The class of 2027's early signing period begins Wednesday. In an era where more and more ranked players are deciding early, National Signing Day itself has become a bit anticlimactic — and, unlike football recruiting, where there can be some last-second fireworks, we aren't likely to see any last-minute flips or changes of heart to spice things up.
Especially not with 127 of the 247Sports Top150 already committed.
While the majority of the top players in the class have already made their decisions, six of the top 10 players in the class — including top-ranked Beckham Black — enter the week undecided.
There was some juice over the last few weeks when North Carolina landed No. 4-ranked DeMarcus Henry, Villanova got a big commitment from No. 7-ranked Lewis Uvwo, and Will Wade got his first five-star back at LSU in the form of No. 9-ranked Reese Alston. No. 10-ranked Jordan Page Is the other top 10 prospect committed, pledging to UConn back on Oct. 4.
To get you ready for the next few weeks and the remainder of the 2027 cycle, here is a look at the status of the top uncommitted players in the 2027 class, along with some general recruiting storylines that we are following.
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The nation's top two players, No. 1-ranked Beckham Black and No. 2-ranked CJ Rosser, are teammates at Orlando (Fla.) Southeastern Prep Academy. And while it looked like their recruitment and ultimate landing spot could be intertwined, it's looking more and more like they'll be making independent decisions.
Both prospects have already visited Arkansas, North Carolina and USC.
No. 1 - Beckham Black
The skilled and aggressive floor general has also taken official visits to Florida, Georgetown and Texas during the process.
At this point, there are a few major things we are watching. Will he visit Duke? Will he do so before the end of the early signing period? And will a Duke visit make a difference if he does?
Black has never really committed to a decision timeline, but there has been recent buzz that he could make his pick during the early period. Regardless of when he makes his pick, it is John Calipari and the Razorbacks who have been generating the most behind-the-scenes talk over the past few weeks.
Beckham Black vs. Serbia's Matija Lukic at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup Final Filip Viranovski/FIBA via Getty Images No. 2 - CJ Rosser
Rosse has also visitd Kentucky, Louisville, Miami and NC State.
Home-state North Carolina has long been considered the favorite for the smooth face-up four man and, as of today, we would still give Michael Malone and the Heels the edge.
Kentucky is thought to be picking up some steam lately, and there's also been some talk about Arkansas, but UNC continues to get the most chatter.
While Rosser has previously told 247Sports that he's planning to take additional unofficial visits during the season before making a decision, there is some smoke starting to blow suggesting that he's much closer to a choice.
No. 3 - Cayden Daughtry
With visits to Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, Iowa, Louisville, Miami and Tennessee under his belt, Daughtry could switch things up and make a decision if he wanted to.
However, we are still expecting him to sit out the early signing period and make a winter decision.
Iowa was thought to be the leader early in the process before a lot of talk circulated that he wouldn't leave the state of Florida.
Now, after seemingly losing some steam, the Hawkeyes have been getting mentioned a bit more. At this point, it would be tough to call a leader in this one.
Meet Cayden Daughtry, the hottest name in high school basketball, who rewrote Peach Jam's record books Isaac TrotterNo. 5 - AJ Williams
Many expected that Williams might have been off the board to BYU by now.
The small forward from Georgia did see Auburn, Georgia and Mississippi State before his mid-October visit to BYU, but he's not taken any visits since, despite talk that he could see Arkansas or Kentucky.
Unless another visit materializes, we still like Kevin Young and the Cougars to add a five-star prospect for the fourth straight year. If a program is in position to throw a wrench into BYU's plans, it could be Georgia.
No. 6 - Adan Diggs
The slick combo guard from Goodyear (Ariz.) Millennium is currently planning to reveal his decision next Monday, Nov. 16. He's down to home state Arizona, along with Arkansas, Kentucky and USC.
Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats have been considered the favorites for some time now.
No. 7 - Nasir Anderson
Anderson is a big, athletic and physical point guard who took trips to Georgia, North Carolina, Providence, Tennessee and Virginia over the past few months.
The last time we spoke with Anderson, he was leaning towards taking some time to make a choice, but Georgia (his home state), Tennessee and Virginia look to be in the best shape.
We wouldn't be surprised if Anderson elected to take another visit or two, so until he says otherwise, we don't expect him to commit early.
Emergence of Mid-Major commitments
One big trend in college basketball recruiting we have noticed over the last few years is the emergence of mid-major schools landing more and more top recruits. Of the top 150 prospects in the 2027 class, 28 of the 127 committed players are going to mid-majors. That's over 20%. 10 or 15 years ago, this would never have been the case. Almost the entire 150 would be going to Power Five schools.
But now, if you look up and down the top 150 rankings, you see schools like Utah State, VCU, George Mason, Duquesne, UNLV, FAU, St. Mary's, San Diego State, USF, St. Joseph's, New Mexico, and Tennessee Tech with top 150 commitments. While it's not unusual to see schools like VCU or San Diego State get in the mix here, there is a growing trend of more and more mid-majors being able to land higher-ranked recruits.
So why is this happening?
The simple answer is because of the transfer portal. Power Five schools are taking fewer and fewer high school recruits. It makes more sense to get an experienced second- or third-year player from the transfer portal who can contribute immediately at the college level than to develop a freshman who is ranked outside the top 50. A veteran transfer with a few years of college experience will be able to contribute and impact winning a lot quicker than a college freshman.
So because Power Five schools are taking fewer high school recruits, mid-major programs can swoop into the top 150 and land players. There is a money element at play as well. Power Five schools spend so much on transfer players that there isn't enough cash for high school players outside the top 50. Mid-majors, especially those that don't have football programs, are able to offer competitive NIL packages to land these high school players.