How were these NBA stars ranked in high school?

Recruiting rankings may be an inexact science, but for the most part, at least with the top-level players, they can be pretty indicative of future success; guys ranked in the Top-2 or -3 of their classes usually wind up achieving some sort of success as professionals.

But that’s not always the case.

And just like some elite prospects end up being busts, as you’ll find out, many players rated lowly coming out of high school end up becoming superstars as professionals.

Below, find out where various NBA stars ranked as high-school prospects.

JIMMY BUTLER, 2008: NO. 1253

Not only was All-Star wing Jimmy Butler the 1253rd-ranked player in his recruiting class, according to 247Sports, he was the 226th-ranked junior college prospect, to boot.

Talk about beating the odds.

Not a single junior college player ranked ahead of Butler on the list ended reaching the NBA. Butler, meanwhile, has played over 16,000 career minutes in the Association and has four All-Star appearances and two 3rd Team All-NBA’s to his name.

STEPHEN CURRY, 2006: NO. 263

An undersized pure point guard coming out of high school, Stephen Curry ended up attending Davidson College after being ranked the 263rd-best player in his recruiting class.

Of course, what everyone remembers from Curry’s recruitment was the fact that Virginia Tech, the school Dell Curry, his father, put on the map, and the school the younger Curry also wanted to attend, opted not to offer him a scholarship (they did offer him as a walk-on). Obviously, we all know how that story ended. Curry blossomed into a collegiate star, leading Davidson to the Elite Eight in 2008, while the Hokies made the NCAA Tournament just once during Curry’s time in college.

To be fair, though, we can’t just knock Virginia Tech about that, since just about every other major program also passed on recruiting Curry.

In hindsight, not a great decision by those schools, just passing on a future two-time NBA league MVP.

DAMIAN LILLARD, 2008: NO. 214

Like Curry, Damian Lillard wasn’t too highly thought of as a recruit.

A 6-foot-1 point guard out of Oakland, California, Lillard’s list of offers included Fresno State, Boise State and Montana. Of course, Lillard ended up attending Weber State, where he earned Big Sky Player of the Year award honors twice.

Some of the players rated higher than Lillard in the 2008 recruiting class include Luke Babbit, Quincy Acy and Iman Shumpert.

PAUL GEORGE, 2008: NO. 202

A fellow class of 2008 member with Lillard, Paul George likewise struggled to get much buzz as a high-school prospect. Failing to crack the Top 200 of his class, George mostly received interest from programs such as Pepperdine, Santa Clara and Fresno State coming out of the prep ranks.

George wound up attending Fresno State (meaning we were potentially close to seeing George and Lillard on the same college team), where he averaged 15.5 points over two seasons before declaring for the NBA draft.

VICTOR OLADIPO, 2010: NO. 139

Despite being ranked a three-star recruit, Victor Oladipo did receive high-major interest from programs such as Notre Dame, Clemson and Indiana.

Ultimately, Oladipo wound up playing for Tom Crean at Indiana, where he spent three seasons and became a 1st Team All-American, the Sporting News Player of the Year and the Adolph Rupp Trophy winner as a junior. Known as a two-way force in college, Oladipo surpassed the expectations he had coming in and wound up being the second pick in the 2013 draft.

RUSSELL WESTBROOK, 2006: NO. 137

A high three-star prospect in high school, Russell Westbrook thrived over two seasons at UCLA, earning Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year honors as a sophomore, and reaching the Final Four each year in college.

As a freshman, Westbrook played backup to current Indiana Pacers point guard Darren Collison. He then earned the starting job in his second year, when he formed a nasty tandem with Kevin Love that got UCLA within two games of a national title.

Some of the players ranked ahead of Westbrook, the 2017 league MVP, in high school include Brandan Wright, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, which shows just how inexact of a science recruiting can be.

DRAYMOND GREEN, 2008: NO. 69

Coming out of high school, Draymond Green had offers from some of the top programs in the midwest, including Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio State, all of which he spurned to play for Tom Izzo at Michigan State.

Green spent four years in East Lansing, the last of which was easily his most impressive. The Golden State Warriors big man was a consensus All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year as a senior, as well as the National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year. That season, he also helped Michigan State become the Big Ten regular season and tournament champions.

