Rise Magazine recently released its final player rankings for the 2007 hoops class and all five incoming Baby Buckeyes made the Top 100. Seven foot Kosta Koufos was the highest ranked (14) with 6'7" Evan Turner (45) and sharpshooter Jon Diebler (52) in the top half. 6'6" swingman Eric Wallace (95) and 6'9" big body Dallas Lauderdale (98) round out the list. As expected, the guys have been impressive on the all-star circuit and should be licking their chops based on the increased amount of available minutes due to higher than expected roster turnover.
Not to be outdone, the 2008 class looks even better on paper, placing four players in the Top 20. Local product B.J. Mullens (7'1") leads the class at #8 and will pair with Koufos to give OSU a formidable Twin Towers look. Anthony "Noopy" Crater checks in at #16 and is hyped as Matta's next great point guard. Matta's original master plan called for Noopy to succeed Conley at the point but Mike's emergence was more than anyone could have forseen. Now, Jamar Butler will bridge the gap and you have to give Matta credit for keeping his word to Crater by not jumping into the Jai Lucas sweepstakes. 6'5" SG William Buford of Toledo (18) and Nevada's POY Luke Babbit (19, 6'9") round out the list of impressive preps headed for Columbus.
