Rankings & School Lists Select Item - Class Of - 2009 2010 2011 2008 2008JC 2007 2007JC 2006 2006JC 2005 2005JC 2004 2003 2003JC 2002 2002JC 2001 2001JC      Derrick Favors retains the top spot in 2009. Check out our top-10 player rankings from the past. You'll recognize a lot of these names. Program Profiles Select Item Alabama Arizona Arkansas Auburn California Charlotte Cincinnati Clemson UConn DePaul Duke Florida FSU G'town Georgia Ga. Tech Illinois Indiana Iowa Iowa State Kansas Kentucky Louisville Marquette Maryland UMass Memphis Miami Michigan Michigan St. Missouri UNC NCSU Notre Dame Ohio State Oklahoma Okla. State Pittsburgh Providence Purdue Rutgers St. John's Seton Hall S. Carolina So. Cal Stanford Syracuse Tenn. Texas UCLA Villanova Virginia Wake Forest Washington W. Va.      TimeTravel: 1980 Top Recruiting Classes Parade of Programs: Conference breakdown from the Recruiter's Handbook Event Coverage Select Item NCAA Calendar      Event Calendar: PrepStars.com features a comprehensive event calendar, courtesy of the NCAA

MORE AUGUST PLEDGES

By PrepStars.com staff
readermail@prepstars.com
August 5, 2008

The early part of this week has been a busy one for commitments, as several more high-major programs have won out for key targets. The mix has been distributed among frontcourt and backcourt players, as well as among seniors versus underclassmen.

Some of the players involved in the news are Ray Penn, Tony Chennault, Joe Burton and John Riek. Clearly, then, some pretty heavy -- in some cases, literally -- hitters have removed themselves from the recruiting race.

PA PG Tony Chennault (2010): Committed to Wake Forest.

Comment: Chennault has been a long-celebrated prospect from Philadelphia, and he'll bring good size, skills and athleticism to Winston-Salem. Though not a particularly great scorer or big numbers guy in general, Chennault stands 6-2 and conceivably could defend either backcourt position. Looking ahead, we'd like to see him become a more consistent scorer. That said, the junior has two additional years of high school (and then some) to develop those skills.

Ray Penn, 5-8 PG, Fort Bend (TX) Bush: Committed to Oklahoma State.

Comment: Penn became the story in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, when he posted outrageous scoring -- and at times assist -- numbers for an outmanned team. To that point in his career, Penn had been considered a lower high-major prospect, but that idea changed dramatically after some stunning scoring displays in Sin City. Penn used his jet quickness and equally quick shot release to scorch the nets, and on top of that he also made several terrific passes to teammates, proving that he can distribute as well as score. Can he do that consistently against Big 12 defenders, especially at 5-8? That's the big question. Still, you have to love the 35.8 scoring average to lead everyone at the Reebok Summer Championships in Vegas.

CA C Joe Burton: Committed to Oregon State.

Comment: Burton is one of the nation's unique players. He's a burly big man in every sense of the word, yet he possesses pretty good agility and skills. In fact, he arguably is the best outlet passer in the Class of 2009. Along with that, he runs the court pretty well and jumps OK when he can gather himself. Still, he must continue to keep his weight at a manageable level, and his conditioning needs improvement.

Ahmad Starks (2010): Committed to Oregon State.

Comment: The Beavers obviously are happy with this week's results so far. Starks is yet another player from the Midwest (following the footsteps of other Chicago and Michigan natives in recent years) to ship out to Oregon for college. A junior, he has good potential for OSU, even if nationally he's somewhat under the radar.