Kentucky has the nation’s No. 1 class, but other SEC teams are also recruiting well
With the entirety of the Southeastern Conference basketball community assembled in Nashville this week to decide this year’s league champion, a look toward next season shows an SEC that should be flush with new stars.
Kentucky, of course, has the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, but the Wildcats aren’t alone among league teams that have succeeded mightily with top prospects in the 2020 class. Four of the top seven classes nationally belong to SEC programs, and three more league schools rank among the top 30 classes in the country.
All that success, and the SEC still seems likely to add even more highly touted recruits before this cycle is finished. Here’s where each league team stands nationally (all team and player rankings are 247Sports composite):
Kentucky
National rank: No. 1
The Cats landed a Calipari era-record six players in the early signing period, with shooting guards Terrence Clarke (No. 4) and Brandon Boston (No. 7), point guard Devin Askew (No. 25), power forwards Isaiah Jackson (No. 28) and Lance Ware (No. 31), and wing Cam’Ron Fletcher (No. 46) all officially in the mix for next season.
UK also has a scholarship offer out to No. 9 recruit Greg Brown, and the Cats are still in the running for several top prospects who could reclassify from 2021 to 2020 — including No. 1 junior Jonathan Kuminga and top-10 center Moussa Cisse — so John Calipari might not be finished yet with his 2020 haul.
It seems unlikely that any team could realistically take over Kentucky’s spot at the top of the national recruiting rankings, no matter what happens with the remaining uncommitted prospects in the 2020 class and those who might reclassify from 2021.
Tennessee
National rank: No. 5
The Volunteers have a total of four commitments for next season, and they’ve already signed a pair of five-star recruits: shooting guards Jaden Springer (No. 16) and Keon Johnson (No. 22). Johnson was especially impressive at USA Basketball camp in the fall — a highly athletic and versatile 6-foot-5 perimeter player that should give SEC opponents fits in the future.
Louisiana State
National rank: No. 6
Tigers Coach Will Wade was briefly suspended at the end of last season due to questions over his recruiting tactics, but it hasn’t slowed him down much on the trail. Wade already has five commitments for next season, as well as two high-profile transfers — Shareef O’Neal from UCLA (the son of LSU great Shaquille O’Neal) and Josh LeBlanc from Georgetown — that don’t factor into the recruiting rankings. Three of LSU’s high school commitments are Top 100 players, including five-star shooting guard Cameron Thomas out of Oak Hill Academy.
And Wade probably isn’t finished yet.
National recruiting expert Andrew Slater logged a Crystal Ball pick this week in LSU’s favor for Moussa Cisse, who is ranked No. 8 in the 2021 class but is looking at reclassification to 2020. LSU also continues to be mentioned as a possible favorite for Jonathan Kuminga, the No. 1 player in the 2021 class and a prospect that will almost certainly reclassify to 2020 this summer. If Wade is able to land both players for next season — and that’s certainly possible — LSU could threaten Kentucky for the No. 1 spot in the national recruiting rankings.
Arkansas
National rank: No. 7
The Razorbacks had a bad stretch of games in February, but the future looks bright under first-year head coach Eric Musselman, who has four Top 100 commitments — all from the state of Arkansas — for next season. That group is led by 6-5 shooting guard Moses Moody (No. 45), and Musselman will probably still look at talented transfers to help fill out his future rosters, something he excelled at as head coach at Nevada.
Auburn
National rank: No. 18
Bruce Pearl already has a highly touted recruiting class for next season, but there appears to be plenty of room to grow for this Tigers’ haul. Five-star point guard Sharife Cooper (No. 19) is the gem of this three-player group, which also includes power forward Chris Moore (No. 123) and North Oldham High School shooting guard Justin Powell (No. 152).
Pearl’s remaining wish list for 2020 is star-studded. Auburn is still among the top schools for UK target Greg Brown, former UK targets Jalen Green (No. 3) and Cliff Omoruyi (No. 41), as well as Jonathan Kuminga.
Georgia
National rank: No. 24
The Bulldogs weren’t able to do much with Anthony Edwards — the No. 1 player in the 247Sports rankings for 2019 — this season, finishing last in the SEC standings. That hasn’t hurt them too much on the recruiting trail. Tom Crean still has a top 25 class nationally, a balanced four-player group led by point guard K.D. Johnson (No. 87) and featuring two of the nation’s top junior-college prospects. Georgia also hosted Jonathan Kuminga for a campus visit this month and has emerged as a serious player for on-again, off-again UK target JT Thor, who is currently the No. 51 overall recruit in the 2020 class.
Some national recruiting experts are already predicting that Crean will land power forward Michael Foster, the No. 9 overall player in the class of 2021.
Florida
National rank: No. 26
Mike White’s three-player recruiting class features small forward Samson Ruzhentsev (No. 50), shooting guard Niels Lane (No. 114), and Osayi Osifo, the No. 1 power forward in the junior-college ranks.
The rest of the SEC
▪ Texas A&M has the nation’s No. 34 class, and first-year coach Buzz Williams is already well-positioned in the 2021 cycle with early commitments from No. 28 junior Manny Obaseki and No. 35 junior Jaxson Robinson.
▪ Mississippi State has the No. 54 class in the country led by point guard Deivon Smith (No. 52).
▪ Mississippi has the No. 58 class in the country, with a major commitment from shooting guard Matthew Murrell (No. 38).
▪ South Carolina has the nation’s No. 79 class with no commitments inside the top 300.
▪ Alabama has the nation’s No. 92 class with just one commitment — power forward Keon Ambrose-Hylton (No. 115) — though the Crimson Tide are considered favorites for Canadian combo guard Joshua Primo, the No. 47 senior in the composite rankings and a five-star player in the 2020 class according to 247Sports’ in-house rankings.
▪ Vanderbilt (No. 96 class nationally) and Missouri (No. 127) have just one commitment each for next season.
