Rick Pitino has recruited basketball players who were McDonald’s All Americans as well as one USA Today National Player of the Year. He has recruited guys every top-10 program pursued.

But Pitino has never had a recruit as compelling or as critical as Marquis Teague, a kid who has been called the best high school guard in the Class of 2011.

Not at Boston University. Not at Providence College. Not at the University of Kentucky. And certainly not at the University of Louisville.

Teague is a commitment that Pitino needs as badly as he needed somebody to stop Goran Suton in Indianapolis last March.

Pitino needs Teague to say he’s coming to Louisville in order to establish that the coach can survive what happened at Porcini restaurant in 2003 and can continue to succeed at the new downtown arena in 2010 and beyond. Teague is the commitment Pitino needs to prove that his encounter with Karen Sypher has not diminished the recruiting sizzle he had when he landed Tony Delk, Ron Mercer, Francisco Garcia and Samardo Samuels.

Teague is the recruit Pitino cannot lose, especially not to John Calipari and Kentucky. The news that Teague made an unofficial visit to Lexington last month had to add another furrow to Pitino’s brow.

Pitino cannot talk about recruits. He doesn’t have to say a word. He already has said a ton about how important Teague is to his future. He has said it with his hiring of Shabaka Lands.

Teague is a junior at Pike High School in northwest Indianapolis. Lands was an assistant coach at Pike until he was named a special assistant to Pitino this week. Lands might be a bright, ambitious guy, but I don’t think Job One is to teach the high-post offense. A friendship with Teague has to make Lands special.

I’ve written this column before. I’m simply filling in the blanks with fresh names. UK fans howling today about Lands should ask themselves if they were howling when Pitino orchestrated a similar move by bringing Simeon Mars from Toronto to serve as an administrative aide when Jamaal Magloire arrived in 1996.

When Calipari signed Dajuan Wagner out of Camden (N.J.) High School in 2001, he was willing to make two other moves that Denny Crum would not make at Louisville. The first was hiring Wagner’s father, Milt, for his staff even though Milt lacked a college degree. He also signed Wagner’s best pal, Arthur Barclay, to put a ribbon on the package.

It was probably a coincidence when one of Eric Gordon’s summer AAU coaches, Travis Steele, landed on Kelvin Sampson’s Indiana University staff. Read the clips about Dalonte Hill, Michael Beasley and Kansas State.

I could go on and on. I don’t consider it an encouraging practice or trend. In fact, I’d suggest holding your nose. The potential for abuse is clear. Others simply call it the price of success these days.

This situation has a fresh twist on the usual story because Lands has arrived for work two years before Teague can take his first college dribble. Two complete basketball seasons. I’ll pause to shake my head.

Teague is a player who reportedly has been in love with the UofL program for nearly a year. His father, Shawn, played for Pitino at Boston University. So did his uncle, John.

They call that a legacy recruit. They also call it a recruiting battle Rick Pitino cannot lose, especially to John Calipari and Kentucky.

That is juice. And Marquis Teague certainly has it.