NCAA men's basketball recruiting: Early signing period storylines

A decade ago, the early signing period was one of the busiest weeks on the college basketball calendar. Elite prospects tended to build their recruitments around the window, visiting a handful of schools in the weeks leading up to it before announcing their commitment. There was signing day drama, the occasional flip, constant tracking to see which players opted not to send in an official letter of intent.

Now, it's mostly an opportunity for previously committed players to have signing ceremonies at their high schools and for college programs to announce their completed classes.

But this week will include some intrigue. Two five-star guards in the ESPN 100 class of 2025 announced their commitments in recent days, and at least three more top-50 prospects are set to come off the board before the period is over on Nov. 20. And, there's always the chance for a surprise commitment, as most of the top prospects we're waiting on have already taken several visits, and know everything there is to know about their finalists.

To prepare you for all of the above, these are the storylines we'll be following over the next week.

1. Top prospect A.J. Dybantsa moves up commitment timeline

After initially planning to announce his commitment in February, No. 1-ranked recruit A.J. Dybantsa is looking to end his recruitment ahead of schedule.

"The original plan was to commit in February," Dybantsa told ESPN. "The visits stopped in October. We wanted to make sure we had enough time to see all the schools play. We are ahead of where we thought we would be. If I know where I want to go, why wait?

"It's probably going to be in December. I feel I will be ready by then."

Dybantsa is still considering Alabama, Auburn, BYU, North Carolina, Kansas and Kansas State. The 6-foot-9 wing isn't done evaluating his remaining options, though.

"Since the start of the season, we've had a chance to see the teams play and will continue to watch games and speak with the coaches," he said.

"We are observing how the coaches manage their teams, how they react when they have a lead or are behind, how they run their offense and whether their overall play style matches what they've communicated to us. My parents were able to join me on the visits, which was important. We experienced different environments and campus life. We have gathered a lot of information."

2. Who's left to commit -- and why aren't there more?

Including Dybantsa, seven top 12 prospects remain on the board. After this week, there will be another five or six top-50 players still available, and likely fewer than 30 uncommitted prospects in the ESPN 100. At this time last year, there were already 80 committed players, so we're slightly behind the pace for this class. But, it's still far fewer prospects, especially at the top, compared to several years ago.

The biggest change is the introduction of NIL and the transfer portal. The longer a recruit waits to commit, especially if he's not considered one of the elite players in the country, the more competition he'll have at his preferred school, both from a roster perspective and in terms of share of the salary cap. By the time March and April roll around, schools are focused almost entirely on the portal to rebuild their rosters.

3. Who's expected to announce this week?