Author: Aidan Joly

By Aidan Joly

Relatively speaking, it’s hard to call a program that has won two national championships in the past five years under the radar. However, Villanova may be doing just that in its quest to win a third in six years.

The biggest story to come out of the program over the summer was that head coach Jay Wright was not going to be a candidate for the Philadelphia 76ers position. Wright said Villanova is where he wants to be, and that’s great for both sides as they stay in the national title conversation.

The Wildcats return everyone important except leading scorer Saddiq Bey, who leaves after two seasons and a likely lottery selection. Despite that loss, Villanova should be picking up the slack and be able to pick up right where they left off last spring.

As for the backcourt, it should remain the same. Both Justin Moore and Collin Gillespie return. Gillespie had a breakout junior season last year, averaging 15.1 points, 4.5 assists and 3.7 rebounds per contest. With Bey gone, Gillespie can immediately be the guy to run this offense and take it to another level. As for Moore, he had a great freshman season as he averaged 11.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and shot 39.6% from three, leading the team.

As for the depth, there is a decent amount in the backcourt. Sophomore Bryan Antoine was highly-touted coming out of high school but had some injury problems his senior, and the lingering issues there limited him to just 16 games this past season. His usage will be interesting to see moving forward. The other guy here is Caleb Daniels, a 6-4 guard who is now eligible after transferring in from Tulane. He was great there, averaging 16.4 PPG two years ago with the Green Wave. He will be another option off the bench for the Wildcats.

The questions start in the frontcourt, where they have to replace Bey. Sophomore Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and senior Jermaine Samuels are both locks to start. The 6-9 Robinson-Earl tested the NBA Draft waters after averaging 10.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, but decided to return. He can step out and shoot the three a little bit and is quick, which allows him to take advantage of slower forwards. Samuels is not the best shooter from deep around, but makes up for it with his inside play. He averaged 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last year, and will probably have a bigger role this year.

As for the third starter here it’s a bit of a question mark, but it could be answered by junior Cole Swider. Swider made 15 starts last season, with 6.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in just 18 minutes per contest. He blossomed in a big way as a sophomore, raising his three-point percentage from freshman year from 28.3% to 35.2%, and overall shooting percentage from 37.5% to 44.2%. With consistent playing time, he can be a guy to shore up the gap left by Bey.

Off the bench, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree had a decreased role this past season, but will still get some playing time this season. Brandon Slater had a limited role as well, but did average 11.5 minutes per game, but scored sparingly. However, the one to watch is Eric Dixon. The 6-8 forward redshirted as a freshman last season, but with his frame he projects to be a great defensive player, and have a smooth touch in the paint for a big man with a good mid-range game. With all of these reserves in the front and backcourt, don’t be surprised if they get more playing time as the season goes on as the starters rest a bit down the stretch.

Looking into the season, they will play the 20-game slate in the Big East, where they should be at the top of the league, if not the favorite to win the league. They will also certainly be battle-tested during non-conference, being in the Mohegan Sun bubble, along with games against Arizona State, Virginia and Texas.

They should be the odds-on favorite to win the Big East, but due to Creighton it might be close. They are a top-five team in the country this year and are a threat to be the ones celebrating in Indianapolis this April.

By Aidan Joly

I’ll jump to it immediately. Baylor is a top three team in the country. If not for COVID-19 they would have been an easy No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and are one of the few teams that return nearly every important player.

Now, to take a look at one of the top depth charts in the country…

Starting with the backcourt, they have three great players in Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague. Scott Drew’s system emphasizes great guard play, and this is exactly that.

Butler was fantastic last year, leading the team in scoring with 16.0 PPG and shot 38.1% from three on his way to a unanimous All-Big 12 selection. He’s someone that can become a household name this season, if he isn’t already.

