A look inside how college basketball’s biggest and brightest brands are trending.
It’s now a dialogue. It was unavoidable. Not after what UConn did in March of last year. The question was inevitable given how dominant the Huskies were their route to their sixth National Championship.
“Is UConn a blue blood?” It seems obvious to some people. For other people? Not in that way.
According to CBS Sports, UConn coach Dan Hurley stated, “I’m just mostly proud of the way we’ve done it and with the type of people that we’ve done it, the way we recruit young players, develop young players.” “We accomplish it honestly. We carry it out truthfully.”
Earning that blue blood label is fickle and nefarious. It can come and go. How much should historical success play into it? College basketball has changed so much in the last decade. What could the next 10 years have in store? Things might change but the blue blood debate will still rage on with no true correct answer in sight.
Introducing the blue blood stock report, part one. We’ll revisit ahead of conference play and once more before March Madness. Let’s dive in:
Blue blood status: Confirmed
Resources: Trending up
Recruiting: Trending up
The skinny: Kansas is more stable than any program in the country now that the IARP case is closed. Bill Self is the highest-paid coach in the country for good reason. Self’s grip on the Big 12 is well-documented, and no one expects that to change anytime soon even with Houston joining the league. Kansas is absolutely humming on the recruiting trail. The Jayhawks have stacked classes and another one on the way in 2024. Kansas has crushed it in the transfer portal, reeling in prized pieces like Hunter Dickinson and Nick Timberlake. Kansas’ status as one of college basketball’s biggest brands isn’t ever leaving. It’ll keep making the NCAA Tournament. It’ll keep making deep runs. KU feels inescapable.
Blue blood status: Confirmed
Resources: It’s complicated
Recruiting: Trending up
The skinny: Kentucky is still Kentucky but the cracks in the armor are starting to show. It feels like a make-or-break season for John Calipari who keeps absolutely smashing it on the recruiting trail but keeps exiting stage left in the Big Dance. Kentucky hasn’t made the second weekend since 2019. But Calipari has a stable of five-star guards and more are on the way. How Kentucky chooses to utilize them could be the determining factor in just how high Kentucky’s ceiling will be in 2023-24. Kentucky, oddly, was struggling in the transfer portal in the 2023 cycle until Tre Mitchell became available super late in the process. That looks like a potential swing moment for Kentucky both right now and maybe even in the future. Calipari has voiced some of his frustrations with Kentucky, and the masses have made their opinions crystal clear. Winning cures everything. That’s all that will ever truly matter in Lexington.
Blue blood status: Confirmed
Resources: Trending up
Recruiting: Trending up
The skinny: Duke is in as good a place as any from a recruiting standpoint. If you haven’t heard, The Brotherhood keeps adding dudes. Jon Scheyer has built one of college basketball’s most-talented rosters. The Blue Devils have National Championship expectations and uber-hyped, future No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg has booked his ticket to Duke in the 2024 class. Duke is not messing around on the recruiting trail, and Scheyer has built a staff of heavy hitters. Duke’s organization is humming.
Duke still has to answer some questions on the floor. Duke did not make the second weekend in Scheyer’s first true season at the helm, but the Blue Devils largely outkicked its expectations after a boatload of injuries. In some ways, Scheyer feels destined to fail in 2023-24 because the expectations are sky-high. Anything but a Final Four and/or a National Championship might feel like a disappointment. But those are the perennial expectations at Duke. Scheyer is only a question mark until he isn’t. The only thing that’s left for Duke is the ball to start bouncing and the journey to unfurl itself.
