New-look Jayhawks

With now seven players in Kansas's recruiting class this year, where does this class fit amongst the top recruiting classes in the nation?

-- Ryan from Lawrence , Rivals.com
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Not all the dust has settled with a couple weeks left in the early signing period, but it looks like Kansas' impressively deep class will vie for a top-five spot in the post-spring signing period team recruiting rankings. Although the Jayhawks do not have a five-star prospect in its 2008 recruiting class, the class does include four four-star prospects (Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris, Travis Releford and Tyshawn Taylor), a ranked three-star prospect (Quintrell Thomas) and two highly-regarded junior college players (Tyrone Appleton and Mario Little).

As to exactly where Kansas' class will land in the rankings is tough to nail down at this point. Moving past Georgetown into the No. 3 slot is certainly a possibility. Wake Forest appears secure at No. 1 with three five-star frontcourt players, and UCLA's class with four top 50 prospects looks settled in at No. 2. After these two classes, Kansas' national championship game opponent Memphis might just be Kansas' greatest competition for the No. 3 spot.

Kansas has a deeper class than Memphis, but the Tigers have an elite talent in Tyreke Evans, who will be an instant game changer for Memphis. Along with Evans, who is the No. 6 ranked prospect in the Rivals150, Memphis has three four-star prospects - Wesley Witherspoon, Angel Garcia and Matt Simpkins - to round out the class.

There will certainly be a lot of discussion amongst the Rivals.com National Basketball Recruiting staff concerning the team recruiting rankings this spring. The big question always seems to be how much weight do you give an elite prospect like an Evans compared to the weight of a balanced and deep class like Kansas' class. Purdue certainly reaped the benefits this year of a deep recruiting class full of four-star prospects. But we also saw the enormous impact of individual elite talents like Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love and others.

One way or the other, it looks like the reigning national champions are on the verge of hauling in a top-five recruiting class.