A year after four traditional college basketball powers rallied for the Final Four, each bringing their own collection of former Top 100 prospects and at least one former McDonald’s All-American, the contrast in 2023 couldn’t be greater. Between No. 4 seed UConn, No. 5 Miami, No. 5 San Diego State and No. 9 FAU, there isn’t a single former McDonald’s All-American set to line up for the national semifinals in Houston this weekend.
It’s the first time this has happened since the NCAA began hosting the tournament in 1979, and it’s just one way of defining the under-the-radar group of players competing for a national title on the sport’s biggest stage will fight. The highest rank received by any of the rotation players in this season’s Final Four as a high school candidate in the 247Sports Composite was Jordan Hawkins’ rank of 51st in the class of 2021. The UConn shooting guard is one of only eight former top-100s Prospects are getting regular playing time on a Final Four team this season, and six of them are playing for the Huskies.
In comparison, all five of Duke’s starters at last year’s Final Four placed better in their respective recruiting classes than even the most highly touted player at this year’s Final Four. In fact, there are more rotational players who were not considered high school contenders in the 2023 (12) Final Four than players who were considered top 100 contenders.
“What separates them is their work ethic and their drive to succeed,” said FAU coach Dusty May last week of his team, which lacks former top 100 prospects. “And probably being a bit under-recruited helps with that. But it’s just a really special group that they like each other in, they compete like it’s a matter of life and death, and then they hang out in the dressing room for several hours. So it’s a really unique mix of personalities and characters, but the only thing they have in common is that they’re a very competitive and hard-working group.
Here’s a look at how the 2023 Final Four teams’ rotational players ranked as high school candidates in the 247Sports Composite. None were considered a five-star prospect.
No. 4 seed UConn
Average ranking: 152.5
Unranked Players: 1
Appetizers
- Dreary Newton | N / A
- Jordan Hawkins | No. 51
- Alex Karaban | No. 95
- Andre Jackson | No. 53
- Adama Sanogo | No. 85
Bank
- Nahiem Alleyne | No. 366
- Donovan Clingan | No. 56
- Joey Calcaterra | No. 432
- Hassan Diara | No. 82
No. 5 Seed Miami
Average ranking: 120.8
Unranked Players: 2
Appetizers
- Isaiah Wong | No. 88
- Nijel package | No. 126
- Wooga Poplar | No. 123
- Jordan Miller | N / A
- Norchad Omier | N / A
Bank
- Bensley Joseph | No. 106
- Harrison Beverly | No. 54
- Anthony Walker | No. 228
No. 5 seed San Diego State
Average ranking: 232.5
Unranked Players: 3
Appetizers
- Darrion Trammell | N / A
- Lamont Butler | No. 243
- Matt Bradley | No. 112
- Keshad Johnson | No. 300
- Nathan Mensah | No. 287
Bank
- Jaedon LeDee | No. 103
- Micah Parrish | N / A
- Aguek Arop | N / A
- Adam Seiko | No. 350
No. 9 seeds FAU
Average ranking: 261
Unranked Players: 6
Appetizers
- Aliyah Martin | N / A
- Johnell Davis | N / A
- Bryan Greenlee | No. 467
- Nick Boyd | N / A
- Vladislav Goldin | No. 211
Bank
- Giana Carlo Rosado | N / A
- Jalen Gaffney | No. 105
- Brandon Weatherspoon | N / A
- Michael Wald | N / A