Author: Aidan Joly

By Aidan Joly

The reign of UConn being the best team in the Big East came to an end during the 2024-25 season, with another program stepping up.

That program was St. John’s, who won the league for the first time in more than two decades to cap off what was a dominant season in the program’s second season under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino.

Surely, the Johnnies will be back for 2025-26. Who are the other top jobbers? Take a look at each of the 11 teams.

St. John’s Red Storm

2024-25: 31-5 (18-2 Big East), lost in NCAA second round

St. John’s best season in more than two decades came to a close in the second round of the tournament, much earlier than many anticipated. Still, it came with a Big East title and a No. 2 seed in the tournament.

This year, it will be one key returner along with several transfer portal adds trying to bring Rick Pitino’s squad to the second weekend.

Zuby Ejiofor is the guy who is back for St. John’s after he averaged 14.7 PPG last season, good for second on the team. He is joined by six players who averaged in double figures at their last stops. That group is headlined by Bryce Hopkins, who has had injury issues over the past two seasons and has played just 17 games over two seasons, but he has been brilliant when healthy.

He is joined by Oziyah Sellers, who had 13.7 PPG at Stanford, Joson Sanon, who had 11.9 PPG at Arizona State, Ian Jackson who had 11.9 PPG at North Carolina and Dylan Darling, who had 19.9 PPG at Idaho State. Dillon Mitchell had 9.9 PPG at Cincinnati. 

In addition, Handje Tamba had 10.5 PPG at Milligan University, a NAIA school in Tennessee.

This is a star-studded group with the arguably the best coach in the game. They can go deep. 

Creighton Bluejays

2024-25: 25-11 (15-5 Big East), lost in NCAA second round

The Bluejays only return one key player in Jackson McAndrew along with two role guys in Jasen Green and Isaac Traudt, but both of the latter guys are candidates to take a step up in 2025-26.

Coach Greg McDermott brought in two of Iowa’s three leading scorers from last season in Owen Freeman and Josh Dix, who should both have very important roles on this team. He also brings in Blake Harper, who had 19.5 PPG at Howard and was named the MEAC player of the year as a freshman. Nik Graves had 17.5 PPG at Charlotte as well.

As for freshman, the Bluejays bring in Hudson Greer, a top-50 type prospect. 

Overall, the Bluejays once again look like a team that will be playing in March. McDermott always seems to have his teams humming all year and this will be no different.

UConn Huskies

2024-25: 24-11 (14-6 Big East), lost in NCAA second round

After back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024, the Huskies looked like mere mortals in 2024-25, but they still went to the second round of the tournament and won 24 games.

For 2025-26, coach Dan Hurley has done a nice job at re-tooling his group. He does return Solo Ball and Alex Karaban, who both had 14+ points per game for last year’s squad and will be relied on again for on offense. Tarris Reed (9.6 PPG) is also back, as is role player Jaylin Stewart (5.4 PPG). 

The biggest portal get for the Huskies is Silas Demary Jr., who had 13.5 PPG on a Georgia team that played in the NCAA tournament. Malachi Smith, who had 10.4 PPG for a solid Dayton team, joins him. Dwayne Koroma had 11.4 PPG for Le Moyne and Alec Millender had 8.2 PPG at IU Indy.

As for freshmen Braylon Mullins and Eric Reibe lead the charge as top-25 ESPN prospects, and they are joined by a pair of four-stars in Jacob Furphy and Jacob Ross.

This is a team that will be back towards the top of the Big East. As long as they have the Hurley sauce, they will be.

Xavier Musketeers

2024-25: 22-12 (13-7 Big East), lost in NCAA first round

It will more or less be an entirely new team for first year coach Richard Pitino, who takes over for Sean Miller after Miller left to take the job at Texas.

It will be a big flux of mid-major talent coming to Xavier, but six of them scored in the double figures. Those include All Wright (15.5 PPG at Valparaiso), Gabriel Pozzato (14.9 PPG at Evansville), Mier Panoam (13 PPG at North Dakota), Malik Moore (12.6 PPG at Montana), Tre Carroll (12.2 PPG at Florida Atlantic) and Isaiah Walker (10.8 PPG at Belmont). 

Pitino also brings in a pair of role guys from his last job at New Mexico, Filip Borovicanin and Jovan Milicevic. 

It will be interesting to see how all of these guys come together for a first year coach. Pitino won big at New Mexico, can he replicate it at Xavier?

Marquette Golden Eagles

2024-25: 23-11 (13-7 Big East), lost in NCAA first round

Coach Shaka Smart has become one of the best coaches in the country when it comes to player retention and this year is no different.

Marquette will return nine players for its 2025-26 roster. It does lose its top three scorers from last year due to eligibility, but does return multiple important players in Chase Ross and Ben Gold, along with role guys in Sean Jones, Royce Parham and Zaide Lowery.

Sheek Pearson is the top recruit coming to Milwaukee, and he is joined by fellow top-100 guys in Nigel James, Michael Phillips II and Adrien Stevens.

Overall, this is a team that has some replacing talent to do, but Marquette tends to find a way with plenty of returning talent.

Villanova Wildcats

2024-25: 21-15 (11-9 Big East), lost in Crown semifinals

It will be almost an entirely new roster for new coach Kevin Willard, who returns to the Big East following a stint at Maryland. He replaces Kyle Neptune, who was fired after three underwhelming seasons.

The main addition here is Devin Askew, who started his career at Kentucky before stops at Texas and Cal, before he finally found his footing at Long Beach State, averaging 18.9 PPG. Zion Stanford comes over from city rival Temple after averaging 13.1 PPG last season, and Bryce Lindsay (James Madison) and Duke Brennan (Grand Canyon) each averaged in double figures last season.

One carry over was a role guy in Tyler Perkins, who had 6.3 PPG last season. Willard also has three role guys following him from Maryland in Tafara Gapare, Malachi Palmer and Braden Pierce. Acaden Lewis, a top-40 prospect, is the lead freshman here.

Villanova has fallen on hard times since Jay Wright retired in 2022. Willard, a proven winner, will try to being the Wildcats back to the top of the league.

Georgetown Hoyas

2024-25: 18-16 (8-12 Big East), lost in Crown quarterfinals

Year two in Ed Cooley’s rebuild of the program showed tangible progress, winning six more conference games and nine more games overall.

He will try to make the next step in 2025-26. The team’s second leading scorer in Malik Mack returns for this season after averaging 12.9 PPG last season. He will be expected to take on the brunt of the scoring. Caleb Williams and Julius Halaifonua both had some minutes last year and are back.

From the portal, the key add here is KJ Lewis, who had 10.8 PPG on a team that went to the Sweet 16. Langston Love had 8.9 PPG at Baylor and Jeremiah Williams, who had 7.0 PPG at Rutgers, both join the fold too.

The Hoyas have talent on paper. Now, Cooley will try to get a program that hasn’t played in the tournament since 2021, and only once since 2015, back in the bracket.

Providence Friars

2024-25: 12-20 (6-14 Big East), no postseason

It was a disappointing season in year two of the Kim English era for the Friars, the program’s worst season in more than a decade.

Something had to give here. English brought in a key contributor to a NCAA tournament teams in Jason Edwards, who was Vanderbilt’s leading scorer as the Commodores reached the tournament for the first time since 2017, as well as Duncan Powell, who had 12.2 PPG at Georgia Tech. Other additions include Cole Hargrove who had 9.9 PPG at Drexel, Daquan Davis who had 8.8 PPG at Florida State and Jaylin Sellers, who had 6.0 PPG at UCF.

The Friars do return four rotation pieces in Corey Floyd Jr., Oswin Erhunmwunse, Ryan Mela and Rich Barron.

As for freshmen Jamier Jones is a top-50 prospect, while Jaylen Harrell is a solid four-star.

The key here for Providence is bouncing back. Do they have the pieces to do it?

Butler Bulldogs

2024-25: 15-20 (6-14 Big East), lost in Crown quarterfinals

Butler has continually struggled to compete as Thad Matta enters the fourth season of his second stint at Butler, and the Bulldogs took a step back in year three.

The Bulldogs had to do a ton of re-tooling. They do return Finley Bizjack, who had 10.3 PPG as a sophomore. Jamie Kaiser did not play last season but had 4.4 PPG at Maryland in 2023-24.

As for new guys, Jalen Jackson leads the way after he had 19.2 PPG at Fort Wayne last season. Yame Butler had 13.6 PPG at Drexel, Dayton Jones had 13.0 PPG at South Carolina State and Yohan Traore was a role guy at SMU.

One guy to be interested in is Michael Ajayi, who was once a star at Pepperdine and then averaged 6.5 PPG at Gonzaga last season. He could be heavily relied on.

Jack McCaffery and Azavier Robinson are both top-100 freshmen coming to Indianapolis.

It feels like Matta is entering the year on the hot seat. If Butler doesn’t show tangible improvement, it might be a new coach this time next year. We will see.

DePaul Blue Demons

2024-25: 14-20 (4-16 Big East), lost in Crown first round

The hiring of Chris Holtmann gave DePaul some credibility on the sidelines, but the first year of the Holtmann era in Chicago did not go overly well. However, it was still an improvement from 0-20 in the league, 3-29 overall mark two seasons ago.

The Blue Demons do bring back three decent pieces from last year’s team in CJ Gunn, Layden Blocker and NJ Benson, all of whom averaged over 9.0 PPG last season. Those three will likely carry the load this year.

Another guy who can carry the load is Kaleb Banks, who had 14.7 PPG at Tulane last season. Another guy, Brandon Maclin, scored in double figures at Radford. Jeremy Lorenz (Wofford), RJ Smith (Colorado) and Amsal Delalic (Pitt) all had varying roles at their last stops.

