The chart below is based on the Recruiting Services Consensus Index's final rankings of the 2006 class. The RSCI is a calculation of the average rankings of all the major high school recruiting services.
-Unless otherwise stated in the college column it's presumed that player stayed all four seasons and has graduated with the rest of his 2006 classmates.
- --> = Player transferred schools, forced to sit out a season unless to JUCO or Division II
-* Player spent an additional season of high school in prep school
Color Coding:
Green- Player was drafted and is in the NBA
Turquoise- Player transferred or redshirted and still has NCAA eligibility remaining
Orange- Player is considered a 2010 draft prospect
Gray- Player went undrafted
RSCI | Name | College | Pro Destination | Year Drafted / Current Projection |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Greg Oden | Ohio State [one year] | NBA (#1) Pick | 2007 |
2 | Kevin Durant | Texas [one year] | NBA (#2) Pick | 2007 |
3 | Brandan Wright | North Carolina [one year] | NBA (#8) Pick | 2007 |
4 | Spencer Hawes | Washington [one year] | NBA (#10) Pick | 2007 |
5 | Ty Lawson | North Carolina [three years] | NBA (#18) Pick | 2009 |
6 | Thaddeus Young | Georgia Tech [one year] | NBA (#12) Pick | 2007 |
7 | Chase Budinger | Arizona [three years] | NBA (#44) Pick | 2009 |
8 | Wayne Ellington | North Carolina [three years] | NBA (#28) Pick | 2009 |
9 | Brook Lopez | Stanford [two years] | NBA (#10) Pick | 2008 |
10 | Paul Harris * | Syracuse [three years] --> NBA Draft Early-Entry --> Undrafted | D-League | Undrafted 2009 |
11 | Gerald Henderson | Duke [three years] | NBA (#12) Pick | 2009 |
12 | Darrell Arthur | Kansas [two years] | NBA (#27) Pick | 2008 |
13 | Javaris Crittenton | Georgia Tech [one year] | NBA (#19) Pick - 2010 Free Agent | 2007 |
14 | Daequan Cook | Ohio State [one year] | NBA (#21) Pick | 2007 |
15 | Sherron Collins | Kansas | Projected second round pick | |
16 | Damion James | Texas | Projected first round pick | |
17 | Vernon Macklin | Georgetown --> Florida | 5th year senior next season | |
18 | Derrick Caracter | Louisville --> UTEP --> NBA Draft Early-Entry | Projected second round pick | |
19 | Stanley Robinson | UConn | Projected late first/early second round pick | |
20 | Robin Lopez | Stanford [two years] | NBA (#15) Pick | 2008 |
21 | Lance Thomas | Duke | Projected undrafted | |
22 | Mike Conley Jr | Ohio State [one year] | NBA (#4) Pick | 2007 |
23 | Duke Crews | Tennessee --> Bowie State (CIAA - no redshirt) | Projected undrafted | |
24 | Earl Clark | Louisville [three years] | NBA (#14) Pick | 2009 |
25 | Brian Zoubek | Duke | Projected second round to undrafted | |
26 | DaJuan Summers | Georgetown [three years] | NBA (#35) Pick | 2009 |
27 | Quincy Pondexter | Washington | Projected first round pick | |
28 | Jon Scheyer | Duke | Projected second round to undrafted | |
29 | Davon Jefferson* | Southern Cal [one year] --> NBA Draft Early-Entry --> Undrafted | Israel | Undrafted 2008 |
30 | D.J. Augustin | Texas [two years] | NBA (#9) Pick | 2008 |
31 | Curtis Kelly | Uconn --> Kansas State | 5th year senior next season | |
32 | David Lighty | Ohio State [medical redshirt] | 5th year senior next season | |
33 | Deshawn Sims | Michigan | Projected undrafted | |
34 | Ramar Smith | Tennessee [two years] --> Poland --> 2nd Division Germany --> Jail | Arrested for aggravated robbery | Undrafted 2009 |
35 | Raymar Morgan | Michigan State | Projected undrafted | |
36 | Obi Muonelo | Oklahoma State | Projected undrafted | |
37 | Jerome Dyson | Uconn | Projected undrafted | |
38 | Scottie Reynolds | Villanova | Projected undrafted | |
39 | James Keefe | UCLA | Projected undrafted | |
41 | Taj Gibson * | USC [three years] | NBA (#26) Pick | 2009 |
42 | Willie Kemp | Memphis | Projected undrafted | |
43 | Michael Washington * | Arkansas | Projected undrafted | |
