by Alex Schwartz

The July Live Evaluation Period begins tomorrow, but I will get out on the road today. Over the past several days I have posted both the Northstar Basketball Pre-July 2012 Top 100 and 2013 Top 50. Now, here is the final list before the Live period gets underway, an extended 2014 watch list.

Just over two months ago, the D1 Hoops Report Class of 2014 Spring Top 20 Watch List was posted. That list was compiled with Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com. While D1HR—the scouting service run by myself and Borzello—is still alive and well, our rankings are now separate due to his obligations at CBSSports.com.

The class of 2014 looks to be shaping up as an outstanding collection of talent. It is still quite early, but a number of players have already made major impressions and developed big-time reputations. Although the watch list below includes 40 prospects and all of them are quite talented, about 10 of them seem to be the class of 2014 headliners right now.

At the center position, it is 6'9 Dakari Johnson of St. Patrick's (NJ) and 6'9 Jahlil Okafor of Whitney (IL) who look to be atop the list. Of the power forwards, 6'8 Indiana-commit Trey Lyles of Arsenal Technical (IN) is the top dog at this point. Out of Apple Valley (MN), it is 6'1 Tyus Jones who, to date, has cemented himself as the best point guard in the crop of rising sophomores.

A couple of Texans are considered amongst the top shooting guards in America, as 6'5 Justin Jackson of HCYA and 6'3 Emmanuel Mudiay of Grace Prep both have major reputations already. Theo Pinson, a 6'5 star out of Oak Ridge Military Academy (NC), is the other elite two guard right now.

The trio of elite small forwards right now include a couple of players from NEPSAC schools in New Hampshire. Both 6'4 Wayne Selden of the Tilton School and 6'7 Noah Vonleh of New Hampton have established themselves as upper echelon threes, as has 6'7 Andrew Wiggins of Vaughan Secondary School (CAN).

Without further ado, checkout the Northstar Basketball Pre-July 2014 Top 40 Watch List.

Name, Position, Height, High School (State), College
Shaqquan Aaron, SG, 6'6, Mater Dei (CA), uncommitted
Cliff Alexander, C, 6'8, Curie (IL), uncommitted
Larry Austin, Jr., PG, 6'1, Lanphier (IL), uncommitted
Anton Beard, PG, 5'10, Parkview (AR), uncommitted
Kahari Beaufort, SG, 6'2, Pomfret Prep (CT), uncommitted
Ben Bentil, C, 6'8, Haverford (PA), uncommitted
Joel Berry, PG, 6'1, Lake Highland Prep (FL), uncommitted
Leron Black, PF, 6'7, White Station (TN), uncommitted
James Blackmon, Jr., SG, 6'2, Bishop Luers (IN), Indiana
Trevon Bluiett, SF, 6'5, Park Tudor School (IN), uncommitted
Phil Booth, SG, 6'2, Mount St. Joseph (MD), uncommitted
Dominique Collier, PG, 6'1, Denver East (CO), uncommitted
Devon Hall, PG, 6'4, Cape Henry Collegiate (VA), uncommitted
Justin Jackson, SG, 6'5, HCYA (TX), uncommitted
Dakari Johnson, C, 6'9, St. Patrick's (NJ), uncommitted
Stanley Johnson, SF, 6'5, Mater Dei (CA), uncommitted
Tyus Jones, PG, 6'1, Apple Valley (MN), uncommitted
Khadeem Lattin, PF, 6'8, Second Baptist (TX), uncommitted
Richard Lee, SG, 6'2, Northeast (FL), uncommitted
Josh Level, SG, 6'4, Westchester Country Day (NC), uncommitted
Jalen Lindsey, SF, 6'6, Christ Presbyterian Academy (TN), uncommitted
JaQuan Lyle, PG, 6'4, Bosse (IN), uncommitted
Trey Lyles, PF, 6'8, Arsenal Technical (IN), Indiana
Caleb Martin, SF, 6'6, Davie County (NC), uncommitted
Cody Martin, SG, 6'6, Davie County (NC), uncommitted
Emmanuel Mudiay, SG, 6'3, Grace Prep (TX), uncommitted
JaQuan Newton, PG, 6'1, Neumann-Goretti (PA), uncommitted
Jahlil Okafor, C, 6'9, Whitney Young (IL), uncommitted
Theo Pinson, SG, 6'5, Oak Ridge Military Academy (NC), uncommitted
Wayne Selden, SF, 6'4, Tilton School (NH), uncommitted
Paul Turner, SG, 6'4, St. Joseph (IL), uncommitted
Craig Victor, PF, 6'7, St. Augustine (LA), uncommitted
Noah Vonleh, SF, 6'7, New Hampton (NH), uncommitted
Paul White, SF, 6'7, Whitney Young (IL), uncommitted
Isaiah Whitehead, SG, 6'4, Lincoln (NY), uncommitted
Andrew Wiggins, SF, 6'7, Vaughan Secondary School (CAN), uncommitted
Mitchell Wilbekin, PG, 6'0, The Rock School (FL), uncommitted
Justise Winslow, SF, 6'5, St. John's (TX), uncommitted
Malik Yarbrough, SF, 6'5, Zion-Benton Township (IL), uncommitted
Kevin Zabo, PG, 6'2, St. Mark's (MA), uncommitted

RANKINGS NOTES

- Only two of the 40 players on the list are committed.

- Both committed players are from the state of Indiana and are committed to Indiana.

- Three high schools have two players on the list. Those schools are Davie County, Mater Dei and Whitney Young.

- Based off where players go to high school, 19 different states as well as Canada appear on the list. Nine states have more than one representative.

- The nine states with more than one player on the list are as follows: Illinois (6), Indiana (4), North Carolina (4), Texas (4), Florida (3), California (2), New Hampshire (2), Pennsylvania (2), and Tennessee (2).

- The most common position on the list is shooting guard, with 12 players listed at that spot. There are 10 each of point guards and shooting guards as well as four each of centers and power forwards.

- There is one player under 6'0 on the list, while no players are 6'10 or above, but two are 6'9.

Note- photo is of Jahlil Okafor and is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/