NCAA Basketball: Top-25 impact incoming recruiting classes entering 2024-25 season
1. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
No team in college basketball will have as much impact with their incoming recruiting class as Steve Pikeill and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Looking to put last year’s struggles behind, Rutgers will welcome a pair of the top recruits in the country in five-star prospects Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. Both expect to be top-five picks in next year’s NBA Draft.
Bailey, the 2nd-highest ranked recruit in the country behind Cooper Flagg, according to both ESPN and 24/7 Sports, will slot in as a wing in Rutgers’ starting lineup. With high-level athleticism, size and fluidity, Bailey is poised for a transformative impact on this year’s Rutgers squad.
Dylan Harper, the brother of former Rutgers’ F Ron Harper Jr., is a physically strong combo guard able to play on or off the ball, diversifying the Scarlet Knights’ backcourt help in terms of how Harper fits alongside Jeremiah Williams and Merrimack transfer Jordan Derkack. Harper will be the man of the backcourt.
With Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper in the fold, the sky's the limit for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in 2024-25 -- and they better take advantage of it because they won’t be around for long. In one of the most hyped seasons in Rutgers basketball history, it will be their freshman duo that can lift the Scarlet Knights to new heights come November.