44 | Jason Bennett | Kansas State [one year] --> Detroit Mercy [one year] --> Ireland | Automatically-Eligible~ Projected undrafted | |
45 | Deon Thompson | North Carolina | Projected undrafted | |
46 | Tyler Smith * | Tennessee [three years] --> Arrested --> Turkey | Automatically-Eligible~ Projected undrafted | |
46 | Mike Jones | Syracuse --> South Carolina --> Indian Hills JUCO --> Claflin University (Division II) | Projected undrafted | |
48 | Jerry Smith | Louisville | Projected undrafted | |
49 | Tom Herzog | Michigan State --> Central Florida | 5th year senior next season | |
49 | Patrick Christopher | California | Projected undrafted | |
51 | Brian Carlwell | Illinois --> San Diego State | 5th year senior next season | |
52 | Jamie Skeen | Wake Forest --> VCU | 5th year senior next season | |
53 | Jonathan Kreft | Arrested for Cocaine Possession --> Chipola JUCO --> Florida State | Two seasons of eligibility remaining | |
54 | Derrick Jasper | Kentucky --> UNLV | 5th year senior next season | |
55 | Wayne Chism | Tennessee | Projected second round to undrafted | |
56 | Doug Wiggins | Uconn --> Umass --> Robert Morris | 5th year senior next season | |
56 | Edgar Sosa | Louisville | Projected undrafted | |
58 | Jodie Meeks | Kentucky [three years] | NBA (#41) Pick | 2009 |
58 | Perry Stevenson | Kentucky | Projected undrafted | |
60 | Anthony Gurley | Wake Forest --> UMass | 5th year senior next season | |
61 | Marreese Speights | Florida [two years] | NBA (#16) Pick | 2008 |
62 | Jason Bohannon | Wisconsin | Projected undrafted | |
63 | Bryan Davis | Texas A&M | Projected undrafted | |
64 | Hasheem Thabeet | Uconn [three years] | NBA (#2) Pick | 2009 |
65 | Matt Bouldin | Gonzaga | Projected second round to undrafted | |
66 | Eugene Harvey* | Seton Hall | Projected undrafted | |
67 | Jamil Tucker | Virginia --> Dismissed | Projected undrafted | |
68 | Keith Clark | Oklahoma [two years] --> Dismissed --> Undrafted | D-League | Undrafted 2009 |
68 | Isaiah Dahlman | Michigan State | Projected undrafted | |
70 | Tweety Carter | Baylor | Projected undrafted | |
71 | Nigel Munson | Virginia Tech --> University District of Columbia (Division II) | 5th year senior next season | |
72 | Phil Nelson | Washington --> Portland State | 5th year senior next season | |
73 | Pierre Niles | Memphis --> Left team | Projected undrafted | |
74 | Mamadou Diarra | Southern Cal --> Chaminade (Divison II) | Two seasons of eligibility remaining | |
75 | Antonio Pena* | Villanova [medical redshirt] | 5th year senior next season | |
76 | Patrick Beverley | Arkansas [two years] --> Dismissed --> Ukraine | NBA (#42) Pick~ Played for Olympiacos in 2010~ NBA 2011? | 2009 |
77 | Jarvis Varnado | Mississippi State | Projected second round pick | |
78 | Marques Johnson | Tennessee --> N.C. State --> Georgia State | 5th year senior next season | |
79 | Will Graves | North Carolina [redshirt] | 5th year senior next season | |
80 | Adrian Oliver | Washington --> San Jose State | 5th year senior next season | |
81 | Leon Freeman | Chipola Junior College --> ?? | ?? | |
82 | Dexter Pittman | Texas | Projected second round to undrafted | |
83 | Luke Harangody | Notre Dame | Projected second round to undrafted | |
84 | Doneal Mack * | Memphis | Projected undrafted | |
85 | Josue Soto | Florida State --> Florida International --> Puerto Rico | Projected undrafted | |
86 | Jeff Allen | Prep School --> Virginia Tech | 4th year senior next season | |
87 | Jonathan Mitchell | Florida --> Rutgers | 5th year senior next season | |
87 | Trevon Hughes | Wisconsin | Projected undrafted | |
89 | Taylor Harrison | California (forced to quit basketball due to knee problems) | Projected undrafted | |
90 | Donald Sloan | Texas A&M | Projected undrafted | |
91 | Gilbert Brown* | Pittsburgh | Projected undrafted | |
92 | Solomon Tat * | Virginia | Projected undrafted | |
