NCAA Basketball: 25 best recruiting classes since 2000

21) 2003 UConn Huskies

The first group on this list to win a national championship, the 2003 UConn recruiting class was headlined by five-star forward Charlie Villanueva – who opted for the Huskies after withdrawing from the NBA Draft – and a pair of four-star prospects in Josh Boone and Marcus Williams.

Villanueva, Boone and Emeka Okafor combined for form one of the most defensively dominant frontcourts in the country (back in a time when teams still cared about post play). That group formed the backbone of the 2003-04 team that went on to win the national championship. They also set the NCAA single-season record for blocks along the way.

Williams played more of a complementary role in the backcourt on that national championship team and served as a quality floor general during a three-year stint in Storrs, averaging 7.3 assists per game for his career.

The entire trio moved into the starting lineup full-time the following season and guided the Huskies to a Big East regular-season titles in 2005, after which Villanueva left for the NBA. With Williams and Boone back, UConn repeated as Big East champs (their last regular-season conference title) and advanced to the Elite Eight, where they were upset by George Mason.

So, why isn’t this group ranked higher? For all their accomplishments, they weren’t the stars of the 2004 National Championship team – that distinction belonged to Okafor and Ben Gordon – and the 2006 Elite Eight team was headlined by Rudy Gay. We’re splitting hairs with some of these classes, but this group was still one of the most successful in UConn history.