By Sam Federman
60. Syracuse Orange (ACC)
Syracuse won 20 games in its first season under new head coach Adrian Autry, but got there in a convoluted way. The Orange clung to outdated offensive principles, shunning off-ball movement and just letting their two ball-dominant guards try to attack the basket and working off of that.
Listen to a full preview of the Orange season in this podcast
With Judah Mintz gone, SU’s new point guard, Hofstra transfer Jaquan Carlos, is the first true pass-first PG that the program has had in years. Carlos is one of the country’s best playmakers, and a more than capable scorer when he needs to be. Additionally, he hounds the ball defensively, giving Syracuse strong point-of-attack defense.
JJ Starling returns after a season that saw him start off slow, but break out in conference play. Starling was a huge secondary scorer for the Orange thanks to a composed mid-range game and an outside shot that teams had to worry about by the end of the year.
Chris Bell might be the best shooter in the ACC. He didn’t run around a ton of screens to create space, he didn’t really even move all that much, but still shot 42% from beyond the arc despite many of his shots coming from a standstill with a hand in his face. It’s a must for the Orange to get him moving more, using his gravity as a way of creating offense, and not just handing him the ball to take a contested three.
Syracuse downgrades defensively at the center position, losing Maliq Brown’s switchability and aggressiveness for Eddie Lampkin. However, SU gains a legitimate post scoring threat and a sturdy rebounder, something that the program sorely lacked.
Freshman Donnie Freeman is one of the most exciting players in the conference because of his combination of scoring ability off the dribble and size. He’s at his best when he’s attacking the basket, but has a tendency to settle for long jump shots, which he is capable of making at times.
Off the bench, Jyare Davis will play a much different role than he did at Delaware. Instead of triggering the offense from 18 feet, he’ll likely find himself as a power wing, using his strength and size to burst to the basket from the perimeter, with his on-ball role being a bonus.
Lucas Taylor will add shooting off the bench, while Elijah Moore has potential to do the same. Backup center Naheem McLeod has been wearing a boot recently, possibly still recovering from last season’s injury.
Wild cards for Syracuse are Chance Westry, who is returning from multiple injuries, and possibly freshman Petar Majstorovic in the frontcourt.
59. Miami Hurricanes (ACC)
Miami lost its final ten games of the 2023-24 season, finishing 6-14 in ACC play. Perhaps we should’ve seen the disappointment coming, as Miami was blown out in the two games it played in non-conference against eventual NCAA Tournament teams.
This year’s team still has some issues, but should be a return to relevance for the Canes.
Everything starts with Nijel Pack. If he performs at the level that he did last season, then Miami will not make the NCAA Tournament. He’s a gifted shooter, but shot just 32% from beyond the arc in ACC play, and finished with an offensive rating below 100.
Perhaps, adding Jalil Bethea to the equation will help free up Pack to play more efficiently, like he did two years ago. Bethea might be the best shooter in the freshman class (either him or Liam McNeeley), with range to make shots from anywhere on the floor. Defenses have to guard him from the moment he crosses half-court, which poses problems because of his burst. He’s extremely athletic and can run in transition with the best of them. However, the rest of his game, aside from shooting and athleticism, is fairly unpolished.
Jalen Blackmon is another potential stud in the backcourt. He averaged over 20 points per game at Stetson last year, leading the charge for one of mid-major basketball’s best offenses.There’s a possibility that Blackmon leads the team in scoring, as somebody who can take over stretches of games, scoring at will. If he does, Miami will likely not need quite as much from Pack, allowing him to play the less taxing role that made him a key to the Final Four team.
I’m confident that we see plenty of lineups with the three of them together, as it would be extremely difficult to guard three players that score as well as they do, but it could be a struggle defensively. They may need to be Wong/Moore/McGusty good offensively in order to hold their own defensively in big games.
Matthew Cleveland didn’t fill the Jordan Miller role quite as well as Miami imagined, but he still had a solid season, and should thrive in familiarity with the system in year two. ECU transfer Brandon Johnson and Samford transfer AJ Staton-McCray will join him on the wings.
