Tip-Off Talk Players to Watch: Part 1
- Jonathan Lidskin
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
By Jonathan Lidskin
In the last couple of weeks, Sam and I have begun our Tip-Off Talk series where we preview a handful of teams around college basketball. We plan to continue this series throughout the summer and into fall all the way up to conference previews in October. In this series, we’ve gotten to not only discuss teams in-depth, but our guests have been able to talk insightfully about certain players and what we should expect from them in the coming season.
In this series, I am going to take a look at one player from each team that we’ve done an episode of Tip-Off Talk for and why they might be flying under the radar relative to expectations.
Purdue: Daniel Jacobsen
There are three guarantees in life: Death, taxes and Matt Painter finding/developing freakishly tall centers. After playing in just two games last season (one of those for literally one minute), Daniel Jacobsen suffered a season-ending injury. Although we only saw him play legitimate minutes once last season, Jacobsen came out of high school as a premier rim-defending prospect. If he can stay healthy and develop, he can completely change a Purdue defense that was dead last in the country last year in rim FG% defense.
Duke: Nikolas Khamenia
With Duke losing a ton of offensive production to the NBA, we know they must re-load. Everyone has heard of how good Cam Boozer is by now, but who is going to be that connective piece that keeps the offense flowing and can facilitate? Khamenia has a do-it-all offensive skillset on the wing and his gravity will pull defenders away from Boozer in the paint. His ability to play within structure could be key at the start of the season, especially on a team that is working in new roles and players.
Maryland: Solomon Washington
Buzz Williams brings along a dynamite offensive rebounder/rim protector with him from Texas A&M. Washington’s shooting numbers look appalling at first glance, but the deeper you dive in, the more you realize the positive impact he has. Last season according to EvanMiya, Texas A&M was 9.1 points/100 possessions better with Washington on the floor. You will be playing four-on-five offensively until a shot goes up when he’s out there, but Maryland will live with that when his rebounding and defense are that impactful.
Alabama: Latrell Wrightsell
Wrightsell only played in eight games in his second season at Alabama but was shaping up to have a similar role in his first season in Tuscaloosa. In 39 games in the Nate Oats system, he has been extremely reliable as a low-usage player who will stand on the perimeter and drill threes. When he played 31 games in 2023-24, he was 93rd percentile on catch-and-shoot threes so despite the fact that he won’t be an initiator, he’s one of my favorite system fits in the sport.
Arkansas: Meleek Thomas
I think it’s being understated how important Meleek Thomas might be for this Arkansas team. After losing Zvonimir Ivisic, John Calipari returned zero dependable shooters and didn’t add any through the transfer portal. With Darius Acuff likely to be in a high-usage facilitating role, Thomas needs to be a good floor spacer as a freshman for Arkansas to hit their ceiling. He shot over 38% in OTE on over eight threes a game so there’s definitely a reason for optimism.
St. John’s: Dylan Darling
Before adding Dylan Darling later in the cycle, St. John’s did not have a player on the roster that was better than a tertiary point guard option for their team last season. Rick Pitino has been vocal about giving Ian Jackson his shot at point guard, but I’m willing to be that Darling, who was top 30 nationally in assist rate last season, will get his opportunity to become the primary option at the position for the Johnnies even if they have live with the defense being worse.
Houston: Mercy Miller
With the minutes being limited last season for the wing from California, this is a huge off-season of development for Mercy Miller. In the high school film, Miller has a good frame, a long wingspan and an aggressive mentality. So as Brad Pitt in Moneyball would say “Sounds like a Houston Cougar already”. In all seriousness, Miller is a pretty safe bet in that program, but we’ll see how much his offensive game evolves. Parker Ainsworth said on the Houston episode that Miller and Isiah Harwell are likely the two for the final starting spot so either way it sounds like Miller will have an impact role for this team.
Dayton: De’Shayne Montgomery
I believe that De’Shayne Montgomery is one of the biggest swing players in the A-10 next season. Montgomery went from the MAAC Player of the Year in 2023-24 to a rough 2024-25 campaign at Georgia due to multiple factors. Now, moving back down a level, Montgomery has an opportunity to return to his efficient two-way self from his freshman season at Mount St. Mary’s. If he clicks, Dayton is likely a contender in that conference.
Baylor: Tounde Yessoufou
This is the third freshman that I’ve included in Part One, but after the podcast with Ashley Hodge, Yessoufou was a guy that I had to include. For my money, no one in the 2025 class plays harder than Yessoufou. As Ashley said on the podcast, there will likely be times this season when Yessoufou is reckless, but the mistakes will be made up for by the two-way impact that he has the potential to have. As his offensive game grows, so will a new-look Baylor team that should be much better defensively than the last couple of seasons.
