Author: Aidan Joly

By Aidan Joly

When the national championship crown is hoisted in 2025, it will have been a quarter of a century since the Big Ten won a national title, when Michigan State won it all in 2000.

It’s one of those streaks that’s hard to believe. Especially so when the league has had 144 NCAA tournament bids since then, more than any other league in the country.

The record for most tournament bids by one conference in one year is 11 by the Big East in 2o11. National title or not, the league will have a chance at breaking that record this year. Let’s get into each of the 18 teams.

Purdue Boilermakers

2023-24: 34-5 (17-3 Big Ten), lost in national title game

Purdue nearly ended the Big Ten national title drought, but ended up getting blown out by UConn in the national championship game in the program’s second-ever appearance in the national title game.

Two-time national player of the year and the best player in college basketball last year Zach Edey is gone. As is important role player Lance Jones.

Thankfully for the Boilermakers, there will be plenty of returners. Braden Smith, who had 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore, will be expected to make the jump to be the go-to guy. Fletcher Loyer, who had 10.3 PPG as a freshman, will be the number two. Solid role player Trey Kaufman-Renn (6.4 PPG) will also be back.

Role players Myles Colvin, Cameron Heide and Will Berg could also have larger roles.

Coach Matt Painter did not go into the portal at all, but picked up top-100 freshman Gicarri Harris, along with a pair of four-star prospects Raleigh Burgess and Daniel Jacobson. All should see playing time at some point.

Purdue won’t be as good as years past, but still should be a contender in the top half of the league.

Illinois Fighting Illini

2023-24: 29-9 (14-6 Big Ten), lost in Elite Eight

Pretty much every piece from the Big Ten tournament-winning and Elite Eight team, including Terrence Shannon, Marcus Domask, Coleman Hawkins, Quincy Gurrier and Dain Dainja, is gone.

Only two players, role player Ty Rodgers (6.2 PPG) and benchwarmer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, are back.

Coach Brad Underwood had to bring in five players from the transfer portal, including Ben Humrichous, who had 14.7 PPG at Evansville, and Tre White, who had 12.3 PPG at Louisville. It also brought in Arizona transfer Kylan Boswell (9.6 PPG), Mercer transfer Jake Davis (9.0 PPG) and Notre Dame transfer Carey Booth (6.4 PPG).

This is a team that will also feature five freshman. Two of them are top-30 ranked in forward Will Riley center Morez Johnson. Four-star prospect Jason Jaksyts, is also here. One interesting freshman is Lithuanian wing Kasparas Jakucionis, who played for FC Barcelona in Spain, averaging 19.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for the club’s second team. He will be an interesting player to look at, not one who was on the radar of a ton of programs.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

2023-24: 23-11 (12-8 Big Ten), lost in NCAA first round

Nebraska was one of the biggest surprises in college basketball last season, winning 20 games for the first time since the 2017-18 season and reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014. It likely saved Fred Hoiberg’s job in the process.

Leading scorer Keisei Tominaga is gone, but the other three leading scorers in Brice Williams, Rienk Mast and Juwan Gary are all back for the Cornhuskers. However, those are the only notable returners.

In the portal, Nebraska got Andrew Morgan, who had 12.9 points per game at North Dakota State, Rollie Webster, who had 9.9 PPG at Utah, and Ahron Ulis, who had 6.1 PPG at Iowa in 2022-23 and did not play last year. Other portal additions have high-major experience, including Gavin Griffiths (Rutgers), Braxton Meah (Washington), Berk Buyuktencel (UCLA) and Connor Essegian (Wisconsin).

The only notable prospect is four-star combo guard Nick Janokski.

Plenty of talent is there for the Huskers. Expect them to be in the tournament conversation all year long. The program has not gone to back-to-back tournaments since four straight appearances from 1991-1994.

Northwestern Wildcats

2023-24: 22-12 (12-8 Big Ten), lost in NCAA second round

Northwestern won an NCAA tournament game for the second straight season to cap off another good year in Evanston.

The Wildcats will bring eight players back from that squad, including double digit scorers Brooks Barnhizer, who had 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, along with Ty Berry, who had 11.6 points per game. Nick Martinelli and his 8.8 points per game are back, along with important role player Matthew Nicholson.

Two transfers come in. Jalen Leach had 16.2 points per game at Fairfield and seven-footer Keenan Fitzmorris had 10.9 PPG at Stony Brook.

Three-star prospect KJ Windham is the only notable freshman and will surely be a project.

Northwestern has slowly built itself into one of the better programs in the league in recent years. It will look to earn a third straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

Oregon Ducks

2023-24: 24-12 (12-8 Pac-12), lost in Sweet 16

One of the four new additions from the Pac-12 is the final champion from the Pac-12. Oregon ended up reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021 and won a pair of games.

The Ducks will return six players from that team, five of whom averaged at least 7.3 points per game. Leading scorers N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard are gone. The responsibility for filling those roles will likely go to Nate Bittle, who had 10.0 PPG, and Jackson Shelstad, who had 12.6 PPG, respectively.

Other players back include Keeshawn Barthelemy (7.9 PPG), Jadrian Tracey (7.6 PPG) and Kwame Evans Jr. (7.3 PPG).

Coach Dana Altman also brought in five players who averaged double digits at their previous stops. That includes Ra’Heim Moss, who had 15.5 PPG at Toledo, Brandon Angel, who had 13.0 PPG at Stanford, Supreme Cook, who had 10.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game at Georgetown, and TJ Bamba, who had 10.1 PPG at Villanova. The fifth is Jayson Williams-Johnson, who did average 14.2 PPG at Division III Muhlenberg, but it was a team that went 8-18.

Top-50 prospect Jamari Phillips is the freshman add here.

Wisconsin Badgers

2023-24: 22-14 (11-9 Big Ten), lost in NCAA first round

Wisconsin had a very solid season and earned a No. 5 seed in the tournament, but the March run ended prematurely with an upset loss in the first round.

This year’s Badgers will return eight players, many of them key contributors to last year’s team. The likes of AJ Storr, Tyler Wahl and Chucky Hebpburn are gone, but a solid trio of Steven Crowl (11.2 PPG, 7.3 RPG), Max Klesmit (9.9 PPG) and John Blackwell (8.0 PPG) are all back. The three will be expected to be the main guys for the Badgers.

From the portal, Camren Hunter missed all of last year, but averaged 16.9 PPG at Central Arkansas in 2022-23. Northern Illinois transfer Xavier Amos had 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season. John Tonje played sparingly at Missouri.

A pair of four-star prospects, Daniel Freitag – the highest-ranked PG prospect in program history – and wing Jack Robison arrive in Madison.

Wisconsin will be another one of those teams right on the bubble all season. We will see how this group plays out.

UCLA Bruins

2023-24: 16-17 (10-10 Pac-12), no postseason

It was a very disappointing season in Westwood in 2023-24, missing the postseason for the first time since Mick Cronin took over the program in 2019.

This season should be different. The Bruins return three double digit scorers, including leading scorer Dylan Andrews, who averaged 12.9 points per game. Sebastian Mack (12.1 PPG) also returns, as does big man Lazar Stefavonic, who averaged 11.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

UCLA also brings in six transfers, all of whom averaged more than 9.3 PPG at their last stops. Tyler Bilodeau averaged 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds at Oregon State, Dominick Harris had 14.3 points per game at Loyola Marymount, Skyy Clark had 13.2 PPG at Louisville, William Kyle III had 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game at South Dakota State, Kobe Johnson had 10.9 PPG at crosstown rival USC and Eric Dailey Jr. had 9.3 PPG at Oklahoma State.

Cronin also brings in top-30 guard Trent Perry and top-100 prospect Eric Freeny.

This is a team that definitely should be in the top half of the league and will have a shot at playing in the second weekend.

Indiana Hoosiers

2023-24: 19-14 (10-10 Big Ten), no postseason

It was a disappointing season for the Hoosiers, missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021, the final season of Archie Miller’s tenure.

Much was made about Mike Woodson’s job status, especially so with Indiana alum Dusty May available on the market, but Woodson stays in Bloomington for at least one more year.

For this year’s Hoosiers, they bring back Malik Reneau, who had 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, Mackenzie Mgbako, who had 12.2 PPG, and Trey Galloway, who had 10.6 PPG.

Indiana also picked up plenty of talent in the portal. The best of the group is Oumar Ballo, who averaged 14.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game at Arizona as one of the best big men in the nation. Another solid addition is Myles Rice, who averaged 14.8 PPG at Washington State. Guard Kanaan Carlyle had 11.5 PPG at Stanford, and Luke Goode had 5.7 PPG at Illinois. Finally, Langdon Hatton averaged 10.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per gam at Bellarmine.

The only big freshman is top-20 prospect Bryson Tucker.

This should be a great rebounding team. If they can do that, Indiana will have a great chance to make noise in the postseason. It should be much-improved.

Iowa Hawkeyes

2023-24: 19-15 (10-10 Big Ten), lost in NIT second round

Iowa missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018 and settled for the NIT.

The level of continuity here is interesting. The Hawkeyes breathed a sigh of relief earlier in the off-season when leading scorer Payton Sandfort, who averaged 16.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, said he would be back after going down to the wire with the NBA. Owen Freeman, who averaged 10.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, is also back, as is Josh Dix, who had 8.9 PPG as a sophomore. Other returners like Brock Harding, Pryce Sandfort and Ladji Dembele may be expected to take on larger depth roles.

Coach Fran McCaffery brought in a pair of transfers. Seydou Traore averaged 11.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game at Manhattan, and Drew Thelwell had 10.0 PPG at Morehead State.

Forward Cooper Koch is a top-70 prospect, and we will see how much he plays.

Overall, there is some semblance of talent here, but it may be tough for Iowa to get to a point to call itself a tournament lock.

Michigan State Spartans

2023-24: 20-15 (10-10 Big Ten), lost in NCAA second round

The Spartans did just enough late in the season to reach the NCAA tournament and advanced to the second round.

Michigan State does not return a ton of key pieces. Jaden Akins, however, is back after he averaged 10.4 PPG in 2023-24. Tre Holloman, one of the better role guys in the league, is also back. That is it though, meaning guys like Xavier Booker, Jeremy Fears Jr., Carson Cooper and Coen Carr may be expected to take on a larger role.

Coach Tom Izzo brought in three top-100 prospects, the best of which is six-foot-three guard Jase Richardson, ranked No. 24 in the ESPN top 100. Kur Teng is ranked No. 52.

Not much for transfers, but MSU does bring in Frankie Fidler, who averaged 20.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for Omaha. Szymon Zapala had 9.8 PPG for Longwood.

There will be better teams in the league, but it is still wise to trust that Izzo will be able to bring it together and have a good season. Michigan State has not missed the NCAA tournament since 1997, 26 years straight being the longest in the nation.

Washington Huskies

2023-24: 17-15 (9-11 Pac-12), no postseason

Another disappointing season in Seattle, missing the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight season, resulted in the firing of coach Mike Hopkins after seven seasons.

The new head coach is former Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle, who only spent one season in Logan after four seasons as coach at Montana State.

The new additions are the name of the game here. Sprinkle was able to get Great Osobor, who averaged 17.7 points and 9.0 rebounds for Utah State last season, to follow him to Washington.

Sprinkle also got a number of players with mid-major success to come to Washington, including North Dakota transfer Tyree Ihenacho (14.5 PPG), Rice transfer Mekhi Mason (14.0 PPG), Portland’s Tyler Harris (12.1 PPG), Oakland’s Chris Conway (10.0 PPG) and Rhode Island’s Luis Kortright (10.0 PPG). They also brought in DJ Davis, who had a breakout season at Butler, averaging 13.5 PPG.

The Huskies return two players, the most notable is Franck Kepnang, who had 8.3 PPG and 5.9 RPG.

Washington brings in top-50 guard Zoom Diallo, along with four-star guard Jase Butler.

