A Comprehensive Look at ACC Basketball Recruiting since 2003: Part 3

The third part in our series on ACC basketball recruiting

Today we examine the third part of our series on ACC basketball recruiting since 2003, comparing recruiting class rankings to both regular season and postseason success in the conference.

Part 1 listed some background information and gave some notes about our process for this project.

Part 2 examined individual recruiting classes for each year and listed each player by ranking. It then broke down each coach’s recruiting resumes and gave some insight into just how dominant Mike Krzyzewski has been with regards to recruiting, especially over the last five years.

Now in part 3 we look at how these recruits have helped their teams over the years, and how much of a difference consistently having the best recruits truly makes.

Data:

Position in Conference Standings (2003-2017):

Note: * Indicates that the school was not in the ACC at the time.

Note: Italicized numbers are the best finish in the standings for a school.

Titles and Postseason Bids (2003-2017):

Recruiting Rankings by Year (2003-2017):

Note: * Indicates that the school was not in the ACC at the time.

Note: Italicized numbers are the best finish in recruiting rankings for a school.

Note: A – means that a school did not have any recruits for that year.

Analysis:

North Carolina is absolutely dominant in the regular season, having won 8 regular season titles since 2004. Only four different team total have won the regular season title during that time with Duke having won three times, Virginia twice, and Miami once.

Carolina has also had the top ranked recruiting class in six different seasons, while Duke has also led recruiting six times, and Maryland, Virginia, and Syracuse have each had the top class once apiece.

Duke has won the ACC Tournament 6 times in this span, while Carolina has won it 3 times, and Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Notre Dame, and Virginia have each one it once.

Duke has made the NCAA Tournament all 14 years of data, while Carolina only missed it in 2010. No other school has made it more than 7 times in this time period while they were a member of the ACC.

And of course North Carolina has their championships from 2005, 2009, and 2017, and Duke has theirs from 2010 and 2015.

But having the highest ranked recruiting class doesn’t always translate into regular season or postseason success. It often depends on much more than just having a few star freshmen, as without a strong core of veteran leaders most teams will eventually fall apart.

Check back later for a final part with some detailed analysis on all three parts. And be sure to follow Ned @DeacFan3 and follow Edward @fefoster4 on Twitter.