The first of college basketball's two signing periods comes to a close on Wednesday. As we eye what happened during the last week and what could happen down the road, we look at some of the period's winners and losers.
One way or another,
John CalipariClick Here to view this Link. finds a way to get it done at
KentuckyClick Here to view this Link.. During the late winter and early spring of 2015, some Wildcats fans worried that their coach was losing his touch on the recruiting trail. After rallying to finish at the top of the 2015 team rankings, Cal and the Cats made a serious run to close out 2016's early signing period to leapfrog
DukeClick Here to view this Link. for the top spot in 2016. Five-star power forward
Wenyen GabrielClick Here to view this Link. was a pleasant October surprise, but Tuesday's signing week pull of No. 7 overall
Bam AdebayoClick Here to view this Link. was an even bigger surprise. Then they upped the ante by adding No. 6 overall
Malik MonkClick Here to view this Link. on Wednesday. The Wildcats have been regulars in the top position under Calipari, but he may have outdone himself with this class.
Thinking about when Bam Adebayo and Wenyen Gabriel will be on the floor together at Kentucky…..Good luck getting a rebound from them.- Eric Bossi (@ebosshoops)
November 17, 2015 Ben Howland guiding
Mississippi StateClick Stylistically, I see Fox?Monk as being a Rajon Rondo/Steve Francis type backcourt. No matter who you compare them to, potentially scary duo- Eric Bossi (@ebosshoops) November 18, 2015Here to view this Link. to the No. 4 class by adding six four-star prospects is one of the biggest stories of the early signing period. Howland has basically been on the job in Starkville for seven months and in that time he's managed to land five-star
Malik NewmanClick Stylistically, I see Fox?Monk as being a Rajon Rondo/Steve Francis type backcourt. No matter who you compare them to, potentially scary duo- Eric Bossi (@ebosshoops) November 18, 2015Here to view this Link. and four-star
Aric HolmanClick Stylistically, I see Fox?Monk as being a Rajon Rondo/Steve Francis type backcourt. No matter who you compare them to, potentially scary duo- Eric Bossi (@ebosshoops) November 18, 2015Here to view this Link. in 2015 before his six four-stars in 2016, led by No. 29
Mario KeglerClick Stylistically, I see Fox?Monk as being a Rajon Rondo/Steve Francis type backcourt. No matter who you compare them to, potentially scary duo- Eric Bossi (@ebosshoops) November 18, 2015Here to view this Link.. To put that into context, it took previous MSU coaches from 2008-14 to land nine four-star-or-better prospects, while Howland has hauled in eight in less than one year.
From an overall conference standpoint, six of the top 11 and eight of the top 35 recruiting classes belong to the ACC. On top of that, ACC programs have landed the most five-star prospects (eight) of any conference and member programs have a total of 27 members of the Rivals150 on their way to play in the conference.
Down in the SEC, teams are working feverishly to catch up with Kentucky. Yes, the Wildcats still dominate recruiting and are bringing in five of the league's seven five-star prospects. But to see programs such as
Auburn and
Alabama also landing five-star prospects and an additional 15 four-star prospects inking with conference teams is huge for the SEC.