Big Ten Basketball: Biggest needs for each team’s 2021 recruiting classes

Recruiting never stops in college hoops. What are the biggest future needs for each Big Ten Basketball program in the 2021 class?

When it comes to recruiting in Big Ten Basketball, many of the teams typically don’t target or land the “five-star” type of prospects. Outside of Michigan State and Indiana, none of the other programs have the natural prestige to consistently land high school superstars outside of their local area.

But that hasn’t been a problem, as the conference has thrived in landing top-50/100 caliber-talent, and developing them throughout the years into college stars. The Big Ten truly does this better than any other major conference, using players such as Michigan State’s Cassius Winston and Iowa’s Luka Garza as prime examples.

Garza coming back, along with former top-35 recruits Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn for the upcoming season. Then you have a senior-laden group of Wisconsin Badgers, none of whom were ranked in the top-60 from the 2017 recruiting class.

This doesn’t even include the rise of Rutgers, featuring top-50 big man freshman Cliff Omoruyi and has a potential preseason top-25 team. Indiana has a five-star point guard in Kristian Lander and Michigan under head coach Juwan Howard seems primed to be a recruiting juggernaut going forward.

As far as the class of 2021 recruiting is going, it’s already full-steam ahead. With no official in-person visits coming anytime soon, prospects are already committing to programs early to solidify their placement. Expect even more in the 2.5 months before the start of the 2020-21 season.

Some Big Ten teams have already gotten off to great starts, but there is still more to do. Here’s a look at the biggest recruiting needs for all 14 programs.