The other two are just as good. Looking at Mitchell, he’s great because of his defense. He was a semifinalist for Defensive Player of the Year in the Big 12 and won Newcomer of the Year. On offense, he can score a little bit, 9.9 PPG, but is a great passer as he led the team in assists with 3.8 per contest. Finally, Teague, one of the most hard-nosed players in the country and averaged 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, while shooting nearly 85% from the charity stripe.

As for the depth there, despite the fact that the rotation won’t change much from last year, is there. They lost Devante Bandoo, one of the best role players in the league, but they have Presbyterian transfer Adam Flagler along with Jordan Turner, who did not play as a freshman last season after being a high-ranking recruit. Jackson Moffatt, another freshman, played sparingly but will probably see more minutes. Finally, LJ Cryer, a high-ranked recruit enters, but probably won’t play as Drew doesn’t tend to play freshmen.

The frontcourt is where it gets interesting. This is the only place where the Bears lost a starter, Freddie Gillespie. That role will be filled mainly by Tristan Clark, who started two seasons ago and played well before a knee injury knocked him out for the season and didn’t get much playing time last year as he recovered. If his knee is good to go and he can look like what he did two years ago, he will be very dangerous.

The last starting position is a debate. The Bears don’t have a true center on their team, but the tallest player on the team is 7-0 freshman Zach Loveday. Now, he probably won’t play much, but maybe, just maybe, don’t be surprised if he does. Meanwhile, the Bears have Matthew Mayer, a 6-9 combo who can score in bursts and should see an uptick from 11 minutes per game last year. Another guy to watch is Mark Vital, another tough, gritty player and was a finalist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. He might be the one getting the nod.

There are three more guys to talk about here. The first is Flo Thamba, who averaged nine minutes per game last year. He has raw talent and length that will help the Bears. Cameroon native and UNLV transfer Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua is eligible after sitting out last year, a rebound machine. Finally, four-star recruit Dain Dainja is there but will likely sit because he’s a freshman.

The outlook is pretty simple. Like I said before, Baylor is one of the top teams in the country. Being a tier one Big 12 team should not be a problem and they should expect to make a deep tournament run. This is a team that has national championship aspirations.

By Aidan Joly

The 2019-20 season was supposed to be the best season during the tenure of Greg McDermott at Creighton, what would have been its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance after a 24-7 season that saw it share the Big East regular season title with Villanova. The 24 wins were the most for the program since 2016-17.

Despite the loss of star guard Ty-Shon Alexander, this year’s squad has a chance to be even better.

Even without the do-it-all guard, the Bluejays still boast one of the best backcourts in the Big East, and possibly one of the best in the country. That charge is led by Big East Player of the Year candidate Marcus Zegarowski, alongside Mitch Ballock.

Zegarowski had a fantastic sophomore season that saw him average 16.1 points and 5.0 assists per game, while shooting 42.4% from behind the three-point line. He flirted with the idea of entering the NBA, but decided to come back for another season. Without Alexander to give points to, Zegarowski will have an even larger role and is destined to be one of the best players in the country this season.

Ballock is great, as well. As a junior last year, he averaged 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 36 minutes per contest. He shot 43.5% from three, making this backcourt one of the best in the country in outside shooting.

The last spot in the backcourt still has to be decided, between 6-5 swingman Denzel Mahoney and 6-6 combo Antwann Jones. Mahoney averaged 12.0 points per game in 22.5 minutes. He fits McDermott’s style of up-tempo basketball but sometimes takes bad shots, which may make him more fit to play on the bench. Jones, meanwhile, is now eligible following sitting last year after transferring in from Memphis, where he averaged 4.7 points and 3.0 rebounds as a freshman two years ago. Considering Mahoney’s sometimes unpredictable decisions, I’d give the edge to Jones here but they will be sharing time.

Zegarowski and Ballock will get the bulk of the playing time for guards. Off the bench though, you have sophomore Shereef Mitchell and freshman Rati Andronikashvili. They will be able to play in short bursts when the two big names need a quick break.

