A lot of you have probably seen these things, but just passing them along for the others who may have missed them.
- Arkansas's Bobby Portis, who led the league in scoring, is going pro and foregoing his final two years. Personally, I think Arkansas might have been the league's No. 2 team with him. Without him--and some depends on whether Michael Qualls comes back or not--I think Arkansas could fall back towards the middle of the pack.
- Another one of those potential title contenders is Texas A&M, which has most people coming back now that Danuel House, who was a first-team all-league pick, has said he's returning. A&M did lose Antwan Space, who was a starter for them two years ago but who had basically been recruited over. Speaking of recruiting, A&M sits No. 2 nationally at the moment and so there's plenty of help on the way. My guess is that A&M will be the preseason No. 2 team next year behind Kentucky.
- Georgia got a commitment from big man Michael Edwards yesterday. He's a bit of a late-bloomer who may make the final edition of the Rivals150. That's big for Mark Fox, because they lose their two starting bigs, Thornton and Djurisic, both of whom were good players, but have a really nice foundation at the 1-3 spots.
- Florida is losing guard Michael Frazier, who I think should have returned. Forwards Devin Robinson and Dorian Finney-Smith have both said they're coming back, so that's good for UF. The storyline I'm watching is whether Billy Donovan leaves for the NBA, which was the hot rumor at the SEC Tournament, or comes back. Interestingly, he just hired fired Alabama coach Anthony Grant, so I'm not sure if that's a tell that Donovan's coming back to Gainesville or if maybe he'd just take Grant with him to the NBA.
- LSU lost both bigs, Martin and Mickey. Those are huge losses, but the Tigers do have center Ben Simmons, the country's No. 1 recruit, coming in, as well as guard Antonio Blakeney, the No. 14 player in the 2015 class. Their returning back-court is also quite talented. As always, the question mark is whether Johnny Jones can coach.
- Kentucky, of course, lost seven underclassmen to the NBA draft, but gets Alex Poythress back. UK recruited well at the 1 and 2 spots and also at center, where Skal Labissiere is thought to be in the running for the No. 1 pick of the 2016 draft, but has a huge hole at small forward, where there's really nothing there. UK is also in the running for numerous McDonald's All-American types across the board and so it's hard to analyze its roster because we don't know exactly what it'll be yet.
- League-wide story-line to watch may be who gets Malik Newman, the No. 3 player in the class. Newman is from Mississippi and the hire of Ben Howland really, really helped MSU get in the hunt, but LSU and Kentucky, and maybe to a small extent even Ole Miss, are players. That signing could help change the balance of power at the top.
- Missouri lost Jonathan Williams III, its leading scorer and rebounder, to transfer (destination unknown). Look for Mizzou to finish last again next year and if so, it's probably going to be tough for coach Kim Anderson to keep his job.
- As for Vandy, I think the loss of Shelton Mitchell isn't what you want, but it's certainly manageable. The key to me is if VU can avoid any more departures or injuries there and if that's the case, I think they'll be fine. LaChance can certainly give them quality minutes at the point if needed.
- Overall, I think it'll be a shock if UK doesn't start a consensus No. 1 in the league. I think No. 2 is a crapshoot... teams I like most for that spot are probably A&M and Vandy, and maybe LSU, though I like the chances of Billy Kennedy and Kevin Stallings getting more out of their teams than the other two. Georgia could be a player; I don't really know what to make of Florida though I don't feel great about that roster situation unless their recruits come up big, though one should probably never under-estimate Billy Donovan (if he's around). In fact, I might be tempted to pick VU No. 2 right now, though I don't think that's where the national forecasts will have VU.
Any thoughts on this? Anything I missed here?
This post was edited on 4/15 12:00 PM by Chris Lee
- Arkansas's Bobby Portis, who led the league in scoring, is going pro and foregoing his final two years. Personally, I think Arkansas might have been the league's No. 2 team with him. Without him--and some depends on whether Michael Qualls comes back or not--I think Arkansas could fall back towards the middle of the pack.
- Another one of those potential title contenders is Texas A&M, which has most people coming back now that Danuel House, who was a first-team all-league pick, has said he's returning. A&M did lose Antwan Space, who was a starter for them two years ago but who had basically been recruited over. Speaking of recruiting, A&M sits No. 2 nationally at the moment and so there's plenty of help on the way. My guess is that A&M will be the preseason No. 2 team next year behind Kentucky.
- Georgia got a commitment from big man Michael Edwards yesterday. He's a bit of a late-bloomer who may make the final edition of the Rivals150. That's big for Mark Fox, because they lose their two starting bigs, Thornton and Djurisic, both of whom were good players, but have a really nice foundation at the 1-3 spots.
- Florida is losing guard Michael Frazier, who I think should have returned. Forwards Devin Robinson and Dorian Finney-Smith have both said they're coming back, so that's good for UF. The storyline I'm watching is whether Billy Donovan leaves for the NBA, which was the hot rumor at the SEC Tournament, or comes back. Interestingly, he just hired fired Alabama coach Anthony Grant, so I'm not sure if that's a tell that Donovan's coming back to Gainesville or if maybe he'd just take Grant with him to the NBA.
- LSU lost both bigs, Martin and Mickey. Those are huge losses, but the Tigers do have center Ben Simmons, the country's No. 1 recruit, coming in, as well as guard Antonio Blakeney, the No. 14 player in the 2015 class. Their returning back-court is also quite talented. As always, the question mark is whether Johnny Jones can coach.
- Kentucky, of course, lost seven underclassmen to the NBA draft, but gets Alex Poythress back. UK recruited well at the 1 and 2 spots and also at center, where Skal Labissiere is thought to be in the running for the No. 1 pick of the 2016 draft, but has a huge hole at small forward, where there's really nothing there. UK is also in the running for numerous McDonald's All-American types across the board and so it's hard to analyze its roster because we don't know exactly what it'll be yet.
- League-wide story-line to watch may be who gets Malik Newman, the No. 3 player in the class. Newman is from Mississippi and the hire of Ben Howland really, really helped MSU get in the hunt, but LSU and Kentucky, and maybe to a small extent even Ole Miss, are players. That signing could help change the balance of power at the top.
- Missouri lost Jonathan Williams III, its leading scorer and rebounder, to transfer (destination unknown). Look for Mizzou to finish last again next year and if so, it's probably going to be tough for coach Kim Anderson to keep his job.
- As for Vandy, I think the loss of Shelton Mitchell isn't what you want, but it's certainly manageable. The key to me is if VU can avoid any more departures or injuries there and if that's the case, I think they'll be fine. LaChance can certainly give them quality minutes at the point if needed.
- Overall, I think it'll be a shock if UK doesn't start a consensus No. 1 in the league. I think No. 2 is a crapshoot... teams I like most for that spot are probably A&M and Vandy, and maybe LSU, though I like the chances of Billy Kennedy and Kevin Stallings getting more out of their teams than the other two. Georgia could be a player; I don't really know what to make of Florida though I don't feel great about that roster situation unless their recruits come up big, though one should probably never under-estimate Billy Donovan (if he's around). In fact, I might be tempted to pick VU No. 2 right now, though I don't think that's where the national forecasts will have VU.
Any thoughts on this? Anything I missed here?
This post was edited on 4/15 12:00 PM by Chris Lee
