2010 Positional Rankings UpdatedBy: Aran_Smith

With just over a week before the college season gets underway, it’s time to take a look at the top prospects by position. We’ll update these rankings every month or so as the season rolls along leading up to the draft.

2010 Positional Rankings

Looking at the 2010 draft field by position:

Point Guard

At point guard there’s John Wall, and then the
talent level drops off like the Grand Canyon.

As a matter of fact Wall stands as the likely #1 pick going into the season, and
there isn’t another point guard that’s a lock to go in the 2010 first round.

UCLA’s Malcolm Lee, Georgia Tech’s Iman
Shumpert and Washington’s Abdul Gaddy are
all big point guards for the future but there’s a good chance they’ll need an
additional season before attempting a jump to the league.

Kansas’ Sherron Collins has been compared
by some NBA scouts to Khalid El-Amin due to his less than svelte physique. His
off-season conditioning is an important factor. He’s developed into a terrific
leader and has go to ability which helps make up for his lack of innate point
guard skills.

Big East floor generalsKemba Walker (UConn), Chris Wright (Georgetown) and
Corey Fisher (Villanova) appear primed for break out years.

Experienced point guards Greivis Vasquez
(Maryland) and Kalin Lucas (Michigan State) could make strong pushes this
season on quality teams.

Shooting Guard

Picking a top shooting guard prospect is a little more difficult. The position
has solid depth and some nice star power.

There is no consensus among scouts but Willie
Warren gets the most love after his breakout freshman year and ability to
take over games. Warren doesn’t fit a classic NBA position but may end up a top
10 pick nonetheless. His strength, explosiveness and aggresiveness should allow
him to "Youtube" a few opponents this season.

It is close, but our choice is Mississippi’s Terrico
White. White has better size and similar ability to play both guard positions
(as Warren). He’s a little smoother driving to the basket and has more potential
to move over and run the show from the lead guard position.

Ohio State’s duo of Evan Turner and William
Buford both have lottery potential and although Turner is further along in
his development, Buford is the one with more long term potential. Turner’s ability
to make plays for others and all around feel for the game has drawn comparisons
to Brandon Roy. Buford on the other hand has more traditional shooting guard skills
with elite athleticism and a silky outside shot.

A trio of freshmen guards in Avery Bradley,
Xavier Henry, and
Michael Snaer should all have instant impacts
and could look to jet early. Bradley could see time at point guard for Texas and
has the dynamic athleticim (6-9 wingspan) and skills to overcome his lack of size
at 6-2. Henry could struggle with footspeed but shows a feathery outside shot
and excellent body strength. Michael Snaer improved considerably in his senior
year of high school and with his speed and athleticsm appears to be a potential
2-year and out first rounder.

Oklahoma State’s James Anderson will look
to improve upon his consistency and ball handling but has the shooting stroke
and size of a prototypical NBA 2.

Cal’s Patrick Christopher rounds out
the SG list as the lone senior. He had a strong showing over the summer at the
LeBron Skills Academy and will look to make his last NCAA season impactful.

Small Forward



The small forward position contains a lot of potential but a lot of unproven talent.
West Virginia’s Devin Ebanks has the goods
to become a top 5 pick and appears to be not only the top small forward prospect
in the country but the top prospect in the Big East.

Wake Forest’s Al Farouq-Aminu will assume
command of the ship with former teammates (James Johnson and Jeff Teague) off
to the NBA. He could easily climb to the top of the small forward rankings.

Paul George is another intriguing wing prospect
with the potential to land in the mid lottery if everything falls into place.
He still has some cracks in his game to fill, most glaring being his ball handling.

Czech Republic’s Jan Vesely has already become
a highly productive European player. Able to play either forward spot, Vesely
has the versatility and quickness to become a small forward in the future.

