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Which recruits were summer’s highest ranking risers?

Adidas Super 64

July 28, 2012: Adidas Super 64

Kelly Kline

The problems and sometimes tainted portions of the college basketball recruiting system are well-publicized, but the flip side is that deserving players from areas lacking exposure also result in much-deserved scholarships being issued and later accepted. Every summer seems to feature a few prospects that vault up the charts and the 2013 summer was no different.

Five incoming high school senior recruits that gained in statue based on their performances in evaluation events include the following:

Karviar Shepherd, 6-9, C, Grace Prep (Texas)
It was a case of out of sight, out of mind for Shepherd (pictured), as he sat out his junior season of high school following a transfer to Grace Prep. There weren’t any signs of rust in Shepherd’s playing during the spring and summer, as he showed himself to be a highly-skilled, true post player worthy of recruitment at the high-major level. A double bonus for college coaches is that his teammate at Grace Prep, power forward Jordan Mickey, is also a high-major prospect. There are only a handful of centers in the 2013 class who can step in and play heavy minutes as freshmen, and Shepherd appears to be one.

Bobby Portis, 6-9, PF, Little Rock Hall (Ark.)
When the Arkansas Razorbacks snagged a commitment from Portis last year there wasn’t much known on the national scale about how good Portis actually was. The slender and athletic big man was highly impressive on the recruiting trail for his Arkansas Wings travelling team, and went from being unknown to a legitimate McDonald’s All-American game candidate.

Kuran Iverson, 6-9, SF, Fishburne Military (Va.)
It was a redemption story for Iverson, a defensive mismatch for most small forwards. He was considered among the elite prospects in the class several years ago, but fell deep into player rankings. With past inconsistency behind him, and after a prolific summer in which he showed Lamar Odom-like skills, Iverson is back in most top-25 charts, and is back to being among the most difficult players to stop.

Zak Irvin, 6-6, SG, Hamilton Southeastern (Ind.)
A Michigan pledge, at the beginning of the summer, Irvin was thought of as just one of three early commits to the Wolverines as part of what looked like a burgeoning excellent recruiting class. Irvin had other plans, though, and turned it up a notch showing his lanky frame to be extremely skilled on the offensive end, as a deadly scoring threat from the perimeter. In late July, Irvin has worked himself into being a consensus top-50 player nationally.

Roddy Peters, 6-3, PG, Suitland (Md.)
While it’s true that the DC Assault grassroots program consistently pumps out players to every level of college basketball, Peters was flying under the radar at the beginning of the spring, as he was perhaps charitably described as an inconsistent shooting guard with potential. Just months later, former NBA coach Eddie Jordan and DC Assault was buoyed by Peters during live events in April and July, as he developed outstanding point guard skills in a short period of time and is now a top-20 point guard nationally in the class.

Kellon Hassenstab runs Hoopniks.com. Follow him on Twitter @hoopniks.