The college basketball season was very competitive and had a lot of drama that lasted through the championship game. Now the wait is on. Seven months without college basketball. It is never too early to start talking about next season. Here are my top five teams for next season:
- Duke Blue Devils- Duke lose Brandon Ingram and Marshall Plumlee, but returns every other key player. Grayson Allen, Matt Jones and Luke Kennard can light it up from the floor. Amile Jefferson will be back for another year and fill the role of glue guy in the post for the Blue Devils. Chase Jeter and Derryck Thornton will be expected to make huge strides this off-season. In addition to all these players coming back for Duke, they will also have three top recruits that will help them next season. Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum are the top two recruits in the country and should be solid forwards for Duke. Frank Jackson is a shooting guard who should be able to provide the Blue Devils with depth in his first year.
Isaiah Briscoe will need to improve his shooting before next season. Photo courtesy kentucky.com. - Kentucky Wildcats- Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray, Skal Labissiere and Alex Poythress are all gone for the Wildcats, but everyone else should return to school for another year. Guard Isaiah Briscoe will bring defense, toughness and driving ability to the team next season. Dominique Hawkins will also be a defensive force at the guard position for the Wildcats. Charles Matthews is the only true wing returning and should be much improved next season. There will be a lot of big guys on Kentucky next season and hopefully a few of them can step up. Derek Willis will be back to stretch the defenses with his three point shooting. Marcus Lee needs to add a post move or two this off-season, but will be an athletic big at the very least next season. The Wildcats will have two physical big guys in Isaac Humphries and Tai Waynard. In addition to these role players the Wildcats also have the number one recruiting class in the country. De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk will see a lot of playing time with the loss of Ulis and Murray and are more than capable of being successful. Bam Adebayo is a power forward who is the most physically ready for college basketball out of the entire recruiting class.
If Trevon Bluiett goes back to school, the Musketeers will be tough to beat. Photo courtesy usatoday.com. - Xavier Musketeers- Only two players should be leaving the Musketeers this off-season. James Farr and Remy Abell are both graduating. These are two important players, but Xavier will be fine without them. Jalen Reynolds and Trevone Bluiett have their names in the draft, but will probably elect to come back to school. Bluiett is a star, who can take over a game with his offensive game. Reynolds is a physical force on the inside, but needs to keep his head in the game in order to be great. Myles Davis and J.P. Macura will provide great outside shooting. At point guard Ed Sumner will create match-up troubles with his size and driving ability. Sean O’Mara will have to step up and play well behind Reynolds. The Musketeers were very deep last season and should be again next season, if players like Kaiser Gates, Larry Austin and Makinde London can all take a step forward.
Bronson Koenig was clutch last year for the Badgers and should see continued success next season. Photo courtesy stack.com. - Wisconsin Badgers- The Badgers literally lose no key players from their team heading into next season. The problem is, as of now, they aren’t bringing any in either. Wisconsin had a rough start to the season with a lot of distractions of Bo Ryan retiring, but once Greg Gard got the team they settled in and made it to the Sweet 16. Bronson Koenig is one of the more underrated point guards in college basketball and should be a great floor general yet again. On the wing Nigel Hayes has turned into a good all-around player. The most important player for this ranking is Ethan Happ, who really came on late in the season for the Badgers and provided a good inside presence.
Dillon Brooks returns and will lead the Ducks to another great season. Photo courtesy usatoday.com. - Oregon Ducks- Dwayne Benjamin and Elgin Cook are graduating, but two other seniors should get another year of eligibility. Chris Boucher, their best big man, got a waiver from the NCAA for an extra season. Dylan Ennis is also applying for an extra year of eligibility after only playing 21 minutes this season due to injury. Those two guys are good, but the main reason Oregon is on this list is that they return Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey, both of whom are stars for an Oregon team that received a one seed this season.
Stay tuned for the rest of the top 25!