Sprinkle is a great coach who should have the Huskies off and running from the jump. We will see how it does against the deep league.

Ohio State Buckeyes

2023-24: 22-15 (9-11 Big Ten), lost in NIT quarterfinals

The Buckeyes, although they did not make the tournament, were one of the bigger surprises in the sport the last few weeks of the season.

Coach Chris Holtmann was fired with the team sitting at 14-11 and 4-10 in league play. Jake Diebler was named the interim and the Buckeyes won five of six to close the regular season, won a Big Ten tournament game and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT. All in all, Ohio State won eight of its last 11 games. That was good enough to get the interim tag taken off and he was named the permanent coach between the Big Ten tournament and the NIT.

For this year’s Buckeyes, although the likes of Jamison Battle, Roddy Gayle, Zed Key and Felix Okpara are gone, the team’s leading scorer Bruce Thornton (15.7 PPG) is back in Columbus. As for other returners, Devin Royal and Evan Mahaffey are candidates to take steps up.

A familiar face comes back to Columbus in the transfer portal in South Carolina’s Meechie Johnson, who returns to the program after averaging 14.1 PPG in a breakout season with the Gamecocks. He played two seasons for OSU from 2020-2022.

Micah Parrish, who had 9.3 PPG at San Diego State, Aaron Bradshaw, who had 4.9 PPG at Kentucky and former top prospect Sean Stewart, who averaged 2.6 PPG at Duke, also arrive. Ques Glover also is a new add, he missed all of last year but had 14.7 PPG at Samford in 2022-23.

Top-50 prospect John Mobley and four-star Colin White are the notable freshmen.

The momentum from the end of last year is there. We will see if the team can keep that momentum going this season.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

2023-24: 19-15 (9-11 Big Ten), lost in NIT second round

Albeit the NIT, Minnesota was back in the postseason for the first time since 2019 last spring.

Ben Johnson suffered a big loss in Cam Christie, who decided to go to the NBA after a brilliant freshman season. However, the Golden Gophers do return leading scorer Dawson Garcia, who averaged 17.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, as well as double-digit scorer Mike Mitchell Jr. Role player Parker Fox is also back.

Johnson did some good work in the portal. He picked up Lu’Cye Patterson, who had 14.6 PPG at Charlotte, Tyler Cochran, who had 14.4 PPG at Toledo, Frank Mitchell, who was fourth in the nation with 11.6 rebounds per game at Canisius while averaging 12.1 points per game, and Femi Odukale, who had 10.7 PPG at New Mexico State. Brennan Rigsby (Oregon) was a role player for the Ducks.

The only notable freshman is four-star guard Isaac Asuma.

An interesting mix of talent is here. It will look to take a step up from last season.

Penn State Nittany Lions

2023-24: 16-17 (9-11 Big Ten), no postseason

It wasn’t a great go of things for Penn State in Mike Rhoades’ first season at the helm and it ended in the league tournament.

The Nittany Lions saw a lot of pieces leave from last year. However, they have a great piece returning in Ace Baldwin, who averaged 14.2 points per game and averaged six assists per game as well, making himself one of the best ball-handling guards in the league. It will also return a bunch of solid depth and role options in Nick Kern Jr., Zach Hicks and Puff Johnson. D’Marco Dunn is also back. All of these players will need to take steps up.

The transfer class isn’t great. Eli Rice (Nebraska), Kachi Nzeh (Xavier) and Freddie Dillione V (Tennessee) all have high-major experience, but were all depth pieces off the bench at best. Yanic Konan Niederhauser was solid at Northern Illinois, averaging 7.3 PPG.

Four-star freshman Miles Goodman is the only notable freshman here as part of a four-player freshman class.

Ace Baldwin will have to be a dude, the other returners will have to step up, and a couple of the new guys need to emerge. If that doesn’t happen, it may be tough for Penn State to win consistently.

USC Trojans

2023-24: 15-18 (8-12 Pac-12), no postseason

It was a much-hyped USC team in 2023-24 with star Boogie Ellis, the top freshman prospect in Isaiah Collier and Bronny James, the son of LeBron, but it was a major disappointment.

Coach Andy Enfield, amid rumors about his job status, left for the parachute of SMU.

In his place is former Arkansas coach Eric Musselman, who took a parachute to Los Angeles of his own after a disappointing season in Fayetteville.

Musselman basically had to rebuild the entire roster, with only one returning player.

Nine of the 11 transfers brought in averaged in double figures at the previous stops. The majority of them were at mid-majors, including Saint Thomas, who had 19.7 PPG and 9.8 RPG at Northern Colorado, Bryce Pope, who had 18.3 PPG at UC San Diego, and Clark Slajchert, who had 18.0 PPG at Pennsylvania.

However, some of the main contributors have experience at high-majors, including Desmond Claude, who had 16.6 PPG at Xavier, Chibuzo Agbo, who had 13.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game at Boise State, and Terrance Williams II, who had 12.4 PPG at Michigan.

Josh Cohen (UMass), Rashaun Agee (Bowling Green) and Matt Knowling (Yale) all had double digits at their previous stops. Kevin Patton Jr. came close, with 9.8 PPG at San Diego.

Two top-60 prospects come in, forwards Jalen Shelley and Isaiah Elohim.

This will be a good team. NCAA tournament will be a realistic goal in the first year of the Musselman era in LA.

Maryland Terrapins

2023-24: 16-17 (7-13 Big Ten), no postseason

It was a disappointing season in College Park in year two of the Kevin Willard era, missing the tournament for the second time in three seasons.

A few interesting pieces are back. Julian Reese, who had 13.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, is back for the Terrapins. Some solid role players in DeShawn Harris-Smith (7.3 PPG), Jordan Geronimo (5.4 PPG) and Jahari Long (4.7 PPG) are all back as well and will look to take steps up.

Willard brings in a great portal add in Ja’Kobi Gillespie, who had 17.1 PPG at Belmont. Selton Miguel had 14.7 PPG at South Florida and comes to College Park. Tafara Garape (Georgia Tech) and Jayhlon Young (Memphis) both come from good teams. Rodney Rice (Virginia Tech) and Chance Stephens (Loyola Marymount) both missed all of last season.

Willard brings in a five-star prospect Derik Queen, who stands at six-foot-ten, and he should have an immediate role. He is just the third five-star prospect in program history and the first since Diamond Stone in 2015 (remember him?). Four-star prospect Malachi Palmer also arrives.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

2023-24: 15-17 (7-13 Big Ten), no postseason

It was a disappointing season for Rutgers in 2023-24, but the fortunes should change based on a historic recruiting class.

Rutgers brings in not one, but two of the top five players in this year’s recruiting class in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. The program had never had a five-star recruit until this cycle, now they have two. It’s historic for the program. Both will have a large, immediate role.

Those two will surely be paired with returner Jeremiah Williams, who had 12.2 points per game last season. Role player Jamichael Davis is also back.

Coach Steve Pikiell also brought in a number of studs from the portal, including Eastern Michigan transfer Tyson Acuff (21.7 PPG), Merrimack transfer Jordan Derkack (17.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG) and San Diego transfer PJ Hayes (10.5 PPG).

Going back to freshmen, Rutgers also brings in a couple four-stars in forward Dylan Grant and center Lathan Sommerville.

It’s simple. Rutgers is going to have one of the most hyped-up teams in not just the Big Ten, but in the country. Will it deliver?

Michigan Wolverines

2023-24: 8-24 (3-17 Big Ten), no postseason

Last season’s edition of Michigan was nothing short of a disaster. Lots of losing on the court and lots of drama off of it.

Coach Juwan Howard was fired after five seasons at the helm. In his place is former Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May, cashing in on making FAU one of the best small programs in the country, making the Final Four in 2023.

May kept a couple important role players in Nimari Burnett (9.6 PPG) and Will Tschetter (6.8 PPG).

Outside of those two and benchwarmers, it’s an entirely new team. May got Vladislav Goldin, a key piece in those FAU teams, to come to Ann Arbor. He had 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last year. Also coming to Ann Arbor is Danny Wolf, who had 14.1 points and 9.7 rebounds per game on a Yale team that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. The aforementioned Roddy Gayle comes to the other side of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry after averaging 13.5 PPG for the Buckeyes last year. Rubin Jones had 12.1 PPG at North Florida.

Two more players in Tre Donaldson (Auburn) and Sam Walters (Alabama) both have great SEC experience.

Michigan also brings in top-75 prospect Justin Pippen as well as four-star guard Durral Brooks.

This should be a tournament team in May’s first season in Michigan.

By Aidan Joly

Last April, the UConn Huskies became college basketball’s first back-to-back national champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007.

It capped off an unprecedented run for the Huskies, who have now won 12 straight NCAA tournament games.

To do it, it had to get through a competitive Big East, although the program that resides in Storrs, Connecticut has dominated the league. How does the Big East stack up for this season? Let’s get into it.

UConn Huskies

2024-25: 37-3 (18-2 Big East), won national championship

One of the biggest storylines will be whether the Huskies can be the first threepeat in the sport since the UCLA dynasty of the late 60s and early 70s.

Usually you get into players who are returning, but the biggest returner is coach Dan Hurley, who turned down gigs with both Kentucky and the Los Angeles Lakers to remain in Storrs and go for three straight. He got a hefty pay raise for doing so.

However, as for players, the Huskies don’t return a ton. Alex Karaban, however, is back after he averaged 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last year that led to him flirting with the NBA over the summer. From there, it is depth and bit players such as Hassan Diarra (6.1 PPG), Samson Johnson (5.5 PPG) and Solomon Ball (3.3 PPG). Johnson and Ball seem like candidates to have breakout campaigns.

Hurley went to the transfer portal and picked up Aidan Mahaney, who averaged 13.9 PPG with Saint Mary’s and shot over 35% from three. Tarris Reed Jr. also arrives after he averaged 9.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game at Michigan.

Five-star forward Liam McNeeley should have a role early as a freshman. Ahmad Norwell is a top-40 prospect, and Isaiah Abraham ranks in the top 60.

It might not feel like a national title-winning team right now, but there is very little doubt that the Huskies will be right there come March.

Creighton Bluejays

2023-24: 25-10 (14-6 Big East), lost in Sweet 16

After a solid season in Omaha, Creighton brings some talent back for 2024-25.

One of three-headed monster of Baylor Scheierman, Trey Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner returns, and that is Kalkbrenner. He averaged 17.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game last year and will be the go-to guy for the Bluejays. Steven Ashworth also returns after dropping 11.1 PPG last year. Depth piece Mason Miller (5.6 PPG) is also back.

Coach Greg McDermott brought in transfer Pop Isaacs, who averaged 15.8 PPG at Texas Tech, as well as Jamiya Neal, who averaged 11.0 PPG at Arizona State.

Six-foot-nine forward Jackson McAndrew should have an early role as a freshman, while Creighton also brings in top-100 prospect Larry Johnson.

All in all, another good run should be in store here.

Marquette Golden Eagles

2023-24: 27-10 (14-6 Big East), lost in Sweet 16

Continuity is the name of the game for Shaka Smart’s squad this season.

The Golden Eagles bring nine players back, the most of any team in the league. Leading that charge is leading scorer Kam Jones, who averaged 17.2 points per game, as well as David Joplin, who had 10.8 points per game as a forward. Stevie Mitchell had 8.8 PPG as well.

The rest coming back are depth pieces who should have a larger role this season, including Chase Ross, Sean Jones and Ben Gold. That production will have to replace the production of Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, who are both gone.

No transfers here. Damarius Owens is a top-100 prospect, while the Golden Eagles also bring in four-star prospect Royce Parham.

With a ton of players back, it is wise to think that Marquette can make the jump to the top echelon of this league.

Seton Hall Pirates

2023-24: 25-12 (13-7 Big East), won NIT

Seton Hall may have missed the NCAA tournament, but it finished its season celebrating after winning the NIT, a nice consolation prize.

