NCAA Basketball: 25 best recruiting classes since 2000

14) 2015 Villanova Wildcats

Can I interest you in a class that produced one Final Four MOP, one National Player of the Year and helped a program win two national championships in a three-year span?

Most of Villanova‘s recent success can be tied back to this small three-man class, which featured Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo, along with Tim Delaney, who was a benchwarmer during his tenure and just left for Adelphi as a grad transfer.

But, really, this is about Brunson and DiVincenzo. Brunson played in every game during his three years with the Wildcats, starting every game but one, which came during his freshman season.

He was named an All-Big East selection during his sophomore and junior years, winning National Player of the Year during Villanova’s most recent national championship season (2017-18). Simply put, he was the star of the college basketball world that year.

DiVincenzo redshirted as a freshman, meaning he wasn’t a part of the rotation that won the 2016 national title but emerged as perhaps the country’s best sixth man. His offensive explosiveness made him a dangerous player off the bench, as shown by him scoring 31 points in the 2018 National Championship game.

Along with the two national championships, Villanova also won two Big East regular-season and tournament titles from 2016 to 2018. Both Brunson and DiVincenzo left for the NBA Draft after that year with Brunson being picked No. 33 overall and DiVincenzo going No. 17.

So, why aren’t they higher? Brunson was only a support player on the 2016 team (Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Ryan Arcidiacono were the stars) and they received a big boost from players in other classes during the 2018 title run. These two are Villanova legends, but they’re stuck at No. 14 on this list.