93 | Greivis Vasquez | Maryland | Projected second round pick | |
94 | Jeremy Mayfield | UAB --> Texas Wesleyan | 5th year senior next season | |
94 | Dan Werner | Florida | Projected undrafted | |
96 | Cameron Tatum | Prep School --> Tennessee [medical redshirt] | Two seasons of eligibility remaining | |
97 | Daniel Deane | Utah --> Oregon State | 5th year senior next season | |
97 | Hamady N'diaye | Rutgers | Projected second round to undrafted | |
99 | Da'Sean Butler | West Virginia | Projected second round to undrafted | |
100 | Adrion Graves | Xavier --> Bowling Green --> Cumberlands (Division II) | 5th year senior next season | |
101 | Will Walker | DePaul | Projected undrafted | |
102 | Reggie Redding | Villanova | Projected undrafted | |
103 | Larry Davis | Seton Hall --> Loyola Marymount | 5th year senior next season | |
104 | Matt Hill | Texas [redshirt] | 5th year senior next season | |
105 | Josh Lomers | Baylor | Projected undrafted | |
106 | Nic Wise | Arizona | Projected undrafted | |
107 | Lazar Hayward* | Marquette | Projected second round to undrafted | |
108 | Tory Jackson | Notre Dame | Projected undrafted | |
109 | Tre'Von Willis | Memphis --> UNLV | 5th year senior next season | |
110 | Will Harris * | Virginia --> Albany [transfer waiver] | Projected undrafted | |
111 | JeJuan Brown | Vanderbilt --> Los Angeles Southwest JUCO --> Arkansas State | Projected undrafted | |
112 | Eric Hayes | Maryland | Projected undrafted | |
113 | Jermaine Beal | Vanderbilt | Projected undrafted | |
114 | Russell Westbrook | UCLA [two years] | NBA (#4) Pick | 2008 |
114 | Malcolm Grant | Winchendon Prep --> Villanova --> Miami | Two seasons of eligibility remaining | |
116 | Dwayne Collins | Miami | Projected second round to undrafted | |
117 | Tyrone Appleton * | Midland (Texas) JUCO --> Kansas --> Southwest Baptist JUCO--> Midwestern State (Division II) | 5th year senior next season | |
118 | Rob Thomas * | St. John's [redshirt] | 5th year senior next season | |
119 | Hashim Bailey | Memphis --> UMass | 5th year senior next season | |
119 | Ishmael Smith | Wake Forest | Projected undrafted | |
121 | Brandon Powell | Florida --> Marshall --> Dismissed -->Philippines (left team) | Projected undrafted | |
122 | Djibril Thiam | Baylor --> Wyoming | 5th year senior next season | |
123 | Tony Davis | Central Florida --> Dismissed from team | Projected undrafted | |
124 | Earl Pettis | Prep School --> Rutgers --> La Salle | Two seasons of eligibility remaining | |
125 | Jerome Randle | California | Projected second round to undrafted | |
137 | Jordan Hill | Arizona [three years] | NBA (#8) Pick | 2009 |
150 | Ryan Anderson | California [two years] | NBA (#21) Pick | 2008 |
153 | Ekpe Udoh | Michigan [two years] --> Baylor [one year] | Projected lottery pick |
Notable 2006 High School Prospects Outside of RSCI Top 150
Name | College | Pro Destination/ Current Projection | |
---|---|---|---|
Stephen Curry | Davidson [three years] | NBA (#7) Pick | |
Trevor Booker | Clemson | Projected second round pick | |
Mikhail Torrance | Alabama | Projected second round pick | |
Artsiom Parakhouski | Southern Idaho JUCO --> Radford | Projected second round pick | |
Jerome Jordan | Tulsa | Projected second round pick | |
Aubrey Coleman | Southwest Mississippi JUCO --> Houston | Projected second round to undrafted | |
Ben Uzoh | Tulsa | Projected second round to undrafted | |
Omar Samhan | St. Mary's | Projected second round to undrafted | |
Marqus Blakely | Vermont | Projected second round to undrafted | |
Jeremy Wise | Southern Miss --> D-League | Projected second round to undrafted |
NBA Players Abound
The 2006 class has already produced 13 lottery picks, five of whom were top 5 draft picks. Ekpe Udoh (#153) can fill the quota of lottery picks by being selected in the top 14, which is a likely scenario.
