by Alex Schwartz

The Big 12 may be down to just 10 teams right now, but there is still talent coming to the conference. After finishing last year at No. 4 in the conference recruiting rankings, the Big 12 is at No. 3 for the 2012 class right now.

Half of the current members of the Big 12 are ranked in the Team Recruiting Rankings and while it was close between the conferences at three, four and five in the rankings, the Big 12 got the nod. The top two ranked teams both hail from the Lone Star State.

While the Big 12 may not have all that many players from the top 50 of the Northstar Basketball Post-July 2012 Top 150 headed its way, the conference tied for the most players from top 25. That, combined with the Big 12's depth of ranked commits are what gave it the edge for the No. 3 spot behind the ACC at No. 1 and the Big East at No. 2.

Without further ado, here is an overview of how the 10 present members of the Big 12 are doing with their 2012 recruiting classes.

BIG 12 RECRUITING BREAKDOWN
*Asterisk indicates that player is a junior college transfer and not eligible to be ranked
+ Plus Sign indicates player is a post-grad and not eligible to be ranked, but would be top 150 if eligible
^Carrot indicates player is verbally committed, but has not signed NLI
HM = Honorable Mention, NR = Not Ranked

Number of Top 30 Classes: 5 (plus 1 HM)
Class with the Most Commits: Missouri with 7
Class with the Most Ranked Commits: Kansas with 4

Top Ranked Player: Isaiah Austin, Baylor
Best Unranked Player: Jelon Hornbeak, Oklahoma
Top Ranked Point Guard: J-Mychal Reese, Texas A&M
Top Ranked Shooting Guard: Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Top Ranked Small Forward: none
Top Ranked Power Forward: Perry Ellis, Kansas
Top Ranked Center: Isaiah Austin, Baylor

Number of Top 10 Players: 1
Number of Top 25 Players: 4
Number of Top 50 Players: 5
Number of Top 100 Players: 11
Number of Top 150 Players: 16

CLASS RANKINGS
Rank. School (National Rank)
Player, Position, Height, High School (State), Rank

1. Baylor (9th)
Isaiah Austin, C, 7'0, Grace Prep (TX), #10
LJ Rose, PG, 6'3, Westbury Christian (TX), #61
Chad Rykhoek, PF, 6'10, Fort Worth Christian (TX), NR

2. Texas (12th)
^Cameron Ridley, C, 6'10, Fort Bend Bush (TX), #17
Prince Ibeh, C, 6'10, Naaman Forest (TX), #75
Javan Felix, PG, 6'0, St. Augustine (LA), #101
Connor Lammert, PF, 6'9, Churchill (TX), NR
Ioannis Papapetrou, SF, 6'7, Florida Air Academy (FL), NR

3. Kansas (18th)
Perry Ellis, PF, 6'8, Wichita Heights (KS), #18
Landen Lucas, C, 6'10, Westview (OR), #105
Zach Peters, PF, 6'9, Prestonwood Christian Academy (TX), #126
^Anrio Adams, SG, 6'3, Rainier Beach (WA), #132

4. Texas A&M (22nd)
J-Mychal Reese, PG, 6'1, Bryan (TX), #35
Alex Caruso, SG, 6'5, A&M Consolidated (TX), #76

5. Oklahoma State (24th)
Marcus Smart, SG, 6'4, Marcus (TX), #21
Kamari Murphy, PF, 6'8, IMG Academy (FL), #141
Phil Forte, PG, 5'11, Marcus (TX), NR

6. Iowa State (HM)
Sherron Dorsey-Walker, SG, 6'4, Pershing (MI), #70
Georges Niang, PF, 6'7, Tilton School (NH), #73
Nkereuwem Okoro, SF, 6'4, St. Raymond's (NY), NR
Naz Long, PG, 6'3, La Jolla Prep (CA), NR

7. Kansas State (NR)
Robert Upshaw, C, 7'0, San Joaquin Memorial (CA), #63
Laimonas Chatkevicius, C, 6'10, South Kent (CT), NR

8. Oklahoma (NR)
^+Jarion Henry, SF, 6'8, La Jolla Prep (CA) (Note: Henry was ranked #92 in the class of 2011)
Jelon Hornbeak, SG, 6'3, Grace Prep (TX), NR
Buddy Hield, SG, 6'4, Sunrise Christian Academy (KS), NR

9. Missouri (NR)
^Shawn Smith, SG, 6'3, Faith Christian Baptist (FL), NR
Negus Webster-Chan, SF, 6'7, Huntington Prep (WV), NR
Stefan Janovic, PF, 6'9, Huntington Prep (WV), NR
Ryan Rosburg, PF, 6'10, Marquette (MO), NR
^*Quantel Denson, PF, 6'8, Paris JC (TX)
*Tony Criswell, PF, 6'9, Independence CC (KS)
Domonique Bull, SG, 6'3, Tilton School (NH), NR

10. Texas Tech (NR)
^*Daylen Robinson, PG, 6'0, Moberly Area CC (MO)
*Rodrigo Silva, C, 6'10, Laramie County CC (WY)
^*Jamal Williams, PG, 6'3, Lake Land CC (IL)
Dusty Hannahs, SG, 6'3, Pulaski Academy (AR)

Note- photo is of Baylor head coach Scott Drew and is from http://www.roanoke.com/