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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer 7y

ESPN 100 in review: Surprises, musts and dominoes

It’s almost time to close the book on the ESPN 100 for the class of 2017. It’s been a wild run, filled with twists and turns, decommitments and coaching changes -- but 98 of the top 100 players in the senior class are off the board. While we wait for five-star Brian Bowen and former Georgetown signee Tremont Waters to make their final decisions, here’s a look at some of the big highlights from the 2017 class.

Most surprising commitment: Kevin Knox, Kentucky. Knox’s recruitment was never easy to handicap after the opening few months. Duke opened as the leader, but Florida State made up strong ground and North Carolina also made a push in the spring. For a couple of weeks, it even looked like Missouri had a legitimate chance to land the five-star forward. Down the stretch, there was one school no one saw landing Knox: Kentucky. The Wildcats were involved throughout his entire recruitment, but they already had multiple combo-type forwards and seemed content with their frontcourt. Even in the days leading up to his May commitment, Knox appeared to be heading elsewhere. But when Knox made his announcement, it was Big Blue Nation that was celebrating.

Biggest must-have commitment: Trevon Duval, Duke. Mohamed Bamba is a close second, because he completely changes the trajectory of the Shaka Smart regime at Texas -- but Duval’s roller-coaster recruitment gives him the edge. Duke didn’t even get involved with Duval until the fall, and didn’t offer him a scholarship until late November. But his importance to Mike Krzyzewski’s recruiting class grew and grew as the winter and spring progressed. There was inconsistent point guard play all season and Frank Jackson left early for the NBA draft -- and Duval was essentially the only option left on the board for Duke. Had the Blue Devils not landed Duval, there would have been a huge hole in their lineup. Fortunately for them, he’s headed to Durham, and Duke now has the nation’s best point guard prospect running the show next season.

Biggest miss: Quade Green, Syracuse. This one seemed to line up perfectly for Jim Boeheim and the Orange. Green came out of the summer looking like Duke’s primary point guard target, and the Blue Devils were clearly making him a priority. But an August unofficial visit to Syracuse changed things, and the Orange were suddenly in the driver’s seat for Green. A handful of other unofficial visits to the Orange campus seemed to solidify the idea that he was Syracuse’s to lose. As Green’s commitment neared, though, things began to swing Kentucky’s way -- and the Wildcats landed him on decision day in late November. By this time, nearly every impact point guard was already off the board, and Syracuse still needed one. The Orange ended up with four-star prospect Howard Washington, who will have to play a major role right away in Syracuse’s backcourt next season.

Best fits: Troy Brown, Oregon, and Lonnie Walker, Miami. Dana Altman has done a great job the past few years at Oregon with a variety of versatile players, guys who can do a number of things on the perimeter. Brown fits that mold perfectly. He can play all three positions on the perimeter, as he started his high school career as a point guard but has grown to 6-foot-7 and spends more time on the wing now. He can knock down perimeter shots, score in the paint off the bounce or off post-up moves, and guards at the other end. Meanwhile, Walker is the wing scorer that Jim Larranaga needed for next season. Both Bruce Brown and Ja’Quan Newton are playmakers with the ball in their hands, as is incoming ESPN 100 point guard Chris Lykes. Walker is a pure scorer and one of the best shot-makers in the 2017 class. He’ll be able to move freely off the ball, getting open for jumpers or getting his defender in a one-on-one situation. Miami will be tough to defend on the perimeter in 2017-18.

Sleeper to watch: Naji Marshall, Xavier. Looking at the players ranked 51-100, Marshall might end up being the one with the best college career. His versatility really stands out. Marshall is 6-foot-6 and 200-plus pounds, but he’s aggressive with the ball in his hands and is at his best when driving to the rim and making plays for himself and teammates. He is difficult to stop in one-on-one situations, and his passing and ballhandling ability make for a really tough matchup. Marshall’s jumper isn’t consistent, but his playmaking ability will be fun to watch at Xavier.

Biggest domino, part 1: Michael Porter Jr. In reality, the domino is Michael Porter Sr., but we’ll go with his son since he’s the one who's ranked. Porter Sr. was hired by Lorenzo Romar at Washington, and Porter Jr. followed shortly after. When Romar was fired and Porter Sr. was hired by Cuonzo Martin at Missouri, Porter Jr. decommitted from the Huskies and headed back home to Missouri. Once Porter Jr. came on board at Missouri, fellow ESPN 100 prospect and former Washington signee Blake Harris followed to Columbia. Jeremiah Tilmon, a top-50 big man, decommitted from Illinois and went to Missouri as well. Porter Jr. was the linchpin of a top-five class at Washington, and Martin built a top-10 class at Missouri in less than two months that started with Porter Jr. -- and his father.

Biggest domino, part 2: Point guards. This mostly centered around Green’s recruitment, but the topic of point guard dominoes dominated the recruiting landscape in 2017. There were several impact point guards in the 2017 rankings, but only one or two elite guys -- and more schools in need. Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona, UCLA, Texas, Louisville, Indiana, Syracuse, Connecticut and a long list of other typically high-level programs needed point guards in 2017. Duke and Kentucky both shuffled through point guard targets several times, and every ESPN 100 point guard going off the board created an enormous ripple effect for the other top names.

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