DePaul is easily the toughest job in power conference college basketball. It has not been to the tournament since 2004. Holtmann will be given a long leash to get this right. Even six or seven league wins would be seen as a big accomplishment.

Seton Hall Pirates

2024-25: 7-25 (2-18 Big East), no postseason

Seton Hall had a disaster of a 2024-25 season and is a prime example of having little NIL dollars as a power conference team can do to you.

It forced coach Shaheen Holloway to go deep into his bag to get players. Thankfully, he did get some.

Adam Clark (Merrimack) is the most productive of the bunch after he averaged 19.5 PPG at Merrimack last season. Elijah Fisher had 15.7 PPG at Pacific. TJ Simpkins (Elon) and Josh Rivera (Fordham) each scored in double figures last season too.

High major talent coming in includes AJ Staton-McCray (Miami), Trey Parker (NC State), Mike Williams III (LSU) and Patrick Suemnick (Oklahoma State), all of whom had varying levels of success.

The only freshman on the roster will be Najai Hines, who is a top-100 guy.

It’s an interesting collection of talent at Seton Hall for this season. It remains to be seen how it will all come together. It would be hard to be worse than last season.

By Aidan Joly

For the second straight off-season, college basketball had a surprising coach retirement late in the game.

On Monday, now-former Auburn coach Bruce Pearl announced that he will step down following 11 seasons at the helm of the Tigers. His son Steven will take over the program. The 65-year-old’s decision came just 42 days before the start of the season.

Since 2020 college basketball has seen six national championship-winning head coaches retire, along with now four more who should be considered for the Hall of Fame. There are only seven active coaches who have won a national title. Pearl never won a national title, but he was certainly one of the biggest faces of the sport the past few seasons.

Pearl’s legacy is certainly a confusing one.

For starters, he was coming off perhaps the best season of his coaching career, leading Auburn to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and to the Final Four for the second time in his career (more on that in a second), was named AP’s co-coach of the year alongside Rick Pitino – one of those seven with a title – and was nearing 700 “official” career wins.

Pearl transformed Auburn from a program that, outside of a few years in the 1980s with Charles Barkley, was an also-ran in the SEC to one of the premier programs in the country. Before Pearl, Auburn only had one SEC conference tournament title to its name. Pearl won it twice. It had never been to the Final Four before Pearl. Heck, Auburn had only been to the tournament eight times ever before Pearl arrived. He got them there six times in 11 years.

He finishes his career with an unofficial record of 706-268 (his official record is 694-270 due to NCAA penalties).

Before Auburn, he guided Tennessee to an Elite Eight appearance and two more Sweet 16s, getting the Vols to No. 1 in the country in the AP rankings for the first time ever.

He did so by being boisterous, showing up in student sections at women’s basketball and football games shirtless, with a heart-on-his-sleeve persona and a sense of humor.

Of course though, there is the other side of Bruce Pearl’s legacy.

Rumors have swirled the past few months that he would leave Auburn to run for a soon-to-be-open United States senate seat in Alabama. He has been more and more political on his social media feeds as of late and has been vocal about his support for President Donald Trump. However, he said in his farewell video posted to Auburn basketball’s social media pages that he will not run for office. It created some question marks over the summer about the program’s future.

Pearl was only ever hired at Auburn due to a three year show-cause penalty that stemmed from NCAA violations when he was at Tennessee, which resulted in him being fired in Knoxville in 2011. The matter was trivial – he had a recruit at a cookout at his home when the recruit wasn’t supposed to be there – but got in the most hot water for lying to the NCAA and instructing others to do so.

Back in the late 80s while he was an assistant at Iowa he got into trouble in a recruiting scandal that ruined his chances at becoming a Division I head coach anytime soon. He spent nine years as a Division II head coach before getting his first Division I head coaching job at Milwaukee in 2001.

At Auburn the program got tied up in the FBI’s 2017 investigation into college basketball. Auburn stood by Pearl, which was controversial at the time, but in 2018 Auburn made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003. Auburn eventually got hit with a postseason ban in 2021.

Finally, it is fair to criticize the timing of his retirement that handed the reigns to his son, despite the fact that Pearl had in the past criticized nepotism in sports.

Former Virginia coach Tony Bennett was criticized for retiring right around a year ago, just weeks before the season. Ron Sanchez was the interim but did not get the full-time job, which eventually went to Ryan Odom.

That’s not to say the 38-year-old Steven Pearl isn’t qualified. He joined the program in 2014 as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, served as the director of basketball operations, worked his way to an on-court assistant job in 2017 and had been the associate head coach and defensive coordinator since 2023, helping build a top-10 defense in the sport last year.

Would Steven Pearl have gotten the job had Bruce retired in April? We’ll never know. Auburn also did not give the younger Pearl an interim tag, which would have clouded this season with whether he’d get the full-time job next spring.

In a career that had so many strange turns and chapters, maybe this was the only way the book could be closed.

By Aidan Joly

The 2024-25 college basketball season in the ACC was one that was dominated by the Duke Blue Devils.

The team from Durham went 19-1 in league play, flew through the conference tournament with ease and made it to the national semifinals. Louisville and Clemson were the other top jobbers, but the Blue Devils remained head and shoulders above everyone else.

That all being said, can anyone challenge Duke for the top spot in the 2025-26 season? Let’s get into each of the 18 teams that will play in the league this season.

Duke Blue Devils

2024-25: 35-4 (19-1 ACC), lost in national semifinals

Gone is the crown price of college basketball last season in Cooper Flagg, along with his sidekick Kon Knueppel that made for the best 1-2 freshman duo in the country last season.

This year it will be a pair of brothers, Cameron and Cayden Boozer, son of longtime NBA player Carlos, leading the way. Cameron Boozer is one of the best prospects in the country and a sure-fire lottery pick a year from now. Nikolas Khamenia and Sebastian Wilkins are also highly touted freshmen who will look to make an impact. International prospect Dame Sarr also has a chance to make an impact.

An interesting group of returners led by Isaiah Evans and Caleb Foster could have a larger role. Evans and Foster themselves got minutes every night and were solid role guys. Both can take a step up this season.

Louisville Cardinals

2024-25: 27-8 (18-2 ACC), lost in NCAA first round

First-year coach Pat Kelsey fast-tracked the rebuild of the Louisville program, being the second or third best team in the league, reaching the conference final and getting to the NCAA tournament after the program was the laughingstock of the league under Kenny Payne.

This year, the Cardinals have a shot to be at least as good. Two double digit scorers in J’Vonne Hadley and Kasean Pryor return, while they also bring in Ryan Conwell (Xavier), Adrian Wooley (Kennesaw State) and Isaac McKneeley (Virginia), who all averaged in the double figures at their last stops.

Mikel Brown, Jr. is a top-10 prospect in the country who will have an immediate role.

Other returners Kobe Rodgers and Aly Khalifa both have a chance to carve out roles too.

Clemson Tigers

2024-25: 27-7 (18-2 ACC), lost in NCAA first round

The Tigers had a terrific season in 2024-25. Twenty-seven wins represented the most in a single season in program history and got its highest NCAA tournament seed since 2018.

Unfortunately for Brad Brownell and company, it all came crashing down as the Tigers fell victim to Will Wade and McNeese State in the first round of the tournament.

Clemson may take a step back this season. It has 10 new players and doesn’t return anyone who averaged more than 5.4 points per game last season. As for transfers the most notable is Nick Davidson, who averaged more than 15 points per game on a solid Nevada team. Jestin Porter had 15 a game at Middle Tennessee. RJ Godfrey (Georgia) and Jake Wahlin (Utah) were both role players on power conference teams.

We will see about this team, but it would not be shocking to see the Tigers slip a few spots in the standings this year.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

2024-25: 21-11 (13-7 ACC), no postseason

The 2024-25 version of the Demon Deacons looked ready to be in the tournament at a few different points during the campaign, but never got the signature wins they needed.

Wake Forest has not been in the tournament since 2017 and is heading into year six under coach Steve Forbes.

Forbes did find some interesting pieces though. Cooper Schwieger is a talented player who averaged more than 15 points per game for Valparaiso this past year, while Nate Calmese had similar stats at Washington State. Mekhi Mason (Washington) and Myles Colvin (Purdue) were both productive players on high-major rosters.

Tre’Von Spillers, who averaged 9.9 PPG for the Deacs, is back. He is joined by Juke Harris, who had 6.1 PPG.

The likes of Hunter Sallis and Cameron Hildreth will be tough to replace. Let’s see if they can do it.

North Carolina Tar Heels

2024-25: 23-14 (13-7 ACC), lost in NCAA first round

What a topsy-turvy season it was in Chapel Hill. Many did not think the Tar Heels were deserving to be in the NCAA tournament, but UNC made it anyway as one of the last four in before bowing out in the round of 64.

This year the Tar Heels have an array of talent. The only key returner is Seth Trimble, who had 11.6 PPG last season.

Transfers include Henri Veesaar (Arizona), Kyan Evans (Colorado State), Jarin Stevenson (Alabama), Jonathan Powell (Virginia) and Jaydon Young (Virginia Tech), who all had at least solid seasons at good levels of competition.

Caleb Wilson is a five-star prospect who is the best freshman coach Hubert Davis brings in. Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis are both top-60 talent.

Davis’ job security has been in question the past year or two. UNC certainly has the talent to make a run, or will it be another clunker of a season that costs Davis his job?

SMU Mustangs

2024-25: 24-11 (13-7 ACC), lost in NIT second round

The Mustangs had a better first season in the ACC than probably many expected, finishing comfortably above .500 and in the top half of the league.

