The SEC has been on quite a roll of late on the recruiting trail. Kentucky landed two, one in both the 2015 and 2016 class, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, LSU picked up a 2016 recruit, and Arkansas got a step ahead and received a commitment from a member of the 2017 class. While the talking points are hot, the Hoop Seen team dug into some of the topics at hand with the Southeastern Conference.

Over the past few weeks, which commitment received will leave the largest mark on that specific program, now and down the road?

Garrett Tucker: I will have to say Alabama here. It’s hard to say enough about Terrance Ferguson’s commitment to the Crimson Tide. Avery Johnson was able to land him before even coaching a game at the college level, and that says a lot about his persona, history, and recruiting ability. It’s unheard of for a new head coach to land a player of Ferguson’s caliber, but to land him roughly four months on the job? Now that’s impressive. Package deals have been a focal point around the country the past few years, and while Ferguson isn’t a package with anyone, good players will want to play with other good players. Ferguson is a good start for luring other to prospects to the Capstone.

Justin Young: I agree on Ferguson. Every new coach needs a pied piper recruit. For John Calipari, it was DeMarcus Cousins at Kentucky in 2009. He was the first pro to commit to Cal. From there, John Wall came. Then Eric Bledsoe. The list goes on and on. For Bama and Ferguson, I’m interested in seeing what that does down the road in talent rich place like Texas. The Lone Star State and the SEC is an interesting pairing now that Texas A&M is in the league. And we know Avery Johnson has good roots in the Dallas area. I’m interested in seeing if this triggers more high-level guys from that area to consider and visit Alabama.

Carter Wilson: With all the happenings that have occurred in the SEC over the course of the last two weeks, my mind always comes back to the Mustapha Heron commitment to Auburn. There haven’t been many players of his caliber to commit to play for the Tigers in quite some time. And to reel in a much sought-after kid from Connecticut proves that Bruce Pearl, who has long been known as a great recruiter, will make Auburn a factor in the national recruiting picture. Heron will likely be just the first domino in a large line of recruits waiting to hear what Pearl and Auburn can offer them in their collegiate careers. After hosting a large number of elite underclassmen on campus this past weekend, the floodgates could be opening down on The Plains very soon.

Corey Evans: As much as the commitment from Mustapha Heron to Auburn was and is important for the future success of the Auburn basketball program, it is hard to deny the repercussions of the Terrance Ferguson commitment. With this being the first year of Avery Johnson’s tenure at Alabama, reeling in such an elite talent in the staff’s first full year on the recruiting circuit shows that the school isn’t about just the pigskin. The talent in Texas is off the charts good each and every year…Ferguson could just be the domino to get things going as they’re heavily involved with Marques Bolden, along with other regional recruits in Tony Bradley and Braxton Blackwell.

Which program might be the next to strike on the recruiting trail and with whom?

Justin Young: Kentucky. You have to always consider Kentucky. The Wildcats need an elite point guard to run the show and the 2016 class offers that. De’Aaron Fox? Dennis Smith? Kobe Simmons? You better believe Cal will fight until the end to land one of the elite floor generals in the class. Then again, we could see a big man like Marques Bolden or Jarrett Allen jump on board. Kentucky is going to land a stud. We know that much. They always do.

Garrett Tucker: I think the easy pick here is Jordan Bone. Bone’s brother suited up for Tennessee and Bruce Pearl a few years ago, so the connection is there. It also doesn’t hurt that the Volunteers will host the talented point guard for a few weeks in September. Rick Barnes will need a point guard for the immediate future and Bone could slide in and play that role as a legacy guy.

Carter Wilson: With the way things have gone so far with SEC commitments, this could be nearly impossible to predict. But, I am looking at Mississippi State and Tyson Carter. Carter plays his high school ball at Starkville High School, and his father played at Mississippi State. Recently, a lot of heavy hitters have joined in on the hunt for Carter including Ohio State, Baylor, Indiana, Oklahoma State, and NC State among others. However, one would have to assume that the hometown Bulldogs are still the overwhelming favorites here.

Corey Evans: Selecting the next commitment and the appropriate school couldn’t be much more difficult, especially with how surprising the recruiting scene works sometimes. Who would have thought a month ago that Terrance Ferguson would have landed at Alabama? However, in attempting to make a guess, I will have to go with Jordan Bone. The Nashville native has some ties to the Tennessee program and with the need for an immediate lead guard and a close locale in play, my guess would be the Team Thad product. Hard to not speak on Mississippi State’s chances with Tyson Carter, a recruit that attends high school just minutes from the SEC campus. 

There are six new first or second year coaches in the league; which coach has done the best with his program, to date?

Justin Young: None of them…yet. Recruiting is great and all but you have to win and make the NCAA tournament. So, until we see the fruits of their recruiting efforts all of the new guys get a giant wait and see grade from me. The biggest program to watch, to me, is LSU this year. The Tigers not only have talent to make the Dance, they have talent to make some noise.

Garrett Tucker: It’s hard to ignore what Bruce Pearl has done at Auburn in such a short amount of time. The Tigers ended the season on a high note last year with their SEC Tournament run, but let’s be honest, it was a transition year all-around. This year will be a work-in-progress too, but by conference play, it should give us a good idea of the future of Auburn. Obviously, Pearl and his staff have done a fantastic job of recruiting at a high level since being on the job and it won’t stop anytime soon. They have quickly changed the dynamic of Auburn basketball.

