Looking at our league next year, I really see four teams that can be solid Top 25 teams: Villanova, Georgetown, Butler and Xavier.
Creighton and Depaul still won't be players; St. Johns losses virtually everyone. Marquette and Seton Hall both have young teams that could be potential bubble teams for the tournament. Providence is the one team that is waiting on a fairly major NBA decision - I'm assuming Kris Dunn declares for the draft as most project him mid first round, but if he returned they would obviously be stronger. In either case, Providence is losing both their leading big men in Henton and Desrosiers. Here are my notes on who I think the contenders are:
Villanova (16-2 in 2015): Graduates two of their best players in Hillard and Pinkston. Will return all-conference PG (Arcidiacono) and probably the best center in the conference (Ochefu), along with rotational players Ennis, Jenkins, Booth and Hart. That's six guys back from a team that was top five in the country all year - so yeah, they're going to be good. Two Top 150 Rivals recruits coming in: five star guard Jalen Brunson (#16) and three star guard Donte Divincenzo (#116). Typical Nova team - loaded at guard, but will have to play small as, apart from Ochefu, this is a team without any real big men.
Butler (12-6 in 2015): Butler returns their three leading scorers - a strong trio in K. Dunham, R. Jones and A. Chrabascz. They graduate leading rebounder Kameron Wood and PG Alex Barlow. However, they bring in NC State transfer PG Tyler Lewis (a former McDonald's All American who started 18 games at NC State as a soph) - he could be an upgrade from Barlow. It's possible Butler will have the strongest starting five in the conference, but their weakness is a lack of depth, especially down low. No Top 150 Rivals recruits coming in (although ESPN has one of their recruits, a center, listed as a 4 star guy).
Xavier (9-9 in 2015; Sweet Sixteen): Loses their starting center (Stainbrook) and PG (D. Davis); however, they return freshmen scoring guard T. Bluett and an absolute athletic stud in forward Jalen Reynolds. Also in their 2015 rotation, they return guard Remy Abell (41% three point shooter) and guard Myles Davis and forward James Farr. Bluett/Abell/Davis is a very solid guard combination and Reynolds has NBA upside, but Xavier will seem to be playing without an experienced true center and also be a little thin in terms of depth down low. One Top 150 Rivals recruit coming in - three star forward Kaiser Gates (#124).
My initial take is that anyone of these teams could win the conference, but Nova is still the favorite. Yes they probably lose a little more than other teams, but they also return a lot and have their highest touted freshmen in the conference coming in. Not to mention the experience of winning all those games this past year is valuable. I'm struck by how small some of these teams will be playing - it seems like with all these squads they have one solid big (Ochefu, Chrabascz, Reynolds) but not much else above 6'6.
As it pertains to Georgetown, that's kind of interesting because we most likely won't have a big man of that quality next year, but we will have a bunch of 6'8 forwards in Copeland/White/Agau/Derrickson. These other squads don't really have these type of forwards. Of all the returning all-conference players, I'd take DSR over Dunham or Arch - and that's important as stars matter. I think where we'll struggle is that DSR/Campbell/Peak is not as good (or at best is a push) as the guard combinations that the other squads will be running out there. I have promise for Campbell and Peak making big strides this summer, but these other teams will improve too. Our success will come from DSR, exploiting size and matchup advantages at the forward positions and learning to play decent defense.
Curious on your predictions, but I see: (1) Nova, (2) Butler, (3) Georgetown, (4) Xaiver. I think we win in the 12-14 game range in conference.
This post was edited on 3/30 9:45 AM by JWHoya2003
Creighton and Depaul still won't be players; St. Johns losses virtually everyone. Marquette and Seton Hall both have young teams that could be potential bubble teams for the tournament. Providence is the one team that is waiting on a fairly major NBA decision - I'm assuming Kris Dunn declares for the draft as most project him mid first round, but if he returned they would obviously be stronger. In either case, Providence is losing both their leading big men in Henton and Desrosiers. Here are my notes on who I think the contenders are:
Villanova (16-2 in 2015): Graduates two of their best players in Hillard and Pinkston. Will return all-conference PG (Arcidiacono) and probably the best center in the conference (Ochefu), along with rotational players Ennis, Jenkins, Booth and Hart. That's six guys back from a team that was top five in the country all year - so yeah, they're going to be good. Two Top 150 Rivals recruits coming in: five star guard Jalen Brunson (#16) and three star guard Donte Divincenzo (#116). Typical Nova team - loaded at guard, but will have to play small as, apart from Ochefu, this is a team without any real big men.
Butler (12-6 in 2015): Butler returns their three leading scorers - a strong trio in K. Dunham, R. Jones and A. Chrabascz. They graduate leading rebounder Kameron Wood and PG Alex Barlow. However, they bring in NC State transfer PG Tyler Lewis (a former McDonald's All American who started 18 games at NC State as a soph) - he could be an upgrade from Barlow. It's possible Butler will have the strongest starting five in the conference, but their weakness is a lack of depth, especially down low. No Top 150 Rivals recruits coming in (although ESPN has one of their recruits, a center, listed as a 4 star guy).
Xavier (9-9 in 2015; Sweet Sixteen): Loses their starting center (Stainbrook) and PG (D. Davis); however, they return freshmen scoring guard T. Bluett and an absolute athletic stud in forward Jalen Reynolds. Also in their 2015 rotation, they return guard Remy Abell (41% three point shooter) and guard Myles Davis and forward James Farr. Bluett/Abell/Davis is a very solid guard combination and Reynolds has NBA upside, but Xavier will seem to be playing without an experienced true center and also be a little thin in terms of depth down low. One Top 150 Rivals recruit coming in - three star forward Kaiser Gates (#124).
My initial take is that anyone of these teams could win the conference, but Nova is still the favorite. Yes they probably lose a little more than other teams, but they also return a lot and have their highest touted freshmen in the conference coming in. Not to mention the experience of winning all those games this past year is valuable. I'm struck by how small some of these teams will be playing - it seems like with all these squads they have one solid big (Ochefu, Chrabascz, Reynolds) but not much else above 6'6.
As it pertains to Georgetown, that's kind of interesting because we most likely won't have a big man of that quality next year, but we will have a bunch of 6'8 forwards in Copeland/White/Agau/Derrickson. These other squads don't really have these type of forwards. Of all the returning all-conference players, I'd take DSR over Dunham or Arch - and that's important as stars matter. I think where we'll struggle is that DSR/Campbell/Peak is not as good (or at best is a push) as the guard combinations that the other squads will be running out there. I have promise for Campbell and Peak making big strides this summer, but these other teams will improve too. Our success will come from DSR, exploiting size and matchup advantages at the forward positions and learning to play decent defense.
Curious on your predictions, but I see: (1) Nova, (2) Butler, (3) Georgetown, (4) Xaiver. I think we win in the 12-14 game range in conference.
This post was edited on 3/30 9:45 AM by JWHoya2003
