Big 12 Basketball Has More Incoming Five-Star Talent Than SEC, Big Ten Combined

The college basketball arms race is in full swing, and the Big 12 is doing everything possible to maintain its spot as the top conference in college basketball.

The 2024-25 season came to a close with the SEC narrowly edging out the Big 12 in a crazy national title game, but the league performed better than anyone else through tournament play and continues to attract some of the best talent in the country—both through the transfer portal and from the high school ranks.

On Wednesday, 247Sports released its final rankings and composite rankings for the 2025 basketball recruiting class, and the Big 12 is absolutely dominating the sport in terms of landing the top overall talent.

 

The top two players in the class are headed to the Big 12, with Kansas signee Darryn Peterson taking the No. 1 overall spot in the class, followed closely by AJ Dybansta, who is headed to BYU.

Additionally, the league holds commitments from the No. 7 and No. 8 overall players in the class with Chris Cenac Jr. on his way to Houston and Koa Peat going to Arizona.

The Wildcats doubled their tally of Top 15 players on Wednesday, though, with Brayden Burries pledging to Tommy Lloyd’s squad. With that commitment, we started to take a look at how the Big 12 stacks up against the other conferences when it comes to landing the best players in the country, particularly in the 2025 class.

247Sports’ Composite Rankings include a total of 28 five-star players, and 27 of them are committed. Here’s a look at which conferences have the most top-end talent coming for 2025.

 

Incoming Five-Star Freshmen for 2025 (247Sports’ Composite)

1. Big 12 (10 Players)

• Houston Cougars (3)
  • Chris Cenac Jr. (#5)
  • Isiah Harwell (#13)
  • Kingston Flemings (#16)
    
• Arizona Wildcats (3)
  • Koa Peat (#8)
  • Brayden Burries (#11)
  • Dwayne Aristode (#24)
    
• BYU Cougars (1)
  • AJ Dybansta (#1)
    
• Kansas Jayhawks (1)
  • Darryn Peterson (#2)
    
• Baylor Bears (1)
  • Tounde Yessoufou (#14)
    
• Cincinnati Bearcats (1)
  • Shon Abaev (#25)

2. ACC (8 Players)

• Duke Blue Devils (4)
  • Cameron Boozer (#3)
  • Nikolas Khamenia (#20)
  • Shelton Henderson (#21)
  • Cayden Boozer (#22)
    
• North Carolina Tarheels (1)
  • Caleb Wilson (#6)
    
• Louisville Cardinals (1)
  • Mikel Brown Jr. (#9)
    
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1)
  • Jalen Haralson (#19)
    
• NC State Wolf Pack (1)
  • Matt Able (#26)

 

3. SEC (4 Players)

• Arkansas Razorbacks (2)
  • Meleek Thomas (#10)
  • Darius Acuff Jr. (#12)
    
• Kentucky Wildcats (2)
  • Jasper Johnson (#18)
  • Malachi Moreno (#27)

4. Big East (3 Players)

• UConn Huskies (3)
  • Braylon Mullins (#15)
  • Darius Adams (#23)
  • Eric Reibe (#28)

5. Big Ten (2 Players)

• USC Trojans (1)
  • Alijah Arenas (#7)
    
• Michigan
  • Trey McKenney (#17)

As things stand, the Big 12 is set to bring in more five-star players than the SEC, Big Ten, and Big East combined. The conference’s 10 incoming five-star prospects is more than double that of the SEC (4) and five times that of the Big Ten (2).

Additionally, the league is set to have three of the top five players in the class, five of the top 11, and eight of the top 16 players in 247Sports’ composite rankings.

The league has been at the top of college basketball for several years now, so it should come as no surprise that it’s able to stock talent at such an impressive rate. However, it might not sit well with those who swear that the Big 12 has fallen far from its perch.

Now, as it prepares to host an entirely new flock of superstars, plus the retention of some others, Big 12 basketball is as exciting and prominent as ever.