Recruiting is one of the most important parts of building a successful program. Which 2019 commits represent the future of Big East basketball?
The 2018-19 college basketball might still be coming to a close but the future is always relevant. On the whole, this season has been rather disappointing for Big East Basketball, which has traditionally been one of the best leagues in the country, even after realignment. Aside from Marquette, the conference does not have a single top-25 team in the country and this is a major step back from years past. In addition, the league is staring down a possibility of only sending three teams to the NCAA Tournament (although the potential for five is still there as well).
Heading into this season, it was logical to think that the conference would be suffering a down year due to the amount of talent lost to graduation or the NBA Draft, though. Given this, it is not exactly time to start betting on the idea that the Big East will never be a top-3 league in the nation again. In fact, that is likely to be far from the truth given how well each team in the country has been recruiting as of late. And while there aren’t any recruiting powerhouses such as Duke or Kentucky in the Big East, it would be a mistake to overlook the pitches that these schools can offer.
With regards to the amount of talent returning after this year, it is easy to project that the Big East will be sensational next season. Additionally, though, each program has been active on the 2019 recruiting trail and there are some already-committed players that have the potential to be the next set of stars in the exciting league. Without any further ado, let’s dive into breaking down early 2019 recruiting class for each of the Big East basketball programs. (Note: All recruiting rankings were found via 247Sports and the teams are reverse ordered based on where they are in the national recruiting rankings. All commits are complete as of Feb. 28, 2018.)