Category: Men’s college basketball

Kansas takes No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports preseason men’s basketball coaches poll

Kansas takes top spot while SEC claims most teams in preseason top 25.

The start of the 2024-25 college basketball season is almost upon us, which means it is time to unveil the preseason USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll. There should be no surprise where Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks find themselves. Given how the football team has fared this season, the locals in Lawrence have been patiently waiting for tip-off to the season.

As a whole, the Big 12 has a strong showing in the rankings with five teams in the top 10 but only one other team in the top 25. They are a conference that is looking to be top-heavy but this will be a conference to keep an eye on moving forward.

The two-time defending national champion UConn Huskies check in at No. 3 behind Kansas and No. 2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Dan Hurley is ready for a run at third straight title. An event that hasn’t occurred since seven straight titles in the late 60s and early 70s by John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins. This year’s Bruins team is one of four Big Ten teams to make the preseason poll.

There are going to be plenty of eyes in the SEC with John Calipari leaving Kentucky to take over the Arkansas Razorbacks program. The Hogs are among nine teams hailing from the conference, including newcomer the Texas Longhorns. Here is how the full rankings look:

2024-25 Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll

Rank School Last Year’s Record Points
1 Kansas 23-11 743 (15)
2 Alabama 25-12 718 (6)
3 Connecticut 37-3 717 (6)
4 Houston 32-5 698 (4)
5 Duke 27-9 625
6 Iowa State 29-8 591
7 Gonzaga 27-8 575
8 Baylor 24-11 545
9 Arizona 27-9 510
10 North Carolina 29-8 498
11 Auburn 27-8 465
12 Tennessee 27-9 437
13 Purdue 34-5 390
14 Creighton 25-10 342
15 Texas A&M 21-15 332
16 Arkansas 16-17 272
17 Marquette 27-10 268
18 Indiana 19-14 208
19 Texas 21-13 166
20 Cincinnati 22-15 163
21 Florida 24-12 130
22 UCLA 16-17 123
23 Kentucky 23-10 95
24 Illinois 29-9 87
25 Mississippi 20-12 66

Dropped Out:

No. 13 North Carolina State (26-15); No. 15 Clemson (24-12); No. 18 San Diego State (26-11); No. 20 Utah State (28-7); No. 22 Saint Mary’s (26-8); No. 23 South Carolina (26-8); No. 24 Washington State (25-10); No. 25 Texas Tech (23-11)

Others Receiving Votes:

Texas Tech (23-11) 60; Rutgers (15-17) 57; St. John’s (20-13) 42; Xavier (16-18) 26; Michigan State (20-15) 25; Brigham Young (23-11) 16; Oregon (24-12) 16; Kansas State (19-15) 11; Boise State (22-11) 9; Saint Mary’s (26-8) 9; Clemson (24-12) 8; Dayton (25-8) 7; Ohio State (22-14) 7; Maryland (16-17) 4; Grand Canyon (30-5) 3; Mississippi State (21-14) 2; Princeton (24-5) 2; San Diego State (26-11) 2; Virginia (23-11) 2; Wake Forest (21-14); Wisconsin (22-14)

The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The board for the 2024-25 season: Tobin Anderson, Iona; Adrian Autry, Syracuse; John Becker, Vermont; Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s; Jeff Boals, Ohio; Alvin Brooks, Lamar; Scott Drew, Baylor; Matt Driscoll, North Florida; Dan Earl, Chattanooga; Jonas Hayes, Georgia State; Alan Huss, High Point; Donte’ Jackson, Grambling; Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa; James Jones, Yale; Greg Kampe, Oakland; Brad Korn, Southeast Missouri State; Greg McDermott, Creighton; Nick McDevitt, Middle Tennessee; Mike McGarvey, Lafayette; Niko Medved, Colorado State; Dan Monson, Eastern Washington; Chris Mooney, Richmond; Nate Oats, Alabama; Eric Olen, UC San Diego; Matt Painter, Purdue; Michael Schwartz, East Carolina; Patrick Sellers, Central Connecticut State; Zach Spiker, Drexel; Brett Tanner, Abilene Christian; Stan Waterman, Delaware State; Jeff Wulbrun, Denver.

Sooners absent from preseason AP Top 25, nine SEC teams featured

Oklahoma Sooners absent from preseason men’s basketball AP Top 25 poll.

Much of the dialogue surrounding Oklahoma and Texas’ move to the SEC centered on each school’s football program and the benefits it would receive. Oklahoma boasts a deep and well-rounded athletic program that would fit in with any conference landscape. OU men’s basketball will also get a bump as it enters the SEC.

Oklahoma’s move to the nation’s premiere basketball conference is set to begin in less than a month. The excitement for the season will soon reach a fever pitch.

On Monday, the preseason AP Top 25 debuted, and unsurprisingly, Porter Moser’s squad was left off.

The Sooners bring back a few players from last year’s team that just missed the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners retooled via the portal in a big way but still have a lot to prove on the hardwood.

Their new conference mates make up 36 percent of the top 25 as nine SEC teams made the poll.