The Mustangs have a shot to challenge for an NCAA tournament spot. They return their leading scorer in Boopie Miller while also bringing back double digit scorer Samet Yigitoglu and a near-double digit scorer in B.J. Edwards.

Jaron Pierre, Jr. was a huge get in the portal after he averaged more than 20 PPG at Jacksonville State. He should be a big part of the plans in Dallas. Corey Washington also had a great year at Wichita State.

As for freshmen Jaden Toombs should be the best of the bunch and he is joined by Nigel Walls and Jermaine O’Neal, Jr. (yes, that Jermaine O’Neal).

This roster looks even better on paper than last year’s. They have a chance to take another step up.

Stanford Cardinal

2024-25: 21-14 (11-9 ACC), lost in NIT second round

Stanford had an okay-but-not-great year in the first season under coach Kyle Smith, but do lose a lot for this season.

Gone are Maxime Raynaud, Oziyah Sellers and Jaylen Blakes, Stanford’s three best players from last year. Taking their places could be Ryan Agarwal, Chisom Okpara and Benny Gealer, who all return after being role guys in 2024-25.

As for transfers the Cardinal add a pair of interesting ones. AJ Rohosy was a Division III all-American after starting his career for Smith at Washington State, while Jeremy Dent-Smith starred for Division II Cal State Dominguez Hills.

We shall see with the Cardinal. It was a better year than expected for its first time in the ACC. What will they do in year two?

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

2024-25: 17-17 (10-10 ACC), lost in NIT first round

The second year under coach Damon Stoudamire saw a three-win improvement in the league from his first year the helm and it came with a postseason appearance, so tangible progress there.

However, four of the team’s five double digit scorers are gone. The only one who is left is Baye Ndongo, so he should have to take on a fairly large role. Jaeden Mustaf and Kowacie Reeves both had solid campaigns as well.

Kam Craft (Miami Ohio) and Lamar Washington (Pacific) both had 13+ points per game this past season at their old schools. Chas Kelly III (Boston College) has high-major experience.

Mouhamed Sylla and Akai Fleming are both freshmen who have a shot at being in the rotation, moreso in Sylla’s case.

It feels like Stoudamire has the program, slowly but surely, going in the right direction. You’d like to see some more progress be made in year three. The Yellow Jackets have not made the tournament since 2021 when it surprisingly won the ACC tournament. Before that, you have to go back to 2010.

Virginia Cavaliers

2024-25: 15-17 (8-12 ACC), no postseason

It’ll mostly be an entirely new roster at Virginia for first year coach Ryan Odom, who gets the full-time gig after interim coach Ron Sanchez took over weeks before the season following the sudden retirement of Tony Bennett in October.

Odom has made his way around the college hoops landscape with head coaching stops at UMBC, Utah State and VCU and now finally lands a power conference job.

The best transfer he brings in is Malik Thomas, who averaged 19.9 points per game at San Francisco. Other quality adds include Jacari White, who had 17.1 PPG at North Dakota State, Sam Lewis, who had 16.2 PPG at Toledo and Devin Tillis, who had 13.7 PPG at UC Irvine. Dallin Hall (BYU) and Ugonna Onyenso (Kansas State) both contributed for high major teams.

Chance Mallory is the best freshman Cavalier.

It will be interesting to see how these pieces come together. Odom was a natural choice for Virginia and now he has a chance to get the program back to the top of the ACC.

Virginia Tech Hokies

2024-25: 13-19 (8-12 ACC), no postseason

This feels like a big year for coach Mike White, who enters his seventh year in Blacksburg as the team has now missed the NCAA tournament three years in a row.

He will try to end that drought with a quartet of decent returners in Tobi Lawal, Jaden Schutt, Tyler Johnson and Ben Hammond, all of whom had decent-to-good seasons in 2024-25.

Amani Hansberry, who averaged 8.9 PPG at West Virginia, seems like a major impact addition. Izaiah Pasha (Delaware) and Jailen Bedford (UNLV) both averaged in double figures at their previous stops.

This is one where the job security is interesting. Football coach Brent Pry is firmly on the hot seat and could lose his job with a bad season. It might be easier for Young to keep his job for another season if Pry gets the axe.

Florida State Seminoles

2024-25: 17-15 (8-12 ACC), no postseason

It’s a new era in Tallahassee as first year coach Luke Loucks takes over following more than two decades of Leonard Hamilton at the helm.

Similar to Odom in Virginia, it’ll be pretty much a completely new roster. It is highlighted by Robert McCray V, who averaged 16.2 PPG at Jacksonville, along with three more mid-major double figure scorers in Martin Somerville (UMass-Lowell, Lajae Jones (St. Bonaventure) and Kobe MaGee (Drexel).

Chauncey Wiggins is the guy with ACC experience after he averaged 8.9 points per game at Clemson. An interesting add is Alex Skeen, who averaged 17.9 PPG at Division II Florida Southern, a team that won 26 games and won a game in the Division II tournament.

Cameron Miles is a four-star prospect who joins the Seminoles.

Overall, the roster doesn’t do a ton on paper. But for a first-year coach, all you need to see is some sort of progression as the season goes on.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

2024-25: 15-18 (8-12 ACC), no postseason

Breakout candidate in the ACC? Year two under coach Micah Shrewsberry saw a small improvement and the Irish bring back a ton of talent.

Leading that charge is Markus Burton, who led the team with 21.3 PPG in 2024-25. Braeden Shrewsberry had 14.0 PPG, good for third on the team, and is back as well. A solid role guy in Kebba Njie is also back.

The Irish also bring in a solid freshman class, highlighted by Jalen Haralson, who ranks in ESPN’s top 20 prospects. Top-100 guys Ryder Frost and Brady Koehler also come into the fold.

As for transfers the only one coming from a Division I school is Carson Towt, who had 13.3 PPG at Northern Arizona.

This is a team that feels due to win a bunch more games in the ACC than it did last year and has the pieces on paper to do it. Shrewsberry is a good coach too. We will see if they can do it.

Pittsburgh Panthers

2024-25: 17-15 (8-12 ACC), no postseason

This was a Pitt team that had opportunities to put itself on the right side of the tournament bubble, but lost eight of its last 11 regular season games and did not come close.

In 2025-26 it will be an interesting enough roster. Double digit scorer Cameron Corhen returns, as does Brandin Cummings who was more of a role guy.

Perhaps the best add here is Dishon Jackson, who was true glue guy on an Iowa State team that was one of the best in the country all season. Barry Dunning, Jr., who had 15.1 PPG at South Alabama and Damarco Minor, who had 9.8 PPG at Oregon State, also come into the fold.

This certainly feels like a middle-of-the-pack roster in the ACC. Seeing if coach Jeff Capel can do more with it will be something to follow.

Syracuse Orange

2024-25: 14-19 (7-13 ACC), no postseason

It feels like a crucial year awaits in Central New York.

Adrian Autry enters year three as the head coach at Syracuse after taking over for the venerable Jim Boeheim and the results have been underwhelming, while the Orange took a considerable step back in 2024-25.

However, the Orange return their top two scorers in JJ Starling and Donnie Freeman, while also bringing in Naithan George (12.3 PPG at Georgia Tech) and Nate Kingz (11.8 PPG at Oregon State) as the main guys to surround him with. A few other transfers have high major role experience.

Sadiq White is a solid prospect the Orange bring in but the hype is around Kiyan Anthony, son of Syracuse legend Carmelo Anthony.

Is this a tournament team? Perhaps. It might need to be for Autry to get a fourth season. Syracuse hasn’t been in the tournament since 2021.

California Golden Bears

2024-25: 14-19 (6-14 ACC), no postseason

Things did not go great in Cal’s first season in the ACC. Things were looking up after Mark Madsen’s first year at the helm, but it felt like the Golden Bears struggled to keep up with the competition jump.

Maybe, Cal will have a better idea in its second year in the league. The Bears return a couple guys in Rytis Petraitis and DJ Campbell, but that’s about it for notable returners.

Two guys who did very well at the mid-majors come to Berkeley in John Camden, who had 16.8 PPG at Delaware and Milos Ilic, who had 14.4 PPG at Loyola Maryland. Some bigger helps can be found in Chris Bell, who comes in from Syracuse, as well as Dai Dai Ames, who carved out a nice role at Virginia.

A couple of four-star prospects come in, Semetri Carr and Jovanni Ruff.

This is a program that felt in over its head in its first year in the ACC. We shall see if they can get any better in year two.

NC State Wolfpack

2024-25: 12-19 (5-15 ACC), no postseason

It was Final Four to fired in a span of 12 months for former coach Kevin Keatts after NC State failed to even make the ACC tournament.

Taking his spot is Will Wade, the former disgraced LSU coach who built his reputation back up at McNeese, taking the Cowboys to the second round of the NCAA tournament. He’s now back in the power conference ranks.

It’ll be nearly an entirely new team in Raleigh, and a good one at that. The biggest add is Darrion Williams, who was a star at Texas Tech. He also brings in a group of good high major players in Tre Holloman from Michigan State, Ven-Allen Lubin from in-state rival UNC, Terrence Arceneaux from Houston and Jerry Deng from Florida State. Alyn Breed and Quadir Copeland both follow him from McNeese.

Freshmen include Matt Able, a very good prospect, and Zymicah Wilkins, a top-60 guy who has a chance to carving out a role.

This is a very good team. Wade should be able to have them competing from the beginning of the season. Being back in the tournament should be the expectation.

Boston College Eagles

2024-25: 12-19 (4-16 ACC), no postseason

It was another season to forget for Boston College as it finished second-to-last in the ACC.

