The ACC is one of if not the best conferences in college basketball, and anyone who says otherwise is watching a different game. It should come as no surprise then that when ESPN released a poll of the best recruiting assistant coaches in the country, the conference was well represented.
The poll conducted by ESPN asked “nearly 60” coaches who the best recruiting assistant coaches in college basketball were, and based on those rankings comprised a list of the top 20 recruiters in the country. The ACC took top prize with six of the 20 coaches, including two of the top four.
Syracuse’s Mike Hopkins finished fourth, which wasn’t even good enough for best in the conference. The top spot in the ACC and overall went to Duke’s Jeff Capel (who is well-deserving after helping recruit Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow in last year’s class alone).
As if it wasn’t tough enough already, the coaches say the ACC has even stronger recruiters on the way up. The conference has its claims on two of the best five recruiters under the age of 35 (Miami’s Chris Caputo and Duke’s Jon Scheyer).
 But what does all this say about Syracuse? Well, it means that when Jim Boeheim does decide to hang it up he’ll be replaced by someone who is already well-established in the college basketball world and someone who should be able to pick up right where Boeheim left off in picking up some of the best players in the country. Syracuse fans probably already knew this, but it’s nice to know the rest of the country knows it too. It also means that Hopkins will have his work cut out for him, as the ACC is – in the minds of the other coaches around the country at least – the best recruiting conference in the nation.
Posted: Nathan Dickinson
