BuckMajor's College Hoops Recruiting Breakdown

In this day and age AAU, scholarship offers, and college basketball recruiting can be summed up by 3 words from Grammy award winning and double platinum recording artists DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Summer, summer, summertime. But coaches won't be sitting back and rewinding this summer. That is now when all the action happens. Kids are playing with and against high level competition, all over the country.

Additionally, college coach's seasons are over, and by attending one event they can see numerous prospects and high-level recruits all at the same time.

As summer approaches, I will be highlighting some recruiting news, updates, and developments. AAU isn't yet in full swing, and college basketball just ended a couple of days ago. So, I thought it would be fun to see what the landscape looks like next year for our recent Final Four teams.

Let's start off with the Loyola Ramblers. Yes, even Cinderella got married and became a queen. Loyola Chicago may not be a one hit wonder. They will lose three seniors, but actually return a nice core in freshman big man Cameron Krutwig, Clayton Kuster, and Marques Townes. All three became star players in the tournament. Next year they bring in the MVC's highest ranked recruiting class. The class is highlighted by 4-star big man Franklin Aguname. Aguname boasts a 7'3 wingspan and won a national championship with one of the most premier high school basketball teams in the country in La Lumeire. He even led the EYBL in defensive rebounding percentage.

Next, they bring in sharp shooter Cooper Kaifes. Cooper won a state title with Mill Valley and ran AAU with MOKAN where he was 45% from behind the arc. Last is Isaiah Bujdosa hailing from Canada. Keeping with the trend, Isaiah won titles in Canada as well, before moving to play at Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas. I have seen Sunrise play live several times, and they are a great basketball school. Isaiah also played AAU with fellow Candian and #1 player in the nation RJ Barrett. As you can see, Loyola is bringing in some guys who simply know how to win.

Their best newcomer may be a transfer who is already on the team. That transfer is Aher Uguak, 6'7, from New Mexico. He is the cousin of NBA player Loul Deng. As long as Porter Mosner doesn’t bolt for another job offer, expect Loyola Chicago to win the MVC and be right back in the tournament next year, with some early predictions saying they could be a preseason top 25 team next year. And honestly that isn't out of the question.

That brings us to the Wolverines. Michigan is currently in decision mode, with decisions looming that will affect their preseason ranking and next year's performance. Mo Wagner almost certainly played himself into being a late first round NBA draft pick. Charles Matthews played well and is also currently weighing his decision. And with the new draft rules, both will almost certainly enter their names into the draft and go through the evaluation process.

Michigan will have a good core group coming back in Simpson, Poole, and Livers (and probably Matthews). They are bringing in two 4-star players and two other guys who are right on the edge of being ranked 4 stars. They start with SF Ignas Brazdeikis from Orangeville Prep out of Canada. I've seen Ignas play several times live and was impressed with him each time. Ultra-competitor and a "postionless player" at 6'8. They also bring in 4-star BF Brandon Johns, PG David DeJulius (a great backup for Simpson), and 3-star SG Adrien Nunez. Topping off the class will be a big man who could contribute right away should Mo Wagner test the NBA waters. 6'10 PF Colin Castleton could find himself with a starting role next year. John Beilein lives for these 3 and 4-star players, having taken this year's team to the Final Four without one single 5-star recruit. Their recruiting class is currently ranked #16 in the nation. Look for Michigan to be ranked in the top 15 in the preseason.

How about our national champion Villanova Wildcats? How do they look for next year? Some years you can argue that the best team in college basketball didn't win the championship. This year wasn't one of those years. And next year they will most likely be bringing in a top 10 recruiting class.

Villanova also has some kids with decisions, although some may be easy decisions. Brunson is winning almost every national player of the year awards, the first player since Kentucky's Anthony Davis to win such awards and the national championship. He'll be a lottery pick and most likely gone. Bridges is slated to be a lottery pick, and most likely gone. Spellman will be more on the fence, he could stay or go, it will be interesting to see his decision. Villanova could end up with a one-and-done on their championship team after all.

