It's been four years since the class of 2006 washed ashore on the college hoops coastline. You may remember the biggest names: Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. took Ohio State to the precipice of a national championship. Kevin Durant had one of the most impressive freshman seasons in the history of college basketball. Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington brought North Carolina back to the top. The list goes on.
And goes on, and goes on. Draft Express' Jonathan Givony took a retrospective look at the high school class of 2006 based on draft success and college career. The list is -- well, it's kind of insane, honestly. There are a ton of really good players, many of whom have already gone on to the NBA draft, but just as many whose greatest hoops impact was felt in the college ranks.
It would be folly to list each of these players out, but here's a sampling of the players ranked 20-30 in the class of 06: Robin Lopez, Lance Thomas, Mike Conley Jr., Duke Crews, Earl Clark, Brian Zoubek, DaJuan Summers, Quincy Pondexter, Jon Scheyer, Davon Jefferson, D.J. Augustin. That list of 10 is representative of the class in general: There are a few misses here and there, players whose recruiting ranking never really matched their production, but far more frequent is a player that had a big-time impact on the college hoops world.
Scottie Reynolds is listed at No. 38. Hasheem Thabeet is listed at No. 64. Matt Bouldin is No. 65. Greivis Vasquez is No. 93. (No. 93!) Russell Westbrook is No. 114. Ekpe Udoh is No. 153.
Told you it was crazy. Of course, take a look for yourself, and make it a long one; it'll be some time before we see another recruiting class quite this good.