Big Ten Basketball: 5 biggest takeaways from 2019 recruiting classes

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 22: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes meets with Duane Washington Jr. #4 and Keyshawn Woods #32 in the first half against the UCLA Bruins during the CBS Sports Classic at the United Center on December 22, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

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BLOOMINGTON, IN – NOVEMBER 20: Romeo Langford #0 of the Indiana Hoosiers shoots the ball against the UT Arlington Mavericks at Assembly Hall on November 20, 2018 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Lack of star power – but beneficial long-term

Of the power-five conferences, Big Ten Basketball arguably does the worst in terms of recruiting collectively. While their flagship program (Michigan State) does well, they don’t bring in the five-star recruits like schools such as Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Arizona and Kansas does on an annual basis. They and others in their respective conferences get most of the star prospects while the Big Ten gets many from top-50 and beyond on in a class.

But as results show, both in the regular season and in the postseason against other teams, Big Ten Basketball still has success. That’s because rather than leaving after one year, these Big Ten recruits stick around for a few years and become stars, with Cassius Winston of the Spartans as the latest example.

The league hopes that’s the case once again, as there aren’t any incoming five-star recruits for them. The highest-rated prospect is Trayce Jackson-Davis, a top-30 center for Indiana. He has the best odds of being a “one and done” as he’ll be Juwan Morgan’s frontcourt replacement and will have plenty of minutes afforded to him. Kofi Coffburn, EJ Lidell and DJ Carton are the only other top-50 prospects from the class.

Part of it does have to do with the fewer number of commits overall and not too much guaranteed playing time available for next year. But while most of these guys may not make national noise next season, look for them to morph into quality veterans for their respective rosters.

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