Elizabeth Balogun
Cait Reese splits a double team for her Texas Elite adidas Prime squad last week at the Super 64 tournament in Frisco, Texas. *Photo by Chris Hansen.
The latest 2018 Recruiting Class Rankings has a familiar face at the top in Tennessee but Arizona and Georgia Tech have jumped into the national spotlight as well with early success in the class.
Shalyse Smith was the first piece to fall into place in
Arizona's breakout class. *Photo by Chris Hansen.Arizona is in the middle of a program-changing class, ranked second nationally, and headlined by one of the top international players in Valeria Trucco of Italy. The Wildcats under second year head coach Adia Barnes have four players committed to date. Joining the five-star rated Trucco are No. 29 Catherine Reese of Cypress, Texas, No. 47 Shalyse Smith of Tacoma, Washington, and No. 137 Bryce Nixon of Phoenix, Arizona.
“Arizona is off to a great start,” Keil Moore, the Director of Scouting for the JumpOffPlus.com International Report, said. “They have landed key targets outside of the region, an impact perimeter shooter in-state and one of the best international prospects in the 2018 class. Arizona’s group is one of the best classes in the country.”
The Wildcats have room to add to their class, likely targeting a big wing player. Adding one more would mean Barnes completely turning over the roster and rebuilding her alma mater in just two classes.
While Georgia Tech isn’t in a rebuilding phase, the team has been just short of the NCAA’s two years in a row. The program has had the ACC’s leading scorer four out of the last five years but has lacked the depth to make the run the program wants in the post season.
Liz Dixon is a big piece for the Georgia Tech recruiting
class in 2018. *Photo by CoachHemi.com.“Georgia Tech has done a great job with their 2018 scholarships,” Moore said. “They are building a balanced class with an athletic post, a hybrid forward, one of the best shooters in the class and a do-it-all wing. If they can add another guard the class may take another leap.”
Tech has No. 18 Elizabeth Balogun of Chattanooga, Tennessee, No. 21 Liz Dixon of Germantown, Tennessee, NO 83 D’Asia Gregg of Florence, South Carolina, and four-star guard Jasmine Carson of Memphis, Tennessee committed to date.
The Tennessee Lady Vols find themselves No. 1 overall behind two five-star commitments – No. 9 Amira Collins of Laplata, Maryland, and No. 11 Jazmine Massengill of Harrison, Tennessee. The SEC program is the only one to have two five-star rated prospects committed to date.
Connecticut has the No. 1 overall player, Charli Collier of Mont Belvieu, Texas, wrapped up. As the most dominant post prospect in the class the one-player class has the Huskies ranked No. 3 heading into the second half of July.
Rounding out the top five is Texas, who has No. 7 Sedona Prince of Liberty, Texas, a 6-foot-7 post, and No. 78 Shae Routt of Austin, Texas.
With roughly four months until the early signing period, the distribution of talent is pretty equal among the Power 5 conferences. The ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC all have four teams ranked in the top 20 while the Big-12 is close behind with three classes ranked.
With six players in the Top 10 still undecided the class rankings have a long way to go to be finalized.
CLASS RANKINGS -- 2018 -- MID-SUMMER
Chris Hansen is managing editor of ProspectsNation.com and serves on the McDonald’s All-American and Naismith Trophy selection committees. He was a co-founder of and the national director of scouting for ESPN HoopGurlz from 2005 until 2012 and is the director of the Check Me Out Showcase and ELITE is EARNED events. He can be reached at chris@prospectsnation.com.
