Brian Flinn:
Future150 National Recruiting Analyst. Covering high school basketball nationally.
New York, NY (Future150) -- This is always one of the more interesting times on the recruiting calendar, as the dominoes begin to fall in the month of August and classes begin to take shape.
Some programs get out to an early jump, and hold a number of commitments already. While the class rankings are sure to change in the coming months, there is already two programs who have a legitimate claim for the current top class.
Auburn and Washington have both been hot on the recruiting trail as of late and both have impact groups coming in in the class of 2017, but only one can be considered the top class.
Washington has the best player in this group, Mike Porter. The 6-foot-8 small forward is currently #5 in this class, but turned in a very strong July and looks primed to make a rise.
Joining him is another top 50 prospect in Jaylen Nowell (#35). The shooting guard is one of the more talented scorers in this class and has the tools to be an elite defender.
Rounding out the class are a pair of three star prospects in Blake Harris and PF Mamadou Diarra. Harris is a big point guard who can create for others and Diarra is a high upside prosect that will compliment the scorers in this group with his defense and rebounding ability.
Auburn may only have three commitments to the Huskies' four, but they are all within the top 65.
Davion Mitchell (#28) is the headliner. An explosive lead guard, Mitchell has steadily climbed the ranks over the past year with his strong play as both a scorer and a distributor.
One doesn't have to go much further down the list to find another Auburn commit in Austin Wiley. The Big man is ranked 37th thanks to his ability to change a game on the glass and his rebounding. Wiley is also a skilled scorer who has very few holes in his game.
Rounding out the class is small forward Chuma Okeke. Currently ranked 63rd, he used July to prove that is too low. The 6-foot-8 is a legitimate wing and can put points up on all three levels. Okeke is a very good rebounder for his position and also has the tools to be an elite defender in time.
So who has the better class? At this point, Future150 would give Washington the slight nod. Having a potential NBA player like Mike Porter breaks the tie between the two. Both programs are still involved with a bevy of four and five star prospects, and certainly other programs will begin to stockpile talent as well.
While there is still a ton of time before the 2017 classes are finished, there is no denying that Auburn and Washington will have the talent to finish with no worse than top ten classes. Follow along with Future150 as the dominoes continue to fall.
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