Despite good standing as a high-school prospect and a ridiculous senior year where he averaged 16.2 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, Green still fell to the second round of the 2012 draft, before being taken with the 35th pick by Golden State.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

KAWHI LEONARD, 2009: NO. 57

Despite being a four-star prospect and the No. 8 player in California as a high school senior, Kawhi Leonard’s only offer was from San Diego State, where the forward spent two seasons prior to declaring for the NBA Draft.

As a sophomore, Leonard was named a consensus All-American after averaging 15.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game and helping lead the Aztecs to a 34-3 season and the Sweet 16 of that year’s tournament.

KLAY THOMPSON, 2008: NO. 42

A near five-star prospect in high school, Klay Thompson considered offers from Michigan and Notre Dame before deciding to attend Washington State.

Thompson spent three years there, and although he didn’t experience much team success (zero NCAA tournament appearances would attest to that), he did have an impressive individual career, averaging 17.9 points per game and shooting 39 percent from three. To this day, Thompson ranks third all-time in scoring at Washington State with 1,756 points.

KYLE LOWRY, 2004: NO. 29

A Top-30 prospect and the top player out of Pennsylvania in 2004, Kyle Lowry decided to attend Villanova, spurning offers from UConn, Florida State and Arkansas in the process.

Lowry had two very successful years at Villanova, playing the role of backup to Randy Foye as a freshman before earning the starting job in his second season. His sophomore year, the final one he would spend in college before declaring for the draft, Lowry averaged 11.0 points and 3.7 assists while helping lead Villanova to the Elite Eight, where they finally succumbed to the eventual national champions, Florida.

BLAKE GRIFFIN, 2007: NO. 18

The No. 18 player in his class and a consensus five-star recruit, Blake Griffin proved the recruiting services correct after a stellar sophomore year where he earned National Player of the Year honors after averaging 22.7 points and 14.4 rebounds per contest. That season, Griffin also led Oklahoma to the Elite Eight.

Of course, recruiting rankings still aren’t perfect, as Griffin was rated lower than guys such as Anthony Randolph and Kosta Koufos coming out of high school. Still, tough to criticize the recruiting services too much with Griffin earning a five-star ranking and living up to it during his time as a Sooner.

JOEL EMBIID, 2013: NO. 14

A Top-15 player nationally and the No. 2 center in the country, Joel Embiid had one-and-done written all over him as a high-school prospect. After choosing to attend Kansas, Embiid would go on to average 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game in his one year as a Jayhawk, earning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors for his troubles.

While at Kansas, Embiid teamed up with the No. 1 player of the 2013 class, Andrew Wiggins, to form a nasty tandem. Unfortunately, the duo failed to make much noise in that year’s NCAA Tournament due to Embiid suffering a stress fracture in his back just before the postseason.

JAMES HARDEN, 2007: NO. 14

We already covered the No. 16 player in the 2007 class in Harden. Well, the player ranked two spots ahead of him on that year’s ranking was none other than James Harden, the reigning league MVP.

Harden, the No. 1 player out of California that year, chose Arizona State over offers from Arizona, USC and UCLA. Over two campaigns in Tempe, Harden averaged 19.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, earning Pac-10 Player of the Year honors as a sophomore, as well as achieving consensus All-American status that season.

Harden would then declare he was turning pro, getting selected No. 3 overall in the 2009 draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE, 2004: NO. 13

The No. 13 player in his recruiting class and the No. 5 center overall, LaMarcus Aldridge, a Texas native, chose Texas over offers from Oklahoma and Florida in 2004, before spending two successful years in Austin prior to joining the NBA.

Over those two seasons, Aldridge, teaming up with current Houston Rocket PJ Tucker, averaged 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, helping Texas reach the Elite Eight in his sophomore season.

It would be easy to criticize the recruiting rankings for having Aldridge as merely the fifth-best center in the country for his class, especially considering the big man would go on to make seven All-Star rosters (and counting) as a pro, but two of the centers Aldridge was ranked behind were Dwight Howard and Al Jefferson, who both went on to enjoy long, fruitful careers in the NBA.

To be fair to Aldridge, though, we can’t really defend the recruiters ranking him behind Randolph Morris and Robert Swift in the 2004 class.

