10 CBB Programs That Are Screwed in Class of 2020 Recruiting Window

You might be hungry for change. Or you may be wistful about a player you know won't be around next fall.

Either way, college basketball recruiting can provide hope. At least in theory.

The current recruiting window closes March 31, but the Power Five conference programs are already nailing down their 2020 classes.

Some trends have become apparent. For example, Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina hold the top three spots in the 247Sports team rankings as the haves return to prominence over the have-nots.

Speaking of have-nots: For every winner, there is a loser. College basketball recruiting is no exception, and a number of Power Five programs are getting the worst of it.

The 10 men's teams listed below have fallen short of expectations—and the time to add more pieces, in some cases desperately needed, is running out.

We'll list them in order of their 247 rankings. In addition to the recruiting class itself, we've made our determinations based on general program expectations and team needs related to anticipated player departures. We're only including Power Five teams because smaller programs don't often rely on blue-chip talent anyway.

Ready to go? Let's go.

National Rank: 128

Signed letter of intent

• C Jordan Wilmore (3-star, No. 417 recruit)

Welcome to the moonscape.

Missouri only loses one senior, but it's productive big man Reed Nikko. At 14-15 and 10th in the SEC, the Tigers need some assistance. Are incoming freshmen solely responsible for a team's fortunes? No. But they play a role.

If the tide is going to turn for the Tigers, it'll be because of 5-star guard Joshua Christopher, the nation's No. 10 overall prospect, who 247 lists as "warm" on Missouri. But they're jockeying for position with Michigan, UCLA and Arizona State, not to mention plenty of other potential destinations that could heat up without warning. Here's hoping the Tigers have contingency plans.

National Rank: 120

Signed letter of intent

• F Isaiah Johnson (3-star, No. 371 recruit)

Tres Tinkle is leaving, and there is no cavalry, at least on the recruiting front.

The Beavers' star forward has had a great career in orange and black. By comparison, Johnson is listed as the nation's 78th-ranked power forward. The math does itself.

Adding injury to injury, Kylor Kelley and his 10.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and Pac-12-leading 3.5 blocks per game also are on the way out. While the 15-13 Beavers sit 11th in the conference, they may be in an even deeper hole next season.

Now for the insult: 247 lists just one prospect as being "warmer" on Oregon State. That prospect? Point guard Dallin Hall, listed as the nation's No. 393 player. And four other teams are listed alongside Oregon State in the "warmer" category.

National Rank: 105

Signed letter of intent

• G Trey Phipps (3-star, No. 284 recruit)

This one is fairly simple.

Senior forward Kristian Doolittle is leading the Sooners toward a tourney berth. Doolittle leads the team in points (15.7), rebounds (8.8) and steals (1.3) and tosses in 2.0 assists and 0.4 blocks just for fun. His 22.1 player efficiency rating is good for 11th in the Big 12.

Big shoes to fill. And the solution isn't there as it stands for Oklahoma. There's not much simmering on the stove either with no game-changing talent—or major level of player interest—seemingly on the radar.

The Sooners are projected by ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi as a No. 10 seed in the upcoming dance. Fans should enjoy this season, come what may, before settling in for what looks like a long winter.

National Rank: 95

Signed letter of intent

• F Myles Stute (3-star, No. 171 recruit)

This is another piece of low-hanging fruit as 9-20, dead-last-in-the-SEC Vanderbilt plays out the string. But that makes it all the sadder.

There is one hope left for the Commodores, though it's a bit of a Hail Mary. Four-star guard Tyrin Lawrence is considered a "warm" prospect for Vanderbilt—along with three other schools, including Gonzaga.

Jerry Stackhouse and company definitely got a win when they beat out several other mid-high majors to land Stute, a 6'6" forward with a nice perimeter stroke to complement his above-the-rim athleticism. He could provide a scoring pop for a team that has averaged just 70.8 points per contest to date (good for 10th in the SEC).

Nevertheless, if one man is the sum total of Vandy's recruiting class, the horizon looks pretty bleak in Nashville.

National Rank: 94

Signed letter of intent

• G Dominique Clifford (3-star, No. 170 recruit)
• G Luke O'Brien (no stars, no recruiting position)

Things will be OK in Colorado. Their two top performers—guards McKinley Wright IV and Tyler Bey—will return next season, along with other important contributors.

But even a team projected as a No. 5 seed in the tournament needs a recruiting class to at least partially restock the cabinet. To date, Colorado hasn't gotten it done.

