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Jun. 12—Little about Big Ten basketball will feel familiar in 2024-25. Partly because there are now 18 teams. Partly because of the rampant roster turnover across the conference. Rosters that have mostly settled as summer workouts begin, giving Illini beat writer Scott Richey a chance for a first crack at Big Ten power rankings:
1. Purdue
Losing a back-to-back national player of the year shouldn’t be overlooked. Especially since Zach Edey was 7-foot-4 and the most physically dominant player in the game. But with an All-Big Ten point guard returning plus two other starters and Matt Painter still running the show, Purdue should be Purdue.
2. Indiana
There’s no doubt the Hoosiers loaded up on talent — and size — during an expensive offseason. Few teams can match a Mackenzie Mgbako-Malik Reneau-Oumar Ballo trio, and Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle give Indiana two legitimate guards. Making it all work will be Mike Woodson’s challenge.
3. Illinois
Talent is not the question in Champaign. Brad Underwood’s nearly wholesale roster rebuild included the acquisition of plenty of positional size, shooting and skill. The tipping point between solid Big Ten team and league champion might be the freshmen Euros playing like the draft picks they’ve been projected.
4. Michigan
First-year Michigan coach Dusty May is fitting right in to his new conference with his willingness to play a pair of 7-footers in the same frontcourt. Peak Big Ten basketball right there, but with some shooters with size and a crop of transfer guards that could reverse the Wolverines’ fortunes from a year ago.
5. Southern California
The official roster on the USC website still has just two players on it. Both are walk-ons. The Trojans will eventually add their new 13 scholarship players, which includes 11 transfers. How Eric Musselman mixes and matches his wing-heavy (and old) first USC team will be worth watching.
6. Maryland
The Terrapins’ answer to Jahmir Young exhausting his eligibility? Going all-out in the portal for…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/richey-boilermakers-atop-big-ten-145400450.html
Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Publish date : 2024-06-12 14:54:00
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