KEMBA WALKER, 2008: NO. 12

Kemba Walker, a high-profile recruit in the 2008 class out of New York, chose UConn over a host of other offers, including Memphis, Florida State and Miami. Walker was somehow just the fifth-ranked point guard in his class, trailing behind top-overall recruit Brandon Jennings, as well as Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans and Willie Warren.

Walker, who eventually earned the moniker Cardiac Kemba while in college, went on to have an incredible career at UConn. In particular, his junior year – where he averaged 23.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, and earned NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player and consensus All-American honors – was downright historic.

Walker even helped guide Connecticut to a national title in 2010-11, the third in program history. Over his final 17 games in college, including that memorable Big East and NCAA Tournament run, Walker averaged 24.5 points nightly, hitting clutch shot after clutch shot to help UConn reach unforgettable heights.

CHRIS PAUL, 2003: NO. 12

Like Walker, Chris Paul, an elite point guard in his own right, was also the No. 12 player in his class five years prior. Of course, looking back, that ranking is easy to nitpick, as there’s no way Paul should have been placed anywhere lower than second in that year’s class, behind just one player who we’ll get to later.

Over his two seasons at Wake Forest, Paul averaged 15.0 points, 6.3 assists and 2.5 steals per game, helping the Demon Deacons reach two NCAA Tournaments, getting as far as the Sweet 16 once. Paul was deemed a consensus All-American in his sophomore season, and the ACC Rookie of the Year in his first campaign.

DEMAR DEROZAN, 2008: NO. 6

DeMar DeRozan, an elite guard prospect out of Compton, California in the 2008 class, chose USC over offers from UCLA and Arizona State.

DeRozan would spend just one season at USC, putting up 13.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, and earning Pac-10 All-Freshman Team honors, as well as Pac-10 Tournament MVP distinction. The San Antonio Spurs shooting guard also helped USC qualify for the NCAA Tournament that season, where they reached the Round of 32 before being eliminated by a Michigan State team that had a freshman Draymond Green on its roster.

DERRICK ROSE, 2007: NO. 6

The No. 6 player, the No. 2 point guard and the top prospect out of Illinois for his class, Derrick Rose spent one year at Memphis before declaring to go pro.

After a relatively mundane start to his college career, Rose is remembered for how he took his play to another level in the NCAA Tournament, where he averaged 20.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game and was named to the All-Tournament team.

Of course, Rose is also remembered for the missed free throw late in the national championship game, which allowed Mario Chalmers to hit one of the most clutch shots in college basketball history, preventing Memphis from winning the first national title in the program’s history.

Nevertheless, Rose wound up being the top pick of the 2008 draft, eventually becoming the 2011 league MVP, so it’s safe to say he bounced back nicely after that one night of disappointment.

KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS, 2014: NO. 5

In hindsight, there’s no way Karl-Anthony Towns should have been the No. 5 player in his class, especially when you factor in that the four players ranked him were Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay, Stanley Johnson and Cliff Alexander.

Despite not putting up huge numbers at Kentucky (10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in his lone season in college), Towns was the driving force behind the Wildcats finishing the year with a ridiculous 38-1 record, coming within two wins of completed an undefeated season. For his troubles, Towns received consensus All-American status, and became the No. 1 overall pick of the 2015 draft.

NBA teams were not about to make the same mistake recruiting services made with Towns.

KEVIN LOVE, 2007: NO. 5

Another floor-spacing big man, Kevin Love was likewise the fifth-ranked player in his class seven years prior to Towns. Love chose UCLA over offers from Arizona and Oregon, and once there, he teamed up with Westbrook for a year before both declared for the pros.

Love averaged 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in college, and helped propel UCLA to the Final Four for the second year in a row. The Cleveland Cavaliers big man was also the Pac-10 Player of the Year during his lone season at UCLA, while achieving consensus All-American status.

DEMARCUS COUSINS, 2009: NO. 3

One of the top players in his high-school class, DeMarcus Cousins chose Kentucky over NC State, Alabama, his home-state program, and Washington. At Kentucky, Cousins teamed up with the No. 2 player of the 2009 class, an elite point guard we’ll get to in just a bit.