Not much is back from that team, though. Dylan Addae-Wusu is the only key player back, he averaged 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Depth piece Isaiah Coleman is also back.

Coach Shaheen Holloway went hard in the portal. The Pirates picked up Chaunce Jenkins, who averaged 15.9 PPG at Old Dominion, Zion Harmon, who had 14.6 PPG at Bethune-Cookman, and Yacine Toumi, who averaged 10.6 PPG at Evansville. He also brought in role players from high-majors, including Prince Aligbi (Boston College), Scotty Middleton (Ohio State), Garwey Duel (Providence) and Emmanuel Okafor (Louisville). All should see playing time.

Four-star prospect Godswill Erheriene is a six-foot-nine forward/center and Jahseem Felton is a three-star combo guard who is an interesting project.

St. John’s Red Storm

2023-24: 20-13 (11-9 Big East), no postseason

Year one of the Rick Pitino era with the Johnnies didn’t go fully as planned, missing the NCAA tournament.

That should change this year. Pitino went out and got what could be one of the better 1-2 punch guard duos in the country in Kadary Richmond, taking him from crosstown rival Seton Hall, and Deivon Smith, who averaged 13.3 PPG at Utah. Add that in with returner RJ Luis Jr., and the Red Storm could be great at the guard position.

Another addition is Aaron Scott, who averaged 11.0 PPG at North Texas. As is seven-footer Vincent Iwuchukwu, who had 5.6 PPG for USC and earned 11 starts.

Returners Zuby Ejiofor, Brady Dunlap and Simeon Wilcher should all see expanded roles. As for freshman, Jaiden Glover is a top-100 guy.

In year two with the hall of fame coach, NCAA tournament needs to be the goal.

Providence Friars

2023-24: 21-14 (10-10 Big East), lost in NIT first round

It was a decent season for Providence in year one of the Kim English era, winning 20 games, but that was not enough to reach the NCAA tournament.

The Friars will look to rebound back into the tournament in 2025.

Bryce Hopkins will return after he averaged 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game before he suffered a season-ending knee injury 14 games into the season. Jayden Pierre is also back after averaging 9.5 PPG. From there it is role players, including Corey Floyd (4.8 PPG), Rich Barron (4.4 PPG) and Justyn Fernandez, who did not play last year but averaged 4.1 PPG for George Mason in 2022-23.

English brought in a very interesting transfer in Wesley Cardet, Jr., who averaged 18.7 PPG at Chicago State of all places last year. Jabri Abdur-Rahim averaged 12.2 PPG at Georgia, Bensley Joseph dropped 9.6 PPG at Miami. Finally, seven-foot big man Christ Essandoko averaged 8.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game at St. Joseph’s.

As for freshmen, top-40 prospect Oswin Erhunmwunse joins the fold.

As previously stated, Providence will hope to get back to the tournament.

Villanova Wildcats

2022-23: 18-16 (10-10 Big East), lost in NIT first round

The headlines surrounding Villanova is the job status of Kyle Neptune coming into the season. Neptune is 35-33 overall and 20-20 in Big East play since he took over for the legendary Jay Wright in 2022.

Neptune likely knew this in the off-season. He went into the portal and got decent pieces, including Jhamir Brickus, who averaged 13.9 PPG at La Salle, Tyler Perkins, who had 13.7 PPG at Penn, and most notably picked up Wooga Poplar, a former Miami star who averaged 13.1 PPG with the Hurricanes.

That is to replace the production of several departing players. Eric Dixon does return, though, after he led the team with 16.1 PPG while also grabbing 6.5 rebounds per contest. Jordan Longino (6.6 PPG) is also back.

Two top-100 prospects in Josiah Moseley and Matthew Hodge come in.

This is a make-or-break year at Villanova. It seems that if Villanova misses the tournament for a third straight year, the Neptune era will be over.

Butler Bulldogs

2023-24: 19-15 (9-11 Big East), lost in NIT first round

After a somewhat underwhelming season the Bulldogs are another team with continuity, bringing back seven players.

Two of them were double digit scorers: Pierre Brooks, who averaged 14.8 points per game, and Jahmyl Telfort, who averaged 13.9 points per game. The rest are role players, although one in Andre Screen seems poised for a breakout season after averaging 5.2 points per game in very limited minutes.

Transfers coming in include Kolby King, who averaged 10.4 PPG at Tulane, and Patrick McCaffery, who averaged 8.9 PPG at Iowa.

It’s hard to believe that Butler has not been in the NCAA tournament since 2o18. It may be tough for this squad to break that drought, but stranger things have happened.

Xavier Musketeers

2023-24: 16-18 (9-11 Big East), lost in NIT first round

Xavier suffered from the injury bug in 2023-24 and it showed, hard.

Thankfully, some of those key guys are back.

Most notably, Zach Freemantle will return to college basketball after missing all of last season. He was one of the best players in the Big East in 2022-23, averaging 15.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game before going down after 22 games with that foot injury. Jerome Hunter also missed all of last season after averaging 7.8 PPG in 2022-23.

A non-injured returner is Dayvion McKnight, who averaged 12.4 PPG at the point for the Musketeers.

Coach Sean Miller got seven players in the portal. That includes mid-major stars Marcus Foster, who averaged 17.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game at Furman, Ryan Conwell, who had 16.6 points per game at Indiana State, and Dante Maddox, Jr., who had 15.6 PPG at Toledo.

Also joining the fold are Lassina Traore (11.9 PPG at Long Beach State), John Hugley IV (8.4 PPG at Oklahoma), Cam’Ron Fletcher (6.7 PPG at Florida State) and Roddie Anderson III (6.5 PPG at Boise State).

It’s an impressive collection of talent for Xavier. We will see how it unfolds on the court.

Georgetown Hoyas

2023-24: 9-23 (2-18 Big East), no postseason

It was an extremely rough first season in the Ed Cooley era at Georgetown. The Hoyas’ only two league wins came against lowly DePaul and it went 3-21 against power conference teams.

The rebuild continues with another young team. Jayden Epps does return after he averaged 18.5 PPG, but he needed to tale 15.6 shots per game to get there. Drew Fielder (5.2 PPG), also returns, but that’s the end of the list for returning players.

A freshman-laden team will include seven first year players. It has a pair of top-100 prospects in Thomas Sorber and Kayvaun Mulready, while also bringing in four-star prospect Caleb Williams and three-star Jayden Fort.

Transfers here include Malik Mack, who averaged 17.2 PPG at Harvard and Micah Peavy, who had 10.9 PPG at TCU. Curtis Williams was a role player with Louisville and Jordan Burks played sparingly at Kentucky.

It may be another long year for the Hoyas. The NCAA tournament seems like a far-fetched goal, but there should be at least some marginal improvement.

DePaul Blue Demons

2023-24: 3-29 (0-20 Big East), no postseason

DePaul was the laughingstock of college basketball in 2023-24. Three total wins were the least of any power conference team. It did not win a game after Dec. 30, losing 20 games in a row to end the season.

Tony Stubblefield was fired as coach mid-season and replaced in the interim by Matt Brady, who went 0-14.

New head coach Chris Holtmann, the former Ohio State coach, is in for quite the rebuild job.

There is not a single player from the 2023-24 team returning. Holtmann brought in 10 transfers. Five of them, Jacob Meyer (Coastal Carolina), Isaiah Rivera (UIC), David Skogman (Davidson), David Thomas (Mercer) and JJ Traynor (Louisville) were all double digit scorers at their last stops. Two more in CJ Gunn (Indiana) and Layden Blocker (Arkansas) played at high-major schools last year.

Holtmann was also able to bring in a three-star freshman in Chris Riddle, who stands at six-foot-five.

DePaul has the longest NCAA tournament drought of any power conference program, dating back to 2004. It won’t happen this year, but this year can’t be worse than last year, right?

By Aidan Joly

The Big 12 was the best league in the country in the 2023-24 season. It sent eight teams to the NCAA tournament and had more in contention all year.

The 2024-25 season should be more of the same. Power teams already here and the league adds another of of the sport’s premier programs in Arizona, while adding three more programs that have traditionally seen success.

That being said, let’s get into what the league will look like this season.

Houston Cougars

2023-24: 32-5 (15-3 Big 12), lost in Sweet 16

Houston was the regular season champion in its first year in the Big 12 and relatively dominated the league, good enough to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourmament.

The 2024-25 team will return many key pieces. The biggest of the group is leading scorer LJ Cryer, who averaged 15.5 points per game after transferring in from Baylor. Guard Emanuel Sharp, who averaged 12.6 PPG, is also back for Kelvin Sampson’s team. J’Wan Roberts, who averaged 9.5 PPG, also returns, as does role player Ja’Vier Francis. Cryer, Sharp and Roberts will be tasked with replacing the production of All-American guard Jamal Shead, the only big departure.

Sampson only brings in one transfer, that being Oklahoma’s Milos Uzan, who averaged 9.0 PPG last season. Freshmen are top-100 guard prospect Mercy Miller and four-star prospect Chase McCarty.

This is a team that should be back towards the top of the Big 12 and be one of the best teams in the nation.

Arizona Wildcats

2023-24: 27-9 (15-5 Pac-12), lost in Sweet 16

Arizona is the biggest add for the league as one of the best programs in the sport in recent years.

Tommy Lloyd’s team will have a fair amount of production to replace from last year’s team, but they also got one of the top returners in the country in All-American guard Caleb Love, who averaged 18.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Love has played 137 games of college basketball and should end up being a top-two guard in the country and a player of the year contender.

Other returners include Jaden Bradley (7.0 PPG), KJ Lewis (6.1 PPG) and Motiejus Krivas (5.4 PPG). All will be expected to take on a larger role.

Arizona did a solid job in the transfer portal to pick up mid-major stars. It picked up Anthony Dell’Orso, who averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game at Campbell, as well as Trey Townsend, who averaged 17.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game at Oakland. Townsend scored 17 points in Oakland’s first round upset of Kentucky last March. Tobe Awaka also arrives after averaging 5.1 PPG at Tennessee.

Top-20 forward Carter Bryant is the big freshman to watch in Tucson. They also bring in top-100 prospect Emmanuel Stephen.

In Arizona’s first season in the Big 12, the Wildcats will be an immediate contender.

Iowa State Cyclones

2023-24: 29-8 (13-5 Big 12), lost in Sweet 16

The 2023-24 campaign was one of the best in the history of the program. 29 wins represented the second-most in a season in program history and reached the second weekend of the NCAA tournament.

The Cyclones bring back four double-digit scorers for this season, that being Keshon Gilbert (13.7 PPG), Tamin Lipsey (12.4 PPG), Curtis Jones (11.0 PPG) and Milan Momcilovic (10.9 PPG). The rest of the key players, that really being just Tre King and Robert Jones, are gone.

Coach T.J. Otzelberger brought in Nate Heise, who averaged 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game at Northern Iowa, along with Dishon Jackson, who averaged 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds at Charlotte. St. Mary’s transfer Joshua Jefferson (10.2 PPG) and Seattle transfer Brandton Chatfield (9.4 PPG) also arrive in Ames. The only freshman is top-70 prospect Nojus Indrusaitis, a guard.

Baylor Bears

2023-24: 24-11 (11-7 Big 12), lost in NCAA second round

After a solid season in Waco, coach Scott Drew is tasked with re-tooling a roster that lost a lot of talent.

Excitement is coming in the form of a freshman, five-star forward V.J. Edgecombe, who is expected to be a top pick in the NBA Draft next summer, He should be an immediate contributor for the Bears. Two more top-50 prospects, Robert Wright III and Jason Asemota, should also be in the rotation.

They will in part be tasked to replace the production of four double digit scorers that depart. Two return though, that being Langston Love (11.0 PPG) and Jayden Nunn (10.5 PPG).

