NCAA Basketball: 10 key storylines from 2020 National Signing Day
By Ian Mumm
National Signing Day occurred on Wednesday, the period where athletes can officially lock in commitments to NCAA Basketball programs.
Before the 2020 season officially starts, fans are starting to receive trickling amounts of news regarding how their teams will look heading into the 2021 season. This week’s national signing day enabled current high school seniors in the class of 2021 to sign their letters of intent to their respective programs. On occasion, this day can be especially high in anxiety as prospects are allowed to switch their commitments up until the moment they sign on the dotted line.
Despite the potential for high-level drama, none occurred. The status of college basketball’s powerhouses is quite mixed at this point. Kentucky and Villanova are sitting pretty at 3rd and 4th in the rankings each signing multiple top-50 prospects.
However, others have not fared as well due to waiting on the potential commitments of the nation’s elite recruits. Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, and North Carolina are currently positioned between 29th and 40th in the rankings. Each of these schools is waiting on the decisions of at least one 5-star still in play for their services, which could significantly increase their position at the end of the cycle.
However, teams at the bottom of their conferences have also generated a lot of forward momentum for their programs in the coming seasons. Nebraska managed to sign Byrce McGowens as the 1st 5-star in program history, while Buzz Williams at Texas A&M managed to sign multiple 4-star guards to build on the team’s backcourt depth.
Whereas Stanford has signed 5-star wings in back-to-back classes with Harrison Ingram, in addition to hyper creative point guard Isa Silva.
Yet, these stories do not fall within the most interesting across the nation. I’ve outlined the top-10 events that are worth noting.