Carter Wilson: It’s hard to speak on a coach who has not even coached a collegiate game yet, but you have to love what Avery Johnson has accomplished at Alabama. He’s landed a huge target in Terrance Ferguson, who is Alabama’s biggest recruit in recent memory, and he is in the running for a couple of other big time players in Tony Bradley and Braxton Blackwell. Johnson brings his NBA pedigree, which is very attractive to players looking to make the leap to the league, which will continue to give him a boost in recruiting. You can see the tide shifting (no pun intended) in Tuscaloosa, and Johnson has quickly turned around the morale of a program that was lacking in that department.

Corey Evans: It is hard to not speak on Bruce Pearl and the work that he has already done on the recruiting trail and while he didn’t have as much success as he might have liked last season, his group did finish on a strong note by defeating the likes of Texas A&M, Georgia, and LSU. Creating a culture takes time, patience, and hard work. Pearl and his staff have done a commendable job of getting their kind of guys over the past 16 months or so and because of it, Auburn basketball is seemingly back on the basketball radar as a threat for postseason play and beyond.

Whose 2016 class will mean the most to the future successes or failures of the program?

Justin Young: Florida. Mike White took on a Gator program that was trending downward, by Florida’s standards, and adding an important class in 2016 is necessary to their success moving forward in the ever-improving league. Eric Hester is a great start and he’ll help on the defensive end but a star is needed. As we’ve already discussed, there are stars coming to the SEC. I’m not sure you have to have stars to beat teams with stars (see Virginia and the ACC) but a class that fits the mold of the coach is necessary. A first year class could be the foundation for a sustainable four-year run for the Gators. You have to have the foundation first. Building that is going to be key in 2016 for Mike White and crew.

Garrett Tucker: I think Mississippi State’s 2016 class will be a big one just because of the numbers they have to get. Ben Howland will lose five seniors this year, and it’s probable that Malik Newman opts to enter the NBA Draft. That leaves the Bulldogs with six open spots. It is worth noting that Mississippi State is already off to a fantastic start with commitments from Lamar Peters and Eli Wright, and they’re also sitting well with Tyson Carter. However, they will need to add a couple of big men to anchor the team in the front court. Cameron Lard and Schnider Herard are both possible options right now. Mississippi State is off to a good start with this class, but they will have to add some more big pieces if they plan to keep up with the rest of the SEC. This group will be the backbone of the program for the next few years.

Carter Wilson: There are a lot of different ways to go with this, but I am looking back to Starkville and Mississippi State. The Bulldogs already have two electrifying guards in the fold with Lamar Peters and Eli Wright. Now, you have to think that their focus is on two Mississippi natives, Tyson Carter and Mario Kegler. This 2016 group could potentially give Ben Howland the tools to become a threat not only in the SEC, but nationally as well, which would be a quick turn around from the cellar dwelling seasons that the Bulldogs have had over the past three years.

Corey Evans: I could have gone a few ways here but my pick is Arkansas. Hear me out her; Mike Anderson has done a great job of mining the local talent throughout the area over the past few years in Fayetteville and while they might take a step back this season as they lose Michael Qualls and Bobby Portis, it is a local talent in 2016 that has been the diamond on their radar over the past few years. Arkansas has been fighting tooth and nail for Malik Monk, the number nine ranked player within our 2016 rankings. With the bloodlines and demographics that all point back to the Arkansas basketball program, striking out on the in-state recruit and losing to a program like Kentucky for him would be a gut-wrenching loss and a punch to the chest for Mike Anderson and his staff.

Which SEC school will surprise during the 2015-2016 college basketball season?

Justin Young: Tough call but I’m going to go with Florida. I think the Gators have a lot of talent and I’m not ready to give up on Kasey Hill. Devin Robinson, Dorian Finney-Smith and John Egbunu are on the NBA radar. There is plenty of talent there and the Florida program doesn’t go under .500 often. I can’t see them doing that again this year.

Garrett Tucker: Vanderbilt has received a lot of the attention here this offseason, and I find it hard to disagree with the assessment that the Commodores will be a very competitive team this year. They return a strong young nucleus that includes Damian Jones, Riley LaChance, Wade Baldwin, and Luke Kornet, along with the addition of a couple of strong freshmen in Djery Baptiste, Camron Justice, and Samir Sehic. If they can mold together, they should find themselves at the top of the SEC, just like many analysts are predicting. I also think Auburn and Alabama could be surprises. Both schools have a solid group of freshmen that will contribute early and often.

Carter Wilson: A lot of the talk is certainly around Vanderbilt with the firepower they return, but I’m interested to see what Mike White has in store down at Florida. It’s weird to think that Florida could be a surprise team or a sleeper in the SEC, but with the coaching change and the season the Gators are coming off of, I don’t think its far off. They return Dorian Finney-Smith, who is potentially an All-Conference candidate, Devin Robinson, who had a good freshman campaign, as well as Kasey Hill. Also, despite the coaching change, the Gators bring in a very solid class of freshmen including KeVaughn Allen and Keith Stone, who will both come in and contribute immediately. Combine the players they have with the helter-skelter style that Mike White loves to play, and I think the Gators could be an interesting team to watch in the SEC.

Corey Evans: Vanderbilt has been the trendy pick for many of the pundits and analysts this summer in making a run at the top echelon of the conference this year, so I will go a different route here. The work that Frank Martin and his staff have done since taking over the USC program has been very impressive. Just like Bruce Pearl down at Auburn, getting the right guys for Martin is the utmost importance. If you aren’t tough, you would wilt like a weed hit by Weed-B-Gon in his program. With guys on hand with the likes of Sindarius Thornwell, Laimonas Chatkevicius, and Duane Notice, and adding top-100 talent with PJ Dozier and Chris Silva, don’t be surprised to see the Gamecocks fighting for an NCAA berth come March.