Baylor did get one of the better portal adds in Norchad Omier, who averaged 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game at Miami. He will have a large role immediately. Jeremy Roach, who averaged 14.0 PPG at Duke, also arrives to a big role. Jalen Celestine averaged 8.7 PPG at Cal. Finally, an interesting add is Davidson Hubbard, who averaged 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds at Division III Hampden-Sydney, a team that won 31 games and went to the Division III national championship game. It’ll be interesting to see how he adjusts from D3 to the Big 12.

Colorado Buffaloes

2023-24: 26-11 (13-7 Pac-12), lost in NCAA second round

Colorado is the next team entering its first season at the Big 12. It is coming off of a good season that resulted in reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament.

It will have a lot to replace. KJ Simpson, Tristan da Silva, Cody Williams, J’Vonne Hadley and Eddie Lampkin Jr. are all gone. The only notable returner is Julian Hammond III, who averaged 7.4 PPG in 24 games (5 starts). Bench pieces RJ Smith, Javon Ruffin or Bangot Dak may be forced to take on a larger role.

The transfer portal adds are outside-the-box. Coach Tad Boyle brought in Trevor Baskin, who averaged 18.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game at Division II Colorado Mesa. Elijah Malone, who averaged 17.3 PPG at NAIA school Grace College is also here. The only transfer add with D1 experience is Andrej Jakimovski, who averaged 9.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game at Washington State.

Top-100 prospect Andrew Crawford is the only freshman who should see regular minutes.

A lot of questions surround this roster on paper. It’ll be interesting to see how it mixes on the court.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

2023-24: 23-11 (11-7 Big 12), lost in NCAA first round

Things were solid in Lubbock in the first season of Grant McCasland at the helm, a seven-win improvement from 2022-23.

The Red Raiders will bring a fair amount of talent back this season. That includes Darrion Williams, who averaged 11.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore, as well as Chance McMillian, who averaged 10.8 PPG. Role players Devan Cambridge (10.5 PPG) and Kerwin Walton (8.5 PPG) are also back.

McCasland got one of the most exciting transfers on the market in JT Toppin, who averaged 12.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game at New Mexico as a freshman in 2023-24. Kevin Overton averaged 11.1 PPG at Drake, Elijah Hawkins averaged 9.5 PPG at Minnesota, and Federiko Federiko, who averaged 4.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game at Pittsburgh and is also a great defender.

In McCasland’s second season the helm, Texas Tech will look to make a step up and maybe get the program close to where it was when Chris Beard was running the show.

BYU Cougars

2023-24: 23-11 (10-8 Big 12), lost in NCAA first round

It was a very solid season in Provo in the program’s first season in the Big 12, getting back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021.

After former coach Mark Pope departed for Kentucky, the Cougars brought in NBA assistant Kevin Young as the new coach.

Young was able to keep many key pieces from the 2023-24 squad, including Fousseyni Traore (10.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG), Trevin Knell (10.6 PPG), Richie Saunders (9.6 PPG) and Dallin Hall (9.0 PPG). They will be tasked with replacing the production of the likes of Jaxon Robinson, Spencer Johnson and Noah Waterman.

Young has already shown off his recruiting ability, picking up three top-100 prospects in Kanon Catchings, Brody Kozlowski and Elijah Crawford. Catchings is set to be the best one of that group.

From the portal, Mawot Mag, a forward who averaged 9.1 points per game at Rutgers, joins the fray. As does Keba Keita, who averaged 8.3 PPG at Utah.

Kansas Jayhawks

2023-24: 23-11 (10-8 Big 12), lost in NCAA second round

It was almost something of a down year in Lawrence in 2023-24, if you say that winning 23 games and reaching the second round of the tournament is a down year.

Thankfully though, Kansas has a top-three roster in the country this year on paper. It brings back All-American center Hunter Dickinson, who averaged 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 55% from the field. K.J. Adams and his 12.6 points per game is also back, as is Dajuan Harris, who averaged 8.5 PPG. Elmarko Jackson averaged 4.3 PPG as a freshman and saw his role get bigger as the year went on. He is in line to make a step up as a sophomore.

Coach Bill Self brought in some great pieces too. David Coit was a late add after averaging 20.8 points per game at Northern Illinois. Zeke Mayo averaged 18.8 PPG at South Dakota State. AJ Storr had 16.8 PPG at Wisconsin. Rylan Griffin averaged 11.2 PPG at Alabama and was one of the best role players in the country. Finally, Shakeel Moore averaged 7.9 PPG at Mississippi State.

Self also brings in a pair of top freshman, six-foot-nine center Flory Bidunga, who hails from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and guard Rakease Passmore.

Overall, this is one of the best rosters in the country and should result in Kansas being a national title contender.

Utah Utes

2023-24: 22-15 (9-11 Pac-12), lost in NIT semifinals

The third addition to the Big 12 for this year, the Utes had a deep March run, albeit in the NIT.

The Utes won’t have a ton of production back, but they do bring back Gabe Madsen, who averaged 13.6 points per game at center. Role players Lawson Lovering and Hunter Erickson may be candidates to take steps up.

Utah brings in some decent players from the portal, but most didn’t have large roles at their previous stops. Ezra Ausar did average 11.4 points per game at East Carolina, but the rest averaged in the single digits. The most notable ones are Mason Madsen (Boston College), Mike Sharavmjats (San Francisco) and Keanu Dawes (Rice).

As for freshmen, Jaxon Johnson is a top-100 prospect, while Utah also has a pair of three-stars in David Katoa and Ibrahim Traore.

All in all, it might be a tough season in Utah, but some pieces are there to possibly compete in the higher-level league.

TCU Horned Frogs

2023-24: 21-13 (9-9 Big 12), lost in NCAA first round

TCU had a rough off-season. After a solid 2023-24 all but one player is gone. The only returner is Ernest Udeh Jr., a 4.3 point per game scorer.

Jamie Dixon had a lot to do. He brought in six transfers, five of whom were double digit scorers at their previous schools. Noah Reynolds averaged 20.0 PPG at Green Bay, Trazarien White had 19.8 points and 6.8 rebounds at UNC Wilmington, Vasean Allette had 17.4 PPG at Old Dominion, Frankie Collins had 13.8 PPG at Arizona State and Brendan Wenzel had 11.6 PPG at Wyoming.

TCU will have seven freshmen, two of them top-100 in Micah Robinson and David Punch.

There is a lot of unproven pieces on this TCU roster. It’s very tough to say how this team will look on the court.

Kansas State Wildcats

2023-24: 19-15 (8-10 Big 12), lost in NIT first round

After a run to the Elite Eight in Jerome Tang’s first season at the helm in 2023 things took a dip in Manhattan, not even making the NCAA tournament.

In response, Tang and the Wildcats went hard in the transfer portal to re-tool for this season. K-State was able to get Dug McDaniel, who averaged 16.3 points and 4.7 assists per game at Michigan as well as Coleman Hawkins, who averaged 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game on an Illinois team that went to the Elite Eight.

It also picked up mid-major stars Achor Achor, who averaged 16.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game on a Samford team that almost picked off Kansas in the first round of the tournament, as well as Max Jones, who averaged 15.3 PPG at CSU Fullerton. CJ Jones had 11.3 PPG at UIC. In addition, additions Brendan Hausen (Villanova), Ugonna Onyenso (Kentucky) and Baye Fall (Arkansas) all have high-major experiences.

The only key piece back is David N’Guessan, who averaged 7.8 PPG. Macaleab Rich had a limited role and may take on a larger role.

Overall, a re-tooled Kansas State team should be back at the top half of the league.

Arizona State Sun Devils

2023-24: 14-18 (8-12 Pac-12), no postseason

The fourth and final addition to the Big 12 for this season, the Sun Devils may end up having a rough go of it at first as the program navigates a better league after not being world-beaters in its old league.

Adam Miller, who averaged 12.0 PPG is the only big-time returner, while Shawn Phillips Jr. and Brycen Long each had limited roles and may be asked to take on a larger role.

Coach Bobby Hurley was able to get three very good prospects in top-25 talents Jayden Quaintance and Joson Sanon, while borderline top-50 prospect Amier Ali also joins the fold.

ASU also brings in three mid-major studs who move up to a larger program. BJ Freeman averaged 21.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game at Milwaukee, Basheer Jihad had 18.6 PPG and 8.0 RPG on Ball State, and Alston Mason had 17.5 points per game at Missouri State.

This feels like a team that in theory could compete, but in the best league in the country could prove a real challenge.

Cincinnati Bearcats

2023-24: 22-15 (7-11 Big 12), lost in NIT quarterfinals

A team that went on a solid postseason run, albeit in the NIT, brings back a number of solid pieces.

Leading scorer Dan Skillings Jr., who had 12.9 PPG and 6.5 rebounds per game, returns. As does the Bearcats’ second and third leading scorers Simas Lukosius (11.8 PPG) and Day Day Thomas (11.8 PPG). Leading rebounder Aziz Bandaogo, who grabbed 7.4 rebounds per game while adding 6.6 points per game, is back. Jizzle James seems poised to breakout after he averaged 8.8 points per game as a freshman.

Coach Wes Miller brought in two solid transfers in Connor Hickman, who averaged 14.5 points per game at Bradley, and Dillon Mitchell, who had 9.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game at Texas, starting 33 of 34 games.

A pair of top-100 forwards come in as freshman, six-foot-eight Tyler Betsey and six-foot-nine Tyler McKinley. Both of them have shots at seeing minutes for the Bearcats.

UCF Knights

2023-24: 17-16 (7-11 Big 12), lost in NIT first round

The Knights were looking decent for a minute there, sitting at 12-6 and 3-3 in Big 12 play in late January before losing eight of 12 to close the regular season.

UCF will lose a handful of role players, but the top dogs are still here. Jaylin Sellers, who averaged 15.9 points per game, along with Darius Johnson, who averaged 15.2 points per game, are back.

A number of good transfers come to Orlando for this year. Jordan Ivy-Curry is the best of the bunch after he averaged 17.1 points per game at UTSA. Keyshawn Hall had 16.6 PPG at George Mason and Rokas Jucias had 8.5 PPG at La Salle. Benny Williams had a decent freshman year at Syracuse, seeing limited minutes.

UCF also brings in Mikey Williams, a former five-star prospect who committed to Memphis before a felony gun charge forced him to leave basketball for a time. He has never played a game of college basketball. Coach Johnny Dawkins is giving him a second chance and it will be interesting to see what kind of role he has and what he does with it.

Top-30 prospect Moustapha Thiam, a center standing at seven-foot-two, is sure to have an immediate role as a freshman.

Oklahoma State Cowboys

2023-24: 12-20 (4-14 Big 12), no postseason

It was a rough season in Stillwater last year, resulting in the firing of Mike Boynton after seven seasons at the helm.

Replacing him is former Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Western Kentucky coach Steve Lutz, who is now coaching his third different program in four years as part of a meteoric rise.

The Cowboys bring in 11 transfers. Khalil Brantley, who had 15.1 PPG at La Salle, Arturo Dean, who had 13.1 PPG at FIU, and Brandon Newman, following Lutz from Western Kentucky after averaging 10.1 points per game last season, are the ones who were most productive in their last stops.

Meanwhile, Marchelus Avery (UCF), Abou Ousmane (Xavier), Davonte Davis (Arkansas), Robert Jennings (Texas Tech) and Patrick Suemnick (West Virginia) all had various depth roles at their last stops. In addition, Mikey Kelvin II comes to Stillwater after he averaged 10.1 PPG at Queens University in Canada. Tyler Caron had 12.1 PPG at Division II St. Mary’s in San Antonio.

Bryce Thompson, who had 11.6 PPG last year, is the key returner. Jamyron Keller was a depth piece who is also back. It will be interesting to see how all of these pieces fit together in Lutz’s first year at the helm.

West Virginia Mountaineers

2023-24: 9-23 (4-14 Big 12), no postseason

The summer of 2023 in Morgantown was chaotic and culminated in the dismissal of longtime coach Bob Huggins in June after a drunk driving arrest.

