forced her way into the argument for the top overall spot along with Mitchell and No. 2 Aja Wilson of Hopkins, S.C.
Atkins had perhaps the best 12 months weve seen in some time. From her junior high school season, which broke her into the ELITE 60, to a tremendous spring club season with Cy-Fair Shock that resulted in her No. 5 ranking, she has continually impressed against any and all opposition.
Mariya Moore saw her stock rise this summer.
*Photo by Glenn Nelson.
But Atkins was not the only ranked player to make a move up the rankings. Mariya Moore, the 6-0 wing from Hercules, Calif., is now ranked 16th in the ELITE 150. The Louisville commit entered the summer with her Cal Stars club team ranked 31st before helping lead her team to the championship game of Nike Nationals, ultimately losing to Atkins and Cy-Fair.
See the full ELITE 150
Also impressing with a breakout summer was Dekeiya Cohen, the 6-1 forward from Charleston, S.C. She brought a physical and often times dominating presence to her Georgia Metros frontcourt, moving her from the ELITE 150 Watch List to No. 30 overall, the highest ranking of a player not in the pre-summer ELITE 100.
A pair of inside players from Watch List also cracked the rankings top half with Asia Robeson of Kalamazoo, Mich., a 6-4 post, and Brooke Copeland of Cleveland, Tenn., a 6-3 forward, coming in at Nos. 69 and 71, respectively.
This has been dubbed the year of the point guard and the ELITE 150 certainly supports that assertion with 10 lead guards ranked in the top 25 and total of 33 in the full 150.
By State, the Golden State of California reigns supreme with 19 prospects in the ELITE 150, including six in the top 20. Not far behind is New Jersey, which is home to 14 of the players ranked in the ELITE 150, and three in the top 25.
See the full ELITE 150 here.
Stay tuned to ProspectsNation.com for more coverage and analysis of the 2014 ELITE 150. Follow @ChrisHansenPSB