In the frontcourt, the two starting roles will be occupied by Damien Jefferson and Christian Bishop. Jefferson averaged 9.4 points and 5.5 rebounds in just over 27 minutes per game, while Bishop had 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds. Neither of them are that big, with Bishop being the taller of the pair at 6-7, but McDermott’s teams tend to play small. Both of them figure to see a small offensive boost this year.

When they do need someone big in the middle, they can look to 6-11 bruiser Jacob Epperson off the bench. Epperson has had an injury-plagued career that only allowed him to play in 21 games over the past three years, but his length will be needed in some situations that can make him am important role player. That’s if he can stay healthy, of course.

The rest of the minutes will be battled for between a pair of freshmen. Another 6-11 forward in Ryan Kalkbrenner will be able to add some rim protection. In addition, 6-9 Lithuanian forward Modestas Kancleris will get some playing time as well.

As for how the season will look, they have a deep nonconference schedule and it should be easy for them to get to the 13-game minimum on top of the Big East schedule. They figure to be Villanova’s top competition for the Big East title and a top-10 team nationally. They will be a shoe-in NCAA Tournament team, but now is the time for them to take advantage of that opportunity and make a deep tournament run. They could have done that last year, but COVID had other plans. They have the talent to be a second-weekend team, and that goal is certainly attainable.

By Aidan Joly

This offseason saw tons of roster turnover and NBA Draft declarations come out of the Big Ten. However, the biggest decision came from the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Luka Garza opted to return to Iowa City for his senior season after being named the conference player of the year for 2019-20. He led Fran McCaffrey’s high-powered offense with 23.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest while shooting 35.8% from long range. Iowa finished 20-11 overall and 11-9 in Big Ten play, on their way to what would have been an NCAA Tournament bid after ranking as high as No. 17 in the country.

Garza was named a unanimous first-team All-American, runner-up for the AP National Player of the Year award and was the winner of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar award, given to the top center in the nation.  

Iowa’s offense was the best part of its game all year long, fifth in the nation in assists, 30^th in scoring and second in field goal percentage. However, the main issue was the defense, which allowed more than 72 points per game and had nine games allowing 80 or more points.

However, they can improve on that with not much turnover. The only key losses are Ryan Kriener and Bakari Evelyn, both of whom came off the bench. Kriener averaged 7.7 points and 4.1 rebounds, while Evelyn averaged 3.7 points and 2.0 assists.

The returners look great. Joining Garza in the frontcourt is Joe Wieskamp and Connor McCaffrey, the older son of the head coach. Looking at Wieskamp first, he was the second-leading scorer from last season with 14.0 points and 6.1 rebounds, also second on the squad in 32 minutes played. It’s easy to think those minutes will increase, so the stats should go up a bit as well.

Connor McCaffrey, who stands at just 6-5, will be a small-ball four. He is the glue guy here. He is able to guard multiple positions, shoot well, rebound and be a facilitator on offense. Last year he posted a 4.59:1 assist to turnover ratio, which is nothing short of jaw-dropping.

As for the depth here, they have two pieces. Redshirt sophomore Jack Nunge will be the backup center and probably get chances to play next to Garza. He played just five games last season due to injury, but he is set to be ready for the season. The second piece is Fran’s younger son, Patrick. The younger McCaffrey missed his freshman season due to health issues but should play this year. He entered Iowa as a four-star prospect, rated No. 86 in 247 Sport’s rankings. He’s a potential x-factor with his skills.

For the freshmen, twins Keegan and Kris Murray are both versatile and three-star Josh Ogundele is now here. The twin brothers probably won’t get a ton of playing time but we may see Ogundele occasionally, but he’s third in line among centers.

In the backcourt, Jordan Bohannon returns at point guard. Bohannon played 10 games last year due to a lingering hip injury and in that time averaged under double digits for the first time in his career. However, he had looked off and hopefully will return to past form. The other guard position will be sharpshooter CJ Fredrick. As a freshman last year, he shot 46.1% from three and averaged 10.2 PPG, despite missing some time due to a foot injury. With his shooting skill, he’s a perfect compliment for Garza.