Assistant Josh Eilert ran the program in the interim with little success, the first time the program failed to reach double digit wins since the 2001-02 season and just the third time in the NCAA tournament era (since 1939).

Now leading the Mountaineers is Darian DeVries, who had a ton of mid-major success at Drake. It comes with a complete rebuild of the roster, with 10 transfers.

DeVries brought in his son Tucker, who led the Bulldogs with 21.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Jayden Stone had 20.8 points per game at Detroit Mercy, and Javon Small had 15.1 PPG at Oklahoma State, which may create a fantastic 1-2 punch with Tucker DeVries. Other additions from the portal include Toby Okani (UIC), Eduardo Andre (Fresno State), Joseph Yesufu (Washington State), Sencire Harris (Illinois) and Amani Hansberry (Illinois), who all had various roles. Also coming in is Haris Elezovic, who had 12.2 PPG and 10.3 rebounds per game at Laval University in Canada.

Four-star prospect Jonathan Powell and three-star KJ Tenner are the freshman pieces here.

It may be tough sledding for a bit, but WVU has found a great head coach to lead the program into the future.

By Aidan Joly

It was a rough regular season for the ACC in 2023-24. Teams like Virginia, Miami, Florida State and Louisville had rough seasons behind the traditional powers of Duke and North Carolina.

The NCAA tournament brought success though. Clemson made a nice run to the Elite Eight and NC State went on a nine-game winning streak as part of a miracle run in the conference tournament to steal the league’s automatic bid and then getting to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed.

Heading into 2024-25, the ACC adds two schools from California – Stanford and Cal – as well as one from Dallas in SMU.

Lots of questions linger about how they will compete, as well as how some others will bounce back. Let’s get into it.

North Carolina Tar Heels

2023-24: 25-6 (17-3 ACC), lost in Sweet 16

The Tar Heels got one of the biggest returners of the 2024-25 season, bringing back All-American point guard RJ Davis after he averaged 21.2 points per game. He is sure to be a preseason All-American and has a very good shot at being the best guard in the country in his fifth season. Fellow returner Elliott Cadeau should have a larger role this year too.

It will have to find a way to replace stalwart Armando Bacot. Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin seems like a good candidate to replace at least some of that production after he averaged 12.3 points per game in Nashville last season. Belmont transfer Cade Tyson was quietly one of the better players on the market and he’ll have a great shot at sliding into the starting lineup.

UNC brings in star freshman Ian Jackson, who is No. 7 in the ESPN top 100 as well as Drake Powell, who ranks No. 13. Both should find a role quick in this rotation.

Returners Seth Trimble, Jae’Lyn Withers and Jalen Washington, as well as transfer Tyzhaun Claude (Georgia Tech) should all be able to find various depth roles.

Duke Blue Devils

2023-24: 27-9 (15-5 ACC), lost in Elite Eight

This season is all about the freshmen. Duke has the consensus top recruiting class in the nation, headlined by five five-star prospects. That includes consensus No. 1 prospect Cooper Flagg, the likely top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He is joined by Isaiah Evans (No. 14 in ESPN top 100), Kon Knueppel (No. 18), Pat Ngongba (No. 25), Darren Harris (No. 29) and the fifth five-star is Khaman Maluach.

The team will return Tyrese Proctor, who averaged 10.5 points per game, as well as Caleb Foster, who averaged 7.7 points per game and is an excellent three-point shooter.

It will be interesting to see how Tulane transfer Sion James will fit into this rotation after averaging 14.0 PPG for the Green Wave last year, as well as Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown, who averaged 9.5 PPG. Mason Gillis, who played 132 games for Purdue over four season, is sure to provide veteran leadership even if he doesn’t have much of a role on the court.

Virginia Cavaliers

2023-24: 22-9 (13-7 ACC), lost in First Four

It was a rough season for Virginia and it barely snuck into the NCAA tournament, only to get the doors blown off by Colorado State in Dayton in one of the worst tournament performances in recent memory.

This season, it could be in for a tough battle. It will have to heavily rely on returner Isaac McKneely, who averaged 12.3 points per game last season, as well as freshman Jacob Cofie for offense. Florida State transfer Jalen Warley, who averaged 7.5 points per game for the Seminoles in 2023-24.

After that, there is nobody on the roster who averaged more than 6.2 points per game, and that was San Diego State transfer Elijah Saunders. Kansas State transfer Dai Dai Ames averaged 5.2 PPG last year.

The defense should still be there, so Virginia will win some games on that alone, but it may be tough sledding in Charlottesville this season.

Pittsburgh Panthers

2023-24: 21-10 (12-8 ACC), no postseason

After a solid 2023-24 season just saw Pitt just miss the NCAA tournament, the Panthers re-tooled for this season.

Ishmael Leggett, who averaged 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, will have to step into the role of the go-to guy. He is one of five returners for the season. Jaland Lowe, who averaged 9.5 points per game, will be the best option, while Guillermo Diaz Graham (6.7 PPG) and Zack Austin (6.5 PPG), should also have roles.

Florida State transfer Cam Corhen (9.4 PPG) and Houston transfer Damian Dunn (6.4 PPG), should also have roles. Dunn, in the opinion of the writer of this piece, is one of the best role players in the nation.

An intriguing freshman is four-star prospect Brandin Cummings, which it remains to be seen how much of a role he will have, especially in the first portions of the year. Six-foot-eight Amsal Delalic, six-foot-nine Liam Mignogna and six-foot-ten Amdy Ndiaye are all interesting projects.

SMU Mustangs

2023-24: 20-13 (11-7 American Athletic), lost in NIT first round

SMU did have a 20-win season in 2023-24, but not a lot of them were meaningful. Of the 20 wins, 17 of them were either Quad 3 or Quad 4.

There is a change on the bench, as former USC coach Andy Enfield takes the reigns in Dallas after 11 seasons in Los Angeles. He replaces Rob Lanier, who was fired after two seasons and a record of 30-35.

Enfield was able to retain second-leading scorer Chuck Harris, who averaged 13.5 points per game, as well as 3.5 assists. Keon-Ambrose Hilton, who averaged 6.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, is back as well.

Enfield did bring in some intriguing transfers, including Wake Forest’s Kevin Miller (15.3 PPG), UMass’ Matt Cross (15.3 PPG), UC Santa Barbara’s Yohan Traore (14.5 PPG), San Jose State’s Tibet Gorener (11.4 PPG), Long Beach State’s AJ George (10.6 PPG) and Oregon’s Kario Oquendo (7.2 PPG). Miller is the best of these options as he has proven he can play well at the ACC level, but many of them are guys who scored a lot at the mid-major level and may need a learning curve.

The only noteworthy freshman is six-foot-seven forward Chance Puryear, a three-star prospect.

This is SMU’s first season in the ACC, and it will be interesting to see how this cast of players does in a higher-level league.

Clemson Tigers

2023-24: 24-12 (11-9 ACC), lost in Elite Eight

It was a surprisingly good season for Clemson in 2023-24, reaching the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018 and going to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1980.

It won’t be the best roster in the league in 2024-25, but it has talent on it. PJ Hall and Joseph Girard III are gone, but Chase Hunter (12.9 PPG) and Ian Schieffelin (10.1 PPG) are both back and should be the two go-to scorers for the Tigers.

The rest of the key parts of the roster come via transfer, headlined by Jake Heidbreder, who did not play college basketball last season due to a redshirt, but averaged 15.1 PPG at Air Force in 2022-23. Jaeden Zackery, who averaged 11.3 PPG at Boston College, and Myles Foster, who averaged 12.4 PPG and 8.1 rebounds per game at Illinois State, also arrive. Viktor Lakhin, who averaged 9.2 PPG at Cincinnati, has high-major experience.

Dallas Thomas is a top-100 freshman, and Del Jones and Ace Buckner are both solid freshman who may see some playing time this season.

The confidence within the program is sky-high after a deep postseason run. We will see how they can follow it up.

Syracuse Orange

2023-24: 20-12 (11-9 ACC), no postseason

It was a solid first season with Adrian Autry at the helm after taking over for Jim Boeheim, but it was still not enough to find a spot in the NCAA tournament.

The Orange will look to change that in 2023-24. It’s hard to believe Syracuse has missed the tournament three years in a row, the program’s longest drought in half a century.

The losses of Judah Mintz and Quadir Copeland definitely hurt, but the Orange bring back JJ Starling, who averaged 13.3 PPG, as well as Chris Bell, who averaged 12.0 PPG.

As for newcomers, the Orange bring in five-star prospect Donnie Freeman, a six-foot-nine forward who will be relied on for production on both sides of the floor as well as grabbing rebounds. Eddie Lampkin Jr., who averaged 10.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game at Colorado last season, will be relied upon too.

Jyare Davis, who put up big numbers at Delaware last year, is here. Lucas Taylor averaged 14.5 PPG at Georgia State, and Jaquan Carlos averaged 10.4 PPG at Hofstra. Former top-50 prospect Chance Westry played 11 games for Auburn in 2022-23 before a knee injury.

Syracuse plays a ton of marquee non-conference games. It will have to rack wins to get back to the postseason.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

2023-24: 21-14 (11-9 ACC), lost in NIT second round

Wake Forest was certainly on track to make the NCAA tournament, sitting at 18-9 and 10-6 in ACC play before a late-season collapse that saw it lost four of its last six regular season and conference tournament games, settling for the NIT.

The aforementioned Kevin Miller as well as Andrew Carr are gone, but Steve Forbes’ squad returns a solid core. That includes Hunter Sallis, who tested the NBA waters before opting to return to school, and Cameron Hildreth, who averaged 13.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Efton Reid III averaged 9.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest. He is back too.

Two interesting transfers come in: TreVon Spillers, who averaged 12.8 points an 8.9 rebounds per game at Appalachian State, as well as Ty-Laur Johnson, who averaged 8.7 PPG at Louisville.

Juke Harris is a top-100 prospect coming to Winston-Salem.

If the Demon Deacons can remain in the top five of the ACC and avoid another late-season slide, the NCAA tournament should be a realistic goal.

Virginia Tech Hokies

2023-24: 19-15 (10-10 ACC), lost in NIT second round

Virginia Tech is losing a ton of talent from the 2023-24 squad, including stalart point guard Sean Pedulla, Hunter Cattoor and Lynn Kidd, so there are question marks as to where the production will come from.

Mylyjael Poteat, who averaged 6.4 points per game in Blacksburg last season, will surely be asked to take a step up. Other than that, it will have to be newcomers.

Hysier Miller, who averaged 15.9 PPG at Temple last season, should have an immediate starting role. Ben Burnham averaged 11.9 PPG on a Charleston team that won 27 games, and Toibu Lawal averaged 7.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game at VCU. Top-100 freshman Ryan Jones, who stands at six-foot-eight, should likely have something of a role from the jump.

Coach Mike Young likely enters this season on the hot seat. Virginia Tech will probably need to have a good season for him to stick around. The pressure is on.

Florida State Seminoles

2023-24: 17-16 (10-10 ACC), no postseason

It was a very disappointing season in Tallahassee in 2023-24, with the Seminoles missing the postseason for a third consecutive season.

It must take a step up in 2024-25. However, most of the production has to come from new faces.

Getting back Jamir Watkins, who averaged 15.6 points per game in 2023-24, is a huge piece for Leonard Hamilton’s team. Chandler Jackson, who averaged 4.9 points per game, returns as well and should be thrust into a larger role.

The most notable transfers include Bostyn Holt, who averaged 12.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game at South Dakota, and Jerry Deng, who averaged 10.1 points per game and Hampton.

There are five freshman on the roster, headlined by six-foot-nine top-100 prospect Alier Maluk and a pair of four-star guys in DaQuan Davis and A.J. Swinton.

It is a young team in Tallahassee, that is the storyline.

Cal Golden Bears

2023-24: 13-19 (9-11 Pac-12), no postseason

The second of three additions to the ACC for 2024-25. Cal’s record wasn’t pretty in Mark Madsen’s first season at the helm, but it was serious progress: it was the program’s most league wins since 2016-17.