Norchad Omier was one of the best rebounders in college basketball, and replacing him is a tall task. Lynn Kidd had a great season at Virginia Tech, and brings much more size to the position, but isn’t as versatile of a player, nor is he as good of a rebounder.
If Jim Larrañaga misses the NCAA Tournament once again, questions will start to become louder and louder, as he’ll be 76 years old by the beginning of the 2025-26 season. However, I don’t want to write him off after just one down year.
58. Missouri Tigers (SEC)
Missouri was miserable last year. No other way of putting it.
But this year, the Tigers are set up much better. Check out the preview podcast that we did for Mizzou for a deep analysis, but I’ll summarize.
Building around Tamar Bates’ breakout year, Missouri brought in a proven high-major point guard in Tony Perkins to aid the defense and playmaking. Bates showed the ability to take over games for Mizzou, providing a key building block for the offense in 2024-25. Caleb Grill returns from injury to bring shooting and toughness. Also, Marques Warrick has scored at a high level for Northern Kentucky for a few years, and is a huge piece of depth for the backcourt. Mark Mitchell didn’t quite reach the ceiling that many thought he could’ve at Duke, but his excellent defensive ability and scoring around the rim will give Missouri a talented, physical, power forward. Jacob Crews will find his way on the court in key spots in one way or another. He can score at all three levels from a 6 foot 8 frame. At the five, Peyton Marshall and Josh Gray are both huge individuals with strength that will give the Tigers a new look at the five.
57. Saint Mary’s Gaels (WCC)
Saint Mary’s is beginning to feel the sting of the transfer portal. Aidan Mahaney and Joshua Jefferson, arguably the two most important players on last year’s team, both left the Gaels to join national championship contenders, in UConn and Iowa State.
Augustas Marciulionis, the reigning WCC Player of the Year (somehow), does return, and wil be the focal point of Saint Mary’s offense. He stepped up as a playmaker last year, taking a burden off of Mahaney, who didn’t quite make the jump many expected from him.
The other returning starter, Mitchell Saxen, has been a dominant post threat for SMC for years. He scores almost all of his points inside the paint, controlling the glass and protecting the rim on the defensive end as well. He can score in the post-up from either block, and sets excellent screens for his guards.
Paulius Murauskas didn’t see the floor a ton as a freshman at Arizona, but the 6 foot 8 forward can stretch the floor and handle the ball. He shined at U20 Eurobasket this summer, displaying the ability to create shots off the bounce for himself and others. The best version of this year’s Saint Mary’s team might be the one with Murauskas breaking out into the team’s leading scorer and one of the best players in the conference, but that’s a huge jump.
I was a big fan of Jordan Ross last summer, but he didn’t see the floor much as a freshman, and when he did, he wasn’t great. He’s a quick on-ball guard with good size and playmaking ability. He and Mikey Lewis should see a lot of playing time this year. Lewis is a highly-ranked freshman that makes tough shots all over the floor.
Saint Mary’s needs Luke Barrett to have a big year on the defensive end. He won’t be Jefferson, nobody will, but he has to take responsibility for the dirty work. Now in year five at SMC, he finally broke into the rotation as a senior, scoring efficiently off the bench, and will see his role grow this season.
Ashton Hardaway transferred away from his father’s Memphis program, and will add some more size and athleticism to the frontcourt as a 6 foot 8 forward.
It’s uncomfortable to rank Saint Mary’s this low, considering that the Gaels have finished in the top 20 each of the last three years. However, this season, SMC needs a few players to take big leaps in order to get there. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Randy Bennett, one of the best coaches in the country, can bring this team near that level.
56. Clemson Tigers (ACC)
PJ Hall’s unique ability to create mismatches and score from anywhere on the floor helped Clemson put together one of the best seasons in program history last year.
This year, without Hall, the Tigers look to Viktor Lakhin to fill his spot at center. He’s a talented post threat, but is not close to the same level of scorer, and doesn’t move quite as well. His limitations likely lead to Clemson relying more on Ian Schieffelin this year.
