Big East Basketball: Analyzing conference recruiting trends

Players don’t leave the Big East early

In analyzing the Big East’s recent recruiting successes, I also looked at how many players entered the NBA Draft early across all six major conferences from 2014-17 (2018 potential draftees still have time to decide on their pro future). In those 4 years, only 10 players from Big East schools left early for the professional ranks, and only 2 were freshmen (Marquette’s Henry Ellenson and Creighton’s Justin Patton).

But over that same time frame, most of the other major conferences were dealing with nearly constant turnover with players leaving school early. While the Big 12 had just 17 players leave early from 2014-17 (8 of which were from Kansas), the ACC lost 42 players, the SEC lost 36, the Pac-12 lost 32, and the Big Ten lost 20.

Blue blood programs that play the one-and-done game like Duke, Kentucky, Arizona, and Indiana all led their respective conferences in early entries, but none of them totaled even half of the players who left those conferences with eligibility remaining.

For example, NC State, LSU, and Washington had a combined 17 players leave college early for the pros (including 2 no. 1 draft picks). Those three have decent programs for sure, but they are nowhere near blue blood status. Whether it’s by design or not, Big East programs seem to be eschewing most one-and-done, and instead looking for four-year players who can carry a program as upperclassmen.

The Big East is getting hit a little harder with early entries this offseason though, with Villanova’s Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges, and Georgetown’s Marcus Derrickson already signing with agents (Marquette’s Harry Froling has also left the program and has signed with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia). Several other players are still testing the NBA Draft waters, and while most will likely return to college, the Big East will have a larger-than-usual talent vacuum in 2018-19. Still, none of the players leaving the Big East are one-and-done freshmen, a far cry from the rest of college basketball.

Next: Breaking down Big East recruiting for 2018

Player development is obviously vital in college basketball, but recruiting is still the life blood. On-court talent can fix a lot of flaws elsewhere within a program. Now that 10 of the 13 all-conference players are leaving college, with 2 more weighing their options (Shamorie Ponds and Khyri Thomas) these incoming freshmen will have more on their plate that is typically seen in the Big East. High-level recruiting classes may have a more immediate impact than usual.