On3 final basketball rankings for Class of 2022

Gerry Hamiltonby:Gerry Hamilton05/02/22

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The final On3 basketball player rankings for the 2022 cycle are here. This rankings release is heavily impacted by senior season play, continued intel on prospects and evaluations from post season all-star games. 

This update includes five new five stars, a new No. 2 and plenty of movement inside the top 25. On3 heavily prioritizes the senior season in our evaluation process, as it has proven to be among the more predictive evaluation points over the course of a high school prospect’s development.

Updated 2022 On3 Top 150 Basketball Rankings

The basketball player rankings scale is as follows:

  • Five-star prospects have grades 98-100, four-star recruits have grades 90-97, while 80-89 grades are for three-stars.
  • The first 20 prospects are five stars with a rating of 98 or higher. The rankings for current cycles will be updated on a regular schedule throughout the year.

Our goal is to assess a prospect’s long-term potential in college basketball, ultimately manifested by the NBA draft.

Let’s get into some of the storylines surrounding the On3 Top 150.

New No. 2 is Leonard Miller

The 2022 cycle will be one for the record books. That is due to a number of highly ranked prospects reclassifying to the 2021 class. The list includes former No. 1 Shaeden Sharpe and top-five prospects Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates.

The higher number of reclassifications opened the door for senior risers to make bigger jumps than usual. Duke signee Kyle Filipowski held down the No. 1 spot in the final ranking with a superb senior season and a game that is college ready to make an impact.

The cycle also saw 6-foot-10 skilled power forward Leonard Miller ascend from virtual unknown nationally to the No. 2 spot in our final rankings.

The Ontario (Canada) Fort Erie International Academy native grew from 6-foot-4 to 6-10 in the last year and a half, and he now has a guard game in a power forward frame. The lefty has an unorthodox jump shot but is a shot-maker. Miller is comfortable on the ball with the ability to initiate in the half-court. He plays with great balance and sees the floor, he possesses the upside to defend multiple positions and will be at his best as a mismatch big that exploits matchups. Miller led Canada in scoring as a senior at nearly 32 points per game.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine has Arizona leading for Miller, but the NBA G-League is in play. Miller has arguably the highest NBA upside in the cycle.

Rounding out the top five are Texas signee Dillon Mitchell, Kentucky signee Cason Wallace and Duke signee Dariq Whitehead. Mitchell is arguably the best athlete in the cycle with an expanding game. Wallace may have the most command of any player in the class with an improving perimeter game. Whitehead is the most explosive scoring guard with NBA size.

New 5 stars in final release of On3 Top 150

Five prospects added their fifth star in this last update for the 2022 cycle.

Villanova signee Cam Whitmore made the biggest jump of the new five stars going from No. 28 overall to No. 7. Whitmore is in the conversation with Dillon Mitchell as the best pure athletes in the class. His performance at the McDonald’s All-American Game and practices grabbed our full attention. There are better shooters at his position and more skilled players with the ball, but not many match his alpha mentality and production between the lines. The 6-foot-6 forward has elevated himself as a senior to a prospect on NBA scouts’ radars.

Arkansas signee Anthony Black has the NBA guard body, and his game is developing at a high rate. Two years ago, the 6-foot-7 star out of Duncanville (Texas) High was receiving offers as a wide receiver, along with basketball. But Black, the No. 9 ranked prospect in the class, shifted focus to hoops only and has ascended to be one of the top guard prospects in the cycle. Black can guard multiple position, initial offense in the half-court, run the wing in transition, rebound outside his area and is a quickly improving perimeter shot maker.

Arkansas beat out Gonzaga for a prospect we believe will be an NBA first-round draft pick, and possibly a lottery selection.

The other new five stars:

Big movers highlight On3 final rankings 

A number of prospects made ascending moves in the updated prospect rankings with solid finishes to senior seasons and post-season all-star games. The headliner is Michigan signee and big man Tarris Reed. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound power forward was extremely impressive at last weekend’s Iverson Classic. Reed has always had the strength, size and willingness to play strong in the paint, but he flashed the ability to stretch the floor with makes from the 3-point line as a senior. That raises his ceiling quite a bit as a strong rebounder, enough vertical ability and now an expanding perimeter game.

Here are some others that saw big moves:

  • No. 45 from N/R SF DJ Jefferson, St. Paul (Minn.) Minnesota Preparatory Academy
  • No. 71 from No. 125 PG Desmond Claude, Oakdale (Conn.) Putnam Science Academy — Xavier commitment
  • No. 76 from No. 142 PF Jorge Diaz, Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy
  • No. 93 from No. 116 SF Prince Aligbe, Minneapolis (Minn.) Minnehaha Academy — Boston College signee

Banner cycle in Texas

The state of Texas arguably had the best class in the state’s history, or at least at the guard position, and Kentucky signee Cason Wallace ends the cycle as the top-ranked prospect from the state.

The 6-foot-3 guard has the most command of any player in the class. The command is on both ends of the floor. Wallace is tough, physical, quick, fast, rebounds and makes winning plays. But it’s an improving consistency on the perimeter that has launched his stock much higher as a senior. Wallace is going from a player seen as a role player in the NBA to a guard that could end up being a lottery pick after one season.

Wallace headlines the class from Texas that includes three five stars, five players ranked in the top 25 overall and 14 in the top 100.

Of the 19 prospects from Texas in the final top 150, only four signed with in-state programs. The Razorbacks came into the neighboring state and plucked two of the top four. The SEC signed more the state (nine), than the Big 12 (4).

State of Texas represented in the On3 Top 150

No. 4 CG Cason Wallace, Richardson (Texas) High — Kentucky signee

No. 9 CG Anthony Black, Duncanville (Texas) High — Arkansas signee

No. 15 SG Keyonte George, Lewisville (Texas) IMG Academy — Baylor signee

No. 23 SF Jordan Walsh, Cedar Hill (Texas) Link Year Prep — Arkansas signee

No. 25 CG Arterio Morris, Dallas (Texas) Kimball — Texas signee

No. 32 C Vince Iwuchukwu, San Antonio (Texas) Southern California Academy — USC signee

No. 35 SG Brendan Hausen, Amarillo (Texas) High — Villanova signee

No. 37 SG Rylan Griffen, Richardson (Texas) High — Alabama signee

No. 46 SF Terrance Arceneaux, Beaumont (Texas) United — Houston signee

No. 49 PF Zuby Ejiofor, Garland (Texas) High — Kansas signee

No. 60 SG PJ Haggerty, Crosby (Texas) High — TCU signee

No. 69 PF Cam Corhen, Allen (Texas) Sunrise Christian — Florida State signee

No. 85 CG Amaree Abram, Humble (Texas) Southern California Academy — Ole Miss commitment

No. 99 PG Austin Nunez, San Antonio (Texas) Wagner — Arizona State signee

No. 102 C Lee Dort, Dallas (Texas) Greenhill School — Vanderbilt signee

No. 103 SF KyeRon Lindsay, Denton (Texas) Guyer — Georgia commitment

No. 109 SG TJ Caldwell, Mansfield (Texas) Faith Family — Ole Miss signee

No. 119 SF Ryan Agarwal, Coppell (Texas) High –Stanford signee

No. 121 PF Colin Smith, Dallas (Texas) Compass Prep — Vanderbilt signee