Schieffelin is one of the best rebounders in all of college basketball, and began to put his name into the scoring column more often towards the end of the season. He’s one of the most underappreciated players in college basketball because he did every single piece of dirty work, however, he may need to do more of the other things now.
Chase Hunter and Jaeden Zackery is a really solid ACC backcourt. Hunter, who has been a Tiger mainstay for years, had a breakout NCAA Tournament, winning KenPom Game MVP in three straight wins. He’s adept getting to the basket and scoring at the rim as a 6 foot 4 guard. Meanwhile, Zackery is a career 40% three-point shooter, but on relatively lower volume.
The Tigers also return Chauncey Wiggins and Dillon Hunter, along with the additions of Jake Heidbreder and Myles Foster from the transfer portal.
It will be hard to capture the lightning in a bottle of last year’s NCAA Tournament, but another trip to the dance could be on the docket for Clemson.
55. McNeese Cowboys (Southland)
McNeese was one of the best mid-major teams in the country last year, and is expected to be once again. Will Wade has a high-major caliber roster in one of college basketball’s worst conferences.
Christian Shumate, a three-time All-Southland performer, will once again be the key in the frontcourt.
Next to him, Joe Charles transfers in from Louisiana. He’s a 6 foot 7 wing/forward who can guard any matchup, fitting in very well with the switching and trapping identity that Wade has brought in.
Running the point, 6 foot 6 Quadir Copeland is a matchup problem in the Southland with his combination of speed and size. He’s a very erratic player who doesn’t shoot well, but his highs, which are very high, will come more often against a weaker schedule.
Sincere Parker doesn’t really defend or playmake, but he won’t need to with how much of that surrounds him. He’ll be free to do what he does, score and keep scoring. Brandon Murray is on school four in four years, the previous three being high-majors, where he proved to be a capable performer at that level.
Double digit scorers DJ Richards and Javohn Garcia return for year two in the system, and will be very important to establishing the team’s identity early on.
Bryant Selabangue and Jerome Brewer Jr. can give McNeese a different look down low.
Last season, McNeese tried to ‘play like the Yankees in here,’ and ended up ‘losing to the Yankees out there,’ with a heavy trapping gameplan in the NCAA Tournament against Gonzaga.
It wasn’t as talented as Gonzaga, but played the same way that it did in the Southland. When the Bulldogs calmly skipped passes through the traps, finding open shooters, McNeese dug a hole very early, and could never dig out.
The entire regular season will be a buildup just to get back to that opportunity, where hopefully, Wade has learned his lesson.
54. Saint Louis Billikens (Atlantic 10)
I wrote earlier this offseason about Josh Schertz building a terrific first-year roster at Saint Louis, and all of that starts with Robbie Avila and Isaiah Swope.
Those two were stars for Schertz at Indiana State, helping to lead the program’s best season since Larry Bird. Avila belongs to one of the sport’s most coveted archetypes, a big that can dribble, pass, and shoot.
Gibson Jimerson, an experienced 6 foot 5 sharpshooter, is a perfect fit for Schertz’s system. For the last five seasons, he has been running around screens to get open with a green light to fire when he has space, and that won’t change now.
Aside from Jimerson, Kellen Thames and Larry Hughes Jr. both decided to return to SLU.
Avila’s longtime AAU teammate AJ Casey comes down from the high-major level, where he didn’t see a ton of playing time in his first two seasons. Casey is an athletic big who runs the floor at a high level.
Kalu Anya, who broke out late in the season during Brown’s surge, adds even more athleticism to the frontcourt.
Schertz built a team that certainly looks a bit different from the one he had at Indiana State. The frontcourt is more physical and a bunch of the roster doesn’t shoot quite as well as the Sycamores did last year, but with the amount of space that Schertz is able to create with player and ball movement, the offense should still be excellent.
53. Boise State Broncos (Mountain West)
Boise State is quietly one of the most consistent programs in the country, as it has actually finished higher than this ranking in each of the last three seasons. Leon Rice has won 20 games in 11 of his 14 seasons at the helm, and in a down Mountain West, the Broncos have a chance to take the crown this season.
