Pay-for-play across college sports has changed recruiting in a major way. Being a blue blood doesn't necessarily mean what it used to mean - not when every program is operating within a universe of no rules. It's the Wild West right now in college sports, and the history of your program doesn't matter nearly as much as how many zeros you can place at the end of a check.
That is, of course, unless you are programs like Duke and UConn.
The Blue Devils and Huskies are still operating at a blue-blood-like efficiency in recruiting without having to outbid all of their opponents. Duke is college basketball's preeminent brand thanks to the sheer amount of NBA talent it has flooded into the league.
And UConn has been the top program in the country the last four years under Dan Hurley. The Huskies have played in three of the last four national title games, winning back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024.
Other programs like UNC, Kansas, and Kentucky want to call themselves blue bloods. But they aren't building rosters like blue bloods anymore. College basketball expert Jon Rothstein recently pointed that out for those still in denial:
Duke and UConn are the only programs in college basketball that are still operating at a "Blue Blood" level.https://t.co/c9JLel3odd (Apple) https://t.co/EsZxIkcHSA (Spotify)https://t.co/Ip7nntmkSx (YouTube) pic.twitter.com/SZCHZXLUbL
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 4, 2026
Duke has remained a blue blood while others like UNC have faltered in the new era
There are several examples you can point to that back up Rothstein's claim.
Duke signed the No. 1 high school recruiting class for the third year in a row and sits at No. 1 in added talent this offseason between high school and the Transfer Portal.
UNC, on the other hand, sits at No. 21 in added talent while Kentucky is all the way down at No. 62.
Under John Calipari, Kentucky used to compete with Duke every year for the top-ranked high school recruiting classes. This year under Mark Pope, the Wildcats only signed one high schooler in their 2026 class.
Bill Self salvaged Kansas' offseason by landing No. 1 overall recruit Tyran Stokes, but the Jayhawks' roster still isn't loaded to the level it typically is. Losing a player of Flory Bidunga's caliber in the portal to Louisville is just another example of the changing landscape of the sport.
Bart Torvik's projections for next year have Duke at No. 1 overall. That's not surprising considering the talent Jon Scheyer has added and retained.
Other so-called blue bloods are much further down the list. UNC sits at No. 24, which may be optimistic, at least according to some. Kentucky sits all the way down at No. 44, and its status as even an NCAA Tournament team for next year is very much in question, even with the expanded field.
While the end of the last two seasons has been disappointing with epic tournament collapses by Duke, Scheyer has not gotten enough credit for maintaining Duke's blue blood status while so many others have fallen off in this new era.
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