The early signing period for college basketball has officially come and gone, with a flurry of commitments making things more than interesting in the final days. But, who came out on top?
As it seems to often be the case, the rich just got richer.
Kentucky: Of all the success Calipari has had on the recruiting trail, this year has shown him to be as lethal as ever. In the span of one week, the Wildcats landed commitments from three five-star prospects, De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, and Bam Adebayo. Oh, but that’s not all. Kentucky already had pledges from five stars Wenyen Grabriel and Sacha Killeya-Jones. This gives Coach Cal three of the top seven prospects in the country, as well as two others who have seen their stock continue to increase over the past 18 months.
What does this mean? Well, the Cats are in a position where even if they lose Tyler Ulis and Isaiah Briscoe to the NBA after this season, they’ve got an absolutely explosive backcourt coming in next season, to go along with even more frontcourt depth.
Miami: It isn’t often that we talk about the Canes and their ability to recruit high level high school players. Since Jim Larranaga has arrived though, UM hasn’t exactly had that problem. Their recruiting success continued into the final days of the signing period, when they landed Dewan Huell and Bruce Brown for their interior and perimeter, respectively
Recruiting in the ACC is a minefield, what with having to compete with blue bloods and everyone else, as well. If Larranaga continues this current trajectory for his program, we’ll be talking about the Hurricanes as a factor in the conference race on a regular basis.
Mississippi State: So, I guess that Ben Howland guy can coach, huh? Since Howland arrived in Starkvegas, the Bulldogs have been a recruiting powerhouse, especially among recruits with links to the adidas grassroots circuit. In 2016, he’s locked up a top ten class headlined by six four-star commitments, including the highly sought after Mario Kegler. Most notable, though, is that MSU recruited their territory, landing no one north of Mouth of Wilson, VA, establishing themselves as, perhaps, the premier recruiting entity in the South, outside of Kentucky.
