The Highest 2017 Recruiting Priority for College Basketball's Top Programs

College basketball recruiting is a never-ending cycle, one where coaches have to be constantly aware of what their team needs will be not just next season but several years into the future. The ability for players to turn pro after one year of school—not to mention the prevalence of transfers nowadays—makes this process even more involved.

Schools have already signed a crop of players for 2016-17, with another signing period coming up in the spring, and offers are out for prospects who would enter college for the 2017-18 season. Most of these offers will be for naught, but by making them now, they're identifying those prospects as high priorities for two years from now.

We've identified the player whom each of some of college basketball's most notable programs are most interested in at this point, explaining how that recruit would fit in with the team each school expects to have in 2017-18.

Arizona

Credit: 247Sports

2017 SG prospect D.J. Harvey

SG D.J. Harvey

Allonzo Trier's hand injury might have slowed the freshman's rise enough to make him stick around in school beyond this season, but probably for no more than one year. The Wildcats also can't expect 2016 guard commit Kobi Simmons to stick around beyond his first season, and the same goes if they're able to win the race to get top overall 2016 prospect Josh Jackson.

Much of that is still uncertain, but what lacks uncertainty is the interest Arizona has in D.J. Harvey. The 6'6”, 185-pound product from DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland is No. 8 overall and tops at the shooting guard spot in the 2016 class.

Harvey has visited Maryland each of the past two weekends, but Arizona remains the heavy favorite in 247Sports' "crystal ball" predictions.

Connecticut

Credit: 247Sports

2017 PG prospect Tremont Waters

PG Tremont Waters

The point guard who looks small but plays big is a Connecticut staple—guys like Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier carrying their Huskies teams to national titles despite often being the smallest player on the court. UConn has in mind who that could be for 2017-18 and beyond, and he's not far from campus.

Tremont Waters currently plays at South Kent School in New Haven, Connecticut, where the 5'11”, 160-pound guard is the state's second-ranked player in 2017. He's ranked No. 42 overall and 11th among point guards, though those rankings figure to rise after he hits the showcase circuit this summer.

By offering him in June 2014, the Huskies are hoping that early relationship will pay off by having him join a team that in 2017-18 can't assume to still have 2016 point guard signee Alterique Gilbert.

Duke

PF Wendell Carter

Duke had three one-and-done players in 2014-15 and could have at least one this season in Brandon Ingram. Next year's team, which is set to add four top-40 players from the 2016 class, including three of the top 14, will likely produce a couple more short-timers.

That means the world is the Blue Devils' oyster when it comes to recruiting for 2017-18, where they don't need to worry about having a glut of players at one position. Still, Duke has only extended offers to nine prospects from that class, with Wendell Carter being the one it wants the most right now.

The No. 2 player in 2017, Carter is 6'10” and 258 pounds and hails from Atlanta. Duke is one of the 16 teams he's received offers from so far, with Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina among the others. The Blue Devils most recently checked in on the Jahlil Okafor-type player in early December, sending assistant Jeff Capel for a viewing.

Indiana

Credit: 247Sports

2017 SF prospect Kevin Wilkes

SF Kris Wilkes

Indiana coach Tom Crean loves his shooters, but when he can find someone who's willing to take it to the rim, he's going to push hard for that prospect. That's what he and the Hoosiers see in Kris Wilkes, a 6'7” wing who is still growing into his body at 190 pounds but has shown plenty of hops.

Wilkes is starring for Indianapolis' North Central High School, only about 170 miles away from Bloomington, so Indiana is able to keep regular tabs on him. Other schools are as well, such as Butler, Kentucky and Michigan State, which hosted Wilkes for an unofficial visit on Jan. 31.

Ranked No. 18 overall and fifth among small forwards, Wilkes would be a strong complement to 2016 power forward signee De'Ron Davis in an effort to diversify Indiana's makeup.

Kansas

Credit: 247Sports

2017 PG prospect Troy Brown

PG Troy Brown

Kansas' 2016 class features one big-man signee and another who has committed, and the Jayhawks are targeting a slew of frontcourt players for 2017 as well. In order to get the ball inside to those post players, though, the Jayhawks will need to bring in a point guard to work alongside Devonte' Graham in what would be his senior year if he sticks around.

Troy Brown, a lanky 6'5”, 185-pound floor leader who hails from Las Vegas, is considered the second-best point guard in the 2017 class and No. 14 overall. His offer list includes mostly West Coast schools so far but also Alabama and Louisville, along with Kansas, which extended an offer to him almost two years ago.

