How much do basketball recruits care about coaching changes? UK could be a test case.

From Arkansas to Youngstown State, and all schools in between, it’s been another active offseason for the college basketball coaching market.

According to ESPN, 68 NCAA Division I men’s basketball coaching vacancies opened during the course of the 2023-24 college basketball season. All but one of those jobs has been filled for next season. (Maryland-Eastern Shore of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has yet to fill its head coach opening).

While head coaching turnover in college basketball isn’t anything new, this offseason in particular featured a glut of high-major schools seeking new leaders.

Arkansas (Eric Musselman to John Calipari), Kentucky (Calipari to Mark Pope), Louisville (Kenny Payne to Pat Kelsey), Michigan (Juwan Howard to Dusty May), Ohio State (Chris Holtmann to Jake Diebler), Oklahoma State (Mike Boynton to Steve Lutz), Stanford (Jerod Haase to Kyle Smith), Southern California (Andy Enfield to Musselman), Vanderbilt (Jerry Stackhouse to Mark Byington), Washington (Mike Hopkins to Danny Sprinkle) and West Virginia (Bob Huggins to Josh Eilert to Darian DeVries) comprise some of the biggest coaching changes.

Locally, this issue is also relevant: Of the eight NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs in Kentucky, four of them (Kentucky, Louisville, Morehead State and Western Kentucky) will be under new leadership next season. This group includes the three schools (all but Louisville) that made the NCAA Tournament last season.

Last weekend marked a milestone moment for all of these coaches in new places as the first live recruiting period of the spring took place. Nationwide, new coaches settled into courtside chairs and watched top college basketball recruits compete on shoe circuits, determining which players in the 2025, 2026 and 2027 recruiting classes they would pursue into the future.

But as the coaching world changes right in front of their eyes, how much do these recruits care about the coaching carousel? Is it more about the coach or the school? What happens to a recruiting relationship when a head coach leaves one program for another?

The Herald-Leader was in attendance for last weekend’s most notable shoe circuit event — the third session of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL), held just outside Indianapolis — and gathered responses from several top prospects about how coaching changes (like the one that occurred in Lexington last month) affect their recruitments.

Cameron, Cayden Boozer talk college basketball coaching changes

One of the most nuanced and thoughtful responses on this topic was delivered by power forward Cameron Boozer, the No. 2 player in the 2025 recruiting class.

Cameron and his twin brother, Cayden — himself a five-star guard prospect in the 2025 class — have taken official visits to Kentucky, Miami (Fla.), Florida and Duke.

Of those schools, only the Wildcats went through a coaching change this offseason. And it was a seismic one, with Calipari — who spent the last 15 seasons coaching UK — bolting for SEC rival Arkansas.

For the Boozers, whose father, Carlos, was a college star at Duke and won the 2001 NCAA championship with the Blue Devils, the coaching shift from Calipari to Pope at Kentucky marked a major change.

“It’s still a whole new recruiting process,” Cameron said. “I haven’t really spoken to (Pope), don’t really know what he’s about, what kind of play style he runs, anything like that. So, it’s still a whole new recruiting process if he were to reach out.”

“At first, I was shocked, just hearing the news,” Cayden said of Calipari leaving Kentucky for Arkansas. “But it’s the same coach, whether he’s at Arkansas or Kentucky. ... You (have) to see what they’re trying to do at that program.”

Generally speaking, how do the Boozer twins as recruits deal with a college program going through a coaching change?

“It’s easy to a certain extent, but not fully, because when Cal leaves to Arkansas we still have that same relationship that we had,” Cameron said. “It’s just, it’s a new school. So you’ve got to reevaluate the situation. The same thing with Pope going to Kentucky. It will be a whole new evaluation.”

“It definitely does change things, and makes it a little more difficult,” Cameron added. “But, I’d say it’s still the same.”

“For sure,” Cayden said when asked if coaching continuity at a college program gives that school an advantage in his recruitment.

“They’ve been able to build the relationship the longest, since they’ve been in the recruiting process the longest. I feel like that gives them an advantage just because they’ve been able to talk to us more than the schools that are just trying to get in now because of coaching changes.”

From a Kentucky perspective, Pope has spoken to the Boozer twins’ mother CeCe, although it appears any direct communication between the new UK coach and the top recruits has been limited.

Pope had a front-row seat to watch the Boozers’ Nike EYBL team, Nightrydas Elite, last weekend.

Former Kentucky high school star Jasper Johnson discusses coaching changes

Does continuity in a college basketball program do anything for recruits?

Some of the schools Cameron Boozer listed as being the most active in his recruitment — such as Duke, Florida, Miami (Fla.) and North Carolina — offer more program continuity than Arkansas or Kentucky can currently provide.

“(It helps) to an extent, but I don’t know. Not that much I’d say,” Cameron said. “I think it’s more just the relationship you have with the people, not where they are.”

To that point, what does Cameron value in the relationships he’s forming with coaches?

“Just someone that seems genuine,” Cameron said. “You can really tell when someone’s being real or ... not being genuine. That’s really important, the trust value.”

Another player facing a similar situation as Cameron is Jasper Johnson, the former Kentucky high school star who has blossomed into a top guard prospect in the 2025 recruiting class.

Schools such as Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Florida State, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina and Ohio State are putting on a full-court press for Johnson, who is ranked as the No. 11 recruit in the class by the 247Sports Composite.

With Johnson, the shuffling of chairs when it comes to college assistant coaches could also become a big recruiting factor: Johnson’s former prep school coach, Bill Armstrong, was recently hired to Scott Drew’s coaching staff at Baylor.

“He’s going to be one of the best players in the country,” Armstrong told the Herald-Leader about Johnson earlier this year.

How does coaching movement in college basketball affect Johnson’s recruitment?

“I’m not going to say it makes a disadvantage or an advantage,” Johnson said of schools with the same coaching staffs in place. “Me, and all the coaches with the same program ... I already know how the message is.”

Johnson cited Auburn (Bruce Pearl is entering his 11th season with the Tigers) and North Carolina (Hubert Davis will soon embark on his fourth season with the Tar Heels) as examples of coaching continuity in his recruitment.

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