As for the bench, Joey Toussaint had a solid freshman season with 6.2 points and 2.9 assists per game, but shot just 29.7% from three. He’ll be in a starting role eventually, but that isn’t this year.

The recruits coming in here are Tony Perkins, a three-star shooting guard and Ahron Ulis, brother of former Kentucky star Tyler Ulis. Again, it’s tough to see either of them getting a lot of playing time this year.

Overall, Garza is one of the best players in the country, if not the best coming into the year. They should be very good, but the question as to whether they can win the Big Ten and/or make a deep tournament run depends on how the defense looks. They are capable of it, but that remains to be seen.

By Aidan Joly

Seton Hall enters the 2020-21 season in an interesting spot. 2019-20 was the program’s best season in about 25 years, but COVID-19 ended the season before what probably would have been a deep tournament run.

They shared the Big East title with Creighton behind the play of All-American Myles Powell. Now, they are without Powell, who graduated along with Quincy McKnight and Romaro Gill, all impact players. However, they return and add some key pieces.

The beginning of the answer to who will replace Powell will start in the frontcourt with Sandro Mamukelashvili. The 6-11 forward was great last season, averaging 11.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, an impact player on both sides of the floor. The Pirates and head coach Kevin Willard cannot afford to lose Mamukelashvili for any significant length of time after he missed 10 games last season, 11 if you count the nonconference game against Iowa State that he went down five minutes into. He should be playing at an all-conference level this year.

Replacing Gill will be the 7-2 center Ike Obiagu. He played limited minutes last year off the bench and should be sliding into the starting lineup this year. He is known as a natural shot-blocker, which he shouldn’t have a problem with this year. Off the bench, check out sophomore Tyrese Samuel getting a larger role and freshman Jeff Ngandu, a 6-9 forward hailing from the Congo and spent last year playing in Canada.

In the backcourt, the dynamic and most interesting piece is Harvard grad transfer Bryce Aiken. The former top-100 prospect was one of the most coveted grad transfers on the market, despite his injury history that has not allowed him to play a full season since his freshman year and limited him to just seven games last year. However, when he’s healthy he’s great, having averaged 16.7 PPG last year in those seven games. He also was a two-time All-Ivy League first team selection, including 2017, when he also won the league’s Rookie of the Year award. His junior year in 2018-19 was his best season, averaging 22.2 PPG and shooting 39.8% from three.

As for the rest of the starting backcourt, the other two starter roles will be taken on by a pair of versatile wings, Myles Cale and Jared Rhoden. Kevin Willard-coached teams always have a tough defense and these are two guys that can fill the roles left open by McKnight’s departure. Both can also do some good things on offense, Rhoden especially, who had 9.1 PPG and 6.4 RPG last season.

Off the bench, a player to watch is Canisius transfer Takal Molson. He spent last year on the bench for transfer rules but played exceptionally well as a sophomore in 2018-19, averaging 16.9 PPG and 5.4 RPG on his way to an All-MAAC first team nod. The issue with him is that he struggles with efficiency – he’s a volume scorer who takes a lot of shots to get those point totals. However, his efficiency should improve due to the fact that he’s not being relied on as a #1 option, just a complementary piece with the Pirates.

Shavar Reynolds is another guy to watch. He’s the only true shooting guard on the team and is also a versatile player. Reynolds is a shooter, so that should allow him to get a good amount of playing time.

Another pair of three-star freshmen, Jahari Long and Dimingus Stevens, may get shots at certain points as well. Long is a pure point guard and may just be the point guard of the future for Seton Hall. Stevens, meanwhile, is a good outside shooter who can also have a defensive impact with his length.

