NCAA Basketball: Alabama, Houston among early-November recruiting winners

The NCAA Basketball recruiting cycle for the Class of 2022 is in full force with Alabama and Houston among the biggest early-November winners.

As the 2021-22 NCAA Basketball season is set to tip-off, things have been hot on the recruiting trail since the calendar flipped to November. Only a little over a week into the month, there are already five clear recruiting winners for the month of November.

Undoubtedly the biggest winner of the month so far is Alabama, as the Crimson Tide has risen up the 247Sports team rankings to the No. 11 ranked class nationally. Already holding a commitment from five-star point guard Jaden Bradley (IMG Academy, FL), the Crimson Tide added three more commits to their 2022 class over the past week headlined by five-star forward Brandon Miller (Cane Ridge, TN), the now No. 3 highest-rated recruit in Alabama history.

In addition to Miller, Alabama also added rising four-star power forward Noah Clowney (Dorman, SC), as well as the nation’s No. 2 overall JUCO prospect in forward Nick Pringle (Dodge City C.C., KS).

While Alabama added three commits this past week, there were a few teams in particular however who were also massive recruiting winners by adding one big commit each.

The first of these teams was Houston as the Cougars added five-star power forward Jarace Walker (IMG Academy, FL) to add to what is the No. 12 recruiting class in the country, as well as tops in the AAC. The now top-ranked recruit in Houston history, Walker is rated as the top power forward in the Class of 2022, and now joins an impressive class for the Cougars that also includes Terrance Arceneaux and Emanuel Sharp, both of whom are also rated in the Cougars Top 10 recruits all-time.

In addition to the Crimson Tide and Cougars, a few other teams that were big winners were Kentucky, UCLA, and USC. The Wildcats took over the No. 1 overall ranked class by adding five-star guard Cason Wallace (Richardson, TX), while UCLA rises back into the Top 10 classes at No. 10 by adding five-star center Adem Bona (Prolific Prep, CA). USC also added to their No. 5 ranked national class by adding four-star forward Tre White (Prolific Prep, CA).

As the 2021-22 NCAA Basketball season is set to begin on Tuesday night, it certainly appears that these five teams are big winners before even playing a game. Will teams such as the Crimson Tide, Cougars, and more continue to add to what already is a phenomenal 2022 class?