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Jul. 20—College basketball writer Scott Richey dropped his way-too-early top 10 the night Connecticut won its second straight national championship. Three months later, things have changed across the sport. Dramatically. But with rosters mostly settled, our AP Top 25 voter updates what could be his preseason ballot in three more months:
Bill Self apparently learned his lesson in 2023-24. Not having enough talented depth was a problem for those Jayhawks. The current version should be better off with three returning veteran starters and four transfers that all produced at a high level elsewhere last season.
It’s hard to argue a team had a better offseason than Alabama. Mostly because Mark Sears opted for one more year with the Crimson Tide. Around that All-American guard will be a solid mix of transfers (Rutgers’ Clifford Omoruyi) and high-level freshmen (five-star Derrion Reid).
Johni Broome was the best player in the SEC not named Dalton Knecht last year. He’s back. So are Chad Baker-Mazara and Denver Jones. Mix in a pair of intriguing transfers in JP Pegues (Furman’s leading scorer) and Miles Kelly (same at Georgia Tech), and the Tigers are legit.
Teams with continuity are the outliers these days. The Cyclones qualify with their top-four scorers returning in starting guards Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert, a potential first-round pick in Milan Momcilovic and super-sub Curtis Jones.
Win a national championship. Lose multiple first-round picks. Win another. Will the pattern repeat after the reigning champs saw Stephon Castle and Donovan Clingan go in the top-seven picks last month of the NBA draft? Seems favorable with Dan Hurley still running the show in Storrs, Conn.
The Blue Devils lost seven players to the transfer portal this offseason. A slew of former five-star recruits out the door for Jon Scheyer and Co. But that allowed Duke to rebuild specifically around Cooper Flagg, surrounding next year’s likely No. 1 overall pick with experience and shooting.
There’s a lot to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/not-quite-early-top-25-144800777.html
Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Publish date : 2024-07-20 14:48:00
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