The post-summer class of 2022 national rankings have been released and the HoopSeen 100 is set for the senior class.

We’ve been coast-to-coast with our own events, national camps, tournaments and other platforms over the last year. We’ve also watched hours and hours of film of players from across the country.

Of the 20 years of doing national rankings, this was by far the most challenging of any list Justin Young has ever put together. The schedule is still a bit fragmented and we haven’t had quite as many stages to compare and contrast players in the same settings as we’ve had in the past. Furthermore, the class has experienced a number of classification changes and pro options that we’ve never really had to think through as we have with this class.

That said, we have a top 100 that we are comfortable with. Click HERE to see the full list.

LET’S EXPLORE THE TOP FIVE

We’ve talked at length about the top five of this class and what our rankings would look like on our Just a Minute show that Austin Smith and Justin Young produce on a weekly basis. This top five shouldn’t come as a big surprised if you’ve watched our show. That said, let’s go through a quick snapshot of who comprises our top five overall players in the class of 2022.

Shaedon Sharpe: It’s been a long time since we’ve seen an athlete quite like Sharpe. He reminds me so much of Gerald Green - who we rated No. 1 overall in the class of 2005 - at the same age. Green enjoyed a 13-year career in the NBA. Sharpe’s ability to make plays in the air is as unique of a trait that I’ve seen in this class. There isn’t anyone like him and for this group in the class of 2022, uniqueness was graded with the highest scale.

Dereck Lively: I gave a strong consideration to having him No. 1 in this class. Five years from now, he could be one of the most intriguing players at the pro level. His game has made great strides at the prep level and we continue to see him trending in a upward direction. Lively is the best big man in the class of 2022 and his game has all of the flavor of what the current state of post players look like.

Keyonte George: The Baylor commitment is the smoothest scorer in the class of 2022. The game comes easy to him and pumping in the points is as natural as a heartbeat for him. The Texan fits the model of talented guards who have worn the green and gold. Now at IMG Academy, don’t be surprised to see his game develop into instant go-to status as a college freshman.

Dariq Whitehead: Duke locked his commitment early and they did so with good reason. A multi-skilled, multi-positional competitor, Whitehead should have a value right away that could be quantified like an upperclassman player in Durham. Love how rounded out his game is.

Amari Bailey: Of all of the players in the top 20 in the class of 2022, he is and may continue to be the hardest one to measure because of a lack of apples to apples comparison. His talent is undeniable. Electric and exciting, there is a boom quality to him. Bailey has the same sort of swagger and confidence that fueled guys like Jalen Green and Josh Christopher.

The class overall is, well, interesting. With the exit of Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates, the top of the class lost some weight to it. It also lost a bit of an identity to it.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE PRO-BOUND PLAYERS?

Well, you keep them in there. That’s what. Some have decided to take the pro-bound players out of the rankings all together. At least the Overtime Elite-bound players. We are keeping them in there because they are still part of this class. It was a pretty simple decision for us.

That said, the Overtime Elite bound players in our top 100 are:

No. 13 Amen Thompson, Florida
No. 14 Ausar Thompson, Florida
No. 23 Jazian Gortman, South Carolina
No. 29 Bryce Griggs, Texas

With G-League bound players, we will also include them in the national rankings. For any pro-bound player, if they remain in a “class” and play in North America, we will include them in our prep rankings. Because we do not rank international players, we won’t rank a high school player should he leave for an International league.

FUN WITH NUMBERS

Let’s take a look at some of the notable numbers from this release of rankings.

Florida has a stronghold on the talent in the class of 2022. Of the top 100 players, 18 of the players are playing at a high school in the Sunshine State. Texas is next with 10 players on the list.

Of the top 100 players list, 45 players are already off the board, either committed to a school or a pro route.

Here is a breakdown of the portions in the top 100:

PG: 14
SG: 25
CG: 11
SF: 20
PF: 21
C: 9