Scout Expands Their 2018 Basketball Recruiting Rankings

We already looked at ESPN’s 2017 and 2018 rankings a little while ago, and we got a chance to break down Scout’s new 2017 rankings. Now they’ve attacked their 2018 rankings after another summer of grassroots basketball events, and Scout has boosted their rankings from a top 75 to a top 100.

As was the case with the ESPN Top 60 for two years from now, the Scout Top 100 for 2018 chock full of guys that Marquette has expressed an interest in already. It’s an odd far cry from the 2017 lists where Steve Wojciechowski and his staff are largely focusing on guys who are on the edge of the top 100 or even well off that edge, depending on how you define it. Given that Wojo and his assistants had to be pretty much aware of what the roster was going to be next year - aka no one over 6’7” except for Matt Heldt - it’s kind of weird to see them focus on big men deep in the rankings in 2017 but be all over guys in the top 100 in 2018.

Anyway, on to the gigantic list of Marquette prospects in 2018, at least according to the recruiting wizards at Scout.

• Simi Shittu, #7
• Immanuel Quickley, #10
• Joey Hauser, #13
• Jalen Smith, #14
• Courtney Ramey, #19
• Ayo Dosunmu, #20
• Prentiss Hubb, #24
• Tre Jones, #25
• Quentin Grimes, #35
• Tyler Herro, #42
• Matthew Mayer, #49
• Race Thompson, #71
• Jaedon Ledee, #72
• Kiyon Boyd, #84
• Tim Finke, #96

That is just a TON of dudes for what could be as little as two open scholarship spots in the fall of 2018. Sandy Cohen, Andrew Rowsey, and Duane Wilson are slated to be MU’s three seniors in the spring of 2018, but one of those three spots is already spoken for for a player that’s already signed. Brendan Bailey’s on a two year Mormon mission right now, and he’s expected to arrive on campus at some point in the summer of 2018. That leaves just two expected spots next to Bailey. Things can shift a lot and in a hurry between now and then, but that’s at least the picture as we can see it now.

The most notable items on this list are the positioning of Joey Hauser and Courtney Ramey. Hauser was “only” ranked #36 by ESPN, but he’s a top 15 guy here. As the younger brother of current MU freshman Sam Hauser and the top prospect in the state of Wisconsin by any measure, Joey is a tippy top priority for Wojo & Co.

Ramey coming in at #20 is a gigantic step for the 6’3” point guard from Webster Groves, Missouri. He wasn’t in the ESPN top 60 at all, but snags a top 25 spot from the boys over at Scout. Ramey recently stated that he definitely wants to take a visit to Marquette, but since he listed seven schools that he wants to see in person, it’s clear that he’s talking about unofficial visits at this point.

Tre Jones and Race Thompson join Ramey on the list of “guys who ESPN didn’t have ranked” although with Thompson down at #71, that would give the World Wide Leader a little bit of cover, at least for now. Jones is the younger brother of Minnesota Timberwolves guard Tyus Jones, who, if you’ll remember, attended Duke University for one year. You might say “hey, that one season was Wojo’s first year at Marquette,” and you’d be right. But that means that Jones was already signed to play in Durham by the time Wojo made the move to Milwaukee, so at the very least, Tyus & Tre’s family are a bit familiar with Marquette’s current head man.

You can check out Scout’s full top 100 starting right here.