The term "best of all time" gets thrown around a lot in sports. We love to debate topics like whether LeBron James will overtake Michael Jordan as the best basketball player to ever live and if Tiger Woods' recent woes are hindering his career legend. In the basketball recruiting world, we have those debates, too. The only difference is that lately, Kentucky seems to be competing only with itself for that "all-time great" title.
Sure, a few other assemblies such as Michigan's famed Fab Five have claimed the crown of "best recruiting class in the land" through the years. But at least since 2009, when John Calipari took over at Kentucky, the Wildcats have been striving to beat what they did on the recruiting trail the year before. And this year's class is the perfect example.
With the early signing period beginning Wednesday, four ESPN 100 prospects -- three of them in the top 10 -- and five recruits overall are poised to sign their names to Kentucky letters of intent. If that indeed happens, it automatically will come with lofty expectations and beg the question: Is Kentucky's Class of 2013 the best college basketball recruiting class ever brought together? Our RecruitingNation experts are here, ready and willing to debate.
Is Kentucky assembling the best recruiting class ever?
Dave Telep: This question is complicated. The short answer is maybe. However, there's a catch. While UK has an overwhelming amount of top 10 (mainly top 5) talent, in its present state this isn't even UK's best class ever. The 2011 and 2009 classes had the best point guard and big man, but this current group needs a boost to run in the all-time conversation. If it lands No. 1 overall Andrew Wiggins, though, the conversation is over. Get No. 4 overall Julius Randle and there's a strong chance. Without one of those two, it is difficult to claim this the best class ever, or for that matter, the best class of the Cal era at UK.