3 reasons why Kentucky basketball can win the 2024 National Championship

Kentucky brings in a historically loaded freshman class

Could we be talking about the best freshman class in Kentucky basketball history?

This may seem like an age-old question, because the Wildcats yearly bring in a top 5, and more often than not, the top recruiting class in the country. The 2023 class might be that much more special.

247Sports lists Kentucky’s incoming class of recruits as the best in the country. The Wildcats will welcome five of the best players in the 2023 recruiting cycle. Their average grade is 99.63.

Since 2011, when 247Sports started handing out recruiting grades to schools, that is the second-highest average grade of all time. The last class that averaged above a 99 was Duke’s 2014 class, which consisted of Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow, and Grayson Allen. The Blue Devils would go on to win the national championship that year, a great omen for Kentucky.

Even better, the only class that got a rating higher than 99.63, was Kentucky’s in 2011. We know how that class (that featured freshman Anthony Davis) fared in March Madness.

You also have to admire the depth of this Kentucky freshman class. The top four recruits in the class are all ranked inside the 247Sports Composite top 10 rankings. They also play four different positions:

• Justin Edwards, SF, 2nd overall
• DJ Wager, CG, 3rd overall
• Aaron Bradshaw, C, 5th overall
• Robert Dillingham, PG, 10th overall

Then there’s, Reed Sheppard, another combo guard, who 247Sports Composite has ranked 33rd overall in the country. Sheppard would be the top recruit for most schools. For Kentucky, he’s the fifth best.

Of course, how this freshman class comes together will be a difficult question that won’t be answered until at least January. All freshmen are different. Some mature quicker than others on the basketball court. But no one can deny the talent and potential of this freshman class to make a deep run in March.