Changes in 2015 GA rankings
Georgia's class of 2015 is an ever-changing group of players. For years, it appeared to be one of the deepest in recent memory. Star power, real star power, returned to the rich soils of the Peach State.
That remains true when you look at the top of our updated 2015 rankings. Sitting atop the list is Wheeler's Jaylen Brown. He's been our top overall player in the state since we turned our coverage up two years ago.
Brown has not only maintained his spot at the top, he's created clear separation from the rest of the pack. In fact, Scout.com recently named Brown the No. 1 overall player in the country. The last player from Georgia to be named No. 1 overall was Dwight Howard.
After Brown, things get interesting.
CLASS OF 2015 GEORGIA RANKINGS
The last rankings update saw very little change. The post-summer rankings? Well, things are quite different from what they looked like going into the July recruiting period.
Why?
A couple of reasons. A number of players have moved out of the state. Doral Moore left Luella for Montverde in Florida. He'll be a teammate now with former North Atlanta and current Florida commitment Noah Dickerson.
Ohio State commitment Daniel Giddens left Wheeler for Oak Hill Academy. Tri-Cities big man Shawntrez Davis will be attending an out of state prep school. That's four top 12 players no longer on the list.
St. Francis/Georgia Stars guard Malik Beasley shined on the national stage this year and locked his position in at No. 2 overall in the state. If the bigs didn't leave the state, Beasley would have still been our No. 2 overall Georgia player in 2015. He had that kind of year.
From there, we slid everyone up in the rankings.
There are a number of new faces now in the top 12. Pebblebrook's Derek Ogbeide (Pebblebrook/Southern Stampede), Shembari Phillips (Wheeler/Georgia Tornadoes), Travon Bunch (Georgia Prep/Atlanta Celtics) and Bryce Brown (3T All-Stars/Tucker) into the top dozen.
HIGH RISERS
Shembari Phillips has made the biggest jump of any player on the list, moving into the top 10. Big man Travon Bunch jumped up 10 spots. Bryce Brown climbed nine. Tope Arikwe (Covenant Christian) jumped eight spots.
NEW TO THE LIST
We've added four new players to Georgia's top 30. These players earned their way into the list: Malik Benlevi (Johnson/Atlanta Celtics), Tim Cameron (Norcross/Atlanta Xpress), Massamba Dioum (Covenant) and Eddie Reece (Georgia Prep/Atlanta Celtics).
OFF THE BOARD
Only four players in the Top 30 have committed to a school. Marcus Sheffield (Chattahoochee/Game Elite) pledged to Stanford. Will Jackson (Athens Christian/Georgia) switched from UConn to Georgia. Tookie Brown (Morgan County/Atlanta Xpress) was the first player to commit and popped for Mississippi State. Don Coleman (Butler/Southern Kings) made an early pledge to Florida Atlantic.
ONE FINAL NOTE
Understand this: the rankings are fluid. They aren't final either. We'll be watching throughout the high school season and will adjust accordingly. The rankings are a subjective list compiled by our staff and reviewed and debated at length.
How the top 30 plays out:
By position (# of players)
PG: 3
SG: 8
SF: 7
PF: 6
C: 6
By county (# of players)
Cobb, Fulton: 7
Dekalb: 4
Gwinnett: 3
Chatham, Richmond: 2
Carroll, Clarke, Henry, McIntosh, Morgan: 1
By classification (# of players)
AAAAAA: 10
AAAAA: 3
AAAA: 1
AAA: 5
AA: 1
A: 5
Independent: 5