Overall, Seton Hall is a team that’s tough top gauge. They have talent, but the question is where they will finish in a Big East that has a ton of talented teams once again. Willard has been very consistent in his tenure, so I expect Seton Hall to appear in what would have been its sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament.

By Aidan Joly

In a conference that boasts the best of the best in college basketball, Florida State was the best of the bunch this past season with a 26-5 record, 16-4 in the ACC, the school’s second conference championship and finished fourth in the AP poll. They will be looking to remain at the top of the league this coming season.

There are some challenges to this with the losses of Devin Vassell and Trent Forest, but they have new players that will help with that.

Look to the backcourt to hold down the floor. Leonard Hamilton’s teams always preach strong guard play and this year will be no exception. MJ Walker and RayQuan Evans will be the two guys to look to here.

Walker is in a position to be the team leader and the one they run the offense through at the two guard. He averaged 10.6 PPG last season and 36% from behind the three-point line, on his way to an All-ACC Honorable Mention nod. He played 25 minutes per contest last season and expect him to get some more this time around.

Running the point will be Evans. He didn’t have a huge role on the team this past season, just 12 minutes per game, but is expected to have a larger role this year. The question for him is if he will stay healthy, having some nagging injuries and missed two games during the year. If he can stay healthy, he won’t be a major name for the squad, but will have a solid presence on the floor with facilitating the offense along with a little bit of scoring.

Off the bench, JUCO transfer Saardar Calhoun has a chance to win ACC Sixth Man of the Year. He won a NJCAA All-American Honorable Mention after averaging 18.9 PPG and 4.7 RPG with Missouri State-West Plains. A breakout candidate is Anthony Polite after averaging 6.0 PPG last year and shot 35% from three while being a fantastic on-ball defender. Wyatt Wilkes will also offer very good shooting off the bench, look for him to be a guy taking key shots when they need a three.

In the frontcourt, be on the lookout for Scottie Barnes. He is the seventh-ranked recruit in the country according to 247 Sports, and the #1 power forward, standing at 6-9. At Monteverde Academy last year he averaged 11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists en route to a 25-0 season and earning a nod to Sports Illustrated’s All-America First team, MaxPreps National Player of the Year finalist and was selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game, Jordan Brand Classic and Nike Hoop Summit. No way around it, he will be an immediate star in Tallahassee. He is a good player inside, a great passer and can throw down highlight-reel dunks.

At center, look for defensive ace grad transfer Tanor Ngom to get the nod. Last year while playing for Ryerson University in Toronto, he averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game to go along with two blocks. Standing at 7-1, he will be very helpful on both sides of the ball.

The last starting spot will go to either Raiquan Gray or Malik Osborne, neither a bad option. Both are solid defensive players and can do some things well on offense as well. Either way, the pair should be sharing time at the three.

Off the bench, look at three-star recruit Quincy Ballard to get some minutes. He averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds and a jaw-dropping six blocks per game at a postgraduate school in North Carolina a year ago. He will help out mostly on defense, where his skill set lies. The first handful of games will be interesting to see what type of player he will be like. Lastly, expect Balsa Koprivica to see an increase in playing time after averaging 10 minutes per game last year in a limited role.

The outlook for this team is similar to last year. As long as things don’t completely fall apart, they will be a shoe-in NCAA Tournament team, and most likely no lower than a five seed. To stay atop the ACC, they will have to beat other heavyweights, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t do that.

By Aidan Joly

Entering his 45^th season at the helm in Syracuse, Jim Boeheim enters the 2020-21 season at a crossroads. The team had some significant losses, but returns a good amount, leading to a season that has some questions for a program that has not won more than 10 conference games since the 2013-14 season.

The Orange are coming off an 18-14 season that kicked off with a 48-34 loss to Virginia, the lowest point total in any game in Boeheim’s tenure. They struggled in the nonconference portion of the schedule and then again towards the end of the season after a stretch of eight wins in 10 games in ACC play and had advanced to the ACC quarterfinals by the time the season was cut short due to COVID-19 concerns.

