Close despite having the #1 recruiting class has never won even a conference championship. Her best conference finish has been tied for 3rd. Even Nikki Fargas finished 2nd in the conference twice in her 3 season at UCLA.
Unrelated, but it had me curious about how often #1 Recruiting classes have success at the Conference level and beyond.
2013 was the first year ESPN did a Class Rankings (At least from what I could find...I may be wrong.)
2013 – UNC (DeShields, Mavunga, Gray, Washington)
This class didn't last past their sophomore season.
Freshman Season (DeShields, Mavunga, Gray, Washington) – 6th in the conference. Semi-finals of ACC Tournament | Elite Eight NCAA
Sophomore Season (
DeShields, Mavunga, Gray, Washington)– 6th in Conference. Quarterfinals ACC Tournament. | Sweet Sixteen NCAA
2014 – UCLA (Canada, Drummer, Caldwell, Hayes, Billings) ESPN
Caldwell leaves after her Freshman season. Drummer had injuries and Redshirted
Freshman Season (Canada, Drummer, Caldwell, Hayes, Billings) – 6th in Conference. Quarterfinals Pac12 Tournament | Won WNIT
Sophomore Season (Canada, Drummer,
Caldwell, Hayes, Billings) – 4th in Conference [w/o Caldwell]. Loss in Pac12 Championship | Sweet Sixteen NCAA
Junior Season (Canada, Drummer,
Caldwell, Hayes, Billings) – 4th in Conference [w/o Drummer]. SemiFinals Pac 12 Tournament | Sweet Sixteen
Senior Season (Canada, Drummer,
Caldwell, Hayes, Billings) – Tied for 3rd in Conference. SemiFinals Loss | Elite Eight NCAA
Drummer played one more season 4th in Conference. Semifinals Pac12 | Sweet Sixteen NCAA
2015 – Duke (Salvadores, Lambert, Suggs, Primm, Gorecki) ESPN
Salvadores leaves after one season. Primm leaves after Sophomore Season. Gorecki Redshirts 2016
Freshmen Season (Salvadores, Lambert, Suggs, Primm, Gorecki) – 7th in Conference. Quarterfinals ACC tournament | No WNIT or NCAA.
Sophomore Season (
Salvadores, Lambert, Suggs, Primm, Gorecki)– 2nd in Conference [w/o Gorecki]. Runner-Up ACC Tournament | Second Round NCAA. [to 10 seed Oregon]
Junior Season (
Salvadores, Lambert, Suggs,
Primm, Gorecki)– Tied for 5th in Conference [w/o Lambert]. Quarterfinals Loss in ACC tournament | Sweet Sixteen Loss NCAA
Senior Season (
Salvadores, Lambert, Suggs,
Primm, Gorecki) – Finished 11th in Conference [w/o Lambert]. Second Round ACC | No WNIT or NCAA
Gorecki and Lambert played another season finished 3rd in Conference. Quarterfinals ACC | COVID Cancels Tournaments (Predicted to Miss Tournament in Bracketology)
2015 – Louisville (Durr, Cole, Jones, Fuehring, DeGrate) ProspectsNation
Cole and DeGrate leaves after freshmen season, Jones leaves after sophomore season
Freshmen Season (Durr, Cole, Jones, Fuehring, DeGrate) – 2nd in Conference. Semifinals ACC tournament | Second Round NCAA
Sophomore Season (Durr,
Cole, Jones, Fuehring,
DeGrate) – Tie for 4th in Conference. Semifinals ACC tournament | Sweet Sixteen NCAA.
Junior Season (Durr,
Cole,
Jones, Fuehring,
DeGrate) – Tie for 1st in Conference. ACC Tournament Champion | Final Four NCAA
Senior Season (Durr,
Cole,
Jones, Fuehring,
DeGrate) – Tie for 1st in Conference. Runner-up ACC Tournament | Elite Eight NCAA
2016 – Maryland (Slocum, Staiti, Charles, Watson, S. Jones, Myers) ESPN and ProspectsNation
Slocum and Staiti leave after freshmen seasons.
