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Thursday, February 14, 2013
 Gordon's rise
By Luke Lapinski

 UPDATE: Wherever Aaron Gordon ultimately ends up, he figures to have a big impact. The rim-rattling prospect has climbed even higher in the rankings of late, jumping to No. 4 overall in the latest installment of the ESPN 100. Adam Finkelstein of Recruiting Nation points out that the big athletic forward is right there with the very top players in the nation, just behind Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. And Reggie Rankin suggests he's made the leap from elite to super elite status. Not a bad way to spend the winter.

Joel Francisco has more below on Gordon's tremendous upside.

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As we noted at the start of the month, there were rumblings that Oregon was trying to work its way back into the recruiting race for Aaron Gordon (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty). The Ducks were originally an option for the five-star recruit, but seemed to have been trimmed from his list of potential schools as he chose to focus his attention on Kentucky, Arizona and Washington.

Dana Altman doesn't appear to have given up hope just yet though. In fact, our own Dave Telep notes that the Oregon coach managed to fit an in-home visit into his team's recent road trip to northern California to take on Stanford and Cal. That suggests the Ducks are still very interested in pursuing the talented power forward. And the fact that they have point guard Dominic Artis -- who can distribute well and played travel ball with Gordon -- can only help their cause. Plus, they're still a Top 25 team with strong NCAA Tournament aspirations, and a program's ability to win on the national stage is going to be important to any elite recruit.

Joel Francisco
In good company
"Blake Griffin comes immediately to mind when handing out a fair comparison for Gordon, but at the same stage of their careers Gordon is at another level due to his passing acumen. When it comes to upside, Andrew Wiggins is at the apex in terms of an unlimited ceiling, but Gordon and fellow power forward Julius Randle are not too far behind."