by Alex Schwartz

The Big East greatly narrowed the gap between it and the top-ranked SEC, but as was the case in the November rankings, the Big East is number two. The Big East very nearly checked in at number one this time around, but lacked the upper echelon incoming talent that the SEC is filled with.

The main thing that the Big East has going for it is depth. There are 34 players from the D1 Hoops Report Class of 2011 Top 150 headed to the nation's largest conference. In addition, eight players from the D1 Hoops Report 2011 Post-Grad Top 40 are bound for the Big East, including the top six on the list.

The Big East is tops when it comes to top 100 players and is by far number one in the amount of top 150 prospects coming in. However, with just three top 25 players set to suit up for Big East programs, there is not that much big-time star power on the way.

Below is the complete rundown on the players headed to the Southeastern Conference in the class of 2011. Note that player rankings are based off the D1HR 2011 Top 150 and the D1HR PG Top 40. In addition, note that the top six players in the D1HR PG Top 40 are also considered as top 150 players in all statistics/numbers.

BIG EAST RECRUITING BREAKDOWN
An asterisk indicates that player is a junior college transfer and thus not eligible to be ranked
HM= Honorable Mention; NR= Not Ranked

Number of Top 30 Classes:  9 (plus 3 HM)
Class With the Most Commits: St. John's with 9
Class With the Most Ranked Commits: St. John's with 6

Top Ranked Player: Khem Birch, Pitt
Best Unranked Player: Jabril Trawick, Georgetown
Top Ranked Point Guard: Tyrone Johnson, Villanova
Top Ranked Shooting Guard: Wayne Blackshear, Louisville
Top Ranked Small Forward: DeAndre Daniels, UConn
Top Ranked Power Forward: Khem Birch, Pitt
Top Ranked Center: Zach Price, Louisville

Number of Top 10 Players: 1
Number of Top 25 Players: 3
Number of Top 50 Players: 11
Number of Top 100 Players: 26
Number of Top 150 Players: 40 (including 6 post-grads)
Number of Top 40 Post-Grads: 8

Class Rankings
Rank. School (National Rank)

1. St. John's (3rd)
JaKarr Sampson, SF, 6'7, Brewster Academy (NH), #26
D'Angelo Harrison, SG, 6'3, Dulles (TX), #32
Sir'Dominic Pointer, SF, 6'6, Quality Education Academy (NC), #47
Maurice Harkless, SF, 6'7, South Kent (CT), #50
Norvel Pelle, PF, 6'9, Price (CA), #59
Amir Garrett, SF, 6'6, Findlay Prep (NV), #66
*Nurideen Lindsey, PG, 6'2, Redlands CC (OK)
Phil Greene, SG, 6'2, IMG Academy (FL), NR
*God's Gift Achiuwa, PF, 6'8, Erie CC (NY)

2. Louisville (8th)
Wayne Blackshear, SG, 6'5, Morgan Park (IL), #13
Chane Behanan, PF, 6'7, Bowling Green (KY), #36
Zach Price, C, 6'9, Jeffersontown (KY), #57
Kevin Ware, SG, 6'4, Rockdale County (GA), #103
Angel Nunez, SF, 6'7, Notre Dame Prep (MA), NR

3. Georgetown (11th)
Otto Porter, SF, 6'8, Scott County Central (MO), #28
Mikael Hopkins, PF, 6'8, DeMatha (MD), #62
Tyler Adams, C, 6'9, Brandon (MS), #71
Jabril Trawick, SF, 6'5, Abington Friends (PA), NR
Greg Whittington, PF, 6'8, Oakland Mills (MD), NR

4. Syracuse (12th)
Michael Carter-Williams, SG, 6'5, St. Andrew's (RI), #31
Rakeem Christmas, C, 6'9, Academy of the New Church (PA), #35
Trevor Cooney, SG, 6'3, Sanford School (DE), #85

5. Rutgers (14th)
Myles Mack, PG, 5'10, St. Anthony's (NJ), #73
Jerome Seagears, PG, 6'2, Flora MacDonald Academy (NC), #77
Greg Lewis, PF, 6'8, St. Frances Academy (MD), #87
Derrick Randall, PF, 6'8, South Kent (CT), #117
Kadeem Jack, PF, 6'8, CJEOTO Academy (NJ), #2PG
Eli Carter, PG, 6'1, Brewster Academy (NH), #6PG
Malick Kone, SF, 6'6, Blue Ridge (VA), NR

