By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

The Class of 2017 is quickly shaping up to be another bumper crop of high-level prospects, evidenced by the sheer number of verbal commitments to top programs. In fact, 23 of the top 100 sophomores in the updated and expanded overall rankings are already verbally committed, with several more sitting on offers. 

The landscape of the updated overall Class of 2017 player rankings have changed dramatically, chiefly because the landscape of the Prep Baseball Report state-specific coverage area has expanded since the last update.

It is important to note that the PBR overall rankings only reflect the states that we intimately know from our boots-on-the-ground scouting staff. States that we are not currently in – and even new states that we are in, but don’t have a proper handle on all the prospects – are not included in the overall rankings.

The updated Top 100 Class of 2017 rankings now includes Tennessee, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa and Massachusetts, in addition to our long-established states. Florida prospects are not yet included in the PBR overall rankings.

Over the last three months, many prospects have made significant improvements on the regional and national levels. While there were many big risers in the updated rankings, the top 10 remains largely intact.

RHP Ben Jordan (West Carter HS, KY) holds firm at No. 1. The athletic 6-foot-8, 205-pounder headlines an extraordinarily talented class in Kentucky, one that includes three players in the top 12, along with RHP/OF Jordon Adell (Ballard HS, KY) and LHP Gavin Sullivan (Eastern HS, KY). While Jordan is uncommitted, both Adell and Sullivan are verballed to Louisville. (Louisville, incidentally, already has seven 2017 commitments in the Prep Baseball Report’s 20-state coverage area, clearly the most of any school).

SS Nolan Williams (Turner HS, KS) and LHP Hunter Milligan (Grienbrier HS, AR) stay at No. 2 and 3, respectively. The 6-foot-1 Williams is a physically gifted athlete who ran a 6.61 laser-timed 60, was 90 mph across the infield and registered 93 mph exit velocity at the Prep Baseball Report Future Games last August. Williams, who is uncommitted, follows in the footsteps of 2016 RHP Riley Pint (St. Thomas Aquinas HS, KS), the No. 1-ranked 2016 prospect in the country. Milligan, a 6-foot-4 left-hander, is verbally committed to Mississippi State.

RHP Nicholas Storz (Poly Prep Country Day, NY), LHP Hugh Fisher (Briarcrest Christian HS, TN), OF Joe Lancellotti (Archbishop Wood HS, PA), LHP Brian Gursky (St. Joseph HS, IN) and RHP Tyler Brown (Olentangy Orange HS, OH) all return in the top 10.The only newcomer in the top 10 is RHP Jake Hausmann (CBC HS, MO), a highly athletic 6-foot-5, 190-pounder who lit it up at the Missouri Underclass Games in October.

A look at the Top 10:

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Commitment
1	Ben Jordan	KY	West Carter	2017	RHP
2	Nolan Williams	KS	Turner	2017	SS
3	Hunter Milligan	AR	Greenbrier	2017	LHP	Mississippi State
4	Nicholas Storz	NY	Poly Prep Country Day	2017	RHP
5	Jordon Adell	KY	Ballard	2017	RHP	Louisville
6	Hugh Fisher	TN	Briarcrest Christian	2017	LHP	Vanderbilt
7	Jake Hausmann	MO	CBC	2017	RHP
8	Joe Lancellotti	PA	Archbishop Wood	2017	OF	North Carolina
9	Brian Gursky	IN	St. Joseph	2017	LHP
10	Tyler Brown	OH	Olentangy Orange	2017	RHP

CLICK HERE for complete Top 100 Class of 2017 Rankings