Despite the cancellations of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and the conference tournaments due to COVID-19, it hasn’t stopped recruiting. There are a few in the top 5 that are familiar but there’s also a surprise team. A lot of interesting controversies happened when the number 1 prospect Jalen Green heading to the G-League instead of college. Despite that, there’s still a lot of NBA caliber talent in this recruiting class. Here are some of the top schools in the class of 2020.
The Top NCAA Recruiting Classes of 2020
5. Arizona
After a decent 21-11 season, head coach Sean Miller built up Arizona with an impressive 7 prospects signing letters of intent, but only one of those players is in the ESPN top 100. The highlight of this class is Delan Terry, who’s a small forward from Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix. It seemed like Miller was looking overseas for the majority of this class with signings from Azuolas Tubelis, Kerr Kriisa, and Daniel Batcho. Miller could find a diamond in the rough with this class.
4. Tennessee
After having a team that was ranked number 1 at one point the previous. Rick Barnes Tennessee Volunteers stumbled to at 17-14 record. Despite that, they still have a pretty good recruiting class coming in. Even with only 3 players that signed letters of intent, this class is led by two 5-star recruits. These players include Jared Springer from IMG Academy and local product Keon Johnson from Bell Buckle, Tennessee. With these two guards, they could become one of the more dangerous backcourts in the country.
3. Duke
Coach K has reloaded with an impressive recruiting class after a good 25-6 record this year. Duke’s big departures include Tre Jones, Cassius Stanley, and Vernon Carey Jr. Despite these departures, Duke receives big names in Jalen Johnson, Jeremy Roach, and DJ Steward. This group also returns Matthew Hurt and Wendell Moore from last season. This team looks dangerous and could potentially be one of the best group of shooters under Coach K.
2. North Carolina
After an awful 14-19 for North Carolina, the Tar Heels rebuild with one of the best quality classes they had. Their biggest departure was Cole Anthony for NBA draft after an injury-riddled season. Despite that, their biggest returners from last year include Armando Bacot and senior Garrison Brooks. They bring in the big duo in Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler, along with Caleb Love in the Backcourt. Don’t be surprised if we see this team with one of the more dangerous and deepest frontcourts in the country.
1. Kentucky
Since John Calipari has been at Kentucky, it always looked upon as reloading with recruiting. After a good 25-6 record this year, they come in with the best class in 2020. Their two biggest departures from last year were Ashton Hagans and Tyrese Maxey, who both declared for the NBA draft. Even with that, they bring in BJ Boston and Terrence Clarke, who are both in the top 10 in the ESPN top 100. I don’t see much change in terms of their record and they should be one of the top tier teams this season.
