the recruiting services are as much about ceiling & potential as they are about readiness to play.

As they should be. Coaches of course worry about the same things when they extend their offers to recruits.

As for my so-called underselling our team: "most of our starters" does NOT mean ALL of them. That said, I think there's no guarantees that even Alex would be in Altman's starting 5 right now if he were on their roster. Not all HC's think alike, you know? Alex definitely has his limitations that many HC's out there might pass on.