The biggest loss from last year comes in the form of Elijah Hughes, who led the ACC in scoring last season and was All-ACC first team before he left for the NBA this past summer. In addition, the backcourt took some big hits in the transfer market with Jalen Carey leaving for Rhode Island after playing just two games last year due to a thumb injury that required surgery and a medical redshirt, Brycen Goodine to Providence and Howard Washington to South Alabama.

However, as for the returners, there are a good amount of them, including the solid backcourt duo. Buddy Boeheim averaged 15.3 PPG on 37% shooting from three-point range in his sophomore season, looking to build on that. Joe Girard also returns for a sophomore season after a solid freshman season that saw him average 12.4 points and 3.5 assists per game. As for newcomers, Illinois transfer Alan Griffin received a waiver and will be eligible this season, providing an outside shooting touch. Freshman Kadary Richmond, the 84^th ranked recruit in the country according to 247 Sports, will serve as a depth piece off the bench. He can play a little forward as well, standing at 6-5. He may even be in a position to start at some point in the season with a solid jump shot and good defensive play.

In the frontcourt, they are set to return both Marek Dolezaj and Bourama Sidibe. Dolezaj averaged 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last year, while Sidibe had 6.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest. As for the depth off the bench, Quincy Gurrier is back after dealing with a nagging groin injury last season, which he played through to the tune of 6.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. It might be a competition between him and Griffin to start at the 3. Jesse Edwards may very well end up as the backup center, and sharp-shooter Robert Braswell returns after playing just seven games last year with a shin injury, which resulted in him getting a medical redshirt.

There are two interesting points to this team that will almost dictate the season. The first one is how much the defense will improve. Syracuse ranked 116^th in the country in defensive efficiency last season and the 2-3 zone can be exposed through outside shooting and offensive rebounds. They did an okay job at limiting fast breaks, but they need to improve in those two areas.

The second is if they can find a playmaker on the roster to replace Hughes. Hughes did everything well last year and they need to find someone this year. There’s lots of candidates for that (Girard, Boeheim, Griffin and Dolezaj come to mind) and it’s a gap they need to fill.

The bottom line for this group is this: they project as an NCAA Tournament bubble team, like they seem to be every year as of late. The answers to those two questions will be the key to if they are an NCAA or NIT team.  

By Aidan Joly

There are probably few teams in the country who were more disappointed with the end of the 2019-20 season than Rutgers.

The Scarlet Knights had been a walking punchline since joining the Big Ten in the 2014-15 season, a doormat in the league. That changed last season, year four of the Steve Pikiell era in Piscataway. They went 20-11 and 11-9 in Big Ten play as part of the first time the program went above .500 overall since 2005-06, well on its way to the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991. However, COVID-19 forced that drought to continue and now they must prove that last year wasn’t a fluke.

One challenge of that could be the fact that they are unlikely to have their full home-court advantage after going 18-1 at home last season. The RAC became one of the best places in the country to see a game last year, perhaps the loudest arena in the Big Ten.

Despite the uncertainty of that, Rutgers fans have every reason to be optimistic. Except starting forward Akwasi Yeboah and role player Shaq Carter, they have every important player back. With all of this, they could find themselves in the preseason top 25, unthinkable given how awful they were in their first five years in the Big Ten, where it went 16-76 in league play before last year.

A pair of guards, Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker, will be leading the charge once again. Harper Jr., a 6-6 guard/forward combo, led the team in scoring at 12.1 PPG last season and made a team-high 38 three-pointers on a respectable 34.9% clip. He also averaged 5.8 rebounds per game, second on the team. He is also a good defensive player, who averaged nearly a steal and a block per game. He might not be an NBA player like his father was, but he’s a guy who makes the Scarlet Knights better on both sides of the ball.

