NCAA Basketball Recruiting: The Biggest Winners and Losers of Decision Friday
Four monumental decisions made Friday a red-letter day in NCAA basketball recruiting. Duke is obviously celebrating after landing top-four talents Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones, but the effects of their choice (plus those of Cliff Alexander and Stanley Johnson) go far beyond Durham.
Indeed, one coach who has to be frustrated with the dayโs results is 2,500 miles beyond Durham, at USC. Andy Enfield put his rebuilding program onto Johnsonโs list of finalists, but by whiffing on the California native, he lost a huge opportunity for a statement win off the court.
Herein, a closer look at Enfield and the rest of the non-Blue Devils who will reap the biggest rewards and the worst regrets from Fridayโs big announcements.
Winner: Iowa
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Chicago native Cliff Alexander gave serious thought to signing on with John Groceโs up-and-coming Illinois team. The fact that the Illini missed out on one of the best recruits in the nation is a boon to every other middling Big Ten program, especially Iowa.
The Hawkeyes, like the Illini, appear to be headed in the right direction, based especially on their trip to last seasonโs NIT title game.
Theyโll have a much better chance of returning to the ranks of conference contenders without Illinois rocketing ahead on the strength of the high-jumping, hard-dunking Alexander.
Loser: John Calipari
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For once, the best recruiter in college basketball got scooped. Four ultra-elite recruits all making televised announcements on the same day, and John Calipari didnโt land one of them.
Even more surprising, mighty Kentucky was only a finalist for Stanley Johnson, with none of the others even considering the program by this point.
In addition to the hit Coach Calโs mystique is bound to take (especially if Duke tops UK in the 2014 recruiting rankings), there is also the small matter of trying to outplay now-loaded Duke as a contender for the 2015 national title.
Winner: Travis Ford
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Some of the coaches with the most reason to celebrate Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jonesโ joint decision are the ones who wonโt have to deal with them.
Travis Ford, who has an enviable recruiting class of his own at Oklahoma State, would have been in for a long 2014-15 season if Kansas had landed the package deal.
Obviously, Cliff Alexander is no slouch, but he canโt compare by himself to what Kansas wouldโve gotten with the Okafor/Jones double dip.
Kansas with Alexander will be great but beatable, whereas Kansas with two top-four recruits would have been a pretty unstoppable force in the Big 12.
Loser: The State of Illinois
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Cliff Alexanderโs three finalists included a pair of schools loaded with natives of his hometown of Chicago: DePaul and Illinois.
He couldโve been the face of either program as both attempt to build back up to national-contender status, but he headed south to Kansas instead.
The collapse of the Blue Demons and the less dramatic decline of the Illini have left Illinois in surprisingly bad shape when it comes to top-level college basketball options.
Instead of reversing that trend, Alexanderโs decisionโand that of fellow Chicagoan Jahlil Okaforโonly accentuated the disparity between the stateโs astounding high school talent base and its college-hoops mediocrity.
Winner: ACC
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If there were any questions about the ACC reclaiming its crown as the nationโs top conference, Friday went a long way toward silencing them.
Neither the shrunken Big East nor the Big Ten (last yearโs gold standard, and arguably this yearโs, too) made an appearance among the three schools adding star recruits in the announcement barrage.
The ACC, meanwhile, saw signature program Duke do what Duke does: attract the best players in the country, year after year.
With Jabari Parker followed up by Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones, Coach K has shown that heโs still capable of putting together awe-inspiring rosters even after three decades on the bench.
Loser: Kevon Looney
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When Kevon Looney committed to UCLA on Halloween, he immediately became the defining recruit of this yearโs Pac-12.
He lost that status just as instantly on Friday, when Stanley Johnson (ranked as high as No. 3 nationally by Rivals.com) decided to play for Arizona.
Looney is also a major piece of Steve Alfordโs plan for returning the Bruins to conference supremacy, and that plan gets a great deal tougher with Johnson joining the deep, talented Wildcats.
They may not face off against each other to any great extentโthe 6โ9โ Looney spends more time in the post than SF Johnsonโbut todayโs events ensured that theyโll be rivals in 2014-15.
Winner: Joel Embiid
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Even after spending this year apprenticing to Tarik Black, Joel Embiid isnโt going to be ready to play in the NBA. If Jahlil Okafor had headed to Kansas, though, he wouldnโt have had much chance to play in college, either.
Instead, the Jayhawks get Cliff Alexander, who can slide over to power forward alongside the slender sophomore-to-be.
Alexanderโs offensive punch will also take some pressure off Embiid, who can develop his own jump shot without having to be a primary weapon.
Loser: Andy Enfield
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Andy Enfield has already made a major impression on players considering USC, as evidenced by his ability to attract such high-profile transfers as PeโShon Howard (Maryland) and D.J. Haley (VCU).
For him to keep up that kind of momentum, though, the first-year USC coach must out-recruit more established programs for top freshmen, and he missed his chance to do so today.
Without Stanley Johnson in the fold, Enfieldโs first recruiting class with his new teamโled by PG Jordan McLaughlinโis respectable but nothing earth-shaking.
Had he landed Johnson, though, the young coach would've put his team on the fast track to competing in the fluid Pac-12.
Winner: Arizona
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Both Kansas and Arizona scored big commitments with Cliff Alexander and Stanley Johnson respectively, but Arizonaโs isnโt likely to drive away any other potential recruits.
In contrast, it wouldnโt be surprising if Alexanderโs presence in Lawrence makes other big men (especially Myles Turner, the second-ranked center in the country) stay away.
Johnson's choice of Arizona is also a great fit with the previously committed duo of Craig Victor and Parker Jackson-Cartwright.
Together, they give Sean Miller three dangerous scorers who can all be on the floor together (and who bring plenty more to the table than just point production).
Loser: Baylor
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Baylor, the last semifinalists dropped from the lists of Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor, got a double whammy from Fridayโs made-for-TV announcements.
The Bears not only missed out on the two superstars, they didnโt even get the boost in notoriety that wouldโve come from having their name alongside Duke and Kansas as a potential choice for the celebrated pair.
Having whiffed on the package deal, Scott Drew now has to hope he can sign Rashad Vaughn to salvage what's currently a weak recruiting class. On top of all that, Baylor now gets the pleasure of facing Cliff Alexander in conference play next season.
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