For this season, the Eagles do return the team’s leading scorer in Donald Hand, Jr., but does lose the second through fourth leading scorer. Fred Payne, who carved out a role to the tune of 6.9 PPG, is back as well.

The only truly notable transfer add is Chase Forte, who averaged 17.9 PPG at South Dakota. A quick note on Boden Kapke, who averaged just over 4 PPG at Butler, is now here. He may have a role.

Four-star prospect Akbar Waheed is the only notable freshman of the group.

Boston College has not made the tournament since 2009, which is also the most recent time it had a winning season in league play. It’s tough to see either of those streaks ending.

Miami Hurricanes

2024-25: 7-24 (3-17 ACC), no postseason

It was an absolutely dreadful season for the Hurricanes, one that saw Jim Larrañaga retire midseason with a 4-8 record through the first 12 games. Interim coach Bill Courtney was not able to right the ship, going 3-16 the rest of the way.

The new coach is Jai Lucas, the 36-year-old former Duke assistant who is the youngest head coach in the power conferences.

He brings in an entirely new roster. The player to be most excited about is Malik Reneau, who had 13.3 PPG at Indiana, while Tre Donaldson (Michigan) and Tru Washington (New Mexico) were both key cogs for teams that reached the NCAA tournament.

Lucas does bring in a decent freshman class in Shelton Henderson, a borderline top 30 prospect as well as Dante Allen, a top-50 guy. Timotej Malovec and Salih Altuntas are both interesting international prospects.

Miami should not be expected to be at the top of the ACC in Lucas’ first year. But it’s hard to be worse than the Hurricanes were last year.

By Aidan Joly

This is the fourth part of my transfer portal adds series, highlighted by Kansas getting a pair of role players and several players making the jump from mid-major to high major.

Twenty more players to take a look at, below:

Matas Vokietaitis: Old school: Florida Atlantic | New school: Texas

Vokietaitis was the freshman of the year in the American Athletic Conference after averaging 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest for FAU. He’s a big seven-footer who plays extremely physical in the paint on both sides of the ball and is increasingly tough to move. He is especially good on the offensive glass. Having played just 17 minutes per game at FAU, he can be a very good interior presence for the Longhorns.

Elliot Cadeau: Old school: North Carolina | New school: Michigan

Cadeau is a former five-star prospect who never truly blossomed into the player the Tar Heels thought he could become, but he was a serviceable player for two seasons in Chapel Hill. He averaged 9.4 PPG in 2024-25 and demonstrated good ability as a passer, but is prone to turnovers. He also sometimes struggles to find consistency in scoring. It feels like a change of scenery could be beneficial here.

Kyan Evans: Old school: Colorado State | New school: North Carolina

Evans doesn’t take a ton of shots for a point guard, but when he does take them he makes them at a consistent rate. He can especially burn you from deep as he hit 44.6% of his attempts for Colorado State on his way to averaging 10.6 points per game for a team that won an NCAA tournament game, and nearly won a second. He is a very smart player, which will fit in well in Chapel Hill.

Malik Thomas: Old school: San Francisco | New school: Virginia

Thomas was a first-team all-WCC pick and led the league in scoring with 19.9 points per game. He also did so while shooting almost 40% from behind the three point line and made 85% of his free throws while getting to the line at a high rate. He is also a good off-the-ball player. He will provide scoring for a Virginia team that could use it under first year coach Ryan Odom.

Christoph Tilly: Old school: Santa Clara | New school: Ohio State

The Buckeyes get a seven-foot big man that a lot of players had their eye on. Another good player coming out of the WCC, Tilly averaged 12.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in just under 23 minutes per game for Santa Clara in 2024-25. He is known to step out and hit a three every once in a while too. He shot 7-9 from the field in an upset win against Gonzaga on Jan. 18.

Nick Boyd: Old school: San Diego State | New school: Wisconsin

Boyd was a serviceable player for San Diego State and finished off his time there by averaging 13.4 points per game for the Aztecs this past season. He is a good but not great shooter, and is very smart and reliable. A part of the 2023 FAU team that made the Final Four, he should be able to carve out a nice role at Wisconsin.

Tre Donaldson: Old school: Michigan | New school: Miami

Donaldson is an interesting player. He was clearly a key cog on a Michigan team that reached the Sweet 16. He is a very good defender, was one of the best in the Big Ten in 2024-25. However, he makes many questionable decisions on offense and as a result is fairly unreliable when you need points. Still, he can be a lead guard and will be for a Miami team that is undergoing a major rebuild under first year coach Jai Lucas.

Denzel Aberdeen: Old school: Florida | New school: Kentucky

Aberdeen had a very solid role on the national championship winning team, averaging 7.7 points per game across 19.7 minutes per game. He mostly played point guard but is capable of playing just about every position, standing at 6-foot-5. He has a good jumper and can score pretty consistently from all areas of the floor. If he can clean up a little bit of a turnover issue, he can be a starter-type player for Kentucky.

Jalil Bethea: Old school: Miami | New school: Alabama

A top prospect coming into Miami one year ago Bethea’s freshman season did not go as planned as he averaged just 7.1 points and shot under 40% from the field for a Hurricanes team that was dreadful. He is a small 6-foot-5, so it would benefit him to gain a little bit of muscle. Still a bit of a project, he’s worth the flyer that Alabama is taking on him.

Vyctorius Miller: Old school: LSU | New school: Oklahoma State

Miller had a very good freshman season in the SEC, averaging 8.9 points per game and hitting 44% from the field for an LSU team that saw improvement after a bad 2023-24 season. His numbers did drop off a bit in the second half of the season as he tried to play through an ankle injury. However, when healthy, he can be a solid presence for Oklahoma State and help them.

Elyjah Freeman: Old school: Lincoln Memorial (Division II) | New school: Auburn

It will be interesting to see where Freeman slots in for Auburn. He was one of the best Division II players in the country for Lincoln Memorial in Tennessee, averaging 19.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game for a squad that won 25 games and reached the Division II tournament. He could be worth investing in for Auburn and Bruce Pearl.

Dillon Mitchell: Old school: Cincinnati | New school: St. John’s

Once upon a time Mitchell was a five-star prospect, but he’s another one who has never really blossomed into what we thought he would be. Still, he has become a nice role player and has had a solid career. At Cincinnati this past season he had 9.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while being more efficient than he ever was at Texas. He has an ability to make a three, but it’s not the main part of his game. He’s a good defender, which will probably be his main role at St. John’s.

Cooper Schwieger: Old school: Valparaiso | New school: Wake Forest

The Missouri Valley Conference has sent many successful players to the high majors over the years and Schwieger is next on that list. He was very good at Valpo this past season to the tune of 15.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. At 6-foot-10 he largely played center, and that is likely what he will end up playing at Wake Forest. He is also decent from three for a big man. He is also good on defense as he led the MVC with 2 blocks per game.

Gabriel Pozzato: Old school: Evansville | New school: Xavier

Pozzato, an athletic wing out of Australia, had a very good freshman season at Evansville, averaging 14.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game on his way to being named to the Missouri Valley all-freshman team. He didn’t hit his threes at an overly consistent rate but he has a smooth shooting motion that should translate to making them at a better rate as he matures. Overall, he figures to be a key wing player and a second or maybe third scoring option for first year coach Richard Pitino.

Jayden Dawson: Old school: Loyola Chicago | New school: Kansas

Dawson had a nice breakout season as a junior for Loyola Chicago this past season, averaging 13.9 points per game that made a deep run in the NIT and ended up with 25 wins. He’s a very streaky shooter who runs around making 36% of his threes. Standing at 6-foot-4 he has good size and athleticism for a combo guard which should make him a dynamic option for the Jayhawks.

Tre White: Old school: Illinois | New school: Kansas

White is on his fourth school after previous stops at USC, Louisville and the Illini. He is a proven starter and scorer at this level and really improved with his spacing and shot selection as compared to years past. He also got better defensively. If he keeps improving, he can certainly be an important player for Kansas.

Sebastian Mack: Old school: UCLA | New school: Missouri

After really coming on strong as a freshman for the Bruins in 2023-24 Mack saw a bit of a dip in production this season, going from 12.1 PPG as a freshman to 9.6 PPG as a sophomore, saw his minutes go down, and saw his way out of the starting lineup. However, his shooting percentages went up from 38.7% as a freshman to 42.6% as a sophomore. He projects as a starter at Missouri as he looks to reach his ceiling.

Kanon Catchings: Old school: BYU | New school: Georgia

One year ago Catchings was seen as a player who could have gone one-and-done to the NBA, but he didn’t have the season at BYU that many thought he would, especially after he de-committed from Purdue to go to Provo. He averaged just over seven points a game and really wasn’t even playing much by the end of the season. The upside and potential is still there and we will see if he can find it at Georgia.

Tyon Grant-Foster: Old school: Grand Canyon | New school: Gonzaga

Grant-Foster was the player of the year in the WAC and helped Grand Canyon to the NCAA tournament by averaging 14.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for the Lopes. He averaged over 20 points per game two seasons ago. He is a high volume shooter but has the ability to get them off from anywhere on the floor. There is a ton of potential here and Mark Few will have a great chance at reeling him in a bit, while keeping his ability to go off on any night.

Dishon Jackson: Old school: Iowa State | New school: Pitt

Another player on his fourth school. Jackson was the man in the middle for what was a top-1o defense in the country last year for Iowa State and that is where he shines the most. He is a tad bit inconsistent on defense and with rebounding and under the basket he leaves a little bit to be desired offensively. Still, standing at 6-foot-11 and weighing in at 270 pounds, he is one of the largest players in college basketball, something that will be huge, literally and figuratively, for the Panthers.