6. Pitt (19th)
Khem Birch, PF, 6'9, Notre Dame Prep (MA), #9
Durand Johnson, SF, 6'6, Brewster Academy (NH), #4PG
Malcolm Gilbert, C, 6'11, Academy of the New Church (PA), #138
John Johnson, PG, 6'1, Life Center Academy (NJ), NR

7. UConn (21st)
DeAndre Daniels, SF, 6'7, IMG Academy (FL), #18
Ryan Boatright, PG, 5'10, Aurora East (IL), #54

8. Villanova (23rd)
Tyrone Johnson, PG, 6'2, Montrose Christian (MD), #53
Markus Kennedy, PF, 6'9, Brewster Academy (NH), #3PG
Achraf Yacoubou, SG, 6'4, Long Island Lutheran (NY), #131
Darrun Hilliard, SG, 6'5, Liberty (PA), NR

9. Marquette (26th)
Derrick Wilson, PG, 6'1, Hotchkiss School (CT), #110
Juan Anderson, SF, 6'6, Castro Valley (CA), #113
Todd Mayo, SG, 6'3, Notre Dame Prep (MA), #1PG

10. Cincinnati (HM)
Jeremiah Davis, PG, 6'2, Huntington Prep (WV), #124
Shaq Thomas, SF, 6'7, NIA Prep (NJ), #132
Ge'lawn Guyn, SG, 6'3, South Kent (CT), #5PG
Jermaine Sanders, SG, 6'5, Rice (NY), NR
Octavious Ellis, PF, 6'8, Whitehaven (TN), NR
*Cheikh Mbodji, PF, 6'9, Grayson County CC (TX)

11. Seton Hall (HM)
Kevin Johnson, C, 6'10, Taft (CA), #64
Aaron Cosby, PG, 6'2, Northfield Mt. Hermon (MA), NR
Brandon Mobley, PF, 6'9, St. John's Northwestern Military Academy (WI), #13PG
Isaiah Hill, C, 6'11, God's Academy (TX), NR
Freddie Wilson, SG, 6'2, Hillhouse (CT), NR
Haralds Karlis, SG, 6'5, Canarias Basketball Academy (ESP), NR
Sean Grennan, SG, 6'2, Monsignor Donovan (NJ), NR

12. West Virginia (HM)
Jabarie Hinds, PG, 5'11, Mount Vernon (NY), #89
Keaton Miles, SF, 6'6, Lincoln (TX), NR
Aaron Brown, SF, 6'5, Penn Wood (PA), NR
Tommie McCune, PF, 6'7, Saginaw (MI), NR
*Dominic Rutledge, PF, 6'8, Western Texas College (TX)
Gary Browne, PG, 6'1, Arlington Country Day (FL), NR
Pat Forsythe, C, 6'10, Brunswick (OH), NR

13. DePaul (NR)
Shane Larkin, PG, 5'11, Dr. Phillips (FL), #91
Macari Brooks, SG, 6'2, Rich South (IL), NR
Derrell Robertson, C, 6'9, Mendenhall (MS), NR
Jamie Crockett, SF, 6'4, Crete Monee (IL), NR
Montray Clemons, PF, 6'8, Evelyn Mack Academy (NC), #29PG
Charles McKinney, SG, 6'4, Quality Education Academy (NC), NR

14. Notre Dame (NR)
Patrick Connaughton, SF, 6'5, St. John's Prep (MA), #100
Eric Katenda, PF, 6'8, Sunrise Christian Academy (KS), NR

15. South Florida (NR)
Anthony Collins, PG, 6'0, Westbury Christian (TX), NR
T. Jordan Omogbehin, C, 7'2, Atlantic Shores (VA), NR
*Andre Jackson, C, 6'10, Lee CC (TX), NR

16. Providence (NR)
Kiwi Gardner, PG, 5'8, Westwind Prep (AZ), NR
LaDontae Henton, SF, 6'5, Lansing Eastern (MI), NR

Note- photo is of Sir'Dominic Pointer and is from http://charlotte.news14.com/