Carolinas players well represented in latest Rivals national basketball rankings
Remember when South Carolina was considered a football state?
Well, not so much anymore.
South Carolina is producing a rapidly increasing amount of star basketball players and the University of South Carolina’s Final Four run should mean that many young Sandlappers are picking up basketballs at an early age for years to come.
And in the latest Rivals.com national rankings for rising seniors and rising juniors, South Carolina is well represented. The state has top 10 players in each class. But North Carolina isn’t bad either, with a wealth of top 50 talent.
In the class of 2019, for example, Columbia’s Christian Brown (AC Flora High) is ranked No. 10. Brown is a 6-foot-6, 195-pound five-star recruit. Another S.C. star, Columbia’s Juwan Gary (Gray Collegiate) is No. 30 He’s a 6-5, 200-pound four-star recruit.
Joey Baker of Fayetteville’s Trinity Christian is the highest ranked N.C. player, at No. 37. He’s a 6-7 four-star.
In the class of 2018, Spartanburg Day’s Zion Williamson is ranked No. 2 nationally. The top-ranked N.C. player is Jaylen Hoard of High Point Wesleyan. Hoard is a 6-9 forward ranked No. 34 nationally.
Rivals.com Carolinas Rankings
Here are rivals.com recruits, broken up by state, that are ranked nationally.
South Carolina Class of 2018
Name | School | Height | National Rank | SC State Rank |
Zion Williamson | Spartanburg Day | 6-7 | 2 | 1 |
Aaron Nesmith | Porter Gaud | 6-5 | 121 | 2 |
North Carolina Class of 2018
Name | School | Height | National Rank | NC State Rank |
Jaylen Hoard | High Point Wesleyan | 6-9 | 34 | 1 |
Jairus Hamilton | Cannon School | 6-8 | 35 | 2 |
Devon Dotson | Providence Day | 6-1 | 37 | 3 |
Rechon Black | Montverde (Fla.) Academy | 6-8 | 59 | 4** |
Coby White | Wilson Greenfield | 6-5 | 70 | 5 |
Aaron Wiggins | High Point Wesleyan | 6-6 | 116 | 6 |
South Carolina Class of 2019
Name | School | Height | Rivals National Rank | Rivals SC State Rank |
Christian Brown | Columbia AC Flora | 6-6 | 10 | 1 |
Juwan Gary | Columbia Gray Collegiate | 6-5 | 30 | 2 |
Josiah James | Charleston Porter Gaud | 6-5 | 52 | 3 |
DJ Burns | York Prep | 6-8 | 57 | 4 |
North Carolina Class of 2019
Name | School | Height | Rivals National Rank | Rivals NC State Rank |
Joey Baker | Fayetteville Trinity Christian | 6-7 | 37 | 1 |
Josh Nickelberry | Oak Hill (Va.) | 6-4 | 47 | 2* |
Wendell Moore | Cox Mill | 6-6 | 48 | 3 |
Patrick Williams | West Charlotte | 6-6 | 67 | 4 |
*-transferred from Fayetteville Trinity Christian
**-Concord native and former Concord High player transferred to Montverde last fall.
This story was originally published April 20, 2017 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Carolinas players well represented in latest Rivals national basketball rankings."