By Aidan Joly

We have reached part three of my transfer portal notebook for the 2025 off-season, evaluating 20 more players and how they fit at their new schools.

Kansas State and NC State have made the biggest impact adds for this part, as well as Oklahoma. Let’s get into it.

PJ Haggerty: Old school: Memphis | New school: Kansas State

Haggerty was a late add to the Kansas State roster, but he is a major impact add for a program that needs some juice after a down season in 2024-25. Haggerty earned the AAC player of the year honors with Memphis after averaging 21.6 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Tigers. He also was a second team All-American. It will be interesting to see how his mid-range game fits into the Kansas State offense, since coach Jerome Tang usually shoots just threes and shots under the basket. We shall see.

Darrion Williams: Old school: Texas Tech | New school: NC State

Williams was one of the best playmaking guards in all of college basketball this past season and perhaps the best in the portal. He averaged 15.5 points per game and shot 34% from three, although that was a dip from the 2023-24 season. Still, he is a very solid three-point shooter. He averaged 23.7 points per game during Texas Tech’s last three games in the round of 32, Sweet 16 and Elite 8. He will be a major cog to the offense for first year coach Will Wade in Raleigh.

LeJuan Watts: Old school: Washington State | New school: Texas Tech

Watts saw himself thrust into big-time minutes with Washington State after Cedric Coward got hurt and finished the season averaging 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game after following coach David Riley from Eastern Washington. He successfully made the transition from the Big Sky to the WCC and will be challenged to make another transition from the WCC to the Big 12.

KeShawn Murphy: Old school: Mississippi State | New school: Auburn

Murphy is a 6-foot-10 big man who has good footwork and is good off the ball from all areas of the floor. He used that to the tune of 11.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game for a Bulldogs team that reached the NCAA tournament. He shot over 56% from the field for the season and even better from inside 10 feet while being known to step out for a three from time to time. He is also a solid defender.

Desmond Claude: Old school: USC | New school: Washington

Claude is an experienced wing type player who has spent a lot of time at point guard. At USC this past season he averaged 15.8 points per game. He did get a little better from behind the three-point line, but his shooting from beyond the arc still leaves much to be desired. If he could get a little more consistent from deep, he would quickly become one of the better guards in the country. Let’s see if he can do that at Washington.

Andrej Stojakovic: Old school: Cal | New school: Illinois

Stojakovic was a big breakout candidate for me a year ago after a solid freshman season and he did just that. He averaged 17.9 points per game for Cal and shot 37% from behind the three-point line. The consistent shot isn’t there quite yet since he doesn’t shoot them a ton but he is certainly getting there. He also proved himself as a good off the ball player. Now, he will head to Illinois, a program that has significantly more recent success than Cal.

Pharrel Payne: Old school: Texas A&M | New school: Maryland

Payne is following coach Buzz Williams from College Station to College Park. He saw inconsistent minutes toward the end of the season but was Texas A&M’s most productive big, averaging 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game over 20 minutes per game for the Aggies. His best game is on the boards, which we should be able to see more if he can get some more consistent minutes with the Terps.

Derrion Reid: Old school: Alabama | New school: Oklahoma

Reid was a five-star recruit one year ago and got lost in the shuffle of an extremely deep Alabama team while he battled injuries. When he was on the court he played well for a freshman and finished the campaign with 6.0 points per game across 14 minutes per contest in 24 appearances. He was good defensively but struggled shooting the ball consistently. He will continue his development on a team that has less depth. Upside, he could be a pro.

Michael Rataj: Old school: Oregon State | New school: Baylor

Rataj is one of the more dynamic players you’ll see. He created tons of mismatches during his time in the WCC and Oregon State to the tune of 16.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, becoming one of the most improved players in the country. He has a 6-foot-9 frame and can step out and hit his threes, can also score from inside and makes his free throws at a good clip. If he has the space on the floor to do what he needs to do, he can end up being one of Baylor’s best players.

Oscar Cluff: Old school: South Dakota State | New school: Purdue

South Dakota State is a mid-major program that spits out successful high-major players and Cluff certainly has a chance to be next in that line. He started at a JUCO school, was a starter on a Washington State team that went to the NCAA tournament two season ago, then starred at South Dakota State and now he heads to Purdue. He averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game for the Jackrabbits this past season. He shouldn’t be expected to have those numbers again, but he can has a great shot at being a very productive big man.

Nijel Pack: Old school: Miami | New school: Oklahoma

The NCAA has granted a medical waiver for Pack to have one more year of eligibility. He was limited to just nine games for a dreadful Miami team due to an ankle injury, but was one of the most experienced players in the portal. He has 122 games of college basketball experience under his belt and started on the 2023 Miami team that made the Final Four. He can surely be the lead guard at Oklahoma.

Obi Agbim: Old school: Wyoming | New school: Baylor

Another player who began his college career in JUCO, spending three seasons at that level before heading up to Division I. He was great at Wyoming, averaging 17.6 points per game, albeit for a team that lost 20 games and went just 5-15 in Mountain West play. He made more than 43% of his attempts from behind the three-point line and is a good mid-range shooter. We will see how he does with this step up.

Zvonimir Ivisic: Old school: Arkansas | New school: Illinois

“Big Z” burst onto the college basketball scene midseason for Kentucky two years ago with an electric debut and it seemed like the sky was the limit. Now, he’s come a bit back down to earth. He followed John Calipari to Arkansas and averaged 8.5 points per game for the Razorbacks. He did have 27 points in a game against Alabama and 25 against LSU, but he’s still finding his way in becoming a consistent player. Illinois will try to get that in him.

Pop Isaacs: Old school: Creighton | New school: Texas A&M

Isaacs had a great start to the season for Creighton, but that ended when he suffered a season-ending hip injury eight games into the season. During that time though, he averaged 16.3 points per game, including two 25+ point performances. He began his career at Texas Tech and figures to be the featured guard for new Aggies coach Bucky McMillan.

Lamar Wilkerson: Old school: Sam Houston State | New school: Indiana

A first-team all-conference pick in Conference USA, Wilkerson was one of the best pure shooters available in this cycle. He averaged 20.5 points per game for Sam Houston State and shot over 44% from behind the three-point line, over 47% from the field overall. He has a chance to be a star for the Hoosiers, at least a lights-out situational shooter.

Nick Davidson: Old school: Nevada | New school: Clemson

Davidson is a big man who plays more like a guard. He stands at 6-foot-10 but is a good shooter, having made more than 37% of his 124 attempts from behind the three point line for a Nevada team that was not great, but solid. Overall, he averaged 15.8 points per game. He has skills as a passer too. He is a solid flyer for coach Brad Brownell to take for Davidson’s final season of college basketball.

Malik Reneau: Old school: Indiana | New school: Miami

Reneau is a former top recruit and prized freshman for Indiana and he carved out a nice three seasons at Indiana. He saw his minutes decrease a little bit this year after a very good sophomore season in 2023-24, but he is still a good player. His physicality is the predominant part of his game. He should be a key piece of the rotation for first year Miami coach Jai Lucas.

Alvaro Folgueiras: Old school: Robert Morris | New school: Iowa

Folgueiras was the Horizon League player of the year while leading Robert Morris to the NCAA tournament and putting a scare into Alabama. He is a do-it-all type of player, averaging 14.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, being a good shooter, a good passer, and plays well off the ball. He has the ability to play multiple positions, which will certainly help him with Iowa. He has a chance to be a high-level player and thrive in Ben McCollum’s system.

Naithan George: Old school: Georgia Tech | New school: Syracuse

George is a terrific passer, leading the ACC with 6.5 assists per game, which is the best part of his game as a facilitator. He can shoot the ball well too, having averaged 12.3 points per game on just under 40% from the field but made just under 34% of 177 attempts. He is a bit of a high-volume shooter and needs to limit the turnovers, but he will have a chance to make some improvements for Adrian Autry.

Nate Johnson: Old school: Akron | New school: Kansas State

Johnson had the rare double-whammy of winning both the league player of the year and the defensive player of the year in the MAC. On offense he averaged 14 points per game for an Akron team that went to the NCAA tournament and averaged nearly two steals per game. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the high-major competition. It’s worth noting that he struggled in the NCAA tournament game against Arizona, going 1-9 from the field.

By Aidan Joly

The 2025 NBA draft is in the books.

It went mostly as expected at the top, but we had some twists and turns along the way. Let’s get into what the biggest takeaways from this year’s draft class are.

Cooper Flagg has Dallas ready to compete

The first overall pick was a no-brainer, with Duke phenom going first overall to the Dallas Mavericks.

Flagg was the best player in this year’s class and will make an immediate impact in Dallas. The Mavs don’t have a ton of shot creation on their roster with a lack of guards before Kyrie Irving returns from a knee injury, so Flagg will have to be part of the solution in keeping them afloat during the first part of the season.

Anthony Davis is a great player for Flagg to develop alongside of, and be a homegrown star for a franchise that is still dealing with the aftermath of the Luka Doncic trade. Landing the first overall pick changed the trajectory of the franchise quite a bit.

If he plays well, Dallas can certainly have a chance at competing for a playoff spot in year one. And certainly, Flagg is the top contender for rookie of the year.

San Antonio leaning into competitive window

San Antonio certainly could have traded the second overall pick in Dylan Harper, but chose not to in order to hurry up their competitive window.

It makes sense that there are some fit concerns, but San Antonio is going talent over fit with this selection. Things would likely be a little easier if De’Aaron Fox were not in the mix, but allowing Harper some time to figure out how to play alongside Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle is the right idea.

