Last month, we started our Sales Pitch series by ranking the schools in the ACC based on the quality of their enticements for men’s basketball recruits and then moved on to the Big East, where we examined whether anyone in the league can close the recruiting gap on Villanova. We followed that up with the Big Ten, and the biggest first tier we’ve seen of any conference so far, and the Pac-12, where UCLA and Arizona are keeping the rest of the league at arm’s length. Last week we continued with the SEC, where everyone continues to chase Kentucky on the recruiting trail.

This week, we continue our exercise with the American. Despite losing UConn back to the Big East in 2020-21, the league produced a Final Four team (Houston) and can also claim a top-ranked recruiting class and No. 1 pick in recent memory (Memphis, James Wiseman). The bottom of the league is weighing it down, both from a recruiting standpoint and in the standings, but the top half is consistently competitive. One school has separated itself with its sales pitch, however.

As a reminder, ESPN spoke with a wide variety of anonymous coaches across college basketball’s top seven leagues (as rated by KenPom and other relevant metrics systems), as well as nationally relevant programs beyond those conferences, for our Sales Pitch feature. Over an eight-week period, we’ll rank the programs in order of which have the best sales pitches for recruits and transfers.