But it may be a serious challenge for the Golden Bears in 2024-25 as it makes a jump to a more competitive league.

However, Madsen seemed to realize this and brought in 10 transfers. The best of them are B.J. Omot, who averaged 16.7 PPG at North Dakota, Rytis Petraitis, who had 15.7 points and 6.3 points per game at Air Force and UTSA transfer Christian Tucker (11.3 PPG). A most intriguing one is Andrej Stojakovic, who averaged 7.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as a freshman.

In addition, Mady Sissoko (Michigan State), Lee Dort (Vanderbilt) and Spencer Mahoney (Washington State) all have high-major experience.

It might be a small rebuild in year one in the ACC, but it’s easy to believe in Madsen and what he can build in Berkeley.

Stanford Cardinal

2023-24: 14-18, (8-12 Pac-12), no postseason

There will be low expectations for Stanford in 2024-25. It leaves the Pac-12 having not won the league since 2004, has not made the NCAA tournament since 2014 and has not had a 20-win season since 2019-20.

Jerod Haase was fired minutes after the season ended last year after eight seasons. Enter former Washington State head coach Kyle Smith, at the helm after he got the Cougars to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008.

It will be an almost entire new team. Smith was able to retain leading scorer Maxime Raynaud, but that is it for go-to guys. Benny Gealer returns after averaging 4.2 points per game, but the rest of the returners are guys on the end of the bench.

As for newcomers, Chisom Okpara averaged 16.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game at Harvard in 2023-24. Derin Saran averaged 10.1 PPG at UC Irvine. Oziyah Sellers (USC) and Jaylen Blakes (Duke) have high-major experience. Stanford also brought in Cole Kastner, a former All-American lacrosse player at Virginia.

As previously noted, expectations will be low for Smith’s first season. Don’t expect the Cardinal to compete for much.

NC State Wolfpack

2023-24: 26-15 (9-11 ACC), lost in Final Four

A miracle run for the Wolfpack ended all the way in the Final Four last spring. NC State was not in the conversation for an at-large bid, won five games in five days to win the ACC tournament, and then advanced to the national semifinals as a No. 11 seed.

Many of the key pieces from that run, including DJ Horne, DJ Burns Jr. and Casey Morsell are gone.

The key returning piece is Jayden Taylor, the guard who averaged 11.2 points per game in 2023-24. Role players Ben Middlebrooks, Michael O’Connell and Dennis Parker Jr. are all back as well.

It does bring in one of the best players in the MAC last season in Marcus Hill, who averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for Bowling Green. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is also a solid add after he averaged 12.9 PPG at Louisville. Coming with him is Cardinal teammate Mike James, who averaged 12.6 PPG. Dontrez Styles did well on a bad Georgetown team. Finally, French-Canadian forward Ismael Diouf joins the team after averaging 10.1 PPG at Laval University in Quebec.

As for freshman, Paul McNeil is a top-50 prospect, while four-star combo guard Bryce Heard projects as a solid prospect. NC State also brought in three-star Atlanta guard Tremayne Parker.

It will be tough to recreate last year’s magic. But the Wolfpack can certainly have success this season.

Boston College Eagles

2023-24: 20-16 (8-12 ACC), lost in NIT second round

The 2023-24 season was the best in over a decade on Chestnut Hill, winning 20 games for the first time since the 2010-11 season and playing in the postseason for the first time since 2018. It won a postseason game for the first time since 2007.

Unfortunately for Earl Grant and BC, it has to start from square one after losing just about every piece from that team. The only noteworthy returners are Donald Hand Jr., who averaged 5.0 PPG as a freshman, and Chas Kelly III, who will likely be forced into the starting point guard role.

From there, it’s all new faces. Dion Brown is the biggest one, who averaged 19.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game for UMBC, he will likely be thrust into a large role. Roger McFarlane was a do-it-all guard for Southeast Louisiana, averaging 14.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Chad Venning averaged 13.4 points per game at St. Bonaventure.

The only notable freshman is four-star, six-foot-nine forward Kany Tchanda.

It’s an interesting mix of talent, we will have to see if they can get any sort of results.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

2023-24: 14-18 (7-13 ACC), no postseason

After an 8-3 start to Damon Stoudamire’s first season at the helm in Atlanta, things took a nosedive and the Yellow Jackets went 6-15 the rest of the way.

Georgia Tech does return some solid pieces, including Baye Ndongo, who averaged 12.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Lance Terry missed all of the 2023-24 season due to injury, but averaged 10.6 points per game here in 2022-23. Naithan George had a great freshman year, starting 28 games and averaging 9.8 PPG. Kowacie Reeves Jr. also averaged 9.8 PPG and started all 32 games.

Highly coveted transfer Javian McCollum arrives in Atlanta after averaging 13.3 PPG at Oklahoma. He also finished second in the country in free throw percentage at 94.3%. Duncan Powell averaged 12.1 PPG at Sacramento State, and Luke O’Brien was a solid role guy at Colorado.

As for freshman, Jaeden Mustaf is a top-70 prospect, while Stoudamire also brings in a pair of four-stars in Darrion Sutton and Doryan Onwuchekwa.

The Yellow Jackets will be looking for a rebound. We’ll see how it goes.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

2023-24: 13-20 (7-13 ACC), no postseason

The rebuild of the program continues under Micah Shrewsberry, entering his second season in South Bend.

Continuity is the name of the game here. Notre Dame will return seven players from last year’s team, including all of the top four leading scorers in Markus Burton (17.5 PPG), Braeden Shrewsberry (10.2 PPG), Tae Davis (9.2 PPG) and J.R. Konieczny (7.7 PPG).

It also brings in a few solid pieces, including Matt Allocco, who averaged 12.7 PPG at Princeton, and Nikita Konstantynovskyi, who averaged 9.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game at Monmouth.

Two top-100 prospects, Nasir Mohammed and Cole Certa, arrive in South Bend, as does four-star Garrett Sundra.

With many key pieces returning, a next step should be expected to be taken, that being at least in the conversation for the NCAA tournament. Shrewsberry is a great coach, and people should be confident he can get it done.

Miami Hurricanes

2023-24: 15-17 (6-14 ACC), no postseason

It was a very disappointing season for Miami. It was as high as No. 8 in the nation at the beginning of the year, was 15-7 and 6-5 in the ACC on Feb. 3, and then did not win a game the rest of the season.

It forced Miami coach Jim Larrañaga to do a major roster overhaul. Only three players will return, but Matthew Cleveland (13.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG), and Nijel Pack (13.3 PPG) are major guys to keep around. Norchad Omier, Wooga Poplar, Bensley Joseph and Kyshawn George all depart.

As for additions, Miami grabbed one of the best mid-major players on the portal market in Jalen Blackmon, who averaged 21.3 PPG at Stetson and dropped 43 in the ASUN conference title game. It also added Brandon Johnson from East Carolina, Lynn Kidd from Virginia Tech, A.J. Stanton-McCray from Samford and Kiree Huie from Idaho State.

It also got one top-1o freshman Jalil Bethea, a guard who should have an immediate role. Miami also brings in top-50 prospect Austin Schwartz.

With this talent, Miami should be able to rebound from a tough second half. There will be some expectations.

Louisville Cardinals

2023-24: 8-24 (3-17 ACC), no postseason

After a second straight disastrous season, Louisville fired Kenny Payne. Payne went a horrid 12-52 in two seasons in a tenure that is sure to go down as one of the worst in recent memory.

Former Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey is now here, a high-energy coach who is already on track to bring Louisville back to its proud status.

That does mean a major overhaul. Louisville does not return a single player from last year’s team.

Kelsey had three players, Reyne Smith, Kobe Rogers and James Scott, follow him from Charleston. They all had varying levels of production.

The notable players on the roster include Terrence Edwards Jr. (James Madison), Kasean Pryor (South Florida), Aboubacar Traore (Long Beach State), J’Vonne Hadley (Colorado), Koren Johnson (Washington), Noah Waterman (BYU), and Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin). All of them produced at their previous stops, and all will have roles as Louisville looks to turn things around.

NCAA tournament could be a solid goal in year one of the Pat Kelsey era.

By Aidan Joly

The Pac-12 has a new life and a new look.

On Thursday it was announced that the Pac-12 would officially make a return, announcing the addition of Mountain West schools San Diego State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Boise State in 2026. They will join the two schools left out of the shuffle during the last conference realignment, Oregon State and Washington State.

The moves create a large shift in the makeup of college sports on the west coast.

Six months ago the Mountain West was on a high note as it sent six of its teams to the NCAA tournament, more than the ACC, Big East and the on-its-deathbed Pac-12.

Sure, the Mountain West is a flawed conference. It doesn’t have the type of media rights contract that the new Pac-12 will likely end up having, and didn’t quite get to the point where it could be considered the west coast’s version of the Big East.

Still, it was a highly competitive conference that boasted some great atmospheres: The Pit at New Mexico, Viejas Arena at San Diego State and The Spectrum at Utah State. San Diego State and Boise State have always been in the top half of the standings and have been hunting for a power conference home for years. San Jose State and Air Force have been at the bottom of the league for the most part over the years, but just about every other team in the league has had success in recent years, save for Fresno State – mostly due to a lack of resources.

It is also worth noting that the new Pac-12 isn’t done. It must add two more teams by ’26 to be considered an FBS conference. UNLV, Utah State, Nevada and New Mexico are all good programs with resources. UNLV seems like it would be a likely target to pick up the Las Vegas market. It would be wise for Cal and Stanford to bite the bullet of ACC exit fees to re-join the league to limit travel.

The thing that gets tricky is deciding where the Mountain West goes from here. It has lost four of its 11 programs and could very well lose more. It could go after some in Conference USA, a league at this point that is filled with nomads stretching from Florida to New Mexico. New Mexico State, Sam Houston State and UTEP are the most obvious fits there. Perhaps Hawaii, already in the league for football, will become a full member.

It could also dip into smaller conferences and try to add the likes of North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Montana, Montana State, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho and the like, but the wrinkle there is that these are all schools that dominate at the FCS level of football. All seven of those schools I mentioned are all currently ranked in the top 10 in the country at the FCS level. North Dakota State has won nine FCS national championships since 2011 and South Dakota State is the current back-to-back defending champs. Five of those seven made the quarterfinals of the FCS playoff last season. It would have to convince schools that dominate FCS to make the move up to FBS, where success isn’t guaranteed. Football is king when it comes to college athletics, but would those schools be willing to give that up? That’s a question only they can answer.

FBS football is already bloated, too. There are currently 134 FBS teams, a few dozen of which have little to no business being there.

It’s disappointing to see what is happening to the Mountain West. That league has had the juice in basketball in recent years and showed that it could compete with some of the best leagues in the country. Some of these schools will surely be worse off in a decade.

It’s all the complications of football-driven money grabs.

By Aidan Joly

One thing you can say about the Memphis Tigers basketball program: it knows how to generate a headline.

You can say a lot of other things about the Memphis program and head coach Penny Hardaway since the program legend was hired in 2018.

The program generated another pair of headlines this week, the first being when Hardaway fired four assistant coaches, including lead assistant and former Western Kentucky head coach Rick Stansbury, two months before the season begins.

Later in the week, the program acknowledged to Sports Illustrated that it had received a letter from the NCAA alleging multiple rules violations, including improper payments to a player in 2022.

This is the latest in several issues for the program since Hardaway has been running it. That includes an 18-month investigation into the recruitment of James Wiseman, who played all of three games at Memphis, served a seven-game suspension, and then left the school in 2019-20. Hardaway was suspended for three games himself at the beginning of the 2023-24 season for recruiting and head coach responsibility violations. That came before Malcolm Dandridge was held out of the final five games of the season for academic reasons.

