SEC Basketball - 2010 Recruiting Rankings

The signing deadline has come and gone for incoming players for the 2010-2011 college basketball season, and with the exception of a few players we have a solid idea of who will be playing in the SEC next year. Today, John Calipari tweeted his intentions to remain at Kentucky next year - which is as good as an indicator as we'll get in the near future to speculate on whether or not his recruits will make it to UK in 2010. With that, it seemed like as good a time as any (in the spring, at least) to review the 2010 recruiting classes. SEC teams are represented across the national recruit rankings, with highly touted players flocking to teams that made up the upper tier of the league standings last season. Kentucky and Tennessee are making headlines, but teams like Vanderbilt, Florida, and Mississippi are keeping the league highly ranked with an eye towards bringing the SEC up to elite standards.

Even teams coming off rough 2009-2010 seasons can turn to some heralded high school seniors to provide an instant boost. LSU, South Carolina, and even Auburn all boast Top 100 recruits this year. While some players - notably Brandon Knight and his missing letter of intent - can still jump ship, here are the 2010 recruit rankings for the Southeastern Conference. For simplicity, only recruits reported as signed across both ESPN and Rivals databases were included in this analysis. Recorded are each player's rankings, as well as a quick analysis as to whether or not they'll be able to have an instant impact on the court with their new teams:

Tier One represents what will likely be a pair of Top 20 national recruiting classes from the SEC. Kentucky and Tennessee solidified their status as the league's elite with excellent recruiting classes.

Florida, South Carolina, and particularly LSU all had difficult 2010 seasons, but addressed positions of need in luring in top recruits this spring. Florida, in particular, looks to be a tough opponent after only losing one player and adding several athletic recruits.

Vanderbilt heads up the third tier despite three Top 150 recruits, partially in part to their inability to find additional backcourt help. Auburn, despite having one of their best recruiting classes in years, still falls in eighth in the SEC pecking order.

Georgia and Mississippi State round out the rankings, and while Georgia still has the returning players to absorb a weak freshman class, Mississippi State will have to deal with the loss of three of their top four scorers and what seems to be little help on the way. It seems unlikely that their 2010 recruits will be able to fill the voids left due to graduation and early entry to the NBA Draft.

The SEC had a solid recruiting period that will bring a new generation of great players into the league. It will be especially interesting to see which team jumps into the league's top tier based on the play of their newcomers. While these rankings will have a limited impact on the pecking order of the Southeastern Conference next year, the addition of a few dynamic players will likely prove to be the difference between the NCAA and NIT Tournaments for a couple teams next March.