SEC basketball early signing period superlatives

The SEC basketball enjoyed a banner week during the early signing period.

A long list of superlatives includes signing 20 members of the top 100 players in the 2022 On3 Consensus. That bests the ACC by three for the most by any conference.

The conference also sports the No. 1 On3 Consensus recruiting class. The Kentucky Wildcats signed four On3 Consensus five-star prospects to nudge out Duke for the top class. 

SEC dominates the On3 Consensus team rankings

The SEC tied the Pac-12 for the most classes inside the top ten with three. The afore mentioned Kentucky took home the top spot and were joined in the top 10 by No. 7 Arkansas and No. 8 Alabama. 

The SEC was the lone conference with five teams in the top 20 with LSU checking in at No. 14 and Missouri No. 19. 

There are a jaw dropping nine teams in the top 35 of the class rankings. Auburn checks in at No. 22 with Florida at No. 28, Tennessee at No. 31 and Mississippi State at No. 34.

SEC dominates On3 Consensus prospect rankings

The conference not only dominated team rankings, but also prospect rankings as expected. 

The SEC signed a conference best nine of the top 25 ranked prospects in the On3 Consensus rankings. The Pac-12 was a distant second with five. 

There was also a conference best 20 members of the On3 Consensus prospect rankings that signed with SEC programs. That number bettered the ACC by three. The SEC signed 25 members of the Top 150 in the rankings to signal quality depth throughout the league. Only the ACC signed more with 26.

Arkansas’ No. 9 ranked class signed five players ranked in the top 150 of On3 Consensus. The only program to do so. Kentucky and Alabama are among five programs to ink four. 

The Wildcats are the only program to sign three of the top 10 ranked prospects in the cycle. As well as the only program to sign four of the top 20. 

A sleeper to watch

On3 Consensus No. 124 T.J. Caldwell (Mansfield, Texas/Faith Family Academy) may not technically be a sleeper. But he’s certainly not talked about enough due to the elite talent signed by the SEC last week. Caldwell is an under athletic prospect that is wiry strong. He will be a high-end defender and athletic finisher early on at Ole Miss. Long term, his ability to knock down the 23-footer will determine where his career heads after college. 

Signing day starting five

Three of the starting five signed with Kentucky, as expected. The future backcourt for the Wildcats will have both size and versatility. The starting five plus the sixth man are from six different states. 

PG Carson Wallace, Richardson (Texas)

On3 Consensus ranking: No. 6 

Signed with Kentucky 

SG Shaedon Sharpe, Glendale (Ariz.) Dream City Christian

On3 Consensus ranking: No. 1 

Signed with Kentucky

SF Chris Livingston, Akron (Ohio) Buchtel

On3 Consensus ranking: No. 7 

Signed with Kentucky

PF Julian Phillips, Blythewood (S.C.)

On3 Consensus ranking: No. 19

Signed with LSU

PF Malik Reneau, Hialeah (Fla.) Mater Academy

On3 Consensus ranking: No. 42

Signed with Florida

Sixth man Brandon Miller, SF, Antioch (Tenn.) Cane Ridge

On3 Consensus ranking: No. 15 

Signed with Alabama