"Not even value high school recruiting": UNC basketball insider highlights NIL era recruiting shift with coaches like St. John's Rick Pitino

North Carolina basketball insider Josh Marlow explored the current era of college basketball recruiting, where most coaches spend more to secure the commitment of transfer players rather than acquiring high school talent.

Marlow made his point heard in Wednesday's episode of the "Locked On Tar Heels" podcast. The analyst discussed the recent changes in the recruitment process and mid-major programs resort to a win-now approach by signing up transfer portal players rather than developing prep stars.

He cited Big East champion St. John's as an example. Former national champion coach Rick Pitino and his coaching staff spent the school's resources to acquire the likes of RJ Luis Jr., Zuby Ejiofor, Kadary Richmond and Aaron Scott from the transfer portal.

"We've already seen recruiting change in the last handful of years. You're seeing major programs or big-time head coaches, like a Rick Pitino at St. John's, not even value high school recruiting," Marlow said (Timestamp 14:21). "There's just - hey, we've got $20.5 million dollars, we can go buy the roster that we want. John Calipari talks about this as well with what he's done at Arkansas."

The transfer-laden Red Storm won the 2024-25 Big East regular season and tournament titles and secured the No. 2 seed in the West regional. However, they were stunned in the NCAA Tournament by Calipari and No. 10 seed Arkansas in the second round.

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Analyst elaborates on North Carolina's strategy of recruiting high school prospects Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis

College basketball analyst Josh Marlow expressed belief that despite the emergence of the transfer portal era, there are still programs that want to develop their core from within.

Marlow expects five-star forward Caleb Wilson to be a one-and-done player. This would allow Hubert Davis and his coaching staff to build around four-star recruits Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis in the future.

"I think Hubert Davis in a perfect world when he when he targeted Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis," he said (Timestamp: 15:53). (They) were guys that were going to be in the program a handful of years that could supplement a guy like Caleb Wilson that we expect to be in Chapel Hill for just one season."

Signing up high school players gives a team one or two foundation players whom they can start around. It allows teams to get the right balance and acquire complementary pieces from the transfer portal when needed.

UNC coach Hubert Davis acquired Dixon, Denis and Wilson from the high school ranks, while Montenegrin talent Luka Bogevac is an international recruit.

They will team up with five transfers Kyam Evans, Jaydon Young, Jarin Stevenson, Henri Veesaar and Jonathan Powell, as well as returnees Seth Trimble, James Brown and Zayden High, in helping the Tar Heels bounce back from an up-and-down 2024-25 season that resulted in a first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament.