Rivals vs. Scout

[CriticalSteve]

Comparing Rivals vs. Scout, there are kids that Rivals thinks are better than others and the other way around on Scout. Running backs for instance and cornerbacks. There are kids that OSU seems interested in that are flip-flopped in the 2 different rankings.

My question, do you think that OSU is closer and more in touch with the Scout guys or the Rivals guys? Option #3, is that they don't watch. But from reading a number of stories, I get the feeling they pay some attention to the Internet sites.

[jwinslow]

Anyone know the ratings of the two sites? I was under the impression that scout was far ahead of rivals, but maybe that is just b/c bucknuts is way ahead of bsb.

Foxsports just bought scout, so maybe that says something right there.

Rivals seems to feature a lot of Ohio basketball prospects, so I don't know that its a regional thing. I think it probably just proves that ranking the top prospects is only good for selling subscriptions, not predicting individual success.

[crazybuckfan40]

I don't really think that the coaches pay attention to the ratings of either networks. They have people read the websites to see if there are any updates on the recurits and stuff of that nature.

I think the staff reilies more on people like John McCallister who gives his ratings to collges. He does mostly Ohio. They also rely on their evaluations at camp and watching their film.

[CriticalSteve]

Here are the comparisons that I was scratching my head about...

Scout
RB
59 3 Star Jahmal Brown (Benedictine) Cleveland, OH
NR 3 Star Norman Whitley (Richmond Senior HS) Rockingham, NC
DB
12 4 Star Elijah Fields (Duquesne HS) Duquesne, PA
NR 3 Star Royce Adams (Glenville HS) Cleveland, OH
NR 3 Star Robert Williams (Withrow HS) Cincinnati, OH
Rivals
RB
Norman Whitley 3 Star 5.7 5-8/177/4.47 Rockingham, NC 23
Jahmal Brown No Star - 5-10/190/4.5 Cleveland, OH NR list
DB
Robert Williams 3 Star 5.5 5-11/179/4.5 Cincinnati, OH 48
Royce Adams 2 Star 5.3 5-11/166/4.68 Cleveland , OH NR
Elijah Fields 2 Star 5.4 6-1/198/4.55 Duquesne , PA NR

[OSUBucks22]

i know one reason for the desparity is grades. i've been told before that scout assumes everyone will qualify and that rivals ususally only ranks guys high if/once they do qualify. there are some exceptions here and there for the great athletes (usually the top 100 or so guys), but guys like the ones on the list ususally get rewarded with better rankings when they qualify.
also, sometimes guys develop a relationship with one site over the others, and that is where they will then send their tapes and highlights. since the sites don't share much, they are ranked lower. then if a guy like Jamhal Brown commits to tOSU or something, the site that doesn't have much on him scrambles to evaluate and get him a deserving ranking.