25 players have already been drafted in total, with another 7-10 on the way next week, adding further depth to a stacked 2010 draft. The draft picks have been evenly distributed over the last three years: eight in 2007, seven in 2008 and 11 in 2009.
Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry and Brook Lopez appear to be the four best prospects to emerge thus far.
Compare that with the miserable high school class of 2005, which produced just 10 first round draft picks, and a
We may have overestimated the importance of this class on the 2009 NBA draft class last year, though.
2006 can't compare with the incredible class of 2004, though, which is considered one of the most talented ever with its 28 first round picks.
The only already drafted 2006 high school class member who isn't in the NBA is Patrick Beverley (#76), who was picked in the second round last year by Miami after being forced to leave Arkansas for the Ukraine. He played alongside Josh Childress and Linas Kleiza on one of the best teams in Europe in Olympiacos this season and is expected to make the Heat's roster this summer.
Javaris Crittenton (#13) made $1.4 million playing for the Washington Wizards this season, but was cut midway through the season and did not have the fourth year option on his rookie contract picked up last summer. He'll try to earn a contract playing summer league with the Lakers in Las Vegas from July 9-18 .
The Year of the Sleeper
Not only were there a good amount of NBA players produced by this class, but some of them also came from way off the radar (not ranked in the top 100) such as Russell Westbrook (#114), Jordan Hill (#137), Ryan Anderson (#150) and the soon-to-be drafted Ekpe Udoh (#153).
Some of the sleepers don't even appear on the chart, as they were nowhere to be found at the high school level. Such is the case with Stephen Curry, who ended up at Davidson and broke all kinds of scoring records before taking his trade to the NBA -- he was a huge steal as the seventh overall pick for Golden State last season.
Udoh is the highest ranked 2006 high school class in our latest 2010 mock draft, ranking ahead of fellow members Damion James (#16), Stanley Robinson (#19) and Quincy Pondexter (#27).
There were also a number of players ranked pretty far down the top 100 who had great college careers and could very well go on to play in the NBA, such as Jerome Randle (#125), Lazar Hayward (#107), Greivis Vasquez (#93) and Luke Harangody (#83).
Very Few Busts
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the 2006 high school class is the small number of top-rated players who flopped at the college level, unlike in years past. Out of the top 30 players in the 2006 RSCI, only a handful won't be playing in the NBA next season.
Some of the early exceptions are Paul Harris (#10), who went undrafted last year out of Syracuse and spent the season nursing an ankle injury as a member of the Maine Red Claws, and Davon Jefferson (#29), who played in Israel the last two seasons for Maccabi Haifa. Both are young and exceptionally athletic and will continue to get NBA looks in the next few years.
As is the case with former Tennessee player Duke Crews (#23), who was kicked off the Vols team and finished his career in the CIAA conference with Bowie State, character concerns and differences in opinion with coaching staffs are typically some of the main causes for a player not reaching his full potential at the college level.
6-10 center Vernon Macklin (#17) languished on the bench at Georgetown for his first two seasons, looking like a fish out of water in the Princeton offense. Macklin never produced anything close to the numbers his McDonald's All-American status indicated he should, but managed to turn things around somewhat after transferring to Florida. He averaged 11 points and 5.5 rebounds and was a solid contributor for the Gators last season. Although he's far older than everyone else in this class turning 24 later this year, he'll at least get some NBA looks when he finishes up college next season.
Lance Thomas (#21) never quite developed into the small forward that many envisioned him becoming at Duke, but he was an important contributor on a national championship squad as a defensive role-player, even if his glaring lack of offensive ability may hamper him from making much of a career at the pro level.
McDonald's All-American James Keefe (#39) ranks as one of the bigger disappointments. He never averaged more than 3 points per game at UCLA and shot just 45% from the free throw line over his four-year career. Keefe's college career never got off the ground, partially due to injuries, but at 6-8 he'll surely have a chance to play somewhere as a pro.
