NCAA Basketball: 25 best recruiting classes since 2000

10) 2008 Butler Bulldogs

The only group on this list without a single five-star or four-star prospect in the class, the Butler recruiting class of 2008 will go down as perhaps the best collection of underrated talent the sport has ever seen.

We now know how good Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack are – Hayward is an NBA All-Star and Mack has carved out an NBA career that has lasted for nearly a decade – but no one knew the potential those two had until the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

As sophomores, Hayward and Mack led Butler’s offense, while Ronald Nored served as the defensive stopper. Then-head coach Brad Stevens used that formula to turn Butler into the class of the Horizon League. Come March, they proved they could play with the big boys.

That trio of sophomores led the Bulldogs on a Cinderella run that ended in the national championship game, coming within inches of cutting down the nets.

Even though Hayward left for the NBA after that first championship game run, Butler proved they weren’t a fluke by making it all the way back to the national championship in 2011. They fell short again via a putrid offensive showing against UConn in the title game, yet this group’s accomplishments cannot be overlooked.

This group was the core that won three straight Horizon League regular-season titles and two Horizon Tournament titles, along with their two national championship game appearances. They also changed the course of the entire Butler program, elevating their national profile and paving the way for them to join the Big East.