NCAA Basketball: 25 best recruiting classes since 2000

22) 2005 UCLA Bruins

Like the 2007 Michigan State class, the 2005 UCLA recruiting class finds its place on this list thanks to multiple Final Four appearances, but without a national championship. And similarly, this class contained key players for those teams but didn’t include the stars they are known for.

Ben Howland was able to reel in a five-man class that featured four four-star prospects (Darren Collison, Alfred Aboya, Michael Roll and Ryan Wright) and one three-star prospect (Luc Richard Mbah a Moute), and it was his most accomplished class at UCLA.

Wright transferred to Oklahoma after two seasons and two Final Fours, but the other four members of the class all made three consecutive Final Fours, won three Pac-10 regular-season titles and two Pac-10 Tournament titles. Collison and Mbah a Moute were major contributors on all three Final Four teams, while Aboya and Roll were largely role players.

Collison, Aboya and Roll all stuck around for their senior seasons, but they saw both their Pac-12 championship and Final Four streaks come to an end.

This is the only class on the list that made it to three consecutive Final Fours, showing that they deserve their place on this list. However, they were undoubtedly boosted by players like Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love, who were not a part of this class.