The national class of 2016 was one of the best we had seen in years. Harry Giles, although already battling injuries, was the most dominant player in the country when healthy. But his close friend, Jayson Tatum, wasn’t far behind. Josh Jackson was another top wing while the polarizing Lonzo Ball led a point guard class that also included De’Aaron Fox and Markelle Fultz. Bam Adebayo was one of the most physically dominant players in that class, known for his power and athleticism in the paint. A consensus five-star prospect and McDonald’s All-American, Adebayo showed the mobility that would later become the basis of his extreme defensive versatility in the NBA. But that was rarely a focal point of his high school scouting report at the time given his dominance in the paint.

The six-time NBA All-Star has one of the best rags-to-riches stories in the NBA. He was not a high-profile prospect coming out of Tomball High School just outside of Houston. In fact, while Jimmy Butler reportedly averaged close to 20 points and 9 rebounds as a high school senior, he began his college career at Tyler Junior College. This wasn’t because he was academically ineligible or because a D1 school has placed him there. It was because that was his only option.

“He was ranked 73rd in the state of Texas coming out of high school. Not in the country, in the state. No. 72 went to the Citadel. No. 74 went to a Division II school. He was an afterthought in every possible way,” his college coach at Marquette Buzz Williams said. 

Max Strus had even less of a profile in high school than Butler. In fact, althoough he currently stands at 6-foot-5, he was just 5-foot-9 as a sophomore at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School outside Chicago. While a late growth spurt helped him add 8 inches before the end of his high school career, he had only one D1 offer, from Chicago State. Nevertheless, he initially chose the D-II route, committing to Lewis University, where his older brother had played. He spent two years there before transferring up to DePaul.

Gabe Vincent was neither a high-profile national recruit, nor a classic late-bloomer. Instead, he was someone whose talent was already evident in high school. Yet he exceeded expectations over the years with a very linear progression. Injuries reportedly plagued his recruitment, but he still had his choice of mid-major suitors — including the likes of Cal Poly, Lehigh, Pacific, and Portland — before ultimately choosing UC-Santa Barbara. He was known as a high IQ player with a well-rounded game, but never really pinged the radar of national evaluators.

Coming out of Archbishop Mitty High School in California, Aaron Gordon was a consensus five-star prospect in a national class of 2013 that was led by Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, but also included the likes of Julius Randle, the Harrison twins and, further down the list, Joel Embiid. Gordon was an extreme athlete with the high-motor to match. He passed the ball well for his size, but was very clearly a natural four-man at the time. Although, it was well-known that he wanted to play the three — a theme that would follow him to Arizona and then into the NBA as he worked to become a more consistent shooter.  

There was a three-player race for the number one ranking in the high school class of 2017 with Marvin Bagley, Michael Porter and Deandre Ayton all holding the title at various times on various outlets. Porter’s calling cards were the overlap of vertical athleticism, shot-making and positional size. He loved to shoot over top of contesting defenders with a high and compact release and would throw down some highlight level finishes when he got loose in the open floor. He wasn’t much of a creator off the dribble at that point and had a tendency to play upright on both ends of the floor. He and Trae Young teamed up on a Mokan Elite squad that won the 2016 Nike Peach Jam.

Back in 2011, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was both a McDonald’s All-American and top 25 recruit, although he fluctuated between a four-star and five-star prospect depending on the outlet. His shooting ability was considered to be his primary asset at the time, with the rest of his offensive game being a work in progress. He was also viewed as a good defender at the time who was more engaged on that end of the floor than most at such an early stage. Coming out of Greenville High School in Georgia, he ended up committing to his home-state university over the likes of Xavier, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Indiana, Auburn, Tennessee Cincinnati and others.

It’s almost ironic that Jamal Murray is playing in the NBA Finals in a year where more high school players are reclassifying up than ever before. Murray was one of the trendsetters of that path as he moved from the class of 2016 to join Kentucky a year earlier than expected. He still finished in the top 10 of the national class of 2015, in a group that was headlined by Ben Simmons. Murray was among the most skilled guards in the class. He could already separate himself with his ability to shoot the basketball, but did not have the same glaring physical attributes of those ranked ahead of him.