The Early Signing Period began last Wednesday and will come to a close this week. The Big Ten had a busy cycle. But there's still more work to still do to set up for the second signing period in April.
With that in mind, let's look at how the conference is fairing thus far:
Michigan State currently stands atop the Big Ten 2024 class rankings and holds the No. 8 overall class nationally.
Tom Izzo and his staff got to work early by landing Kur Teng and Jesse McCulloch before capping off the class in a recruiting battle with Alabama to reel in Jase Richardson, the son of former Spartan star Jason Richardson.
Getting a moldable big man in McCulloch, a tough two-way guard in Teng and, most notably, a dynamic combo-guard who can create for himself and others in Richardson, is a fitting recruiting class for the Hall of Fame coach.
The Spartans might not be done just yet, either. Michigan State is one of two teams who have brought Bryson Tucker on a visit and could be in the running the land the top-25 recruit during the second signing period.
After a rough offseason in which Hunter Dickinson hit the portal and Caleb Love wasn't admitted into school, some started to question whether Michigan could continue to succeed on the recruiting trail in this new era.
Well, when things were in doubt, the Wolverines have put together a nice class with the exclamation point coming this weekend with the addition of Khani Rooths — their highest ranked commit since 2021.
Getting Rooths, a talented and versatile forward with upside, was a huge win for the Wolverines to pair with a skilled shot-making point guard in Christian Anderson and the super aggressive scorer, Durral Brooks.
Juwan Howard had his back against a wall on the trail, but he defied all odd and delivered a great recruiting class.
Where do we even begin with Rutgers? Steve Pikiell has turned this program around and he has put together an astonishing class for the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers has the No. 2 class in the Big Ten and the No. 9 overall class nationally. And they aren't done yet!
Rutgers has a four-man class with Lathan Sommerville, Dylan Grant and Bryce Dortch all ranking as three-star recruits, but it's headlined by Ace Bailey, the No. 3 overall recruit in the country.
Like I said, Rutgers is done. They are still very much in the running and has solidified themselves as the leader in the club house for Dylan Harper, the No. 2 overall recruit in the country.
You heard me right, Rutgers could very well end up with the No. 2 and No. 3 overall recruits in the country by the time this is all said and done! The Scarlet Knights could find themselves with a top-5 recruiting class.
Indiana has placed lofty goals on themselves to re-emerge as a national power on the recruiting trail under Mike Woodson and they're reaping the rewards of their extensive efforts.
They've landed multiple national targets in some major recruiting battles already in Woodson's tenure. The Hoosiers continued that trend with Liam McNeely this cycle and are looking to make a major splash in the recruitment of Derik Queen.
As reported on 247Sports on Friday, Queen is no longer expected to commit and sign this Early Signing Period as was initially planned. He's down to four schools in Indiana, Maryland, Houston and Kansas with the Hoosiers going all out to reel in the dominant low-post scorer. It's been difficult to gauge the leader for Queen. However, he is going to be the battle we watch the closest. Not only in the Big Ten, but nationally as well.
