The White Boy Report Prospect Update: B.J. Mullens

For the first time since they started compiling their rankings online in 2002, rivals.com has a white-boy atop their boys H.S. basketball ratings. B.J. Mullens, a 7′1” Ohio State commit, took the place of Greg Monroe after Rivals released their final rankings following the all-star circuit. While high ranking recruits don’t always pan-out, you could say that Rivals has been pretty good at getting it right. Here are their top ranked players since 2002.

2002- Carmelo Anthony
2003- LeBron James
2004- Dwight Howard
2005- Gerald Green
2006- Greg Oden
2007- Michael Beasley
2008- B.J. Mullens

With the exception of Green, that’s pretty much a list of superstars and #1 picks in the draft. So what kind of player is Mullens? According to Rivals:

Size, athleticism and skill are the big three that separate Mullens from the rest of this class. It just isn’t very often that you find a 7-foot plus center who can run, jump and shoot like Mullens. He has the type of athleticism that makes you think of Bill Walton and then he has the shooting touch that makes you wonder if he could develop into a Dirk Nowitzki type player. Mullens does need to become a tougher defender and rebounder, but the pieces are there for him to be a number one pick in the draft and premiere big man in the League.

Most of the clips I’ve seen on YouTube certainly display unique athleticism for someone his size, and if he has the shooting touch to go with it, his ceiling looks to be that of a more athletic Nowitzki. The White-Boy Report will certainly be keeping an eye on him during his upcoming freshman campaign.

For what it’s worth - here are the highest ranking White-Boys since 2002, this list is not nearly as promising as the previous list:

2002- Paul Davis (Rivals only ranked by position in 2002 - though ‘Melo was the consensus #1)
2003- David Padgett, #7
2004- Robert Swift, #14
2005- Josh McRoberts, #2
2006- Chase Budinger, #4
2007- Kyle Singler, #5
2008- B.J. Mullens, #1
2009- Travis Wear, #19 (Committed to UNC, along with his twin brother, ranked #20)

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