In the Wiseman case, Hardaway was cleared of any wrongdoing because he helped Wiseman with moving expenses before he became the head coach and did it as a philanthropist to Memphis, but the program was placed on probation (which lasts until September 2025) and fined.

More recently, the program had successfully recruited Mikey Williams, a top-ranked recruit who never played a game for Memphis after he was arrested on a gun charge. He is now a felon and will play for UCF this season.

According to The Daily Memphian, the program has churned through 41 employees, 17 of them in coaching or operations, since Hardaway was hired in 2018.

And all of this is for middling basketball. In six years with Hardaway at the helm, Memphis has only finished in the top two in the American Athletic Conference one time, has only made the NCAA tournament twice, and has only won one tournament game. He has an overall record of 133-62 and a league mark of 69-36.

He had replaced Tubby Smith, an honorable man whose integrity was never in question during his three-decade career, but who was simply not the right fit at Memphis. He was fired after two seasons and a 40-26 record (19-17 in league play).

The hiring of Hardaway, a native son and a beloved figure in the city, was supposed to generate excitement and fill the arena. At first it did, and the program had some juice for the first time since John Calipari was the head coach and Derrick Rose was the star player. The brand was nationally relevant again. But then weird thing after weird thing happened and the glamor went away as the embarrassing headlines started to take over.

That glamor on the court is still not there six years later. For Memphis, the headaches off the court should no longer be worth the mediocrity on the court.

By Aidan Joly

The college basketball coaching carousel was full speed ahead this off-season. It brought a record 68 changes across Division I.

Many struggling programs made moves, including Louisville, Washington, Michigan, Stanford and DePaul. Additionally, high profile moves occurred at Kentucky, Arkansas, USC, BYU and West Virginia. All-around, there are significant changes coming to who is patrolling the sidelines in 2024-25.

The list of coaches on the hot seat heading into the new season feels thin, probably due to the sheer number of moves made last year. However, there are still a handful of programs who may make a move if things go south. Here are seven of them.

Kyle Neptune, Villanova

Neptune was given an unenviable task of replacing Jay Wright at Villanova in 2022.

His first season was a rocky one, but with injuries to key pieces in Justin Moore and Cam Whitmore made a 17-17 season a little more forgivable.

Villanova started 6-1 and won the Battle 4 Atlantis at the beginning of last year but then things unraveled, finishing with an 18-16 record and a second straight season of 10-10 in Big East play. Needless to say, that was not good enough to make the NCAA tournament in either year. Neptune has now missed two tournaments in two years. Before that, Villanova had only missed twice in 18 years and won two national titles in that time.

Patience is already wearing thin on the Main Line. If Villanova misses for a third straight year, it will likely be the end of the road for Neptune. The program can’t, and shouldn’t, put up with that.

Mike Woodson, Indiana

Some thought Woodson should have gotten the axe this past spring, especially with alumnus and now-Michigan coach Dusty May ready to make the move up from Florida Atlantic.

Woodson went 21-14 in year one and made the NCAA tournament, but that was largely in part due to the presence of Trayce Jackson-Davis, who was recruited by the previous regime. The Hoosiers went 19-14 and 10-10 in Big Ten play last year and missed the tournament.

His resume is solid, with a Round of 64 win in 2023 and two NCAA appearances to boot, but this is Indiana. Expectations are sky-high. The conversations will get louder if Indiana misses again, especially with one of the top incoming transfer classes.

Dennis Gates, Missouri

Gates has had a VERY different two seasons at Missouri.

In year one, the Tigers went 25-10 and 11-7 in the SEC, spent time in the top 25 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament as a No. 7 seed.

In year two Missouri completely bottomed out, going 0-18 in the SEC and 8-24 overall. It only won one game after Dec. 3. It was a stunning drop off after a wildly promising first season.

Which season is the outlier here? It’s tough to tell right now. Gates does bring in a great freshman class as well as some talented transfers in Mark Mitchell from Duke and Tony Perkins from Iowa.

Gates won’t have to win 25 games and appear in the top 25 to keep his job, but he certainly needs to avoid going winless in league play again.

Bobby Hurley, Arizona State

Hurley has led Arizona State to be a consistent program over the past nine years and has a record of 155-131.

However, the Sun Devils have only reached the NCAA tournament three times in those nine years, all as a No. 11 seed, and has not been to advance past the Round of 64. Last year’s mark of 14-18 was the worst season of his tenure in Tempe.

On top of that, the program will play its first season in the significantly more challenging Big 12 this year. He brought in a good recruiting class featuring Jayden Quaintance, but the pressure will be on for him to finish above .500 and reach the NCAA tournament. That feels like a tall task in year one in the Big 12.

Mike Young, Virginia Tech

Young has brought the Hokies to a pair of NCAA tournaments in five years at the helm but has not yet won a game.

Since then he has had back-t0-back 19-15 seasons after a surprising ACC title in 2022. It’s not bad, but Buzz Williams had four straight 20-win seasons in Blacksburg before departing for Texas A&M. By comparison, Young has won 20 games just once in five years.

Virginia Tech has had good guard play over the years, but the results have been pedestrian. If it’s another below-average season, it may be the end of the road.

Earl Grant, Boston College

Grant’s seat is certainly not scorching, especially after bringing Boston College to its first 20-win season since 2010-11 and its first postseason appearance of any kind since 2018.

Still, Grant is under .500 overall and in ACC play in three seasons. There has been marginal year-to-year improvement.

However, if there is a drop-off, the seat could get a little warmer.

Porter Moser, Oklahoma

You would think Moser’s record in three seasons in Oklahoma would be better, but he is 20-35 in Big 12 play across three seasons and 54-45 overall.

He has not made the NCAA tournament yet after Oklahoma only missed the tournament once between 2013 and 2021 under Lon Kruger.

Couple this with a move to the SEC this season, it feels like Moser will have to guide Oklahoma to the NCAA tournament in order to keep his job. Oklahoma fans should not tolerate a fourth straight miss.

Bonus: Tom Izzo, Michigan State

This very likely won’t be Izzo’s last season in East Lansing. But the criticisms of Izzo have started to get louder the past year or two, with some saying the game is beginning to pass him by.

There are at least a few fair criticisms in there, and it feels reminiscent of people starting to criticize Jim Boeheim towards the end of his run at Syracuse. MSU hasn’t won more than 11 Big Ten games since 2019-20, but there hasn’t been an NCAA tournament miss.

He won’t be fired. You absolutely cannot fire Tom Izzo. But could he retire? He will turn 70 years old during the 2024-25 season. That is certainly a possibility within the next couple years.

By Aidan Joly

When Team USA takes the court for the next Olympics as the 2028 hosts in Los Angeles, the squad could have a very different look.

This comes after Team USA’s 98-87 win over France in the gold medal game on Saturday, clinching a gold for the star-studded group and the program’s fifth straight gold.

As accomplished as the group was, it was also an old group – the oldest Team USA has ever fielded. It featured 39-year-old LeBron James, 36-year-old Stephen Curry and 35-year-old (soon to be 36) Kevin Durant. You can’t rule any of them out for 2028, but it’s unlikely that all three will still be playing in the NBA in 2028, much less the Olympics.

Some borderline cases are here with Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis, the former has expressed interest in playing for Cameroon in 2028 rather than the US. Davis will be 35 in 2028. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White seem unlikely to be back too.

That being said, here are my predictions for what Team USA will look like in 2-2028.

Anthony Edwards, guard

Age in 2028: 26

My 2028 roster does not contain a single MVP as of yet, but Edwards is most likely to change that sometime in the next four years. He just turned 23, is one of the league’s budding superstars and still has plenty of time to develop. It’s easy to see him being the face of Team USA in Los Angeles after getting a taste this time around.

Jayson Tatum, forward

Age in 2028: 30

After winning a title with the Celtics in June, Tatum was out of the rotation for much of these games, but that was in part due to being behind James and Durant. The path to playing time should be much clearer in 2028 and he should emerge as one of the veteran leaders in what would be his third Olympics.

Tyrese Haliburton, guard

Age in 2028: 28

Haliburton played a bit role off the bench during Team USA’s exhibition games before the Olympics, but we barely saw him during the Olympic games themselves. His game fits well in the FIBA system in terms of shooting and playmaking. He should have an argument to be the starting point guard in four years.

Devin Booker, guard

Age in 2028: 31

Los Angeles would be Booker’s third games and he should still be in the back half of his prime by the time it rolls around. He was a strong complementary piece to the stars of this year’s team and should have a larger role in 2028, especially defensively.

Bam Adebayo, center

Age in 2028: 30

A Team USA mainstay throughout the last few years, Adebayo has carved out a role as a bit player as a good defender who can play both power forward and center. The FIBA three-point line also makes things a little more comfortable for him playing inside.

That’s it for the returners, now onto the new players.

Jalen Brunson, guard

Age in 2028: 31

Some said Brunson’s exclusion in these Olympics with Haliburton getting the spot was a snub. He was arguably the best American player not in Paris. He’ll be over 30 in 2028, but he plays a skill-based game that should result in productivity well into his 30s. Brunson’s addition hinges on the assumption that Curry does not return.

Chet Holmgren, center

Age in 2028: 26

Holmgren should be a shoe-in for 2028. He’s one of the best young defenders in the league, and Team USA will need someone to defend Victor Wembanyama if they so happen to see France again in four years. They finished 1-2 in Rookie of the Year voting this season. His game translates very well to FIBA rules. He has experience with USA Basketball as part of the U19 team in 2021.

Paolo Banchero, forward

Age in 2028: 25

Banchero has played on the senior national team before, coming off the bench in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023 after he originally committed to playing for Italy. He is one of the young offensive forces in the league right now and should be even better by 2028. He’ll give Team USA some much-needed size.

Jalen Williams, wing

Age in 2028: 27

I struggled with where to go for this wing spot, but I gave the nod to Williams based on his three-point shooting ability and his defense. He is one of the better young players in the league playing beside Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Oklahoma City. He should be able to carve out a depth role off the bench in 2028. He’ll be in his prime around then.

Cooper Flagg, wing

Age in 2028: 21

There was scuttlebutt about Flagg, just 17 right now, making the roster as the lone amateur player after he worked out with and held his own against the Olympic team earlier in the summer. He’s set to head to Duke in the fall and is already the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He’s surely a future Olympian. A few knocks though: seniority matters, and only two players since 2004 have made Team USA before their 22nd birthday: Anthony Davis in 2012 and Keldon Johnson as a last-second add in 2021.

Zion Williamson, forward

Age in 2028: 28

Williamson and Tyrese Maxey were the lone players who received All-NBA votes this year but were not in the initial player pool. Williamson is finally coming into his own in the NBA after a few injury-plagued seasons to start his career. It’s impossible to say where he will be physically in four years, but if he’s healthy he should get a nod.

Ja Morant, guard

Age in 2028: 28

I was down to Morant and Donovan Mitchell for the last spot, but I went with Morant. He is one of the most electrifying players in the NBA right now and may have gotten more consideration if not for injury issues and a behavior-related suspension limiting him to just nine games in 2023-24. As long as he gets his career back on track, he would be a great candidate.

Other players considered: Kevin Durant (on 2024 roster), Joel Embiid (on 2024 roster), Anthony Davis (on 2024 roster), Jaylen Brown, Desmond Bane, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey, Evan Mobley, Brandon Miller

By Aidan Joly

The 2024 NBA Draft is complete. It was a historic draft in some ways, some of those ways better than others.

Most notably, it sets up the first father-son combination on a team for the first time in league history, which felt inevitable. More on that in a second.

Here are nine takeaways from the NBA Draft.

The Bronny-Lakers sideshow

This draft became quite a Bronny James-Lakers sideshow.

It always felt inevitable that the Lakers were going to select the son of LeBron James with the 55th pick of the draft. But that doesn’t mean the ordeal was exhausting. We have never talked about a 55th overall pick as much as we have with this one.