The Sooners will take on eight of those nine schools at some point in their first year in the SEC. The only one they won’t play is the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Oklahoma Sooners will have an incredible challenge ahead of them as they attempt to brave the grind of the SEC schedule. Porter Moser is looking for his first trip to the NCAA tournament since arriving in 2021.

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Report: Texas Tech to extend basketball coach Grant McCasland

After one season, Grant McCasland is getting a new contract.

According to insider Jon Rothstein, the Texas Tech Red Raiders are extending current men’s basketball head coach Grant McCasland. Per the report, the new contract would run through the 2029-30 season.

McCasland is coming off his first season in Lubbock where he led the team to a 23-11 overall record and 11-7 in Big 12, good enough for third in the basketball-heavy conference.

Despite the Red Raiders getting bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the school is committed to McCasland. There was a time when some believed that the head coach would leave after one season when Scott Drew to Kentucky rumors started to circulate. However, according to McCasland, he was never going to leave Lubbock.

“The honest part is I just didn’t see any way, shape or form there would be a way we would leave Texas Tech,” McCasland said, “and I don’t think it would have mattered what the school was in the world.”

His loyalty seems to be rewarded. The 2024-25 college basketball season tips off in less than a month when Texas Tech hosts Bethune-Cookman at United Supermarkets Arena on Nov. 5. The first Power Five matchup features the renewing of an old conference rivalry when Tech hosts the Texas A&M Aggies on Dec. 8.

Nate Oats provides injury update for star transfer portal addition

South Florida transfer Chris Youngblood had ankle surgery which will delay his debut with Alabama until SEC play.

The Alabama Crimson Tide are coming into the 2024-25 college basketball season among the favorites to cut down the nets at the conclusion of March Madness and the NCAA Tournament.

Nate Oats did reveal some unfortunate news about his team on Thursday though, stating that South Florida transfer guard Chris Youngblood had surgery on his ankle and will miss the start of the season.

Oats believes Youngblood will be back and at 100% health by the time conference play begins, which for Alabama starts on January 4th when the Tide host new SEC opponent Oklahoma.

The 6’4 sharpshooter is expected to play a big role for ‘Bama after averaging 15.3 points on 41.6% three point shooting last year at South Florida – his fourth straight college season averaging in double figures.

Oats once again built his roster around outside shooters, and the return of veteran guard Mark Sears, stretch four Grant Nelson, and guard Latrell Wrightstell gives this team plenty of continuity as they look to build on last year’s run to the Final Four.

Youngblood was one of many high profile additions Oats made via the transfer portal this offseason, including Pepperdine guard Houston Mallette, Auburn guard Aden Holloway, and Rutgers center Cliff Omoruyi.

Not having the 6’4 super senior to start the year is not ideal for the Crimson Tide, but his healthy return to the floor in January could jumpstart this season to another strong finish and deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Five-star basketball recruit has Notre Dame on shortlist

This highly-ranked recruit could help restore Notre Dame basketball to competitive status.

Jalen Haralson, a five-star recruit, has narrowed his list down to Notre Dame, Michigan State and Indiana.

The senior at La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere plays the perimeter, and he stands 6-foot-7. He plays to announce his decision at 7 pm Eastern on Wednesday, September 25th.

He is currently ranked 14th in the country.

Haralson has been playing in Nike’s EYBL as a member of the Indy Heat. He’s been averaging 19.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

He has also played for USA Basketball’s U17 team — that one won a FIBA U17 World Championship. Haralson had 11.1 points per game, 4.0 rebounds per game and 2.3 assists per game with that team.

If he chooses Notre Dame, he obviously could be immensely helpful to a rebuilding program that is looking to return to the NCAA Tournament sooner rather than later.

 

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Notre Dame, Purdue Fort Wayne to start season for charity

Notre Dame men’s basketball will play a charity exhibition before the season starts.

Notre Dame men’s basketball will kick off its season with a visit to Purdue Fort Wayne for a charity game on October 30.

It’s an exhibition game, to be clear, but it is the first tilt on the Fighting Irish schedule.

The Irish will visit the Mastodons at 7 pm EST on October 30, with proceeds from the game at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne going to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana and Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne.

Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry will be starting his second season with the Irish, looking to improve on the team’s 13-20 overall and 7-13 ACC record from 2023-2024. He’ll also be looking to return the Fighting Irish to the NCAA Tournament.

The Notre Dame men’s basketball season starts in earnest at home on November 6 against the Stonehill Skyhawks. The starting time for that game has not yet been determined.

 

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Great Osobor named Preseason All-American by Blue Ribbon Yearbook

Ahead of his final year of college basketball, Great Osobor is taking home plenty of preseason accolades.

After finishing the 2023-24 season as an AP All-America Honorable Mention, Washington Huskies star forward Great Osobor has found his name on Blue Ribbon Yearbook’s Preseason All-Big Ten and All-America teams ahead of his final season of college basketball.

Osobor has been with coach Danny Sprinkle throughout his career, following him from Montana State to Utah State and then again to Washington, and has thrived in his offensive system. During his one year with the Aggies, Osobor evolved into a star, averaging 17.7 points and 9 rebounds per game on his way to winning Mountain West Player of the Year.