San Antonio must remember that their superstar in Wembanyama is still just 21 years old. He has plenty of time. And when you factor in the talent all around him, including Harper and No. 14 overall pick Carter Bryant, the Spurs look to have their next great group of players.

Good situation for Edgecombe

The Philadelphia 76ers took Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe with the No. 3 overall pick.

They likely could have gone after a better talent in Ace Bailey, who ended up going to Utah, but they take fit over talent here. Keep in mind, Philadelphia already has three ball-dominant players in Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Paul George, coupled with Jared McCain having a good rookie year in a small sample size. Edgecombe will be relied on more for defense and rebounding in his early years in the NBA, which works for him.

Philly also took Johni Broome with the 35th overall pick, which is a solid add to their frontcourt depth.

Charlotte’s awesome class

The Charlotte Hornets may have gotten the best first round class overall.

With the No. 4 overall pick Charlotte picked up Duke’s Kon Knueppel, who was perhaps the best pure shooter in the draft, and then got could end up being the best value pick in the draft with UConn’s Liam McNeeley at No. 29.

Charlotte also added Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner in the second round.

Knueppel’s strength, style of play and toughness makes him very valuable to play alongside LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, two budding stars of their own. As for McNeeley, he is a great shooter who did struggle at times at UConn, but a lot of that felt like it was because he was relied upon too heavily.

Kalkbrenner is an NBA-ready player who will see minutes as a second round pick. It needed it after trading away Mark Williams (which we’ll get into soon).

Ace Bailey’s potential

Despite all of the drama the past few weeks with Bailey and his preferred destination, and him not showing up in Utah until Saturday, it still feels like playing for the Jazz gives him the best chance to maximize his potential early on.

The Jazz have no real superstar power, but do have a very good young head coach and a passionate fanbase. He does need some time to shore up some things, mainly on defense and ball-handling, but Utah’s rebuild will give him time to develop. He should quickly realize that he has all-star potential and Utah is a good place to do it.

Utah also picked up Florida’s Walter Clayton late in the first round. Clayton is an NBA-ready player who will have an immediate role.

The best fit?

The best fit in the draft may have been in… you guessed it, Miami.

The Heat drafted Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis with the No. 20 overall pick.

It feels like clockwork every year with Miami. The Heat drafted a player who works so well in their style of play while also filling a roster need, and fits the culture.

Some had Jakucionis as a top-10 prospect, and Miami gets him at 20. He has a very good shot at operating well alongside Tyler Herro, and with the emergence of Davion Mitchell, he can develop well in Miami as a versatile player who can both be a shot-maker and play off the ball.

Phoenix’s strange strategy

Phoenix came into the draft with a need for a big man. It felt like they had gotten what they needed in drafting Duke’s Khaman Maluach with the No. 1o overall pick, but turned heads moments later by trading the No. 29 pick and a 2029 first for Mark Williams, another big man.

It came days after the Suns agreed to trade Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets in exchange for that No. 10 overall pick, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and five second round picks.

Malauch is a very raw player, but he’s a great fit in Phoenix.

The Suns are going through a big roster makeover under new general manager Brian Gregory and first-year coach Jordan Ott, but this was certainly an interesting thing to do. We’ll see how the rest of the off-season looks for Phoenix, but the trade was a little bit of a head-scratcher.

Nets hold onto all of their picks

The Nets went into the first round with five picks and everyone assumed that they would do some dealing on draft night.

Nope. Brooklyn used all five of the picks, selecting Egor Demin (No. 8), Nolan Traore (No. 19), Drake Powell (No. 22), Ben Saraf (No. 26) and Danny Wolf (No. 27).

Demin is my favorite pick of the bunch. He played limited minutes at BYU this past season, but had a good impact. Traore has done well in international play. Wolf was great at Michigan.

If even two of these five picks work out, Brooklyn had a good first round. After failing to make it work with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, the Nets were in position to capitalize on all of the assets they got back in trades.

Was it a missed opportunity to not make any trades during the draft? One can surely make that argument. But with a need to simply have talent and develop it, at least a few of these guys are bound to work out.

By Aidan Joly

It’s rare that I feel compelled to blog about the NBA – maybe a few times a year – but this is one of those times.

The coaching search for the New York Knicks has become a disorganized mess.

So far, New York has requested to speak with five different sitting NBA head coaches: Dallas’ Jason Kidd, Atlanta’s Quin Snyder, Houston’s Ime Udoka, Minnesota’s Chris Finch and Chicago’s Billy Donovan. The Knicks have been denied permission for all five in recent days, according to multiple reports.

The Knicks fired now-former head coach Tom Thibodeau after winning 51 games and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a quarter-century to cap off five seasons of success that re-established a winning identity to a franchise that floundered for much of not only the mid-to late 2010s, but the 21st century.

There is plenty to criticize Thibodeau for. He could have tried to develop the guys on the bench more and played the starters for less time. It was obvious that guys like Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Miles Bridges and Josh Hart were exhausted by the end of the playoff run. But all coaches have their flaws. It’s part of the gig.

Still, when you fire a coach in this situation, you better have your ducks in a row. That means having a list of names ready and available to interview. So far, it does not appear that the Knicks did that. It smells of owner James Dolan making the call to fire Thibodeau and that the front office, headed up by Leon Rose, did not anticipate a head coaching search this summer. Thibodeau still had three years and $30 million left on his contract too.

The Knicks will be forced to spin this as to doing their due diligence, but it’s hard to believe when they are being turned down for the chance to interview many of the NBA’s top head coaches.

How will the Knicks be able to salvage this search? Former Denver Nuggets head coach and New York City native Michael Malone should certainly be at the top of the list. Former Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins should be discussed as well. Former Lakers, Cavaliers and Kings coach Mike Brown should be on the list too. Johnnie Bryant, considered one of the NBA’s brightest assistant coaches and is current the associate head coach in Cleveland, should get a look.

Still, now, the Knicks look reminiscent of the inept franchise that couldn’t get much right prior to Rose and Thibodeau taking over. All of the good work over the past five years is at risk of being reversed.

By Aidan Joly

The SEC is the highlight of the second part of my transfer portal additions pieces for the 2025-26 college basketball season.

Florida, the defending national champions, have made great backcourt additions in recent weeks, while Kentucky has made some adds that’ll put them back towards the top of the league again.

Let’s get into 20 more of these moves.

Henri Veesaar; Old school: Arizona | New school: North Carolina

Veesaar came off the bench the majority of the time for the Wildcats in 2024-25, but there is no doubting that Tommy Lloyd’s teams were better when he was on the floor. In just under 21 minutes per game Veesaar averaged 9.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. For a seven-footer he shoots the ball well, just under 60% from the field and a bit over 32% from three. A versatile defensive player, he will have a chance of playing at the next level if he succeeds at UNC.

Morez Johnson; Old school: Illinois | New school: Michigan

Johnson was a top-30 recruit one year ago and did decently well as a freshman in Champaign, to the tune of 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game before going down with a wrist injury in mid-February that knocked him out for a month before the postseason. Before getting hurt, he had 11+ points in four of the eight previous games. If he can take a step in Ann Arbor, he can have a very nice sophomore season.

Boogie Fland; Old school: Arkansas | New school: Florida

Fland joins the defending national champions, coming back to college basketball after testing the NBA waters. He was only projected to be a mid-second round pick. A five-star recruit a season ago, he had a terrific first season at Arkansas, averaging 13.5 points per game. He is also a very good and mature for his year passer, averaging 5.1 assists per game in his first season in college basketball. Paired up with Xaivian Lee (we’ll get into him a little later), Fland will be the replacement for Walter Clayton Jr. in what will be another elite Gator backcourt.

Jaland Lowe; Old school: Pitt | New school: Kentucky

Lowe had a tremendous freshman season at Pitt in the 2023-24 season that resulted in draft buzz heading into 2024-25, but dips in efficiency led him back to college basketball for 2025-26. He did nearly double his scoring output from 9.6 PPG to 16.8 PPG, but shooting averages went down, especially from three, which went from 35.2% as a freshman to just 26.6% as a sophomore. If he can improve those numbers, he can go back to being a very, very productive player.

Owen Freeman; Old school: Iowa | New school: Creighton

Freeman is a very good post-up player who had a good season as a sophomore under Fran McCaffery, averaging 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game on 63.8% shooting from the field. Those numbers improve on freshman numbers. He has shown a little bit of potential from three-point range as well. He did have 1.8 blocks per game on the defensive end, but will need to be surrounded by good defenders in order to succeed on that end of the floor. We will see if that happens with the Bluejays.

Dailyn Swain; Old school: Xavier | New school: Texas

Swain follows new coach Sean Miller, who went from Xavier to Texas earlier in the off-season. Swain is a legitimate NBA prospect who prospered in his first season of college basketball, averaging 11.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game on 53.2% from the field, helping lead the Musketeers to an NCAA tournament win. He had 27 in a round of 64 loss to Illinois. It was actually something of a surprise that he didn’t declare for the draft this time around, even to test the waters. He needs to improve his shot, but if he does that he could hear his name called by the NBA in 2026.

Xzavier Brown; Old school: St. Joseph’s | New school: Oklahoma

Brown was quietly one of the best mid-major players in the country this past season, averaging 17.6 points per game and shot 35% from three on a team that finished in the top half of the Atlantic 10. He was a very consistent player at that too and got better as the season went along. He’ll find a way to get his points, even though he’s moving up considerably in the level of play.