Villanova also returns some big-time players. National Championship star and MOP Donte DiVincenzo will be back, along with Paschall, and Booth. Brunson will be getting replaced by a big time 5-star recruit. New Jersey native PG Jahvon Quinerly with be bringing a little JELLYTIME to the Wildcat's roster. The New York/New Jersey kids have revolutionized the finger roll, starting their "Jelly Fam" culture. And when they hit a layup you know it must be jelly, 'cause jam don't shake like that. Even to the point where in the McDonald's All-American game (Yep, Quinerly is a burger boy, as well as New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year), he signed up for the dunk contest, just to do a finger roll. If you don't know what Jelly Fam is, just think Michael Jordan's logo free throw line dunk (but if he had laid it in instead).

Quinerly took an interesting route to Villanova. He was originally committed to Arizona, but later decommitted after the start of the FBI probe into their program. Now most likely Jahvon is one of the recruits listed in the report, stating a recruit received $15,000 on a certain date, and that date was the day right after he committed to Arizona. So, it will be interesting to see how the probe plays out, how long it takes, and if he gets to suit up for the blue Wildcats. Villanova believes he will be illegible.

They are also set to bring in 4-stars Cole Swider and Brandon Slater. Swider is 6'7 PF who can also stroke the three, he's a great shooter. Brandon Slater is big-bodied SG and 6'6. As much as Villanova was known for their great shooting last year, and with no seniors, they could honestly be a better shooting team next year. Which is scary. Look for Villanova to be in the preseason top 5 in the country.

And we end with the Kansas Jayhawks. They will more than likely start next season as the preseason #1 team in the nation, with a top 5 recruiting class. Part of that will depend on the decisions of some current players, but with Duke potentially losing their entire starting five, I can still easily see them being the preseason favorite. Newman, Vick, and Azubuike are the ones with the decisions. I could honestly see all three of them coming back. But with college kids, you never know. And they may test well enough to get a first round evaluation during the predraft process.

As far as a recruiting class goes, Kansas is bringing in a great one. It's highlighted by two major 5 star guards in Quentin Grimes and Devin Dodson. And rounding out the class is 4-star big man David McCormack. I was fortunate enough to see McCormack live earlier this year, and he was quite impressive. He's very strong and powerful and can muscle his way to the basket with a variety of moves. Kansas also has a verbal commit from Kansas City SG Ochai Agbaji (Oak Park). He's a 3-star.

With all that being said, Kansas biggest addition will be from guys on the scout team who've been pushing the Final Four team every day in practice. Last year Kansas won the transfer game, and now it's time for those guys to take the floor. Transfer Charlie Moore was a great player at Cal and left with the departure of Counzo Martin. When Josh Pastner left Memphis, Kansas was able to win the Lawson Sweepstakes. The Lawson brothers, Dedric and KJ, were 5-star forwards (6'8 and 6'9) and by far Memphis's two best players.

Now Kansas has never been shy about taking the riskier 5 stars with off court issues (Preston, Jackson, Vick, Bragg, Alexander, Shelby, McKlemore), and even this year's star Devonte Graham was arrested last year. And the Lawson's are no exception. Memphis, taking a page out of the Mizzou/Washington/LSU/Western Kentucky playbook, hired the Lawson's dad. When Pastner left, Lawson's coaching position was demoted under Tubby Smith's staff. Things reached a breaking point when Lawson was left behind at a hotel in Philadelphia for a game, with the team bus departing without him. At that point the brothers were as good as gone. Dedric Lawson has even already been suspended once at Kansas, despite not even being able to play yet. If everything works out for the brothers with no more issues, they will be big contributors to the Jayhawks squad.

As you can see, this year's Final Four had a theme of experience. And much of that experience will be back again next year. It will not be a shocker if one of the four make the last weekend again (and honestly who wouldn't want to see Sister Jean again?). Stay tuned for more recruiting news as AAU action ramps up in the coming months.