Where Are They Now? Five-Stars From 2012

Posted by Sean Moran on October 29th, 2015

RTC recruiting guru Sean Moran takes an in-depth look at the players ranked as five-star recruits from the high school Class of 2012. How many of these players are still in college? How many are already out of the NBA? We also encourage you to check out his contributions at The Intentional Foul dedicated to recruiting coverage and analysis. You can also follow Sean at his Twitter account @Seanmohoops for up-to-date news from the high school and college hoops scene. If you have any suggestions as to areas we are missing or different things you would like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.

Note: Scout.com used for all player rankings.

Per Scout.com, there were 25 five-star players in the Class of 2012. Eleven of those players will suit up for a college team this season (after only seven returned last year). At the time of graduation, this particular prep class did not receive the same type of fanfare that its 2011 antecedent had (a class headlined by Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist) or the class that would follow it in 2013 (Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker). Until Nerlens Noel re-classified into the class, Shabazz Muhammad was the consensus top player in the country. Five freshmen were selected in the first round of the 2013 NBA Draft, including #1 pick Anthony Bennett (now on his third NBA team), and there have been a total of nine players drafted in the first round over the last three years. Some prospects, such as Grant Jerrett and Semaj Christon, were drafted in the second round are still bouncing around the professional ranks. Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona, Baylor and N.C. State notched the top five recruiting classes that year, but only the two Wildcats programs (in Lexington and Tucson) were able to maximize that season’s talent influx.

Sean 2012

Going into this season, Arizona’s Kaleb Tarczewski and Kentucky’s Alex Poythress are the highest ranked recruits from the Class of 2012 still playing college basketball. Other players such as Willie Cauley-Stein and Nik Stauskas weren’t five-star prospects, but they put together tremendous college campaigns and came out early as NBA lottery picks. Big things are expected out of Providence guard Kris Dunn this year — just check anyone’s All-America list — but there are also a bunch of four-star players also gracing those same teams. North Carolina guard Marcus Paige, Indiana guard Yogi Ferrell, Kansas forward Perry Ellis, and Iowa State forward Georges Niang are all solid bets to also find their names on such lists this season. Somewhat surprisingly, it could be Maryland that benefits the most from the Class of 2012. The Terps lost one top-50 player to transfer (Shaquille Cleare), but they will be adding two former five-stars to the roster this season: former Duke guard Rasheed Sulaimon, and Georgia Tech transfer Robert Carter. The 2012 class may not have generated much in terms of NBA stardom (yet), but the upcoming college season should benefit from the presence of those guys who are still around.

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