by Alex Schwartz

Despite adding Nebraska for these rankings, the Big Ten is the only conference to drop a spot from its November ranking, which was number four. The Big 12 took the fourth spot this time around, but it was quite close between the two conferences. Whichever way you slice it, there is certainly a distinct drop-off after the ACC at number three.

The Big Ten has just one team in the top 14 of the Final Team Recruiting Rankings and although there are two between 15 and 20, there is not quite enough upper echelon talent coming in to stay above the Big 12. However, as was the case with the Big 12, the Big Ten will be adding a number of JuCo players who could have a nice impact.

Interestingly, the Big Ten has just one less top 10 player and one less top 25 player coming in than the number two conference, the Big East. The Big East has much more depth, though, but that lack of elite talent at the top is what put the Big East at number two behind the top ranked SEC, and the same thing applies for the Big 12 and Big Ten.

Below is the complete rundown on the players headed to the Big Ten Conference in the class of 2011. Note that player rankings are based off the D1HR 2011 Top 150 and the D1 Hoops Report 2011 Post-Grad 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 TEN 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:  3 (plus 2 HM)
Class With the Most Commits: Illinois with 6
Class With the Most Ranked Commits: Ohio State with 5

Top Ranked Player: Branden Dawson, Michigan State
Best Unranked Player: Devin Langford, Illinois
Top Ranked Point Guard: Shannon Scott, Ohio State
Top Ranked Shooting Guard: Carlton Brundidge, Michigan
Top Ranked Small Forward: Branden Dawson, Michigan State
Top Ranked Power Forward: Cody Zeller, Indiana
Top Ranked Center: Amir Williams, Ohio State

Number of Top 10 Players: 0
Number of Top 25 Players: 2
Number of Top 50 Players: 5
Number of Top 100 Players: 12
Number of Top 150 Players: 21
Number of Top 40 Post-Grads: 1

Class Rankings
Rank. School (National Rank)

1. OHIO STATE (5th)
Shannon Scott, PG, 6'2, Milton (GA), #25
Amir Williams, C, 6'10, Detroit Country Day School (MI), #42
Sam Thompson, SF, 6'6, Whitney Young (IL), #58
LaQuinton Ross, SF, 6'7, Life Center Academy (NJ), #72
Trey McDonald, C, 6'9, Battle Creek Central (MI), #97

2. ILLINOIS (15th)
Tracy Abrams, PG, 6'1, Mount Carmel (IL), #48
Mycheal Henry, SF, 6'6, Orr Academy (IL), #61
Mike Shaw, PF, 6'8, De La Salle (IL), #78
Nnanna Egwu, C, 6'10, St. Ignatius Prep (IL), #122
Devin Langford, SF, 6'6, Lee (AL), NR
Ibrahima Djimde, C, 6'9, Huntington Prep (WV), NR

3. MICHIGAN STATE (20th)
Branden Dawson, SF, 6'6, Lew Wallace (IN), #24
Dwaun Anderson, SG, 6'3, Suttons Bay (MI), #112
Brandan Kearney, SG, 6'5, Detroit Southeastern (MI), #147
Travis Trice, PG, 5'11, Wayne (OH), NR

4. INDIANA (HM)
Cody Zeller, PF, 6'10, Washington (IN), #33
Austin Etherington, SG, 6'5, Hamilton Heights (IN), NR
Remy Abell, SG, 6'4, Eastern (KY), NR

5. MICHIGAN (HM)
Carlton Brundidge, SG, 6'1, Southfield (MI), #90
Trey Burke, PG, 6'1, Northland (OH), #95
Max Bielfeldt, PF, 6'7, Peoria Notre Dame (IL), NR

6. Minnesota (NR)
Joe Coleman, SG, 6'3, Hopkins (MN), #107
Andre Hollins, SG, 6'2, White Station (TN), #133
*Julian Welch, PG, 6'3, Yuba CC (CA)
*Andre Ingram, PF, 6'7, Butler County CC (KS)

7. Wisconsin (NR)
Traveon Jackson, SG, 6'2, Westerville South (OH), #142
Frank Kaminsky, C, 6'10, Benet Academy (IL), #150
Jarrod Uthoff, PF, 6'8, Jefferson (IA), NR
George Marshall, PG, 5'11, Brooks Prep (IL), NR

8. Nebraska (NR)
David Rivers, SF, 6'6, Little Rock Hall (AR), #136
*Dylan Talley, SG, 6'5, Blinn College (TX)
Corey Hilliard, PG, 6'1, Raytown South (MO), NR
Josiah Moore, SG, 6'5, Norcross (GA), NR

9. PURDUE (NR)
Jacob Lawson, PF, 6'7, Oak Ridge Military Academy (NC), #118
Donnie Hale, PF, 6'8, Bridgton Academy (ME), #10PG

10. Iowa (NR)
Josh Oglesby, SG, 6'5, Washington (IA), NR
*Anthony Hubbard, SG, 6'5, Frederick CC (MD)
Aaron White, PF, 6'7, Strongsville (OH), NR
Gabe Olaseni, C, 6'10, Sunrise Christian Academy (KS), NR

11. Penn State (NR)
Pat Ackerman, C, 6'11, Worcester Academy (MA), NR
Trey Lewis, PG, 6'0, Garfield Heights (OH), NR
Ross Travis, SF, 6'7, Chaska (MN), NR
Peter Alexis, C, 6'11, Holy Redeemer (PA), NR
*Matt Glover, SG, 6'4, Sheridan College (CA)

12. Northwestern (NR)
Tre Demps, PG, 6'3, Ronald Reagan (TX), NR
David Sobolewski, PG, 6'1, Benet Academy (IL), NR
Mike Turner, PF, 6'8, Chicago University School (IL), NR

Note- photo is of Ohio State head coach Thad Matta and is from http://onmilwaukee.com/