Where Florida’s 2020 Basketball Commits Landed In Final Recruiting Rankings

Popular recruiting service 247 Sports put out their final basketball rankings update for the 2020 class and with that we get to see where all Florida’s commits stand coming into Gainesville.

Before we get into where they all placed, it should first be noted that as much as these are considered the final rankings they are still subject to change, something we saw with Ques Glover when he committed to the Gators last summer. He was an unranked recruit when Florida offered him and when he committed they put him in the rankings as a two-star before ultimately bumping him to low three-star status right at the end of the summer. As much as they will still move guys around from time to time it’s unlikely there will be too much movement as even in a normal circumstance these players in the class of 2020 are done playing basketball in their high school careers with the only exceptions being players who are lucky enough to play in McDonald’s All-American or Jordan Brand games, but even then performances in relaxed all-star showcases wouldn’t change perception that much. And, of course, given the impact of COVID-19 there likely won’t be any of those opportunities this year.

It should also be stated when looking at where players landed that Florida’s coaching staff openly admitted that in past classes they have paid too much attention to recruiting rankings in their opinion and instead have been trying to focus more on who fits the program and the style they’re looking to play. Their behavior in who they chose to recruit and who not to definitely seemed to change when it came to the 2020 class and there was far less star chasing and that shows they were certainly practicing what they were preaching. With all that said, here is where Florida’s 2020 commits ended up in 247’s final rankings.

Athletic wing Samson Ruzhentsev was a big riser over the last year starting outside of the top-100 and steadily climbing up the board finishing 44th in the final rankings, a 12-spot jump since their last evaluation. Ruzhentsev did everything right in his senior year to showcase his talents and display why he’s a top-50 player in this class as his Hamilton Heights team was one of the best in the nation and he led the way in a number of statistical categories. Not only did he put up great numbers for a fantastic team but many of his biggest games were against the toughest opponents that Hamilton Heights faced and when he continuously outplayed players ranked higher than him scouting services were forced to dart him up their boards. Ruzhentsev has high-level athleticism and is one of the best shooters in the class at 6’7” and considering he dominated great competition while leading one of the best teams in the country there is definitely a case for him to be even higher in the rankings and even worthy of a 5-star ranking. Obviously that wasn’t the case in the eyes of evaluators, but it’s definitely possible he could outplay what is already a very solid ranking.

Florida’s second wing in the 2020 class Niels Lane took a bit of a tumble, falling 28 spots from the last evaluation to 144th in the class, his second fall down the rankings as he also fell a few spots in the last update. His Roselle Catholic team in New Jersey didn’t perform as well as many expected and Lane’s production wasn’t great and that had to play a role but ultimately 144th is still an impressive spot for a recruit. The thing about Lane’s game is that he’s not a flashy offensive player and the nuance to his game isn’t always going to be noticeable in small sample size evaluation settings. He’s a physical wing with great size at 6’6” with long arms and a lot of his impact is on the defensive side—something that hasn’t exactly been properly valued in recruiting rankings historically. This ranking might not be the most flattering for Lane but there are a lot of scouts that think he’s a major sleeper and perhaps this drop in the rankings will be used as motivation to him.

Osayi Osifo had a nice jump in the JUCO rankings from 10th to 6th, an impressive leap considering once you’re already in the top-10 there isn’t much place to go. When you look at Osifo’s sophomore season his production and quality of play was on a clear upward trajectory as early in the season he struggled on both sides of the floor but with every week he seemed to get more and more comfortable and by the end of the season he was playing his best basketball. He started finishing more of his attempts near the rim, he started improving his rebounding, and he started to limit turnovers that were really hurting him early in the year. While his Eastern Florida State College team didn’t play up to expectations, Osifo’s athleticism still shined through and it was enough to have him jump to a great place in the rankings.

Obviously when the ball is tipped in the 2020-21 season recruiting rankings won’t matter at all as high school evaluations will go out the window but it’s good to know where the incoming Gators stand in the eyes of refutable evaluators, and it certainly helps give an idea of what to expect from them when they come to Gainesville. Florida’s class is ranked 31st nationally which won’t turn a lot of heads but with a lot of returning talent they won’t be in need of tons of production from the class this year and the players will have a chance to develop and grow.

Eric Fawcett
Eric is a basketball coach and writer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His work has been found at NBA international properties, ESPN, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Lindy's and others. He loves zone defenses, the extra pass, and a 30 second shot clock. Growing up in Canada, an American channel showing SEC basketball games was his first exposure to Gator hoops, and he has been hooked ever since. You can follow him on Twitter at @ericfawcett_.