As for Baker, he averaged 10.9 PPG despite dropping from 34.1% from three his sophomore season to 28.2% his junior year. Part of that can be attributed due to a nagging thumb injury all season, which forced him to miss three conference games during the year. He also averaged 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game last season. He is someone that Pikiell can rely on to make a big shot at the end of the game.

Sixth man Jacob Young provides some scoring off the bench, but struggles with efficiency and should improve that. Sophomore Paul Mulcahy, a solid shooter and junior Montez Mathis, a tough guard who is good at defense, provide depth. Junior Caleb McConnell is redshirting this season for injury concerns.

As for the frontcourt, it will again by anchored by 6-11 junior Myles Johnson. He averaged 7.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game last season in just 23.5 minutes and is going to have a bigger role this year.

Freshman Cliff Omoyuri, a big recruit picked up by Pikiell, will get some minutes immediately as well. He is the #48 player in the class according to 247 Sports and chose Rutgers over Arizona State and Auburn. He is seen as a strong player in the post with a good ability to block shots and rebound. Him and Johnson probably won’t play together too much but they won’t have to worry about a big drop-off in production while rotating.

Another freshman that could see minutes is Mawot Mag, a 6-7 forward out of South Sudan. He is reported to be a physical defender, which can very much help off the bench. He will be one player to pay attention to once the season begins.

This team should be largely the similar to, if not better, than last year. They won games because of their defense on top of one of the best backcourt duos in the league. As long as there isn’t significant regress in either the offense or defense, expect the tournament drought in Piscataway to come to an end this spring.

By Aidan Joly

Please fasten and tighten your seatbelts, keep your arms and legs inside of the train and feet flat on the floor at all times, and brace yourself for a wild ride.

That should be the announcement played inside Desert Financial Arena before Arizona State home games as they look to take next step in the 2020-21 season, year six of the roller coaster Bobby Hurley era.

After back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2018 and 2019, the Sun Devils are looking to make a big run in the PAC-12, and this year’s group has all the tools to do so.

The three-man backcourt will be the centerpiece of it all. After initially declaring for the NBA Draft this past spring, seniors Remy Martin and Alonzo Verge Jr. are both back in the fold after averaging 19.1 and 14.6 PPG last season respectively. Both of them are bonafide stars in the PAC-12 and will be the two with the biggest roles for the upcoming year. Joining them is blue-chip prospect Josh Christopher, one of two this year, providing one of ASU’s biggest recruiting classes in recent memory. We’ll get into that second one in a little bit. Hurley definitely has a guard-first mentality when it comes to his teams and the roster construction and style of play reflect that.

Christopher is a great player, ranked seventh overall in the 247 Sports rankings for this season. He is the highest-ranking signee in program history, which says something considering some guy named James Harden went there just over a decade ago. Christopher averaged nearly 30 PPG in his senior year of high school in Lakewood, Calif. and averaged 21.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game on the Nike EYBL circuit two summers ago.

The other top prospect coming in is Marcus Bagley, a four-star forward ranked 29^th in the 247 rankings. The brother of former Duke star Marvin Bagley, he is a versatile wing and pure shooter that can play either the three or four, which is a huge help considering that can put them both on the floor at the same time (Christopher is more of a three). He gives good length at the four at 6-7, which might put him behind Taeshon Cherry on the depth chart to start the season after Cherry averaged 4.6 PPG last season and will probably be getting the starting nod off the bat despite a big dip in three-point shooting last year. However, Bagley will see minutes off the bench. Expect him, Kimani Lawrence and Jaelen House to get most of the minutes off the bench.

The last piece of the puzzle for forwards is Jalen Graham, who was great at the beginning of his freshman season last year, especially on defense, but had his minutes dwindle when Romello White came back. Now White, Andre Allen, Khalid Thomas and Elias Valtonen are all gone via transfer. White’s was an initial surprise considering how well he did but it was later found out he wanted to be closer to his family in Georgia, but the other three were also rotational pieces who will have to be replaced.

