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NCAA Basketball: 25 biggest team winners from 2021 recruiting classes

By Tristan Freeman

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JANUARY 04: Chet Holmgren #34 of Minnehaha Academy Red Hawks dribbles the ball against the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers during the first half of the game at Target Center on January 04, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JANUARY 04: Chet Holmgren #34 of Minnehaha Academy Red Hawks dribbles the ball against the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers during the first half of the game at Target Center on January 04, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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NCAA Basketball Matt Painter Purdue Boilermakers (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
NCAA Basketball Matt Painter Purdue Boilermakers (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

21. Purdue Boilermakers (No. 36 overall class)

The Boilermakers didn’t even need to have a recruiting class, as they returned everyone important from last season’s NCAA Tournament and is a consensus top-15 team for next season. But they were still able to land a pair of quality power forwards from the state of Indiana in Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufmann, both ranked in the top-60 overall.

With Aaron Wheeler gone, Purdue now has some great frontcourt depth behind star big man Trevion Williams and 7’3 center Zach Edey. And once Williams departs after next season, Furst and Kaufmann will be in the spotlight themselves. The added depth, plus winning important in-state recruiting battles made this a nice past year from the program that’ll set them up for future years.

20. LMU Lions (No. 56 overall class)

Despite the injuries, it was an impressive first season for head coach Stan Johnson. And he’s building off of it well, landing several key transfers and bringing back star point/forward Eli Scott. The program also has a trio of talented guards, including top-200 playmakers, James Nobles, and Lamaj Lewis.

Considering Gonzaga’s presence in the WCC, it can difficult to recruit, especially dealing with over a dozen other programs in the Los Angeles area. Nobles and Lewis will be impact players for LMU and keep the momentum going for the program as they look to stay in the top half.

19. Washington State Cougars (No. 51 overall class)

The offseason was already good for the Cougars, landing high-level scorers Kim Aiken and Michael Flowers from the transfer portal while keeping almost all of their key pieces from last season. But the “good” offseason became “great” adding top-50 big man Mouhamed Gueye after he elected to reclassify to the 2021 class, second highest-ever commit only to future NBA Hall of Famer Klay Thompson.

With both Efemena Abogidi and Dishon Jackson back for their sophomore seasons, Gueye will likely be playing off the bench but his commitment is very important for a program that has struggled to recruit in the Pac-12 and getting depth overall. There’s finally some reasonable momentum for the Cougars and Coach Kyle Smith and with the Washington Huskies still down, now is the time to take advantage.

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