Freshmen Season (Slocum, Staiti, Charles, Watson, S. Jones, Myers)
– 1st in Conference. B1G Tournament Champions | Sweet Sixteen Loss [Same 10 seed Oregon from above]
Sophomore Season (
Slocum,
Staiti, Charles, Watson, S. Jones, Myers) – 2nd in Conference [w/o Slocum and Staiti]. Runner-Up B1G Tournament| 2nd Round Loss in NCAA
Junior Season (
Slocum,
Staiti, Charles, Watson, S. Jones, Myers) – 1st in Conference. Runner-Up B1g Tournament | Second Round Loss [UCLA team from above].
Senior Season (
Slocum,
Staiti, Charles, Watson, S. Jones, Myers) – 1st in Conference. B1G Tournament Champions | NCAA Cancelled (4 Seed Bracketology)
2017 – Tennessee (Westbook, Hayes, Davis, Kushkituah) ESPN and ProspectsNation
Hayes leaves after Freshmen season. Westbrook leaves after Sophomore season.
Freshmen Season (Westbrook, Hayes, Davis, Kushkituah)– 4th in Conference. Quarterfinals in SEC tournament | Second Round Loss NCAA
Sophomore Season (Westbrook,
Hayes, Davis, Kushkituah) – Tied for 8th in Conference.. Quarterfinals in SEC tournament | First Round Loss NCAA
Junior Season (
Westbrook,
Hayes, Davis, Kushkituah) – Tied for 4th but 6 seed in Tournament. Quarterfinals SEC | NCAA Cancelled (9 seed Bracketology)
2018 – Baylor (Smith, DeCosta, Scott-Grayson, Egbo, Bickle) ESPN and ProspectsNation
Scott-Grayson and DeCosta leave after Freshmen seasons.
Freshmen Season (Smith, DeCosta, Scott-Grayson, Egbo, Bickle) – 1st in Conference. Big12 Tournament Champions | NCAA Champions
Sophomore Season (Smith,
DeCosta,
Scott-Grayson, Egbo, Bickle) – 1st in Conference. Big12 Tournament Cancelled. Number 1 seed. | NCAA Cancelled (1 Seed Bracketology)
2019 – South Carolina (Boston, Cooke, Amihere, Beal, Thompson) ESPN AND ProspectsNation
Freshmen Season – 1st in Conference. SEC Tournament Champions | NCAA Cancelled (Overall 1 Seed Bracketology)
No one has transferred out yet.
2020 – Oregon (Parrish, PaoPao, Watson, Scherr, Dugalic) ESPN
2020 – UConn (Bueckers, McClean, Muhl, Edwards, Gabriel) ProspectsNation
Just for fun because I think we can all agree about the Number 1 class for 2012
2012 – UConn (Stewart, Jefferson, Tuck)
Freshmen Season (Stewart, Jefferson, Tuck)
– 2nd in Conference. Runner-Up Big East Tournament | NCAA Champions
Sophomore Season (Stewart, Jefferson, Tuck)
– 1st in Conference. AAC Tournament Champions | NCAA Champions
Junior Season (Stewart, Jefferson, Tuck)
– 1st in Conference. AAC Tournament Champions | NCAA Champions
Senior Season (Stewart, Jefferson, Tuck)
– 1st in Conference. AAC Tournament Champions
| NCAA Champions
So, since 2012 only UCLA, UNC, and Duke have had Number 1 recruiting classes and Not won their Conference or Conference Tournament in their four years [does UNC count for that?].
Only two Number 1 Recruiting Classes have won the National Title (Uconn 4x, Baylor) another has made the Final Four (Louisville, which was the one debated top class).
Also worth noting, since 2012, of the Top Rated Classes that have played two season, no class has stayed together until graduation.