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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:
1. Kansas
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.
2. Alabama
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).
3. Auburn
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.
4. Iowa State
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.
5. Connecticut
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.
6. Duke
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.
7. Gonzaga
There’s a lot to like about this Gonzaga team. The Bulldogs are mostly running it back from last year’s Sweet 16 team with six of their top-seven scorers returning. A healthy Steele Venters and two key transfers in Michael Ajayi and Khalif Battle should also make a difference.
8. Baylor
Five-star freshman guard VJ Edgecombe will likely play a major role for the Bears this coming season. Same for four-star guard Rob Wright. But Baylor made sure to temper that youth with some experience, landing Duke guard Jeremy Roach and Miami big man Norchad Omier.
9. Houston
Losing Jamal Shead to the NBA stings, but the Cougars should still be a menace defensively behind Emanuel Sharp and J’Wan Roberts. L.J. Cryer returns to take all the threes, and Milos Uzan arrives from Oklahoma to run the offense in Shead’s stead.
10. North Carolina
Hubert Davis had to breathe a sigh of relief when RJ Davis announced he’d return to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a fifth season. The Tar Heels still have a glaring question mark in the frontcourt in a post-Armando Bacot world, but their backcourt will boast a preseason All-American lock.
11. Purdue
No Zach Edey, no problem? That’s likely going too far, but returning an All-Big Ten guard in Braden Smith is a good place to start for the Boilermakers. Not to mention their coach is still Matt Painter, and it seems on brand that one of the remaining 7-footers on the roster will shine.
12. Illinois
The team the Illini will send out for their season opener in early November will look nothing like the one that reached the Elite Eight this past season, but the talent level remains high in Champaign. High enough to get three players on 2025 NBA mock drafts a year out.
13. Tennessee
Rebuilding its frontcourt by dipping into the portal to land Felix Okpara and Igor Milicic Jr. was important for Tennessee. Finding someone to replace Knecht, the SEC Player of the Year? That’s a bigger challenge that rests on North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier’s shoulders.
14. Arizona
One more season of Caleb Love gave the Wildcats a similar bump as North Carolina and Alabama. The Wildcats might not have gotten the best version of Love in 2023-24, but it was close, and they’ll head to the increasingly difficult Big 12 as a conference title contender.
15. Wake Forest
Demon Deacons coach Steve Forbes has a clear type in the portal. Omaha Biliew is the latest former five-star recruit to wind up at Wake Forest, where he’ll team up with Hunter Sallis — the most recent backcourt reclamation project that definitely worked out — and Efton Reid III.
16. Arkansas
There’s no questioning the talent that John Calipari brought to Arkansas. It’s a typical “Coach Cal” haul heavy on five-stars (and former five-stars). That it didn’t really work as expected at the end of his tenure at Kentucky might be the one thing to give Razorbacks fans pause.
17. Kentucky
It’s a new era in Lexington, Ky., with Mark Pope taking over from Calipari. The Wildcats are no longer set up as an NBA factory first. The name recognition might not pop for this year’s team beyond college basketball diehards, but don’t sleep on the talent Pope accumulated.
18. Texas Tech
What the Red Raiders accomplished in the portal filled key gaps around a trio of shooters in Darrion Williams, Chance McMillian and Kerwin Walton. Elijah Hawkins (Minnesota) arrives to run the point, and JT Toppin (New Mexico) is one of the top young bigs in the country.
19. Texas
Just two players in Texas’ likely rotation suited up for the Longhorns last season. Second-year coach Rodney Terry did add some intriguing pieces to the puzzle, though, in five-star freshman Tre Johnson and a slew of transfers led by former Creighton/Kansas State wing Arthur Kaluma.
20. Indiana
The Hoosiers running out a frontcourt of 6-8 Mackenzie Mgbako, 6-9 Malik Reneau and 7-foot Oumar Ballo on the regular seems likely. Mike Woodson clearly isn’t afraid to play multiple bigs. Whether it will work or not is the ongoing question in Bloomington, Ind.
21. Michigan
Last season was a disaster, with the Wolverines finishing dead last in the Big Ten four games behind 13th-place Rutgers. A new broom sweeps clean. At least that’s Michigan’s intent, and new coach Dusty May had an offseason to make it seem like a major bounce back is possible.
22. UCLA
Going all-in with freshmen out of Europe didn’t really work for the Bruins last season, and only Aday Mara remains from that failed experiment. Adding six transfers this offseason was UCLA coach Mick Cronin’s alternative to go with a trio of returning guards.
23. St. John’s
Year one of the Rick Pitino era in Queens, N.Y., almost came with an NCAA tournament appearance for the Red Storm. Adding Kadary Richmond (Seton Hall), Deivon Smith (Utah) and Aaron Scott (North Texas) might make it happen in year two.
24. Brigham Young
The coaching change at BYU only cost the Cougars Jaxson Robinson (followed Pope to Kentucky) and Aly Khalifa (redshirting at Louisville). New coach Kevin Young retained the core of the team and then added two high-level freshmen in Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings.
25. Florida
Adding Florida Atlantic transfer Alijah Martin to a backcourt that already had Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard only strengthens the Gators heading into 2024-25. The frontcourt isn’t as strong, comparatively, but Washington State transfer Rueben Chinyelu was a solid pick up, as well.
Scott Richey covers college basketball for The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).
