Time for the 18th annual Mongreltopia Top 50 Lists!

Ok, so there has not been 18 years of Mongrel hoops knowledge and Mongreltopia has not yet seceded from the union and established itself as the world's premier Hoops factory... but it sounds better than just proclaiming I'm going to try to do top 50 lists from the five states I try to follow. Usually bloggers and recruitnik's are wise enough to present finished products, but I get enough input from several readers that I'm going to do things a little bit differently with permission. I'll start with the obvious and add a layer of probables in an abbreviated list and we'll come up with a finished product after I get some input so I can hopefully include some reader comments.

The humble Mongrel can offer two things that make this list higher quality than what you typically see. First, I know how hit and miss recruiting is for the true expert (coaches), let alone the analysts who have less experience and know less about puting teams together, so I'm going to be respectful of criticism and try to learn from it if possible. And second, I'm going to tell you what I'm listing. Some analysts rank the kids they think will be the best two years into their college career, some lean heavily on pro potential, some worship athleticism and some over-emphasize potential etc. I'm just going to guess who would be the most useful college prospect. If I think a kid is almost certain to go pro after a year (John Wall), then I'd prefer a similarly talented kid who is more likely to play longer in my opinion. And that is guesswork, so send me the criticism and I'll work with you. I'll even put a star on kids that I've seen less of than the rest so as to admit more guesswork than I'd prefer (pretending to have seen all prospects plenty of times is a common bugaboo to the genre).

Without further ado (and the good Mongrel is a notorious adoer...) the top 50 college prospects in Mongreltopia (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio) are...

1. Deshawn Thomas (seen above in Indy Star shot)

2. Jared Sullinger

3-10ish... Adreian Payne, Ray McCallam Jr, Trey Zeigler, Myers Leonard, Keith Appling,

11-20ish... Terone Johnson, Jerome Richmond, Cameron Wright,

Others being strongly considered... Travis Carrol, Jesse Berry, Russell Byrd, Crishawn Hopkins, Reggie Smith, Levonte Dority, Xavier Jones, Justin Martin, Nick Kellog, Walter Pitchford, Donnie Hale, Khristian Smith, Jake Kitchell, Enique Mason, Ben Brust, Alex Dragecevich, Eric Gaines, Jay Harris, Crandall Head, Phillip Jackson, Anthony Johnson, Karl Madison, Dre McCamey, Mike McCall, Rayvonte Rice, Alex Rossi, Lenzelle Smith, Brandon Spearman, Ahmad Starks, Jordan Threloff, Julian Boatner, Erik Fromm, Andre Hampton, Michael Harris, PJ Hubert, Jack Isenbarger, Ethan Jacobs, John Michael Jarvis, Jordan Manual, Ronald Ross, Kennis White, Ian Chiles, Dakotah Euton, Donovan Gibbs, Ge'lawn Guyn, Chad Jackson, Ricardo Johnson, Elisha Justice, Elijah Pittman, Josh Sewell, Curtis Washington, Alex Guana, Jon Horford, Juwan Howard, Maurice Jones, Matt Kaminiecki, Patrick Lucas Perry, Roy Marble Jr, Devin Oliver, Corey Petros, Isiahh Sykes, Aaron Craft, Jon Harris, Ralph Hill, Geron Johnson, Kenny Knight, Griffin McKenzie, Allen Payne, Quintin Rollins, Jordan Sibert, Storm Stanley, JD Weatherspoon

Now's your chance, did I leave someone out? Suggestions? Make a good argument, I'll just list 50!