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Two months ago I took a statistical look at the then-dismal state of recruiting for the 2015 class. By adding star ratings over time, month-by-month, I got a sense of just how comparatively slow the 2015 class was developing.
The total class score for February 2014 (class of 2015) was only seven – just Jamel Dean and Eric Glover-Williams had committed. That was much lower than Meyer’s other two recruiting classes in February, like the 20 for the class of 2013 and 19 for the class of 2014. However, I found that the best months for recruiting were traditionally between May and June and then in December, making me feel more optimistic that the best was yet to come.
So today I thought I’d revisit the total class score to see where the Buckeyes stand once again.
After a run that included commits from top recruits like Justin Hilliard, Jashon Cornell, and Nick Conner, the Buckeyes are seemingly in much better shape.
As of Josh Moore’s commitment last week, the Buckeyes are at a total class score (again, using Rivals) of 46. As in, June and July saw an increase of 36 total stars. June actually was the second-best recruiting month (by total stars added) since February 2009. April 2013 saw the addition of 23 recruiting stars alone.
Comparing the total class scores in July over the past six years, we see that the 2015 class is now square in the middle of the last five classes. 2011, 2013, and 2014 were all better years to this point, but as June showed, the recruiting situation can change drastically month-to-month:
Now, total recruiting stars is a bulk measure – it doesn’t take the quality of individual recruits into account. Most of the latest recruits are rated as three stars according to Rivals. However, the 2015 class nonetheless added a few blue chip recruits and a lot of overall talent – Mark Pantoni has to rest easier than he did back in May.
A lot can obviously change between now and signing day (and that is an understatement), but hopefully this gives us some baseline for predicting how the 2015 class will turn out.