NFL
By: Kevin Lucas
- Michigan State; In his 25th season with the program, Coach Izzo has one of the most talented squads he’s had in his tenure at MSU. Led by lead guard and pre-season All-American Cassius Winston is back for his senior year along with junior Xavier Tillman and sophomore Aaron Henry, who were both major contributors in the Spartans Final 4 run last year. The Spartans also bring back a plethora of sophomores in Gabe Brown, Foster Loyer, Marcus Bingham and Thomas Kithier who should all get meaningful playing time this year. Lastly, they bring in a freshman trio in Rocket Watts, who will start game 1 vs. Kentucky, Malik Hall, the Kenny Goins look-a-like and Julius Marble, a big man who should compete for minutes at the forward position throughout the year. Even with the injury bug hitting them early with Josh Langford’s career most likely over with and Kyle Ahrens dealing with a nagging ankle injury, there is no reason they shouldn’t be back to the Final 4 this year in Atlanta.
- Kansas; Even with the program possibly facing more off the court issues than on, this Jayhawks team is absolutely loaded with depth. Not only do they return their starting point guard in Devon Dotson but they also have the most dominant post player in the nation in Udoka Azubuike. Look for “Dok” to get plenty of help in the paint thanks to Silvio De Sousa and David McCormack back in Lawrence. Iowa grad-transfer Isaiah Moss will give the Jayhawks another scorer in either guard spots along with Marcus Garrett back to lock down the perimeter. Freshman Christian Braun and Jalen Wilson will give them many options and more depth alongside sophomore sharpshooter Ochai Agbaji. Finally, do not and I repeat do not sleep on true freshman from the Netherlands Tristan Enaruna, who will skyrocket up NBA Draft boards as the season progresses. Bill Self and staff have another great team brewing in Lawrence, Kansas.
- Louisville; Already in his 3rd season as the head man at Louisville, Chris Mack not only has a final four caliber team but he has one of the best-recruiting classes in the nation. Lead by Aidan “The Irish Hulk” Ighiehon, Jayson Tatum 2.0 in Samuell Williamson and Josh Nickelberry, who should compete for minutes at both guard spots. Jaelyn Withers and once fully healthy David Johnson will help tremendously. The Cards also bring back their leading scorer from last season in Jordan Nwora, who is an All-American candidate. The most important thing to have when March rolls around? Experience and the Cards bring back 3 important seniors in Steven Enoch, Dwayne Sutton, and sniper Ryan McMahon. Also, watch out for major leaps in juniors Malik Williams and Darius Perry games. Finally, the Cards will look towards St. Joseph’s grad-transfer Lamar “Fresh” Kimble for playmaking and scoring at the point guard position. Do not be surprised if Louisville wins the ACC this year.
- Kentucky; As always the never-ending cycle of one and does at Kentucky under Head Coach John Calipari continues this year. Tyrese Maxey will have the most prominent role as a freshman starting at the 2 guard spot providing shooting and high-level playmaking abilities. Khalil Whitney and Keion Brooks give the Cats good depth at the forward positions. The sleeper on this team is California’s own Johnny Juzang who will give BBN a dynamic scorer who is only scratching the surface in terms of potential. UK also has some key returners in sophomore guards Ashton Hagans and Immanuel Quickley. EJ Montgomery and Nick Richards will fill out a solid and experienced frontcourt for the Cats. Bucknell grad-transfer Nate Sestina might be the most important piece on this team due to his scoring and rebounding capabilities and his leadership should be another thing to watch out for.
- Florida; Mike White has done a phenomenal job replacing Billy Donovan in his early tenure as the Gators Head Coach. This year’s team located down in Gainesville will be very dangerous. In the summer the Gators landed the nation’s top grad-transfer from Virginia Tech in Kerry Blackshear Jr. The do-it-all forward from Orlando will be a focal point for the Gators offense. Andrew Nembhard returns after a very impressive freshmen campaign that should be even better as a sophomore. Noah Locke should be this team’s main shooter and Keyontae Johnson is the glue that brings this team together. Juniors Dontay Bassett and Gorjok Gak will give them big time rebounding threats and post presences. This freshman class will probably be the most vital part of this team’s success. Headlined by McDonald’s All-Americans Scottie Lewis, who will be a dog on the perimeter on both sides of the ball and Tre Mann, who will be an explosive scoring guard off the bench. Omar Payne and Jason Jitoboh are projects in the frontcourt but as the season progresses they should get better. This Florida Gator squad will definitely contend with Kentucky for an SEC Championship.