A question I’ve been asked for months: is Bronny actually any good? The answer I’ve given is not really. This is a player who struggled to see consistent minutes on a bad USC team once he recovered from a cardiac arrest at a workout last summer. Bronny James was always going to be there when it came time for the 55th pick.

It did always behoove the Lakers to take Bronny as an inexpensive insurance policy to sway potential free agent LeBron to stay. It would have been very funny to see another team take him a few picks before, which would have likely forced the Lakers’ hand to overpay to trade for him, or see him play overseas, or even just sit him out.

Now, LeBron has his podcast co-host as his coach and his son as a teammate. Yeah.

Very few 55th overall picks have been stars. Some past 55th overall picks have carved out decent careers such as Patty Mills (2009), Jeremy Evans (2010) and E’Twaun Moore (2011), but the cards are against Bronny being anything in the NBA.

Soon, we’ll have endless updates from the Lakers’ Summer League games, which start on July 6. I’m exhausted already, but he moves the needle.

French connection

After Victor Wembanyama went first overall last year, we had three French players selected in the first six picks and four in the first round overall.

Zaccharie Risacher went first overall to the Atlanta Hawks, Alex Sarr went second to the Washington Wizards after he was seen after the first pick for a long time, and then Tidjane Salaun went sixth to the Charlotte Hornets. For good measure, Pacome Dadiet went 25th to the New York Knicks.

With how good Wembanyama was in his rookie year for San Antonio, the French influence will be there when it comes to prospects for the next few years. In this group, it seems like Sarr would be the one most likely to end up being a good NBA player.

Timberwolves get a steal

The Minnesota Timberwolves, who did not have much to speak of in terms of draft assets, somehow were able to trade into the lottery and snatch up Rob Dillingham with the eighth pick.

Minnesota is a team on the rise and Anthony Edwards is a budding superstar. It needed three things: a shot creator in the second unit, a succession plan for 36-year-old point guard Mike Conley and young talent to surround Edwards with. Dillingham should solve all three of those problems if he hits.

It didn’t have to give up much for it, either: a pick swap in 2030 and a first-round pick in 2031. Minnesota will definitely have some salary cap issues this summer, certainly a concern for a team that has ownership issues. But when it comes to being a contender right now, the Timberwolves have what it needs.

The Timberwolves also picked up Terrence Shannon with the 27th pick. He’s another guy with high upside.

Wizards loading up

Washington was able to pick up their center of the future with the aforementioned Alex Sarr, but also picked up guard Bub Carrington with 14th overall pick and high-upside guard Kyshawn George with the 24th pick.

They picked up Carrington after trading Deni Avdija to the Portland Trail Blazers. For their troubles, Washington also picked up sure-handed guard Malcolm Brogdon, a nice veteran presence. Washington also picked up a 2029 first round pick during the night’s events.

It’s hard to say how any of these guys will turn out in Washington, but Sarr and Carrington should get immediate playing time for a team that needs help on just about every position on the court. They did well to get a nice variety grab bag of prospects.

Best fit in the draft

It’s kind of funny to say that the guy the Spurs picked is the best fit in the draft because of course it’s a good fit, it’s the Spurs.

San Antonio picked up Stephon Castle with the third overall pick. He is the latest key piece to San Antonio’s rebuild and will be a good guard to have play along Wembanyama. He is a physical defensive force, and paired along a generational paint protector. It’s a recipe that the Celtics just used to win a title, and one Minnesota used to get to the Western Conference Finals.

San Antonio also got some picks, which will be important to keep having good picks as the rebuild continues and their own picks get lower and lower.

Lakers do get a steal in the first

As much as I criticized the Lakers’ for that second round pick becoming such a sideshow, they did do well in the first round.

Los Angeles got Dalton Knecht after he slid down from a potential top 10 pick, getting him at 17th overall. There were some concerns with his age (23) that led to him sliding down the draft.

However, this may have been the steal of the entire draft. Knecht should immediately become a player in the Lakers’ rotation, a good shooter who will be taking passes from LeBron will taking instruction from one of the best shooters and 0ff-ball players of all time in new coach JJ Redick. That is a dream for Knecht.

For the Lakers, they get a top-10 talent and will be able to save some salary cap on him since that slot commands a much smaller rookie deal. It’s a fantastic deal for Los Angeles.

Nuggets get aggressive

The Denver Nuggets’ title defense ended in a heartbreaking second-round loss to the Timberwolves.

Denver has a high-salary core, which will not be easy to replace. It is already likely to lose Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency. It also shedded $5.2 in cap space by trading Reggie Jackson to Charlotte. So, Denver had to be aggressive on draft night to get young, serviceable reserves on the cheap.

It did that, surrendering the Phoenix Suns three second-round picks to move up from No. 28 overall to No. 22 overall to pick up DaRon Holmes II.

Holmes is older and experienced (he will be 22 by the start of the season) and will give Denver a frontcourt option behind Nikola Jokic. He’s a good shooter and is a high-energy player, so he should be a welcome addition in Denver.

All of this being said, it will be interesting to see how the Nuggets get to right around the luxury tax in the coming weeks and months.

The most divisive pick

Zach Edey, the 7-foot-4 behemoth who led Purdue to the national title game, ended up questionably going in the lottery with the Memphis Grizzlies taking him at No. 9 overall.

It’s unclear how he will work out in the NBA. He was extremely effective in the Big Ten in terms of how he played in the middle, but the focus on speed and the perimeter in the NBA will challenge him in ways that college basketball didn’t.

The fit is an issue here, too. Memphis is a team that wants to run with Ja Morant and co., including former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson in the middle right now. Adding Edey and pushing Jackson to the four would absolutely make Memphis slower.

Edey is also unlikely to be with Memphis much of the summer as he trains for the Olympics with Team Canada.

Everyone has their opinion on him, and we might not see much of him in the NBA until October.

What are the Pistons doing? Also, we’re seeing the death of G-League Ignite

The Detroit Pistons took Ron Holland with the fifth overall pick from G-League Ignite.

You have to somewhat feel for the Pistons. Two years in a row, they have been in position for the first overall pick and fell all the way to fifth in the lottery.

Still, that doesn’t make what they did not baffling. Holland is a major swing for the fences pick and is a guy who did not show any signs of being NBA-ready in the G-League.

The fit doesn’t make sense either. The Pistons need to surround poor shooters in Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey with shooters, and Holland is simply not a shooter. If you really wanted Holland, he likely would have still been available if you traded back. Or, Donovan Clingan was still there.

The Pistons are 31-133 over the past two seasons. Oh yeah, and they still don’t have a coach. Even worse, it came out on Friday that James Borrego reportedly took his name out of the running for the job. Not many options out there for Detroit now. It’s probably going to be another long year.

As a side note here: we’re seeing why the G-League Ignite is shutting down. Membership is seeming to hurt players more than help. Matas Buzelis fell to 11th before he was picked by his hometown Chicago Bulls, while Tyler Smith ended up slipping to the second round.

Once a premier destination for top prospects and then produced players not ready for the league, the NBA began to no longer fund the program, and it died an ugly death.

Some other quick hits:

• Jared McCain in Philadelphia feels like a very, very good fit. He feels like a player who is ready to compete in the NBA, and should quickly.
• I don’t love the fit for Donovan Clingan in Portland. With DeAndre Ayton and Robert Williams already there, Clingan will likely get pushed down the depth chart. Unless they trade one of the two, or both.
• Devin Carter, one of my favorite players in the draft, goes to Sacramento. Solid fit there.
• Utah gets decent value after Kyle Filipowski fell to the second round. It seemed to be for some, uh, reasons other than basketball. It’s some wild rumors that you can Google.
• The Knicks got great value in the second round with Tyler Kolek. He is likely to be a solid bit player in New York.
• Let’s go back to a one day format next year. Doing this over two days stunk.

By Aidan Joly

It’s now been a few weeks since UConn coach Dan Hurley turned down a lucrative offer to leave Storrs for the glitz and glamor of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Plenty of top college basketball coaches have been lured to the NBA over the years. The most recent was John Beilein, who left Michigan for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019. Beilein didn’t even last a full season before he stepped down, proving how tough it is.

Billy Donovan took Florida to back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007 and then left for the NBA in 2015, but has only advanced past the first round of the playoffs once in nine seasons. Fred Hoiberg had a failed stint with the Chicago Bulls after leaving Iowa State.

Some have had success though, most notably Brad Stevens, who left Butler to coach the Boston Celtics in 2013, and finally got his elusive title earlier this week after a successful stint as coach got him promoted to president of basketball operations.

Despite the mixed track record, NBA executives will surely look at successful college coaches in years to come. Who is most likely to make that jump?

Dan Hurley, UConn

Hurley is the reason this list even exists and despite him turning down the Lakers, he remains at the top of the list.

It’s tough to see him remaining in college basketball for the rest of his career. He has stated his desire to coach in the NBA several times in recent years. In this situation, it felt like he was picking his current situation at UConn over the situation the Lakers were in, not necessarily college basketball over the NBA.

Hypothetically, the next NBA franchise to pursue him, maybe in as little as year from now, could make more sense geographically, be in a better situation, and provide more money.

The pull to the NBA could be stronger next time around.

Micah Shrewsberry, Notre Dame

Shrewsberry has one of the best reputations as an Xs and Os coach in the country. It’s clear he has NBA coach potential.

Sure, he sports a 50-51 record in three years as a college basketball coach, but that should be looked past. To start, he has NBA pedigree, working as an assistant under Brad Stevens in Boston from 2013 to 2019 and was part of five playoff appearances in that time.

He devised an NBA-level system for Penn State in 2022-23, a system that got the Nittany Lions to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011. In his first year at Notre Dame, he took a team that won 11 games in 2022-23, the 2023-24 team started out slow, but was playing its basketball at the end of the season. Notre Dame is well-positioned to fight for a tournament bid in 2025.

Once he gets Notre Dame to the dance, the calls are sure to start coming.

Kevin Young, BYU

Young has yet to coach a single game in college basketball, but he is already on this list for obvious reasons.

He came to BYU from being an assistant for the Phoenix Suns and was regarded as one of the top assistants in the league and a future head coach. Young almost got the Brooklyn Nets job before the job ended up going to Jordi Fernandez in this current cycle. He has nearly a decade of NBA experience on his resume as an assistant coach and has also served as the head coach of three different G-League franchises.

Young has impressed on the recruiting trail since getting the BYU gig, and it is surely possible the NBA teams will start calling again in short order, given that Young wins games with the Cougars.

Nate Oats, Alabama

Oats has never coached at the NBA level, but he could certainly be a candidate to move up to the pros.

He has built Alabama into one of the most elite offenses in college basketball year in and year out with his system that is similar to a pro-style, emphasizing points in and paint and three pointers, with not much middle ground.

It has worked wonders, climaxing with Alabama getting to the Final Four for the first time in program history this past season.

Oats also has a good track record of player development, with two first-round picks in the 2023 draft in Brandon Miller (No. 2 overall) and Noah Clowney (No. 23 overall). His hefty buyout does make things preventative – $18 million if he leaves in the next two teams according to CBS Sports – but it wouldn’t be surprising if NBA teams begin noticing Oats.

Eric Musselman, USC

The only coach on this list with actual NBA head coaching experience. Prior to moving down to college basketball in 2012, Musselman had a two-year stint as head coach of the Golden State Warriors from 2002 to 2004 and then one year with the Sacramento Kings in 2006-07.

Musselman has had successful head coaching stops at Nevada and Arkansas, USC is now his third head coaching gig since 2019 and his fifth school since 2014, making him something of a nomad in the coaching ranks. He is brash and outspoken, which has worn on some that he’s worked with.

Some of Musselman’s best teams over the years have run NBA-like offenses that are up-tempo and have NBA-level space and he does a good job at utilizing his talent to fit a system.

The jury is still probably still out on him being an NBA coach (he’s 108-138 in the NBA). But if he can flip USC from a middling Pac-12 team to a contender in the Big Ten, it’s certainly possible that he could make the move back to the NBA.