Two-time MWC first teamer Tyson Degenhart leads the way. He’s a versatile 6 foot 7 forward who fights for every inch and scores efficiently. He has led the Mountain West in offensive rating during conference play in each of the last two seasons.
His frontcourt partner in crime is O’Mar Stanley, another matchup nightmare for the league. He’s a super physical five who can step out to drain shots, protect the rim, and switch onto ball handlers or wings.
NAIA transfer Javan Buchanan is another extremely efficient rim-finishing jumbo wing, who can also score out of ball screens and isolation. While he’s not the shooter (or defender) that Chibuzo Agbo was, he adds a different element to the game with similar size.
Alvaro Cardenas is a rare intraconference transfer that will run the show for Boise, distributing the ball and draining shots.
Boise has been tough to play against because of excellent physicality and discipline, and timely shotmaking, which should also shine through this year’s team. Andrew Meadow and RJ Keene are other bigger wings returning to the program, while redshirt freshman Chris Lockett could bring juice to the backcourt.
52. Vanderbilt Commodores (SEC)
Top to bottom, the talent level on Vanderbilt’s roster is night-and-day from what it has been over the past few years. The Commodores’ rotation will run 9 or 10 deep with players who can make an impact at the SEC level.
Jason Edwards and AJ Hoggard is a backcourt match made in heaven. While Edwards stands just 6 feet tall, he’s one of college basketball’s best shooters, whether off the dribble or off the catch. However, he’s not much of a playmaker at all, and isn’t the same level of defender as other UNT transfers.
Pairing him with Hoggard, an experienced Big Ten point guard with plus positional size and three straight seasons with an assist rate over 30, creates a harmonic duo.
Behind those two, Grant Huffman and MJ Collins can each be contributors off the bench.
Chris Manon is a feisty defender who can create advantages by getting into the paint and dishing or scoring at the rim. I doubt he shoots 70% at the rim again because the offensive structure at Cornell boosts those, but he’s a skilled finisher. He’ll split time at the three with Tyler Nickel, a Virginia Tech transfer who shot 40% from beyond the arc on 4.5 attmpts per game at 6 foot 7.
In the frontcourt, athletic pieces like big wing Devin McGlockton and fives Kijani Wright and Jaylen Carey can help accentuate the backcourt. Vandy’s biggest weakness is a lack of size at the five, as nobody on the team is taller than 6 foot 9, but they’ll play fast and smart in the backcourt, with grit in the frontcourt.
51. Ohio State Buckeyes (Big Ten)
Jake Diebler’s first roster at Ohio State is a solid one, built around junior point guard Bruce Thornton. Thornton took a second year leap into an All-Big Ten guard, scoring 16 points per game in conference play.
He’ll run the pick-and-roll with Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw, a fascinating player who struggled to establish himself at UK. Bradshaw has good skill for a 7-footer, showing flashes of shooting and ball handling, but he’s never been anywhere near consistent enough. The best version of Bradshaw can be a matchup nightmare that wins games for a team, but he needs to emerge more than once a month, and be more consistent with his defensive instincts.
Meechie Johnson helped lead South Carolina to the NCAA Tournament last year, and now returns to the place where he started his college career. He’s purely a volume scorer, but in games where buckets are at a premium, he can be the difference by going out and getting a few.
Micah Parrish and Evan Mahaffey are two defense-first wings who will need to pick up a ton of slack from a backcourt that leans much more toward offense.
Similar to Bradshaw, Duke transfer Sean Stewart couldn’t make an impact as a freshman. He was stuck in a loaded frontcourt, but his physicality made him a hot commodity in the portal.
Diebler has a ton to prove, and so do many pieces on this roster. If Diebler is truly a terrific coach, which I don’t think anybody has any way of knowing, then he’ll get the best out of Stewart and Bradshaw, taking this team to the tournament. If not, it could feel really similar to the last two seasons.
Comments