SEC Basketball Recruiting: Every team's top class from past decade

SEC Basketball Recruiting: Every team’s top class from past decade

By Dakota Cox | May 13, 2019

NEW ORLEANS, LA - APRIL 02: Anthony Davis #23 of the Kentucky Wildcats celebrates before he cuts down the net after the Wildcats defeat the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59 in the National Championship Game of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on April 2, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 17: Jared Harper #1 of the Auburn Tigers dribbles the ball during the 84-64 win against the Tennessee Volunteers during the final of the SEC Basketball Championships at Bridgestone Arena on March 17, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Auburn Tigers: 2016

Auburn is coming off of what is absolutely the greatest tournament run in program history. When you have a season that’s a bit of an outlier like this one, it is best to look at the recruiting classes that made it happen. For this run, 2015 and 2016 were the classes that carried the Tigers to the Final Four.

When choosing between 2015 and 2016, it’s really splitting hairs. 2015 had Bryce Brown as a three-star, and he ended up being the best player on this team. They also had Danjel Purifoy and Horace Spencer, two key contributors in the rotation this past season.

However, 2016 carried more of the team that made this run. Jared Harper and Austin Wiley were great players for Auburn. You also add in Anfernee Mclemore, a great role player for the Tigers.

Although Brown is the best player from either class, I still gave the nod to 2016. The last piece that made the decision for me was Mustapha Heron. Heron helped this team get part of a regular season SEC championship in 2017-18, but he suffered a gruesome injury. After the injury, he decided to transfer to St. John’s.

I tend to count players who suffer injuries when ranking recruiting classes mostly because you can never predict injuries like that to happen. However, I discount transfers because they are simply no longer your player. However, I made an exception with Heron. He went to St. John’s for his mother, and I’m mostly using him to break a tie between 2015 and 2016. He left on relatively good terms, and there doesn’t appear to be any bad blood between him and the program.

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