The short of it is that it is not a fluke that the SEC seems to be the best conference in basketball too (boooo!). Their recruiting is bearing that out. On the plus side, the Big 12 was only the fourth best conference for top 50 recruiting last year, but is up to second this year (so far).

2024
SEC- 13
ACC- 11
Big 10- 11
Big 12- 10
Big East- 5

2025 (so far, not all players committed)
SEC- 15
Big 12- 11
ACC- 9
Big 10- 5
Big East- 3
Gonzaga- 1