He helped lead the Aggies to a 28-7 record and a win in the NCAA Tournament before they were trounced by the runners-up for the national championship and one of Washington’s new Big Ten foes, the Purdue Boilermakers.

Since arriving at Washington, Osobor has vaulted from star to superstar, signing a reported $2 million NIL deal, making him the highest-paid known college basketball player. But that hasn’t stopped him from improving his game, and he has spent the offseason developing an improved three-point jumpshot.

“He’s beginning to shoot the basketball with a lot more confidence, which will translate next year because he’s going to have to knock down a lot more threes in the Big Ten with its size and physicality,” Sprinkle said on the Locked On Huskies podcast.

If Osobor can show increased effectiveness from distance throughout the season, he could also find his name on some of these All-Big Ten and All-America lists at the end of the season.

Danny Sprinkle adds former Hawaii head coach to Washington staff

Danny Sprinkle has reportedly added former Mountain West head coach Gib Arnold to the staff on Thursday.

Danny Sprinkle continues to add coaching experience to his inaugural Washington Huskies staff.

Former Hawaii head coach Gib Arnold announced on social media Thursday that he will be the Director of Mental Performance for Washington’s program, rejoining Sprinkle after working with him as a sports psychologist while the new Huskies coach was at Utah State for the 2023-24 season.

Arnold brings an impressive resume as a coach, having been named one of the top 25 recruiters in the country by Rivals while an assistant at USC. He helped the Trojans bring in future NBA talents DeMar DeRozan, Taj Gibson, OJ Mayo, and Nikola Vucevic, among others, while in Los Angeles from 2005-10.

As the head coach at Hawaii,  Arnold was the fastest coach to reach 50 wins in program history before being fired during an NCAA investigation into improper benefits from a booster.

Arnold moved to the NBA, where he spent five seasons as a scout with the Boston Celtics before spending a few years seemingly away from the game before joining Sprinkle and new Huskies star Great Osobor at Utah State.

A native of Eugene, Oregon, Arnold’s father, Frank, was the head coach at BYU from 1975-83 and Hawaii from 1985-87. He coached current Jazz CEO of basketball operations Danny Ainge at BYU, who later was the younger Arnold’s executive director of basketball operations in Boston.

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Big 12 dangled the carrot for UConn, just like they did with Gonzaga

The Big 12 paused conference expansion talk with UConn, just like they did one year ago with the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

The UConn Huskies and Big 12 mutually agreed to pause conversations about having the back-to-back men’s basketball national champions join the conference, according to a press release from commissioner Brett Yormark.

As commissioner, it is my responsibility to explore a variety of value-creating opportunities on behalf of the Big 12. Following detailed discussions with my conference colleagues alongside UConn leadership, we have jointly decided to pause our conversations at this time. We will instead focus our attention and resources to ushering in this new era of college athletics.

UConn athletic director David Benedict released a statement as well, seeming to contradict the idea that the decision was mutual:

“Undoubtedly, many of you have followed recent media reports about the Big 12’s renewed interest in UConn as a conference member. It is always our objective to put UConn in the very best position for future success, so we did engage in exploratory dialogue with the Big 12. Ultimately, the Big 12 determined that it will pause on conversations about membership expansion.”

If this story looks familiar, it is because the sequence of events is eerily similar to what happened almost exactly one year ago between the Big 12 and the Gonzaga Bulldogs out of the WCC.

Gonzaga and the Big 12 engaged in conversation, Yormark publicly made it clear he believes Gonzaga is a value add to the conference, the talks seemed to progress quickly, and then ultimately fell apart with enough backlash from voting parties who wanted to first focus on integrating the eight new programs added over the past two years before adding again.

Does this mean the Big 12 will never accept UConn, or Gonzaga? Not necessarily, but there are enough dissenters within the conference presidents and athletic directors to keep this from happening in the short term.

Yormark tried and failed to make Gonzaga a member in 2023, getting feedback that the timing was too soon, and tried again a year later hoping an even bigger brand – in a more appealing market coming off back-to-back national titles and with a football program, albeit a bad one – would generate the necessary votes to expand.

No go once again, and now the wait continues for both the Zags and Huskies.

Former Husker Keisei Tominaga shines in G League United debut

In his final year at Nebraska, Tominaga averaged 15.1 points per game

A former Nebraska basketball standout had an impressive debut off the bench on Wednesday night. Keisei Tominaga scored 12 points to help G League United defeat BC Mega MIS 99-81.

The G League United is a select squad of current and future G League stars. BC Mega MIS is a premier Serbian team known for developing three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić.

Tominaga is the only rookie on the 12-member squad. He spent three seasons at Nebraska and scored 1,074 points, good for seventh in school history. He recently signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Indiana Pacers.

In his final year at Nebraska, the guard averaged 15.1 points per game and landed 76 3-pointers, which ranked eighth on the Huskers’ single-season chart. His efforts helped Nebraska to a 23-11 record in 2023-24, a third-place Big Ten finish, and the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014.

The team will also compete in Singapore’s 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup from Sept. 12 to 15.

https://twitter.com/nbagleague/status/1831525814682448149

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