Dribble Handoff: Miami, Arkansas among picks to finish with college basketball’s best 2025 recruiting class

College basketball’s recruiting hierarchy is more jumbled than ever. Among the programs that finished in the top five of the 247Sports Team Rankings for the Class of 2024 were Rutgers and Missouri, neither of which have been historically known for elite recruiting prowess. 

In an era when transfer talent has become the focus of roster construction efforts, the door is open for a variety of programs to assemble blockbuster high school classes. In the end, Duke took home the title of top 2024 recruiting class with a group headlined by No. 1 prospect Cooper Flagg. But the top spots in the team recruiting rankings aren’t just reserved for blue-bloods anymore. For example: Georgia Tech, Providence and Georgia are among the programs that have received commitments from top-50 players in the class so far.

Though it’s still early in the 2025 recruiting cycle, the race for the top class is wide open. Will Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils stack top-ranked classes? Will Arkansas get into the mix with John Calipari at the helm? Could there be a surprise in store in Coral Gables? With the summer evaluation and recruiting circuit kicking recruiting talk into high gear, it’s time to make some recruiting predictions.

For this week’s Dribble Handoff, our writers are making their picks for who will finish with the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class in the 2025 cycle.

Duke

Jon Scheyer officially took over for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke in April 2022, right after the Blue Devils lost to North Carolina in the Final Four. Since then, Duke’s recruiting classes have ranked this way:

• 2022: No. 1
• 2023: No. 2
• 2024: No. 1

Put another way, literally nobody has recruited at a higher level than Duke since Scheyer took over for the winningest coach in Division I men’s basketball history. So it’s reasonable to assume he’ll keep that going, especially considering two of the top 20 prospects in the class — No. 2 Cameron Boozer and No. 19 Cayden Boozer — are the twin sons of former Duke All-American Carlos Boozer.

Does that guarantee their commitment?

Of course not.

Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Miami and UNC are among the schools also involved. Things could still go any number of directions. But, as my friend and colleague Pete Gillen once said, “Duke is Duke.” And that’s still true on the recruiting trail as Scheyer enters Year 3 after back-to-back 27-9 seasons. — Gary Parrish

Miami

Miami? Yeah, why not. I’m taking Miami. Miami. Here’s my reasoning. GP mentions above the recruitment of the Boozer twins (who turn 17 today, by the way) and how Duke is involved, which is true and a major factor. But in speaking to a variety of sources in recent months, it sounds like the Hurricanes are the quiet leader (at this stage) for Cameron and Cayden Boozer. Keep in mind, they’re from Miami. What’s more, Jim Larrañaga has been diligently recruiting the brothers for years; this is no late-to-the-party recruitment. The Canes have a real shot. So, given that the Boozers are top-20 prospects, and Cameron has a case for No. 1 in his class, it’s likely that the team that lands the pair is a near-lock to be a top-three recruiting class. Toss in the fact that Miami is also recruiting four-star 2025 guys Ryan Crotty, Isaiah Dennis and Trey McKinney. If they were to land any of them in addition to the Boozers, it would give them a great shot at landing the first No. 1 class in program history.

Beyond anything else, how amazing would it be if Larrañaga beat out Scheyer, Calipari, Self, etc. for the top class while entering his mid-70s? That’d be a fun development in college hoops. — Matt Norlander

Kentucky

Gone is John Calipari from Lexington but in is Mark Pope, a UK alum and legend, who at BYU ran a run-and-fun style system that should serve as one of his best recruiting pitches as he puts together his first full recruiting calendar. Pope’s not been an ace recruiter yet as a head coach at Utah Valley or BYU, but he’s never had anywhere near the resources BBN has to offer, nor the platform of playing on the SEC from the spotlight of Lexington, Kentucky, either. Time will tell exactly how well he’ll recruit, but my bet is that he’ll do it at a high level with transfers and high school kids — and will do it very soon.

Winning, ultimately, is what is the biggest allure for the biggest recruits, and that’s why I’ll take Pope here. He’s put together a formidable roster entering his first year at Kentucky pieced together primarily by transfers with experience. That’s a recipe of success in college hoops. When he wins big and does it early, recruits will follow at UK. That should help as he chases after a number of five-stars including the Boozer twins, Koa Peat, Meleek Thomas and others — all guys who are in the mix for UK and may be charmed by what Pope and UK offer. — Kyle Boone

Arkansas

John Calipari knows no other way. He needs five-star high school talent like he needs air. The Razorbacks are major early players in the recruitment of No. 1 overall prospect AJ Dybantsa and are heavily involved with a series of other top prospects. Even amid the coaching transition from Eric Musselman to Calipari, Arkansas still finished with the nation’s No. 3 class in the 2024 cycle. The program was recruiting high-level high school talent before Calipari’s arrival, too. Though Musselman was known for being a pioneer in transfer recruiting, his 2022 high school class finished No. 2 nationally, per 247Sports. Arkansas has an NIL war chest and one of the greatest recruiters of all time as its head coach. That’s a recipe to land the No. 1 class. — David Cobb

Duke

Around this time last year, it was clear whoever landed the services of Cooper Flagg would have the inside track of landing the top-ranked recruiting class in the country. With all 15 of 247Sports five-star prospects still on the board, the race for No. 1 is wide open. Duke coach Jon Scheyer is coming off securing one of the best recruiting classes of the modern era, and my prediction is he will get it done again. While there’s no clear indication of where Dybantsa might lean, Cameron Boozer – the No. 2 ranked player in the class and the son of former Duke legend Carlos Boozer – appears to have the Blue Devils as one of his top schools. So does his brother – Cayden Boozer – the No. 19 player in the class. Landing the Boozer brothers would be a great start in what should be another star-studded recruiting class. — Cameron Salerno