For as much as men’s college basketball recruiting changes, it appears to still stay the same.
With the impact of the transfer portal, the emergence of various professional options and now name, image and likeness, recruiting in 2021 is vastly different than it was even a few years ago.
Nevertheless, perennial national powerhouses continue to set the pace when it comes to the recruiting trail. Duke, North Carolina and Indiana all have new head coaches (or head coaches in-waiting in Duke’s case) and yet they remain among the best of the best. The rest of the top 10 is made up of equally familiar names like Kansas, Baylor, Ohio State, Michigan and UCLA, among others.
The only prominent name missing thus far is Kentucky, but with John Calipari and his staff in strong position with a number of prominent five-star prospects, even that should only be a matter of time until the norm is restored.
It was imperative the Blue Devils started strong on the recruiting trail after they announced Jon Scheyer would succeed Mike Krzyzewski in the top seat for the 2022-23 season. With Coack K not out this summer, Scheyer and his staff have solidified the Duke brand by landing a pair of five-star talents in Dariq Whitehead and Kyle Filipowski. Whitehead is an elite defender and competitor with natural leadership skills and tons of intangibles. He has been a high-profile prospect since he was younger, but has maintained his humility and continued to improve with each passing year. Filipowski, on the other hand, has come on strong in the last two years. A playmaking big man who stands just under 7-feet but can still attack off the dribble and facilitate for others, Filipowski’s game has exploded alongside a new commitment to conditioning and consequent gains in mobility and quickness off his feet around the rim.
While Bill Self has built one of the best rosters in college basketball this season by conquering the transfer market, he once again has the Jayhawks recruiting the high school market at an elite national level. It began with a commitment from local Kansas product Gradey Dick last spring. Dick will provide them with a productive and reliable big wing who is proven against elite competition and well-rounded with his floor game. M.J. Rice gives them a power wing with an improved skill level. He’ll remind Jayhawk fans of Wayne Selden a little bit and provide an ideal complement to Dick on the wing. Zuby Ejiofor is a throwback-style power forward who could play some small ball 5 in the modern game. He’s powerful, explosive and ultra-aggressive with a high motor.
No one has done more work early in this recruiting class than Chris Holtmann and his staff at Ohio State. Not only do they hold four early pledges, including three ESPN 100 prospects, but they’re all strategic additions who fit their system and culture. Bruce Thornton is the leader. A proven point guard and consummate winner, he’ll put his stamp on the program from day one. Roddy Gayle is a versatile wing who is capable of scoring in high volume but also of blending his individual talents with other high-level players. Felix Okpara is a bouncy big man in the middle with a very high long-term ceiling. Bowen Hardman is a local product from the state of Ohio who adds perimeter shooting and floor-spacing to the attack. Together, they form a group that complements each other and has as much depth as any class in the country to date.
Hubert Davis is also making quick inroads on the recruiting trail. He was ahead of the curve when it came to Seth Trimble, a big point guard from Wisconsin who pledged to the Tar Heels in June, a few weeks prior to delivering a huge performance during the July recruiting period. Jalen Washington is a highly skilled big who can stretch the floor, pick-and-pop and also play alongside another post should Davis elect to explore bigger lineups. Will Shaver is a true big man inside. He won’t be ready to make the same immediate impact that Trimble and Washington will, but he’ll provide the type of multi-year player that programs need to develop in order to achiever continuity.
Virginia’s 2022 recruiting class is shaping up to be one of the best the program has seen since 2016, which was the class that ultimately led Virginia to a national championship. Isaac McKneely is a skilled big guard who is tough, smart and capable of playing either on or off the ball, not unlike Ty Jerome once did for the Cavaliers. Leon Bond is an attacking wing with a strong body, burst in the open floor and all the attributes to evolve into a high-level defender. Isaac Traudt is a skilled big forward who can stretch the floor to the arc and also operate off of different spots on the floor within offensive structure. Together, that trio gives Tony Bennett not just three ESPN 100 prospects, but three players with complementing skills sets who should all fit into his system.
What did Scott Drew do after winning a national championship? He landed one of the very best players in high school basketball, local product Keyonte George, out-dueling in-state rival Texas and a variety of others. George is one of the most polished shot-creators in high school basketball and tailor-made to make an immediate impact at the college level. He’s joined by Dillon Hunter, another multi-dimensional offensive threat in the backcourt who has length, shooting touch and evolving playmaking ability to match.
Coming off last year’s Final Four run, Mick Cronin has the Bruins poised to rejoin college basketball’s elite. He built off the momentum of last March’s run by delivering a star-studded early recruiting class with some of the top prospects on the West Coast. Amari Bailey isn’t just one of the best players in high school basketball; he’s also one of the most visible, and so his commitment, which actually happened last February, will attract other players to follow suit. One such player is Dylan Andrews, a dynamic big guard with an attacking style who excels in the open floor but will also have the ability to defend the way Cronin demands.
Year in and year out, the Ducks continue to recruit at an elite level. Last year, it was one of the best incoming frontcourts in college basketball, and this year, it is one of the most college ready point guards in Dior Johnson. A true alpha who has grown up under the microscope after establishing himself as an elite prospect at a young age, Johnson appeared to be bound straight for the professional ranks before Oregon landed his pledge. He’s joined by one of the most intriguing prospects in the ESPN 100 Kel’el Ware, a highly talented big man with size, skill, mobility and leaping ability, but a still inconsistent motor. If and when he figures that out, we could be looking at one of the best incoming tandems in the country yet again this year.
Remember when people were skeptical that Mike Woodson’s staff would be able to recruit at a high level? That seems like a distant memory at this point after securing elite assistants, convincing top players to return to Indiana, and landing key spring commitments, both in the high school ranks and transfer portal. Now, he’s building out a top national class. Jalen Hood-Schifino is one of the most versatile big guards and two-way players in the entire country. Kaleb Banks is a high-level athlete with tons of untapped potential who made a name for himself in a hurry when the recruiting period resumed from its hiatus. C.J. Gunn is another multi-positional threat who maintains local pipelines into the state of Indiana.
With Hunter Dickinson publicly stating that his sophomore year will be his final one in Ann Arbor, finding an immediate impact big man was a top priority for Juwan Howard and his staff this summer. That mission was accomplished with a pledge from Tarris Reed, who provides an interior post presence and rebounder with some potential offensive versatility to develop. The first player to commit, though, was actually Dickinson’s former grassroots teammate with Team Takeover, Dug McDaniel, who is one of the fastest players in the entire country and a proven point guard.