Cousins spent one season at Kentucky, where he earned consesus All-American honors and averaged 15.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Despite possession so much top-end talent, that year’s Kentucky team fell in the Elite Eight to a more experienced West Virginia squad.

KEVIN DURANT, 2006: NO. 2

Much like how the 2007 NBA Draft unfolded, recruiting services also ranked Kevin Durant as the second-best prospect of his class, trailing only Greg Oden.

Of course, we all know how poorly that has aged, perhaps no one better than the Portland Trail Blazers.

During his one year at Texas, Durant won a plethora of awards, including the Naismith Award, the Naismith Award and the Rupp Trophy, all of which are given to the top player in the country. What’s more, Durant averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game while filling up the rest of the stat sheet as a freshman.

Unfortunately, all that success didn’t help Texas make a run in March, as Durant and the Longhorns fell in the Round of 32 to a USC team led by… Nick Young.

No, seriously.

KYRIE IRVING, 2010: NO. 2

The second-best prospect of 2010, Kyrie Irving was ranked behind only Harrison Barnes in his class. Of course, the former wound up attending Duke while the latter chose UNC, meaning the top two players of 2010 were split amongst arguably the most heated rivalry in college basketball.

Irving would go on to miss the vast chunk of the only year he spent at Duke, but was still able to do enough to warrant being the top pick of the 2011 draft. The 2016 NBA champion averaged 17.5 points and 4.3 assists at Duke, dropping 28 points in his final game as a collegiate, a Sweet 16 loss to Derrick Williams and Arizona.

JOHN WALL, 2009: NO. 2

A teammate of Cousins at Kentucky, John Wall had a fantastic lone season in college before taking his talents to the NBA. As a Wildcat, Wall averaged 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, receiving consensus All-American status while also getting the Rupp Trophy and the SEC Player of the Year award.

Wall, of course, wasn’t the top-ranked player in his class, though he probably should have been. That honor, instead, went to Derrick Favors, who had a decent career at Georgia Tech and a similarly impressive career thus far in the NBA.

He hasn’t come close to matching Wall’s impact, though.

BEN SIMMONS, 2015: NO. 1

Ben Simmons, the No. 1 player of the 2015 class, probably didn’t live up to the hype during his one year at LSU. Sure, he put up huge numbers, averaging 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, but he didn’t do enough to carry LSU to the NCAA Tournament after a disappointing 19-14 season.

Still, Simmons earned consensus All-American status during his one year as a Tiger, and did enough to be selected first overall in the 2016 draft.

DWIGHT HOWARD, 2004: NO. 1

The top player of the 2004 class, Dwight Howard had offers from the top schools in the country, including Florida, Kentucky and Indiana, but spurned all of them to go pro straight out of high school.

Howard went on to become an eight-time All-Star (and counting) in the NBA, to go with eight All-NBA appearances and three Defensive Player of the Year awards. He also helped guide the Orlando Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals, coming within three games of a title.

Safe to say, the recruiting rankings go this one right.

ANTHONY DAVIS, 2011: NO. 1

In a class that included Bradley Beal, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Austin Rivers, it was Anthony Davis who earned top billing.

And rightfully so.

Davis spent just one year at Kentucky, averaging 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game, and helping guide the Wildcats to the first national title since 1998, their eighth overall. Davis earned a multitude of awards as a freshman, including the Wooden Award, the Rupp Trophy and the SEC Player of the Year.

He then went on to the NBA, becoming the No. 1 overall pick of the 2012 draft, and earning even more accolades as a professional.

LEBRON JAMES, 2003: NO. 1

LeBron James came into the 2003 draft as one of the most hyped prospects ever.

And boy has he lived up to them.

James headlined a class that included Chris Paul, Luol Deng and Trevor Ariza, easily becoming the best player to come out of 2003.

Thus far as a pro, James has won four league MVP trophies, three NBA titles after reaching the Finals an absurd nine times and has reached 15 All-Star games, tied for the third most of all time.

The scariest part? James is showing zero sign of slowing down, so his list of accolades is going to look even more ridiculous by the time he retires.

All rankings according to 247Sports.com.

You can follow Frank Urbina on Twitter: @FrankUrbina_.