St. John's, Seton Hall and Connecticut all collected impressive classes. The Big 12 has six schools in the Top 30, while the SEC and C-USA have five, and the Big Ten four. The ACC has three.

North Carolina made a late impact in the ratings by signing huge center Neil Fingleton (7-6), a native of England attending Worchester-Holy Name Central Catholic, Mass.

Pac-10 schools suffered double-trouble as the West Coast had limited senior talent and many of those stars went elsewhere. With few scholarships, many schools are waiting for an exceptional junior class.

Although overall results are pending, all but four of the Top 50 prospects have signed. Entrance problems will be common and two schools, Missouri and Arizona have already had defections from current rosters and need to reopen recruiting. The spring signing period will also find traditional powers such as Duke, Kansas, UCLA and Kentucky seeking to regain ground.

1. St. John's: Mike Jarvis signed a trememdous class in F Darius Miles, G Omar Cook, F Kyle Cuffe, C Mohammed Diakite, F Eric King, G Willie Shaw. Both Miles and Cook are top talents and signed on the last day. Some signees have eligibility problems and Miles is considering the NBA. Cook is dynamic and Diakite could be the Red Storm's best big man in years.

2. Seton Hall: F Eddie Griffin, G Andre Barrett, G Marcus Toney-El, F Damion Fray. Easily the best class until Miles and Cook signed with St. John's. Tommy Amaker has this program on the way up and added three Top 50 players in Griffin (considered by many as the top prospect in nation), Barrett and Toney-El.

3. Connecticut: F Caron Butler, G Taliek Brown, F Scott Hazelton. The Huskies follow up a national championship with an outstanding class. Jim Calhoun had to worry about signing Butler at the last minute over UNLV and the NBA remains a real option. Brown and Hazelton are potential stars, but all attempts at signing a big man failed.

4-5. Both Texas and North Carolina have big men and firepower:

Texas: F Brandon Mouton, C/F Brian Boddicker, C Jason Klotz, F James Thomas, G Fredie Williams. This group, powered by big men signed by Rick Barnes, is one of the nation's best. Thomas, from Hargrave Military Academy, is tough and Boddicker was rated the best propect in the state. Purdue wanted Mouton badly and he is a major offensive threat. Other keys were Williams and Klotz.

North Carolina: F Jason Parker, G Brian Morrison, G Adam Boone, C Neil Fingleton. The Tar Heels signed the nation's tallest player (7-6, 308) in Fingleton of Worcester-Holy Name Central Catholic, Mass., over Wake Forest. Fingleton is a native of England. Bill Guthridge has also re-signed the outstanding 6-8, 240-pound Parker, who committed but did not qualify last year, and two of the better guard prospects in Boone and Morrison. The Heels didn't wait for Cook.

6. Indiana: F Jared Jeffries, F/G A.J. Moye, G Andre Owens, F Mike Roberts. Bob Knight's bashers are running for cover as the Hoosiers shocked Duke by signing Jeffries for the top class in the Big Ten. All four prospects, headed by Jeffries, are top quality and should slow down the "Bobby can't recruit anymore and is too tough on players" talk.

7. Michigan State: G Marcus Taylor, F Zach Randolph. Hard to complain about a class with the top guard and center/forward in the nation. Higher-rated schools just had more signees.

8. Oklahoma State: F David Anderson, F Terrance Crawford, G Ellis Kidd, C Jack Marlow and F Ivan McFarlin. Eddie Sutton's Cowboys are very high on McFarlin and Crawford. Marlow is 6-11, 285. Kidd can light it up and Anderson is very quick for 6-8.

9-10. A tie and Iowa-Iowa State games are going to be brutal the next few years:

Iowa State: G Jake Sullivan, C Andrew Skoglund, C Ernest Brown, F Shane Power, F Tyray Pearson. Larry Eustachy signed the nation's premier junior college big man in Brown and added a top junior college player in Pearson. The Cyclones landed two of Minnesota's best prospects in Skoglund (7-1) and Sullivan, a Top 100 guard.