Rodney Rice; Old school: Maryland | New school: USC

After struggling through injuries for a couple years at Virginia Tech – he played just eight games over two seasons – Rice showed what he is made of for a high major team. He averaged 13.8 points per game for the Terps and was a key piece on a team that went to the Sweet 16. He shot over 37% from three and 43.4% overall, a very capable shot maker when he gets open. He’ll get plenty of chances to do that with Eric Musselman and USC.

Wesley Yates III; Old school: USC | New school: Washington

Yates was a lethal knockdown shooter for the Trojans. As a freshman he made 43.9% of his attempts on the way to averaging 14.1 points per game. He shot over 47% from three in Big Ten play too, an extremely impressive figure. He is also six-foot-four, large for a guard, and plays with good physicality. He returns to Washington after spending a year there in 2023-24, albeit sitting.

KJ Lewis; Old school: Arizona | New school: Georgetown

Lewis does leave something to be desired on the offensive side of the floor, but he is one of the best defensive players you’ll see at this level. He started a handful of games at the beginning of the season before lineup change that saw him come off the bench the rest of the season. He thrived in it though, showcasing an ability to play multiple positions. Definitely a glue guy, and one that Georgetown could use in year three under Ed Cooley.

Jaron Pierre, Jr.; Old school: Jacksonville State | New school: SMU

Pierre was the Conference USA player of the year in 2024-25, averaging 21.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while hitting 38.2% of his threes on a team that came within a game of the NCAA tournament and ended up in the second round of the NIT. That was enough to get him a little bit of NBA buzz, too. He needs to work on his efficiency, but if he does that he can be maybe SMU’s best player in 2025-26.

Reed Bailey; Old school: Davidson | New school: Indiana

Bailey was another one of the best players in the Atlantic 10 this past season, averaging 18.8 points per game, admittedly for a Davidson team that struggled and finished just 6-12 in league play. Still he established himself as a solid sharpshooter, hitting 41.5% of his attempts from behind the arc. That’s especially impressive from a guy who stands at 6-foot-10. He is a very skilled big who will make an impact in year one under Darian DeVries.

Malique Ewin; Old school: Florida State | New school: Arkansas

Ewin is a do-it-all center. He averaged 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game for a Florida State team that did struggle, but he was a bright spot for the Seminoles. He can hit shots at the rim and rebound well. He has good handles and is a good passer. He’s not the best defender in the world, but he plays solid defense. A shot is really the only thing he lacks, but for a player of that type that is OK. He should have an impact for the Razorbacks.

Jason Edwards; Old school: Vanderbilt | New school: Providence

Edwards was a very good player on a Vanderbilt team that was one of the biggest surprises in college basketball in 2024-25. After starting his career at North Texas, Edwards came in and averaged 17 points per game and made 35% of his threes for a Commodores team that made the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012. He plays better along another guard, but as long as Providence has good guard play, he should be great as a playmaker.

Kam Williams; Old school: Tulane | New school: Kentucky

Williams had a very good freshman season at Tulane in 2024-25, averaging 9.3 points per game while quickly getting a reputation for being a very good three-point shooter; he hit 41.2% of his attempts. Standing at 6-foot-8 he is also an active defender, having averaged more than one steal and block per contest. He still needs a little bit of development, but he is certainly a player who is starting to attract some NBA eyes.

Xaivian Lee; Old school: Princeton | New school: Florida

Lee has been one of the best mid-major players in the country the past two seasons. He could have left Princeton after the 2023-24 season but elected to return to the Tigers for another season. He averaged 16.9 points per game and made 36.8% of his threes. He has also garnered the reputation for being an elite passer, just the epitome of a good ball-handling guard. Coming to play for the defending national champions, he and Fland should create an elite backcourt in Gainesville.

Jacob Cofie; Old school: Virginia | New school: USC

Cofie had a very solid freshman season and at times looked like a one-and-done player, but slowing down as the season went on showed the need for a little bit more development. In just over 20 minutes per game he averaged 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Standing 6-foot-10 he has the ability to play both the four and the five, something that will help his development both in the college game and as he works to the next level.

Aday Mara; Old school: UCLA | New school: Michigan

Mara came into college basketball two seasons ago as a highly touted prospect coming out of Spain, but his college career has left a little bit to be desired so far. He averaged 6.4 points per game for the Bruins in 2024-25 as a sophomore, but really came into his own as the season went on. He is a player who is due for a breakout season, and he very well could have that opportunity at Michigan under Dusty May.

Blake Harper; Old school: Howard | New school: Creighton

Harper had a terrific freshman season for Howard, averaging 19.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on the way to the MEAC player of the year in his first season of college basketball. He has a great touch and shooting stroke, but there are some levels of concern about his efficiency. He will certainly have time to develop, but he will have to do it eventually as he makes the big jump from the MEAC to the Big East.

Mouhamed Diabate; Old school: Alabama | New school: Kentucky

Diabate is one of the best glue guys in the country. He has shown the ability to do just about everything on and off the ball and has the reputation for being a very, very good playmaker. He averaged 7.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for Alabama in 2024-25 and was one of the better offensive rebounders in the country. He is a player who leans into what he is good at, which makes him efficient. He’ll be a guy who Mark Pope loves and will have a very important role in Lexington.

By Aidan Joly

After taking a month off of writing in this blog following the national championship game, all eyes were on the portal.

Much of the dust has settled and most players are where they will be for the 2025-26 season. For the second year in a row, I will do several of these writing about players and how they fit in their respective new spots.

As for this first part, St. John’s has grabbed several of the top names in the portal, while the rest have scattered among other teams in power conferences. Louisville has had a good month as well and will head into a promising year two under coach Pat Kelsey.

With that all being said, let’s get into the first group of names.

Yaxel Lendeborg; Old school: UAB | New school: Michigan

A NBA draft decision looms for Lendeborg, but for now Michigan has landed arguably the best player in the portal this year in the stud who spent last season at UAB. Lendeborg can get it done on both sides of the floor, averaging 17.7 points on offense. On defense, he averaged 11.4 rebounds per game and is a two-time AAC defensive player of the year. He is the type of two-way player who can be the centerpiece of Michigan’s roster – if he makes it to Ann Arbor at all.

Bennett Stirtz; Old school: Drake | New school: Iowa

The leader of Drake’s 31-win team that got to the second round of the NCAA tournament, he follows coach Ben McCollum to Iowa City from Des Moines. He was among the leaders of the most minutes played per game in the country and can score from everywhere on the court, to the tune of a 19.2 points per game mark this season. He will have a great chance of landing on an All-America list and propelling Iowa in the post-Fran McCaffery era.

Donovan Dent; Old school: New Mexico | New school: UCLA

Dent, one of the best point guards in college basketball this past season, makes the move out of the Mountain West and into the Big Ten. He shot 49% from the field for a team that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament and shot just under 41% from three on the season. He averaged 20.4 points per contest. He earned conference player of the year honors this season. He’s great on defense too. Like Stirtz, he will have a real shot at being an All-American.

Ian Jackson; Old school: North Carolina | New school: St. John’s

Jackson has some flaws to his game, but he is a lethal shooter. That came to the tune of shooting 39.5% from three for the Tar Heels this past season on the way to averaging 11.9 points per game. The criticisms are there that he is a shooter and not much more while being turnover-prone, but he is a true shot-creator. Going from Hubert Davis to Rick Pitino, it will be interesting to see how he develops in what will be a very good Red Storm team.

Robert Wright III; Old school: Baylor | New school: BYU

Wright had a very solid freshman season at Baylor, averaging 11.5 points per game on just around 41% from the field and 35% from three. He is only 6-foot-1 but he is a big 6-foot-1, checking in at 185 pounds with the build of a football player, something that helps the physicality of his game in a big way. On what is going to be an extremely talented BYU roster, one that features top recruit AJ Dybantsa, he will look to be a guy who sets other guys up, while doing some of the scoring himself.

Adrian Wooley; Old school: Kennesaw State | New school: Louisville

Wooley had a dominant freshman season in Conference USA for Kennesaw State, averaging 18.8 points per game while shooting 51.2% from the field and 42.4% from three, while tacking on 76.9% from the free-throw line. He dominated all aspects of the game and came within one win of getting Kennesaw State into the tournament, scoring 28 points in a two-point loss in the conference title game. He is a potential future NBA player who can really blossom at a high-major.

Jayden Quaintance; Old school: Arizona State | New school: Kentucky

Quaintance is still only 17 and has a full season of college basketball experience under his belt. In his first year playing college hoops, he averaged 9.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for the Sun Devils. Those numbers don’t necessarily pop out, but keep in mind that this was being done by a player who was barely 17 years old. On defense, he was named all-Big 12. He still has room to grow offensively, but he has plenty of time. He could very well be a top-10 NBA pick in 2026.

Cedric Coward; Old school: Washington State | New school: Duke

Another player with a draft decision looming. It is a meteoric rise for Coward, who began his collegiate career at Division III and is now a potential first-round NBA pick who will go to Duke if he pulls his name out of the draft. He was off to a great start at Washington State and averaged 17.7 points per game until a shoulder injury ended his season six games into the year. He averaged 15.4 points per game at Eastern Washington two seasons ago. He would be a great fit in Durham for Jon Scheyer if he does play college basketball in 2025-26.

Moustapha Thiam; Old school: UCF | New school: Cincinnati

There seems to be a very high ceiling with Thiam. He is 7-foot-2, an elite shot blocker and has the ability to step out and make a three. As a freshman he averaged 10.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game at UCF, but was a little inconsistent shooting the ball. Most notably, he only made 29.1% of his 79 three-point attempts on the season. If he can be a little bit more of a consistent shooter, he can be a force for the Bearcats.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie; Old school: Maryland | New school: Tennessee

After transferring in from Belmont one year ago Gillespie made an immediate impact for the Terrapins, serving as the starting point guard on a team that made it to the Sweet 16. He averaged 14.7 points per game while shooting 45.3% from the field including 40.7% from three, and made over 88% of his free throws. A truly very good point guard, he should again be one of the best point guards in the country for the Vols.