Another reinforcement up front will be JUCO transfer Chris Osten, who had few alternative D1 options. He will see minutes off the bench, but not as many as the others. Another incoming bench piece is Portland State transfer Holland Woods, who received a waiver and is eligible this year. Expect him to be a key reserve in the backcourt.

Overall, this Sun Devil squad bears a striking resemblance to the 2017-18 team. The blueprint for the success, a high-octane offense that values speed and shooting with above-average length at the three and four, remains similar. This team is probably better than that 17-18 team, and being in the top tier of the PAC-12 should be the goal.

By Aidan Joly

The 2019-20 season was supposed to end in another deep tournament run and potentially a national championship game appearance for Gonzaga. Their season, along with everyone else’s ended due to COVID-19 before they got that chance.

However, what’s good for the Bulldogs is that their 2020-21 roster is arguably better than last’s year edition, despite losing a pair of stars in Killian Tillie and Filip Petrusev.

Taking their place, enter Drew Timme and Anton Watson in the frontcourt.

Timme is expected to be the go-to guy in Mark Few’s offense this season after having a great campaign as Petrusev’s backup center last season, averaging 9.8 PPG and 5.4 RPG in just 20 minutes per contest as a freshman. There’s no reason not to believe that he is poised to become the next great Gonzaga center with his size and strength, as well as his natural shooting ability in the post.

Watson should be a fun player to watch. He was limited to just 15 games last season due to a shoulder injury. He wasn’t the best player on the floor but he played a role, averaging 5 points and 3 rebounds per game in about 15 minutes. The key part to his game though is on the other side of the ball. He is a fantastic defender and is for sure capable of winning a WCC defensive player of the year sometime down the line if he can stay healthy.

The third part of the frontcourt is Corey Kispert, who is a future NBA player and the definition of a glue guy. He can do it all, averaging 13.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last year while shooting 43.8% from behind the three-point line making him one of the best sharpshooters in the country, and 81.8% from the free throw line. He also has a great defensive ability. All of that, along with his senior experience and leadership, make him an especially important player for this team.

As reserves, Oumar Ballo should be a solid backup center as he slides into the role that Timme had last season. Freshman Julian Strawther is versatile and may get some minutes as they get into WCC play, despite Kispert probably playing around 35 minutes per game this season.

In the backcourt, you are looking at Joel Ayayi and Jalen Suggs in the starting lineup.

Suggs, the 11^th ranked recruit in the country according to 247 Sports, is the best recruit that Gonzaga has had in their reign of terror over the WCC. He can shoot from the outside, score in transition, throw down monster dunks and play good defense. He’s a near-lock to be one-and-done, but there’s every reason to think he’ll be one of the most exciting players in the country this season.

Ayayi, a combo guard was a surprise for the Zags last season, averaging 10.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game this past year. He is a fantastic rebounder and is the guy that can take the last shot in a game if they need one. He has NBA potential, but this season should look to improve on being a bit better from behind the three-point line, where he shot 34.5% as well as being a better ball handler to really get a look from teams.

Freshman Dominick Harris, a combo guard, and Southern Illinois grad transfer Aaron Cook will be the guys off the bench here. Harris is a guy who does well in getting to the rim, but it’s tough to see him getting a ton of meaningful minutes right off the bat. Cook only played in six games last season in his senior year with Southern Illinois, but in those games he averaged 15 points per game. He won’t have those big numbers at Gonzaga, but he should be a solid role player. A pair of international recruits, Martynas Arlauskus and Pavel Zakharov, may see time occasionally.

High expectations in Spokane have become the norm over the past decade or so. They will be battle-tested early in the year with a great non-conference schedule, including a monster game against Baylor, but they should run into little problems in the conference slate, despite the usual competitors in BYU and St. Mary’s. They are all but a lock to win the WCC, and at least a Final Four run should be the expectation here.