4) 2006 North Carolina Tar Heels
Remember that 2005 UNC class that appeared earlier on the list? Remember how their final three years were so much more successful than their first one? This 2006 class is the reason for that spike.
Brandan Wright, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, all top-10 recruits who went one to carve out successful NBA careers, headlined this six-man class along with forwards Alex Stepheson, Deon Thompson and William Graves.
Wright only spent one year in Chapel Hill before moving onto the NBA and Stepheson transferred to USC after two seasons, but the rest of this class stayed and starred in that 2009 National Championship run, the second of back-to-back Final Four appearances.
Lawson and Ellington both left school after that title having won the ACC regular-season title in all three of their collegiate seasons. Thompson and Graves stayed for the senior seasons and started every game that year, but it only resulted in an NIT runner-up trophy for them – the Heels had simply lost too much talent.
Still, the way this group ran through the ACC and NCAA Tournament for three consecutive seasons was the kind of legendary run most can only dream of. The national championship served as the topper to this class’ excellence.