Iowa: C Jared Reiner, F Glen Worley, G Brody Boyd, F Courtney Scott, F Sean Sonderleiter. One of the top Hawkeye classes ever and could be even stronger with one or two more signings in the spring. Steve Alford and his staff signed a highly rated center in Reiner, who passed on UConn and Kansas; a top forward in Worley; and an unbelievable shooter in Boyd.

11. Missouri: G Rickey Paulding, F Arthur Johnson, G Wesley Stokes. Quin Snyder's first class landed three Top 100 talents. Johnson and Paulding are exceptional. Stokes is one of California's best. Forward Omar Weaver, who was waiting until spring to sign, decommitted.

12. Alabama: F Gerald Wallace, C Dan Banko, G Demetrius Smith. Mark Gottfried lost previously committed center Mario Austin to Mississippi State or the Tide would have challenged for No. 1. Wallace is a top forward and Smith, an outstanding guard, was a late addition over interest from Georgia and Kentucky.

13. Oklahoma: F James Wright, F Johnnie Gilbert, F Aaron McGhee, F Daryan Selvy. Kelvin Sampson landed four real athletes who can run and rebound with power.

14. DePaul: F Andre Brown, G Imari Sawyer. Lost Miles to St. John's, but Brown is tough inside and Sawyer is a brilliant point guard.

15. Cincinnati: F Jerome Harper, G Field Williams, F Antwan Jones. The Bearcats have a great class with junior college All-American Jones of Tallahassee Community College, Fla., a late signee. Harper, extremely talented, has questionable academic status and could end up in prep school or the NBA. The Bearcats may sign at least two more in the spring.

16. North Carolina State: F Michael Bell, F Marcus Melvin and G Scooter Sherrill. Herb Sendek captured three of the state's top players. Melvin and Sherrill are pure scorers and Bell is tough.

17. South Carolina: F Rolando Howell, G Michael Boynton and G/F Greg Taylor. Eddie Fogler's Gamecocks won the prize in Howell, who rejected Duke, Kentucky, Connecticut and Clemson.

18. Michigan: G Avery Queen, F Bernard Robinson. Brian Ellerbe had trouble finding big men, but Robinson is a physical swingman and Queen can hustle.

19. Fordham: F Jeff McMillan, F Michael Haynes, C Glenn Batemon, C Yankuba Camara, F Cori Spencer.

20. Marquette: G Terry Sanders, G Odartey Blankson, G Dwayne Wade, C Scott Merritt. Tom Crean came up big with Merritt, a cornerstone for the program. Blankston, Wade and Sanders bring athleticism.

21. Georgetown: C/F Michael Sweetney, F Gerald Riley, F Omari Faulkner, G RaMell Ross (prep school).

22. Oregon: G Luke Ridnour, F Luke Jackson, C Jay Anderson, G James Davis. Coach Ernie Kent had the best overall class in the Pac-10, beating Utah, Gonzaga, Kentucky and Washington for Ridnour.

23. Mississippi: G Aaron Harper, F Justin Reed, G David Sanders. Reed should be a star.

24. Texas A&M: F Nolan Butterfras, F Nick Anderson, G Trayvean Scott, F Jess King. Prep teammates Anderson and Scott are outstanding. Butterfras will fill the middle and King is a talented re-sign.

25. Clemson: G Dwon Clifton, F Deon Dixon, F Chris Hobbs, G Tony Stockman. Plenty of firepower.

26. Houston: F Alton Ford, F Cedric Taylor, F Patrick Okafor, C Chris Booker. Ford is a bruiser and national-quality.

27. Kentucky: C Michael Southall, G Cliff Hawkins. Hawkins, a national-quality guard, was a late steal from New Mexico. Southall is promising.

28. BYU: C Derek Dawes, F/C Jesse Pinegar, F Jacob Chrisman, G Austin Ainge, G Travis Hansen. Dawes and Pinegar were heavily recruited.

29. Louisville: F Luke Whitehead, F Simeon Naydenov.

30. Auburn: F Kyle Davis, F/C Abodu Diame G/F Brandon Robinson.