- Duke; Heading into his 40th season at Duke, Coach K has another really talented team out in Durham. Another loaded freshmen class comes in headlined by Vernon Carey Jr. the big man out of Florida who will be a bully in the post. Wendell Moore should take on the same role that RJ Barrett held last season. Cassius Stanley isn’t a great shooter but his athleticism will make it easy for him to get to the rack and help him exponentially on the defensive end. If Coach K wants to get to another Final 4 then he should run his offense through a Dirk Nowitzki replica in Matthew Hurt. Bringing back one of the best defensive guards in the nation in Tre Jones will help out a lot. Joey Baker, Jordan Goldwire, Alex O’Connell and Jack White need to be able to hit perimeter shots for this team to have a lot of success.
- Ohio State; To me, Chris Holtmann and the Buckeyes are the most slept on team in the entire country. They return over half their players from last year’s team including the low-post beast in Kaleb Wesson and his brother and glue-guy Andre Wesson. Sophomore Luther Muhammed brings back his killer crossover and lockdown defensive ability. True freshmen E.J. Liddell and Ibrahima Diallo will bring a huge relief in the post and on the boards alongside the Wesson bros. Duane Washington and Justin Ahrens will be the behind-the-arc shooters that the Buckeyes will call upon the most. Where things get interesting for them is at the point guard spot. The Buckeyes can either start Florida State transfer CJ Walker or 5-star point guard out of Iowa in D.J. Carton. Neither are bad options but I would prefer Carton due to his explosive bounce and playmaking. My personal favorite player on this team and a player I believe will surprise a lot of people is Alonzo Gaffney, who is a 6 feet 9 inch do-it-all forward who is definitely a future NBA player. Also, watch out for Kyle Young who is another versatile forward. This team easily has the best chance of taking down Michigan State in the Big10.
- Gonzaga; The Zags lose a lot of talent last season due to the draft and graduation but Coach Few brings back and adds some key players to this team. Corey Kispert and Killian Tillie are going to be the main contributors to this team as long as Tillie can stay healthy. True Freshman Pavel Zakharov will look to be one of the main forces in the post for the Bulldogs. Drew Timme is a 6’9 multi-dimensional forward out of the DFW area that is exceeding all expectations so far. Lastly, replacing Josh Perkins at the PG spot will be Texas A&M graduate transfer, Admon Gilder, to set the table and run the show for this Zags squad to capture yet another WCC Championship and compete for a National Championship.
- North Carolina; Roy Williams and his Tarheels bring in another really good team to Chapel Hill. This squad will be lead by the top point guard in the 2019 class in Cole Anthony. Anthony is an elite guard whose athleticism is off the charts but has a much well-rounded game. The Heels grad transfers will be the most important pieces to this squad with sharpshooter from Charleston Southern Christian Keeling, who will help out Cole Anthony with at least 3 assists per game. Justin Pierce another grad-transfer from William & Mary is another good shooter who at 6’7 lives above the rim. Garrison Brooks, Sterling Manley, and Brandon Huffman should be much improved in the post for their junior years at UNC. Armando Bacot, who was a 5-star recruit out of Virginia should help them out also. Brandon Robinson as a senior should be one of the more consistent shot-makers on this team and should be a captain. Leaky Black as a 6’8 sophomore that can do it all should provide a major spark for this team off the bench. Anthony Harris and Jeremiah Francis will also be true freshmen guards that will have opportunities coming off the bench as well.
- Maryland; Look, I know Mark Turgeon has underwhelmed during his time at Maryland, but I think this team will turn things around for him. Anthony Cowan Jr. is one of the best point guards in America and as a senior, expect him to do some damage this year. Sophomore Jalen “Stix” Smith will play a much larger role this year after playing alongside Bruno Fernando last year and will be in the conversation for first-team Big10. Also as sophomores, Aaron Wiggins and Eric Ayala will continue scorching the nets as they were two of the top shooters in the nation last year as freshmen. Darryl Morsell will be the Terps main perimeter defender and will be called upon sometimes throughout games to score. Once fully healthy, true freshmen Chol Marial will give Maryland a new dimension and also watch out for the twin true freshmen Makhi and Mahkell Mitchell to make positive impacts on Maryland’s frontcourt.
