Boys’ basketball: Rankings that lack credibility

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High school basketball fans love rankings. The only problem when ranking teams is that they should be real high school teams.

ESPNHS has come out with its top 50 preseason teams, and I’ve decided to ignore it because the rankings include teams that aren’t really high school teams, such as Findlay Prep from Henderson, Nev.

California high school teams are banned from playing Findlay Prep, which is pretty much a club basketball team filled with all-star players who attend a high school but play for Findlay Prep. Findlay Prep has few rules to follow and no attendance boundaries.

So rankings that group regular high schools with prep schools just don’t have credibility. But ESPN wants to create events and showcases for everyone, so I understand why Findlay Prep and others get included. They are not legitimate rankings, however.

Santa Ana Mater Dei is ranked No. 6 and Los Angeles Loyola No. 26 in the rankings. This will be the last time I pay attention to these phony rankings.

Here’s the link to the ESPN reasoning for its rankings.

-- Eric Sondheimer