NCAA Basketball: 25 best recruiting classes since 2000

25) 2006 Texas Longhorns

Texas reeled in this class during the first year of the one-and-done era, headlined by two-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant. He became the first true freshman to win National Player of the Year during his short tenure with the Longhorns, demonstrating the boost the rule would give (and has given) the overall talent level in college basketball.

Of course, this class was much more than just him. Five members of the class were top-100 recruits and three players – D.J. Augustin, Damion James and Dexter Pittman – served as multi-year starters for head coach Rick Barnes’ squad.

All four of those players went on to play in the NBA and had varying degrees of success. Pittman won an NBA title with the Miami Heat. Augustin has spent most of his 11 years in the league as a backup point guard. Durant has become one of the best players the game has ever seen.

However, this squad only barely makes the cut because of their inability to make significant noise in the NCAA Tournament. Durant was only able to lead the Longhorns to the second round during the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

The other stars of the class led them to a share of the Big 12 regular-season title and the Elite Eight the following year, but that was the pinnacle of this group’s accomplishments.