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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LOUISVILLE, KY – MARCH 17: Anthony Davis #23 of the Kentucky Wildcats attempts a shot in the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones during the third round of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at KFC YUM! Center on March 17, 2012 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Kentucky Wildcats: 2011

This article almost started out as a piece on the top ten recruiting classes of the SEC, but it almost would’ve turned into an article on ranking the past ten Kentucky recruiting classes. Kentucky has simply been on another level compared to the rest of the SEC.

You could’ve thrown a dart on a dartboard to choose the best Kentucky class, and you probably would’ve had a fair argument for that team. I chose 2011 for a few reasons. Anthony Davis is arguable the best player to come out of Calipari’s program. He’s also the reason why Kentucky won its last championship. When splitting hairs, something like a title carries a lot of weight.

Paired with Anthony Davis in this class is Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. He was one of the best recruits in Kentucky history. Kidd-Gilchrist might not have turned into the NBA superstar some expected, but he’s still having a successful career in basketball.

This class lacks depth, but it is simply too stellar at the top to deny as the best recruiting class in the past decade in the SEC. 2013 and 2014 made up a large portion of the team that almost went undefeated through the entire year, including players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker. Those years also had Julius Randle and the Harrison twins. However, Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist make up two of the four best recruits of all-time for Kentucky according to their 247 rating, and each of them lived up to the hype. At the end of the day, it doesn’t get any better than that.

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