In late December, Brown told Ben Parker of Rivals.com that Kansas was among the five schools recruiting him the hardest, along with Arizona, California, UCLA and hometown UNLV.

Kentucky

PF DeAndre Ayton

With five players already signed in the 2016 recruiting class, Kentucky is set up for another year of success after this season is over. But as has become the case with the Wildcats under John Calipari, most of the prospects who come in don't end up staying more than one year or rarely more than two, so a big load of signings has to happen every cycle.

NBADraft.net has two current Kentucky players pegged as 2016 NBA draft picks and another seven among its 2017 mock draft, including three who have yet to join the program.

The players Kentucky is looking at for 2017-18 are ones who could fit well with whoever is still around, or they could do well as the main pieces of that team. It has offered 12 players, 11 of whom are uncommitted, with DeAndre Ayton topping the list. The 7'0”, 235-pound power forward from San Diego (but currently at a prep school in Phoenix) is No. 1 overall in the 2017 recruiting class and is much like recent frontcourt stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein.

Ayton recently had a monster game against Sunrise Christian in Kansas, going for 52 points, 33 rebounds and 10 blocks.

Michigan State

Credit: 247Sports

2017 SF prospect Brian Bowen

SF Brian Bowen

Michigan State is bringing in one of the best recruiting classes in school history for 2016-17, with a quartet of signees that is ranked third overall by 247Sports. Tom Izzo might be facing some one-and-dones from that group, so he and his staff are hard at work trying to pick up some key prospects in 2017 as well.

The Spartans' top target to this point, Brian Bowen, is an in-state product who is playing his high school ball at La Lumiere School in Indiana. The 6'7”, 185-pound wing is rated No. 23 overall and sixth at his position in the 2017 class, holding 15 offers midway through his junior season. More are sure to come, but MSU is making sure he knows what he means to the program.

Izzo visited Bowen in mid-January, a month after the prospect made an unofficial visit to East Lansing.

North Carolina

SF Kevin Knox

North Carolina is still waiting on Justin Jackson, its top recruit from the 2014 class, to reach that next level in his game. If it doesn't come next year, that means he'll almost certainly be in college for his senior year in 2017-18, which would mean he could spend that final season also tutoring a similar player in Kevin Knox.

The 6'8”, 195-pound Tampa resident is ranked ninth overall in 2017 and is the third-best wing in the class. The Tar Heels offered Knox in early December, a week before Duke followed suit, and both schools are expected to get unofficial visits from him this weekend.

UNC has one current commit for 2017 in 4-star prospect Jalek Felton, a 6'2” combo guard from South Carolina who is the nephew of former Heels star Raymond Felton.

UCLA

Credit: 247Sports

2017 PF prospect Billy Preston

PF Billy Preston

UCLA already has three commitments for 2017, making it the early leader in the team rankings for that cycle. The Bruins aren't done, though, as they have offers out to 10 other uncommitted players.

Adding a big man to that class would help more than anything else, since two seasons from now there will be no Tony Parker and, depending on his development, possibly no Thomas Welsh, either.

A Texan whose game takes him to the perimeter as much as the paint, Billy Preston is 6'10”, 230 pounds and rated No. 6 overall in 2017 and fourth among power forwards. He's recently visited Kentucky and Arizona, both of whom are on a list of 13. UCLA is not, despite being one of the first schools to offer him back in July 2014.

The Bruins will continue to pursue him, knowing there's still nine months before he can sign with a school.

Virginia

Credit: 247Sports

2017 PG prospect Matt Coleman

PG Matt Coleman

Tony Bennett managed to turn Virginia into a top-tier program behind a defensive mindset that requires a certain type of player who can handle the assignments. At first, this didn't necessarily translate into big headlines on the recruiting trail, but now the prospects are starting to show interest in the Cavaliers.

For 2016-17, Virginia has a four-man class that ranks eighth-best in the country, filling almost every future need for the team for that season and beyond. But you can never have too many ball-handlers, which is why Matt Coleman is the Cavaliers' top interest from the 2017 class.

The 6'0”, 170-pounder from Norfolk is cutting his teeth with storied prep program Oak Hill Academy. He's rated as the seventh-best point guard in his class and No. 31 overall.

The offers are starting to pile up for Coleman, with 14 to this point, including recent additions from Alabama and Oregon.

All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.