Purnell's first class, 2 of Shyatt's classes.[2]
Posted: Nov 14, 2007 4:57 PM
Purnell's first class (Mays, Perry, Cheyenne Moore, Hammonds, and Troy Mathis) was ranked 22nd by Rivals.com.
At the time, their analysts (which didn't include Bob Gibbons), said the following:
Coach Oliver Purnell is looking to infuse talent in the Clemson program to keep up with the ACC powers, and his 2004 effort was a step in the right direction. Point guard Troy Mathis and shooting guard Clifford Hammonds give the Tigers a solid future backcourt. Small forwards Cheyenne Moore and Sam Perry are good athletes who run the floor and can finish. North Carolina product James Mays has a good upside. Final ranking 22.
Moore transferred to George Washington after it was rumored that he and Purnell couldn't see eye-to-eye on his role with the team - he has since been injured every year and has averaged more than 4ppg. Mathis's knee injury made him largely ineffective, he first transferred to a JuCo and wound up at Marshall.
Shyatt had two ranked classes, the 2000 and 2001 classes. The 2000 class had 3 top-100 players, Dwon Clifton (whose heart problems sent him to UNC-Greensboro), Tony Stockman (transferred to Ohio State, among rumblings that he and Ed Scott couldn't get along), and Chris Hobbs (his ranking was based on his junior year of high school, and a knee injury suffered at the end of that year limited him to well below that high ranking).
The 2001 class was ranked 18th by Hoop Soop, and the ranking built around Sharrod Ford (4th best prep school forward) and Chey Christie (ranked 36th by Prepstars, but would transfer to South Alabama after a largely unimpactful career).