Jason Bennett (#44) is an odd story. The 7-3 Jacksonville native committed to Kansas State but only spent a year there before transferring to Detroit-Mercy, where he lasted just a year as well. He signed a contract in Ireland last December and came off the bench for most of the season for Neptune of Cork. He's automatically eligible for the draft next week.
Ramar Smith (#34) was a scoring machine in high school who could have had his choice of colleges had his transcript not been so poor. He played two years for Bruce Pearl at Tennessee but was kicked off the team and was last seen being accused of taking money, guns and marijuana in a home invasion last summer.
6-7 Mike Jones (#46) played a semester for Syracuse before transferring, then lasted only a semester at South Carolina before being dismissed from the team, according to Mike Waiters of the Syracuse Post-Standard. His next stop was at Indian Hill Junior College, where he managed to stick around for two years before having a falling out with his head coach and transferring again, this time to Division II Claflin University, according to Seth Emerson of TheState.com.
Keith Clark's (#68) greatest hit likely came on this site, thanks to his outstanding performance at the D-League Dunk Contest last year, where he battled James White admirably.
6-6 Isaiah Dahlman (#69) was a high school star in Minnesota, breaking the state's all-time scoring record with over 3,000 points. He only managed to get on the floor for 177 minutes over the last three years for Tom Izzo at Michigan State, though, electing not to change schools like 38 of the other players on this list did.
The whereabouts of Leon Freeman (#81) appear to be unknown. He was supposed to attend Chipola Junior College back in 2007 but never showed up on their roster and doesn't seem to have played anywhere organized since.
A Restless Class
No fewer than 29 players on this list are still active in Division I next season -- mostly due to transfers. About a third of the players ranked in the 30-120 range elected to get up and move to another school.
Some decided to move twice. Some three times -- see the curious case of Tyrone Appleton (#117), a JUCO standout at Midland in Texas who spent his junior season glued to the bench for Kansas and swiftly elected to transfer to Southwest Baptist before eventually deciding on another Division II school: Midwestern State. He needs to win an appeal to play next season according to Gary Bedore of the Lawrence Journal-World.
Outside of Ekpe Udoh (#153), and possibly Vernon Macklin (#17) and Curtis Kelly (#31), none of the transfers on this list have been able to make a big impact at the highest levels of college basketball. Washington transfer Adrian Oliver (#80) did average 22.5 points per game for San Jose State (seventh place in the WAC conference), though, getting to the free throw line almost seven times per game. He'll likely make a run for the NCAA scoring title next season, along with Jimmer Fredette and Adnan Hodzic.
We'll see what 7-footer Jon Kreft (#53) is able to do in his last two seasons of college basketball. His arrival at Florida State was delayed slightly by cocaine and marijuana possession charges in in 2006, forcing him to start his career at Chipola Community College, from which he graduated. He could fill a big hole in the middle for Leonard Hamilton and Stan Jones with Solomon Alabi off to the NBA.
It will be interesting to see if these next batch of classes will decide to bounce around as much as the 2006 group, or whether they will explore other alternatives, such as the D-League or Europe.
Many will study the case of Jeremy Wise, an unheralded junior at fledgling Southern Miss last season who decided to spend his senior year of college playing in the D-League rather than continuing to put up big numbers on a bad team in Conference USA.
Wise had an outstanding year in the D-League with the Bakersfield Jam, playing against much stronger competition than he would have seen in the NCAA, and has improved his professional stock dramatically in turn. He's gotten a great deal of interest from NBA teams in the form of private workouts, and is a clear-cut six-figure earner in Europe next season if he ultimately ends up going undrafted. The question isn't whether or not Wise made the right decision at this point, but how many disgruntled college players will opt for the road less taken and decide to follow in his footsteps.
Many will study the case of Jeremy Wise, an unheralded junior at fledgling Southern Miss last season who decided to spend his senior year of college playing in the D-League rather than continuing to put up big numbers on a bad team in Conference USA.
Wise had an outstanding year in the D-League with the Bakersfield Jam, playing against much stronger competition than he would have seen in the NCAA, and has improved his professional stock dramatically in turn. He's gotten a great deal of interest from NBA teams in the form of private workouts, and is a clear-cut six-figure earner in Europe next season if he ultimately ends up going undrafted. The question isn't whether or not Wise made the right decision at this point, but how many disgruntled college players will opt for the road less taken and decide to follow in his footsteps.