NCAA Basketball: 25 best recruiting classes since 2000

16) 2014 North Carolina Tar Heels

This class featuring Joel Berry, Justin Jackson and Theo Pinson has proved to be one of the better in the North Carolina history, with the Tar Heels winning one national championship, appearing in two national title games and winning two ACC regular-season titles during their tenure.

Though Jackson started as a freshman and Berry joined him in the lineup as a sophomore, this group was largely in a support role to Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson during those seasons – the latter of which ended in heartbreaking fashion thanks to Kris Jenkins and Villanova.

However, with all three in the starting lineup as juniors, the Tar Heels made it all the way back to the title game and made up for that loss, knocking off Gonzaga to win the school’s sixth national championship. Berry was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, while Jackson was the ACC Player of the Year and a First-Team All-American.

Jackson left for the NBA after that, but Berry and Pinson returned for their senior years. It didn’t go as planned – they went just 26-11 and lost to Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament’s second round – but this group had already established themselves in Chapel Hill lore.

Jackson now plays for the Sacramento Kings and Pinson caught on as an undrafted rookie with the Brooklyn Nets.