Rick Stansbury landing highly rated recruits isn’t something that should come as a surprise.

It’s what the veteran coach – and recruiting master – does. It’s what he’s always done and will continue to do.

When four-star point guard Zion Harmon verbally committed to Western Kentucky last Tuesday, Stansbury added yet another star prospect to his impressive, lengthy list of recruits he’s led to choosing to play for him during his coaching career.

Just since becoming the Hilltoppers’ head coach in March 2016, Stansbury has landed two five-star prospects (Mitchell Robinson and Charles Bassey), four four stars (Josh Anderson, Dalano Banton, Harmon and Jordan Rawls) and six three stars (Isaiah Cozart, Jeremiah Gambrell, Taveion Hollingsworth, Dayvion McKnight, Marek Nelson and Galen “Tolu” Smith). The list doesn’t include players who have transferred from previous schools and prospects who didn’t have a star rating.

Although Robinson (now with the New York Knicks), Banton (now at Nebraska), Nelson (now at Texas Rio Grande Valley) and Smith (now a walk-on at Mississippi State) are no longer with the WKU program, Stansbury has proven he can recruit big-name players – even at a mid-major school.

Back in June 2016 at a Bowling Green Rotary Club meeting, Stansbury was asked about WKU starting to be discussed when it came to high-profile recruits. He responded with this:

“Why not? he asked. “I’ve said this many a time – Western Kentucky, we have a great town in Bowling Green. We have a beautiful campus. Bowling Green, no question is a great town. We got great tradition. We got a great facility. Why can’t we compete with the best? It’s very simple – it’s all about players. There’s no secret to it, there’s no magic. I got no magic pills or dust. Those kind of guys our name is mentioned with are guys you gotta have. Gotta have them.”

Stansbury made it clear that day that he has to have those top prospects – and he’s been able to get them to come to The Hill.