Kentucky Wildcats: Whoever Kentucky hires is going to get dudes. Let’s check back in on the ‘Cats in a couple weeks. Maybe we’ll have a coach. And the bones of a roster.
Illinois Fighting Illini: Brad Underwood has everything he needs to construct one of the Big Ten’s most-talented rosters for next season, but it’s facing down the sights of a massive retool after very likely losing five of its top-six scorers, including All-American Terrence Shannon Jr. and do-everything big man Coleman Hawkins.
Washington Huskies: New coach Danny Sprinkle could be off to a great start if he can convince stud big man Great Osobor to follow him to Washington. Sprinkle built Utah State into a NCAA Tournament team from scratch with little NIL. Now armed with UW’s resources, Sprinkle is poised to quickly put Washington basketball back on the map.
Mississippi State Bulldogs: Josh Hubbard will be a megastar in Year 2 in Starkvegas. Chris Jans’ defense will be loaded up, per usual, but Kanye Clary could be a sneaky-nice addition to add another jolt of shot-creation to this backcourt. All eyes are on which big man Mississippi State can land in the transfer portal to replace Tolu Smith.
Creighton Bluejays: Another year of Steven Ashworth should help keep Creighton competitive, especially with sharpshooters like Mason Miller and Jackson McAndrew surrounding him. Creighton’s ceiling will certainly be determined by the work it does in the transfer portal. Replacing Baylor Scheierman and Trey Alexander will not be easy. Creighton could get Ryan Kalkbrenner back for another year, too. If that happens, Creighton is easily a top-20 team in the country.