At opposite ends of the (ACC) spectrum are Duke’s Kyle Singler
and UNC’s John Henson. Singler has the experience
and ability to potentially lead Duke back to the Final Four, a place they have
been absent from for over 5 years. Henson on the other hand has tons of longterm
potential but could struggle early with his adjustment to playing small forward
and with strength and physical (maturity). Both players will be asked to play
on he perimeter with the deep frontcourts that their teams both possess. If Singler
is able to dominate Henson in their match ups, Duke could easily get the upper
hand in this year’s rivaly.

Other possible first rounders include Luke Babbitt
(shooting), Tyler Smith (glue), Stanley
Robinson (athleticism), and Wesley Johnson
(shooting).

Power Forward



The power forward position is by far the deepest and most talented in this year’s
draft. Narrowing down a top 10 was by far the most difficult with deserving players
such as Gani Lawal and JaMychal
Green getting left off.

This year is reversed from last year with no clear cut #1 (Blake
Griffin last year), but a ton of all around talent and depth (last year had
lots of point guards with no clear cut guy, the way this year has with Wall).

Ed Davis gets a slight edge over both Donatas
Motiejunas and Derrick Favors. Davis’
ability to impact both ends of the floor and all around intensity and projected
improvement gives him the nod.

Motiejunas has the size and offense to become a top 3 pick and is beginning to
make us look good for saying that he had more NBA potential than Ricky Rubio a
few years ago.

Favors has reportedly improved his offensive game and has superior length and explosiveness. He’s not a lock for the top 10 but shows the potential to be a top 5 pick.

Craig Brackins could have gone pro last
year and been a top 20 pick but decided to return to improve his skills. He’s
got an excellent face up game and will have a chance to get into the lottery with
another strong campaign.

Kentucky’s top holdover Patrick Patterson
lacks optimum size but makes up with tenacity. He’s said to have worked hard on
his shot over the summer and succesfully added range to his shot.

Greg Monroe is possibly the most versatile
"big" at the college level. He surprised many with his decision to return
although with Georgetown’s meltdown last year he obviously felt he had unfinished
business.

Kentucky’s "other" big DeMarcus
Cousins could move way up the PF list as there’s just a small handful of players
in college with the talent he possesses. Developing focus and consistency and
playing up to his ability will be the key for him.

Jarvis Varnado is on pace to break the all
time NCAA shot blocking record. Granted the stat has only been tracked during
the modern era. Varnado is still a beanpole but it doesn’t stop him from battling
for every rebound.

Arkansas’s Michael Washington has a
high motor and shows excellent rebounding and scoring ability. Washington (along
eith Varnado and Tyler Smith) should contend for the top senior prospect in the
nation this year.

Center



The center position was extremely weak last year with just 2 (Hasheem Thabeet and BJ Mullens) taken in the entire 2009 draft. This year should be different with much better all around depth and talent.

Kansas’ Cole Aldrich showed amazing improvement
from his freshman to sophomore years and figures to be the top center to be taken.

Long and athletic Larry Sanders (VCU)
and Solomon Alabi (Florida State) are intriguing
bigmen with excellent upside. Both are defensive presences and show some potential
to emerge offensively.

Oakland sleeper Keith Benson could break out this year and even become a late first rounder. He shows an excellent
shooting stroke and the length and explosiveness to be a shot blocking presence.

Vanderbilt’s junior bigman AJ Ogilvy has the
potential to become a first rounder as well and although he doesn’t wow with his
athleticism, he is solid in all areas.

Seniors Jerome Jordan (Tulsa) and Dexter
Pittman (Texas) have one more chance to prove themselves and audition for
a spot in the first round. Both have intrigue with their size and a
big season would obviously help their cause.

England’s Ryan Richards is one of the most
intriguing Euros at this point. He’s probably a couple years away but should be
far enough along to help out the home team in the 2012 Olympics.

Tony Woods struggled mightily as a freshman
and could be a year away from truly being ready to impact, but shows nice explosiveness
and potential.

Brazilian Paulo Prestes, playing in Spain,
is a workhorse who, though undersized, has long arms and the toughness to play inside.

2010 Positional Rankings

A look at the final rankings from last year: 2009 Positional Rankings