Clifford is a solid if unspectacular addition. O'Brien doesn't even appear to be ranked.

The Buffaloes do have an ace up their sleeve that the previous teams didn't have: success. Sometimes that's all it takes to lead top guys in their direction. They're firmly in the running for 6'11" Carlton Linguard and, more importantly, are considered the favorite to land 3-star forward Jason Harris, the nation's No. 179 overall recruit. Neither will turn this into a great recruiting class, but they might bump it out of the cellar.

National Rank: 91

Signed letter of intent

• F Keon Ambrose-Hylton (4-star, No. 117 recruit)

As the newest addition to an already young team, Ambrose-Hylton should blend in nicely in Tuscaloosa. He just doesn't have much company right now in the recruiting class.

Emphasis on "right now," because Alabama is in the mix for several other potential pieces. At the top of the wish list is 4-star guard Joshua Primo, and the Tide are neck-and-neck with Creighton to secure his services. They are also in the hunt for a pair of 3-star guards in Jayden Stone and Austin Harvell.

This is a sparse class unless the Tide can land Primo and at least one of the other guards. But they better hurry.

National Rank: 86

Hard commit

• G Jalen Terry (4-star, No. 65 recruit)

If you're an Oregon fan, you're living in the present and looking forward to a projected No. 4 seed in the forthcoming dance.

But sooner or later, time must intervene. And when that happens, so long, Payton Pritchard, leading rebounder Shakur Juiston and a third starter, Anthony Mathis.

Hello, Jalen Terry. Was there anybody else? Terry is nothing to sneeze at, but he's clearly not enough on his own.

Unfortunately for Oregon, the smart money says no one else is walking through that door. Per 247, six of the team's seven remaining "high choice" or "interested" targets are "cool" on the Ducks. That's not cool. That's just cold.

National Rank: 73

Signed letter of intent

• F Elijah Taylor (3-star, No. 229 recruit)
• C Matt Zona (3-star, No. 290 recruit)

The good news for Notre Dame is that it landed its top two targets in Taylor and Zona. The bad news is they might not be enough to push the Irish over the hump.

Consider in particular the fact that, with 6'9" do-it-all forward John Mooney set to graduate, the Irish need frontcourt help. Enter Zona, who is the same height as Mooney and listed as the 38th-best center in the class. It's not a fair comparison.

The Irish entered the sweepstakes for 5-star forward Ziaire Williams, the No. 5 overall prospect, but he's being wooed by an elite group of suitors, North Carolina and Arizona among them.

This is exacerbated by the impending departure of not just Mooney but guard and second-leading scorer T.J. Gibbs. Combined, they score 51 percent of the team's points. It's fair to say Notre Dame may be headed for a rebuild.

National Rank: 69

Signed letter of intent

• G Marcus Dockery (3-star, No. 202 recruit)

Hard commit

• G Aquan Smart (3-star, No. 280 recruit)

With top guard Anthony Cowan a senior and sophomore forward Jalen Smith likely headed to the NBA, Maryland will need an infusion of talent next season to approach the heights this team has reached this season.

Based on this recruiting class, Terps fans have to hope 7'2" freshman Chol Marial is ready for more than the 5.5 minutes he's averaged to date because there won't be much of a frontcourt behind him. Dockery and Smart likely won't make an immediate impact, facing an uphill fight for playing time behind a glut of returning guards that include Darryl Morsell, Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins.

National Rank: 62

Hard commits

• F Mawot Mag (3-star, No. 231 recruit)
• F Dean Reiber (3-star, No. 356 recruit)
• F Oskar Palmquist (3-star, No. 395 recruit)

Rutgers is straddling the line between getting "screwed" and emerging intact. But it falls just short of getting on the right side of the line.

With No. 231 the highest ranking among them, these are not high 3-star prospects. (The first 3-star recruit appears at No. 122 in this year's rankings, with the last at No. 421.) As such, this class is not as impressive as it seems at a glance.

And it seems the process has all but wrapped up in New Jersey. Rutgers is working on big man Cliff Omoruyi, but so are a couple of dozen other schools, and 247 gives Arizona State an 89 percent chance to land him.

The Scarlet Knights return their top trio of Ron Harper Jr., Myles Johnson and Geo Baker, so there's no urgency. It's hard to imagine this class makes an impact on the floor anytime soon.

All rankings and recruiting stats provided by 247Sports. All stats current as of Sunday, March 1.