NCAA Basketball: 25 best recruiting classes since 2000

8) 2010 Kentucky Wildcats

Everybody remembers the 2011 Kentucky recruiting class headlined by Anthony Davis that won the national championship in 2012 (we’ll be seeing them later on the list, too), yet this 2010 class is what set the table for that run.

Even though the best prospect in this class in Enes Kanter never played a game for Kentucky due to NCAA eligibility issues, this class accomplished a great deal during their time in Lexington.

Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb (all five-star prospects) were John Calipari’s three leading scorers during their freshman year, but the team struggled during the regular season, posting a 22-8 mark prior to the SEC Tournament. But then they caught fire, won the SEC Tournament and advanced to the program’s first Final Four since 1998.

Knight and Kanter both left for the NBA after that season (four-star commit Stacey Poole opted to transfer), while Lamb and Jones returned to provide leadership and experience for that 2012 National Championship team.

Lamb and Jones both left after that, giving this class two Final Fours, two SEC Tournament titles, one SEC regular-season title and one national championship on their résumé. That’s enough to put this class among the very best, even though they’ve largely been overshadowed by the Kentucky class that came in after them.