Remember all that whining out of Annapolis about how Navy cannot compete since the other schools in the Patriot League started giving scholarships?

Makes you wonder about this story from Sunday's Annapolis Capital on the Mids incoming freshmen. In addition to a rundown on the background of Navy's six recruits, there is this note:

HoopScoop.com, directed by national recruiting analyst Clark Francis, rates Navy's recruiting class No. 1 in the Patriot League.

Now, we don't put a whole lot of faith in these so-called recruiting experts or their rankings. Especially when we are talking about recruits well below the blue-chip, can't miss level.

But it is interesting, nonetheless, that Navy's class has enough credentials that somebody would rank it that high.

It also points out that Navy continues to have some advantages that old Coach Devoe downplayed when he was losing games at the end of his stay in Annapolis. What scholarship school in the league is able to bring in six recruits in a single season? And that does not take into account the kids Billy Lange is stashing at the Navy Prep school for what amounts to a redshirt year, a luxury only the academies enjoy.

In an earlier article about Navy's 2005-06 schedule, The Capital noted:

Forward Richard Steptoe (Allen, Texas) heads a list of four recruits being sent to the Naval Academy Prep School. The 6-foot-7, 220-pounder is a strong, physical post player with a nice touch from mid-range.

For those keeping score at home, that is a total of 10 recruits for Navy.

When you are recruiting at a level that makes projects a big part of the equation, being able to bring in so many of them certainly increases the odds of a few of them ending up becoming good college players.

As the old saying goes, if you throw enough against the all, some of it is gonna stick.