Blue blood status: Confirmed
Resources: Trending up
Recruiting: Trending up
The skinny: North Carolina’s place among college basketball’s elite is set in stone for the rest of history. But UNC is on damage control. It’s out to clear its name and prove that this year will be different. Hubert Davis smartly compiled a deep roster using every avenue. UNC reeled in coveted recruits like five-star point guard Elliot Cadeau. It dipped into the portal for veterans like Cormac Ryan (from Notre Dame) and Harrison Ingram (from Stanford). It retained both the old veterans like RJ Davis and Armando Bacot and the young up-and-comers like Seth Trimble and Jalen Washington. It let some well-known names go. But some still question whether Hubert Davis is the leader who can keep UNC a national powerhouse every single year for the next decade. Davis was the toast of the town after leading UNC within a bucket of a National Championship. Davis was one of the main scapegoats for UNC missing the Big Dance last year. Where’s the truth? We’re about to find out.
Blue blood status: Yes, but it’s complicated for a few.
Resources: Trending up
Recruiting: Trending up
The skinny: UConn has five national championships. Argue all you want about its new-money standing. The rings and banners don’t lie. It’s up to Dan Hurley to keep UConn there. The always-fiery and sometimes-vulnerable coach built a dominant UConn club on the back of retention, player development and a splash of key role players from the transfer portal. It looks a little different for the Huskies in 2023-24. UConn is flat-out crushing it on the recruiting trail, and it has been able to keep its loaded coaching staff together after cutting down the nets. UConn has more NBA talent than any college basketball roster in the country. Repeating is hard and hasn’t happened in almost two decades, but Hurely has all the pieces to have a legitimate puncher’s chance. UConn has real staying power.
Blue blood status: It’s complicated
Resources: Trending up
Recruiting: Trending up
The skinny: Indiana is one of college basketball’s historic programs. The five national championships are tied for the fourth-most ever. But man, it’s been a minute. 1987 to be exact. Almost 40 years ago. Indiana hasn’t made the Final Four since 2002. Historically, Indiana is unquestionably a blue blood. Now? It doesn’t feel like it.
It’s Mike Woodson’s job to change that. Indiana has unquestionably made progress under Bob Knight’s old shooting guard. Woodson has developed a real cache on the recruiting trail that sticks. Woodson’s work with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino has reverberated. He resonates in the transfer portal. Woodson was instrumental in helping Indiana lock down prized Oregon transfer Kel’el Ware under the premise he could help the toolsy 7-footer develop into something terrifyingly special. Woodson swiped five-star forward Mackenzie Mgbako right out from under Self’s nose. Sweet-shooting five-star forward Liam McNeely is on the way in 2024. But Indiana hasn’t had that real, “We’re back” moment. It might be coming soon, though.
Blue blood status: Close but it’s likely on the outside looking in.
Resources: Steady as ever
Recruiting: Steady as ever.
The skinny: Michigan State only has two national championships which keep it out of the conversation as an unquestioned blue-blood program. But Tom Izzo is a Hall of Fame coach who has the Spartans relevant every single year. Michigan State has made every NCAA Tournament since 1998. It’s a string of unquestionable competence. Can that flip into unquestionable dominance? MSU had a top-10 recruiting class in 2023 and another one on deck in 2024. Even though Izzo has been outspoken about the transfer portal in recent years, he’s proven he can go into the portal and find the right transfers (Tyson Walker, Joey Hauser). Since Izzo took over, Michigan State has been one of college basketball’s best programs. A banner is the only thing separating MSU from blue-blood status.
Blue blood status: Yes, but it’s been a while.
Resources: Iffy.
Recruiting: Steady as ever.
The skinny: No program has more National Championships than UCLA (11), but 10 of them came in the 1960s and 1970s. UCLA hasn’t won another since 1995. But it has come eerily close so often. UCLA made three consecutive Final Fours from 2006-08. Mick Cronin has had three straight teams who could have absolutely won the title, but some awful injury luck and some late-game prayers have kept UCLA from scaling the mountain. The conversation could have been so different if Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s ankles had stayed intact or if Jaylen Clark and Adem Bona could have played.
The college basketball world is changing. UCLA is trying to evolve with it. The Bruins will head to the Big Ten. Will the extra money help the Bruins elevate? UCLA is recruiting at a high level on the international stage. Will that stick for a while? The Bruins’ hopes of returning to the top of the college basketball food chain could rest on that gamble paying off.
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