Silas DeMary Jr.; Old school: Georgia | New school: UConn

DeMary took a big step as a sophomore at Georgia this season, averaging 13.5 points per game as the starting guard on a Bulldogs team that made the NCAA tournament. He stands at 6-foot-5, which is large for a guard, but gives him a big benefit as a bigger guy that can still run an offense as if he was two or three inches shorter. He really turned it on in February and March, averaging 19.3 points per game over Georgia’s final 10 games of the season. He should become a national star at UConn.

Ryan Conwell; Old school: Xavier | New school: Louisville

After a breakout season at Indiana State two years ago Conwell was perhaps Xavier’s best player in 2024-25, averaging 16.5 points per game and helping the Musketeers reach the tournament. He shot 41.2% from three and played very well on defense. He also has the ability to completely take over the game, which he did a few times. He scored 34 points in a win against Villanova on Jan. 14 and then scored 38 in a Big East tournament quarterfinal win against Marquette.

Dedan Thomas; Old school: UNLV | New school: LSU

Thomas was a two-time all-Mountain West pick and was one of the better point guards available in the portal. He averaged 15.6 points per game for the Runnin’ Rebels this past season to go along with 4.7 assists per game, making him an elite passer who can create plays. His shooting numbers took a little bit of a dip this season compared to his freshman year, but they were still good. He will have a chance to LSU’s best player in 2025-26 and perhaps have a shot at being all-SEC.

Bryce Hopkins; Old school: Providence | New school: St. John’s

Hopkins has had quite the journey in college basketball. He was a top-40 prospect headed to Kentucky in 2021-22, didn’t have a great freshman season, burst onto the scene as a sophomore at Providence a year later, tore his ACL midway through 2023-24 and played just three game for the Friars this past season before a bone bruise ended his season. Now, he heads to St. John’s. When he’s healthy he can be one of the best players in the country, but the key is staying healthy. He’s played just 17 games over the past two seasons.

Keyshawn Hall; Old school: UCF | New school: Auburn

Hall is another player who has entered the NBA draft, but if not he will spend the 2025-26 season at Auburn after an impressive season at UCF. He was one of the few contributors on a team that struggled in the Big 12, but still found a way to average 18.8 points and 7.1 rebounds while being at least semi-efficient from the field. Auburn will be his fourth school, but his biggest one yet. He also spent time at George Mason and UNLV.

Tucker DeVries; Old school: West Virginia | New school: Indiana

DeVries was the best player in the portal one year ago after following his father Darian to Morgantown from Drake, but was limited to just eight games due to a wrist injury. Now he follows his dad again, this time to Bloomington. He averaged 14.9 points per game for West Virginia, but he is a two-time Missouri Valley player of the year and gaining notoriety for being an elite shooter and scorer. We will see what he looks like in the Big Ten.

Josh Dix; Old school: Iowa | New school: Creighton

Dix was a true breakout star in the Big Ten in 2024-25, averaging 14.4 points per game on 51% from the field. He’s a lethal shooter from behind the three-point line, nailing 42.2% of his threes while taking five of them per game. He’s a true shooter who can hit shots from all over the floor, something that will help Creighton. He is a good size too, standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 210 pounds. He will be a difference-maker in Omaha.

Isaac McKneely; Old school: Virginia | New school: Louisville

Another solid add for Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals. Put simply, McKneely is one of the best three-point shooters in the country. For the Cavaliers in 2024-25, he made them at a 42.1% clip while taking around seven per game. That was even a slight drop from two seasons ago, when he made 44.5% of them. McKneely is sure to be the go-to guy when it comes to shots behind the arc for a Louisville team that is set to have some deep talent in 2025-26.

Chad Baker-Mazara; Old school: Auburn | New school: USC

It may come as something of a surprise, but Baker-Mazara still has collegiate eligibility. He is 25 years old and is one of the few players in the country who still has the extra COVID year. He is certainly an up-and-down player who can both help and hurt a team depending on the situation, but when he is on, he is on. He is a typical 3-and-D wing, averaging 12.3 points per game and is a career 39.8% three-point shooter. He can be a great defender if he is engaged, but can be a liability when he isn’t. Despite all of this, Baker-Mazara was a key cog on an Auburn team that made the Final Four.

Joson Sanon; Old school: Arizona State | New school: St. John’s

Sanon was a five-star recruit one year ago who had a solid freshman season at Arizona State. He averaged 11.9 points per game and shot just under 37% from three, just over 42% from the field overall. His season was something in parts though: he averaged 15.9 points per game over the first nine games, 6.5 PPG over the next 13 and then 18.8 in the final five. What kind of player is he actually? We’ll probably have a good chance at finding out.

By Aidan Joly

Florida is back on top of the college basketball world.

The Gators won the program’s third-ever national championship and first since 2007 by beating Houston in a 65-63 thriller on Monday night to close out the 2024-25 season.

Even more impressive in and of itself is that the Gators did it by coming back from 12 down in the second half, and having their star player in Walter Clayton be held scoreless in the first half. Clayton only finished with 11 points on the night on 3-10 from the field, including going just 1-6 from three.

We said throughout the entire tournament that Florida’s offense was the key to victory. On Monday night in San Antonio we saw its defense come through, holding Houston to just under 35% from the field and only 6-25 from three.

Florida’s offense wasn’t great, shooting just under 40% from the field and was 6-24 from three, but the ball bounced their way at the end and forcing multiple Houston turnovers in the closing minutes was crucial.

It caps off a season for the Gators that saw them end up going 36-4 overall, win a conference championship, earn a No. 1 seed in the tournament, and end up being the team cutting down the nets on a Monday night in April.

The Gators are indeed a worthy national champion. It beat a pair of No. 1 seeds in the Final Four, beat a No. 3 seed in Texas Tech, took down a No. 4 seed in Maryland and survived a furious effort from two-time defending national champion UConn in the second round of the tournament nearly three weeks ago now.

Despite a bad night Clayton delivered an all-time NCAA tournament performance that included a pair of 30-point performances – one in the Elite Eight and another in the national semifinal game. Will Richard, Alijah Martin, Alex Condon and even Rueben Chinyelu all had their moments over the past three weeks that allowed them to be the last team standing.

Among national champions in the KenPom era (since 1996-97), this Florida team has the second-highest overall net rating at 36.46, only trailing the 2001 Duke team that had a rating of 37.32. It barely edged out last season’s UConn team, which finished with a net rating of 36.43. About as close as you can get, but barely got them. (For reference, I will put them in order at the bottom of this post.)

Florida went 14-4 in and won a SEC that was considered to be the best conference in college basketball history, won 18 of its final 19 games and finished the year on a 12-game winning streak. It felt right for an SEC team to win the title after the league dominated this year and ended up sending a record 14 teams to this tournament.

It would have been a worthy national champion either way. After the loss, Houston finishes the season 35-5, went 19-1 in and won the Big 12, earned a No. 1 seed and led by 12 in the second half of the national championship game. It would have been a major, major vindication for coach Kelvin Sampson, who brought this program back from a really bad place a decade ago, but the 69-year-old coach has earned his flowers several times over. It’s heartbreaking for him, as a basketball lifer who had never made it to this point in the year, but Houston will have a real shot to be back at this point next season.

For Florida coach Todd Golden, he does what former Florida coach Billy Donovan did twice, win a national title in Gainesville. At 39 years old he becomes the first coach since Jim Valvano in 1983 to win a title before he turns 40. He does it in his third season with the program.

Golden did it by embracing analytics, something he was known for at his previous job at San Francisco, as well as knowing how to utilize the transfer portal with the best of them. Clayton came from Iona. Richard from Belmont. Martin from Florida Atlantic. Micah Handlogten from Marshall. A lot of times in college basketball it feels like all coaches want to do is collect the most talent they can and figure it out. Here, Golden comes out looking like a roster-building savant. Few of these players were highly regarded coming out of high school and even the portal itself, but Golden found a way to bring all of these pieces together to create a machine. It worked.

All in all, Golden is quickly becoming one of the best coaches in the country. He has found the formula. For as long as he is there, expect the Gators to be back at this point, continuing to be in the conversation for national championships.

All national champions since 1997, ranked by KenPom net rating

1. 2001 Duke (37.32)
2. 2025 Florida (36.46)
3. 2024 UConn (36.43)
4. 2008 Kansas (35.21)
5. 2019 Virginia (34.22)
6. 2021 Baylor (33.87)
7. 2018 Villanova (33.76)
8. 2000 Michigan State (33.61)
9. 2010 Duke (33.29)
10. 2013 Louisville (32.92)
11. 2005 North Carolina (32.77)
12. 2012 Kentucky (32.59)
13. 2015 Duke (32.48)
14. 2016 Villanova (32.01)
15. 1999 UConn (31.38)
16. 2009 North Carolina (31.14)
17. 2007 Florida (30.81)
18. 2023 UConn (29.86)
19. 1998 Kentucky (29.29)
20. 2002 Maryland (29.25)
21. 2004 UConn (28.30)
22. 2006 Florida (28.28)
23. 2017 North Carolina (28.22)
24. 2022 Kansas (27.49)
25. 1997 Arizona (24.61)
26. 2011 UConn (23.93)
27. 2003 Syracuse (23.28)
28. 2014 UConn (22.13)