Coming off a yr that noticed the convention represented within the nationwide championship recreation, with Purdue reaching the title for the primary time since 1980, the Huge Ten is in sturdy place heading into the 2024-25 faculty basketball season.
Whereas there’s a degree of unknown for just about each faculty basketball program within the nation with the present local weather of chaos within the sport, there’s a goal on the again of the Boilermakers, regardless of dropping two-time nationwide faculty participant of the yr Zach Edey. You would not suppose a program that misplaced its 7-foot-4 large man who averaged 25.2 factors and 12.2 rebounds final season would nonetheless be the preseason No. 1 workforce within the convention media ballot, however that is the case for Twentieth-year head coach Matt Painter and his workforce.
The Boilermakers did not add a single scholarship switch this offseason, however they do have the Huge Ten preseason participant of the yr in junior level guard Braden Smith.
“We did not have anyone depart to enter the portal,” Painter stated on the Huge Ten’s media day telecast. “That was large for us as a result of we did not should cope with recruiting all spring and into the summer time and never figuring out who we’re. Now, we’re capable of develop and know the fellows on our workforce.
“We had a fantastic summer time. We do have three starters again from a Ultimate 4 workforce that made the nationwide title recreation. Now, it is about mixing within the 5 freshmen that now we have and understanding what we do and the way we do it.”
The expectations do not change in West Lafayette, even with out Edey, who was chosen ninth general within the NBA Draft. With the guard play of Smith and classmate Fletcher Loyer, together with large man Trey Kaufman-Renn, who Painter believes may have an enormous yr, there is a core in place for the Boilers to be within the operating for a three-peat within the league.
However that was solely one of many many takeaways from the convention’s media day festivities on Thursday. Listed below are 5 different storylines to zone in on as we inch towards the 2024-25 Huge Ten basketball season:
The vibes are excessive in Bloomington. May Indiana win the Huge Ten?
The Hoosiers completely can. Mike Woodson and his employees went on the assault this offseason to gather the nation’s No. 2 switch class, in keeping with 247 Sports activities. Bringing in an All-American-caliber large man in Oumar Ballo, guards Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle, and a sharpshooter from Illinois in Luke Goode, makes for a very nice group of additives. However on this sport, roster retention is so crucial, and IU was capable of garner that momentum with the return of junior star Malik Reneau, rising sophomore standout Mackenzie Mgbako, and veteran chief Trey Galloway.
The Hoosiers have the mix of weapons to make this Woodson’s finest workforce. The 66-year-old, who enters his fourth yr on the helm at his alma mater, stated his program took a step again final yr once they missed the NCAA Match after reaching March Insanity in his first two campaigns.
“The aim right here continues to be the identical: It is about successful Huge Ten titles and nationwide titles at Indiana,” Woodson advised Huge Ten Community. “I keep in mind the nice outdated days again once I performed and a number of the nice years Bob Knight had at Indiana which have been lacking. We now have to get again to that. We nonetheless have an extended technique to go as a ball membership, however our summer time program went extraordinarily effectively, and now we want our veterans to steer.”
Woodson, who has stated he needs to adapt and play extra perimeter-based with this group after being extra conventional with two submit gamers within the recreation collectively at most instances final yr, appears to be like as if he is able to adapt on the offensive finish of the ball. The Hoosiers have the personnel to succeed. This yr appears like a pivotal season within the Woodson Period, one that ought to have Meeting Corridor on fireplace.
Tom Izzo is difficult Jaden Akins to stand up as his subsequent star.
Michigan State appears to be like the a part of a top-three workforce within the Huge Ten, offered the Spartans keep wholesome. However simply how good will the Spartans be in Izzo’s thirtieth season? The Corridor of Famer made it a degree to problem one in every of his junior standouts on Thursday.
“I feel depth is one in every of our strengths heading into this yr, however it may be a optimistic and a detrimental factor since you’re in search of the primary man,” Izzo stated. “We want one or two guys to step up, and I am hoping Jaden Akins could be a type of guys.”
The 6-4 guard averaged 10.4 factors and three.9 rebounds per recreation final season, combining for 26 and 11 in two NCAA Match video games. Now, Izzo needs to see Akins take the torch and be the point of interest of Michigan State’s workforce with AJ Hoggard and Tyson Walker gone. Omaha switch Frankie Fidler, who averaged over 20 factors per recreation final yr and might be a starter on the wing, is anticipated to be a key cog, however Izzo difficult Akins publicly speaks volumes about what he expects from him in his third yr.
As for one more key Spartan replace from Rosemont, Izzo stated former five-star recruit Xavier Booker put in a ton of labor within the weight room this previous summer time, growing his weight from 217 kilos to 240. After an underwhelming freshman season, Izzo stated he envisions Booker taking a large leap after averaging simply 3.7 factors per recreation final season.
New males on campus: Freshmen look to dwell as much as the hype at Rutgers and Maryland
It is essentially the most extremely anticipated season on the banks of the Raritan. Steve Pikiell enters Yr 9 on the helm at Rutgers by welcoming within the No. 2- and No. 3-ranked recruits within the nation, in keeping with 247 Sports activities. Dylan Harper, the 6-6 youthful brother of Ron Harper Jr. and son of five-time NBA champion Ron Sr., is joined by 6-10 prospect Ace Bailey to type as compelling a freshman duo that we have seen at a non-blue blood program. Being at Scarlet Knights follow final week, the upside and expertise of each freshmen lends itself to believing they are going to be two of the highest picks within the NBA Draft subsequent June on the Barclays Middle. Harper’s easy playmaking capacity and taking pictures approach is spectacular, and his management, together with a bodily mature physique at 18 years outdated, actually stood out. As for Bailey, Pikiell advised FOX Sports activities that he’s essentially the most distinctive participant he is ever coached, with the freshman having the ability to play all 5 positions and having an entire offensive ability set paired with nice size.
As for a way Pikiell is dealing with the hype, he did not shrink back from it:
“Yearly I’ve been right here I nonetheless have that trophy case in my workplace seeking to win a nationwide championship,” Pikiell stated. “From Day 1, the primary yr I bought right here, I’ve been attempting to win it. So so far as expectations, convey them on. I really like that.”
There are expectations for a bounce-back season in School Park, the place Kevin Willard appears to be like to reply in his third yr on the helm. Maryland is coming off a 16-17 marketing campaign in 2023-24 that noticed the Terps on the backside of the Huge Ten in 3-point taking pictures. Whereas Willard famous he attacked the portal with a concentrate on including shotmakers, he was in a position to try this due to one of many highest ranked recruits in Terrapins historical past, Derik Queen (No. 12 in Class of 2025), coming to this system as a one-and-done specimen. The 6-10, 246-pound heart will pair with senior Julian Reese to type one of many high frontcourt duos within the nation. Willard stated Queen is not a typical freshman due to how a lot he was wanting ahead to pairing with a veteran, not being petrified of the competitors concerned with that in a locker room.
“Derik comes from a fantastic household, and has a terrific group of individuals round him,” Willard stated. “What stands out to me is how excited he’s to play with Julian. Derik’s like a sponge as a learner. He’ll ask us what he ought to do in sure conditions and coverages. He is not afraid to be challenged and coached. We now have actually excessive expectations for Derek, and he has excessive expectations for himself.”
If Belmont switch Ja’Kobi Gillespie and South Florida switch Selton Miguel can each carry out the way in which Willard was speaking about them on Thursday, Maryland ought to get again to the NCAA Match this yr and look to construct on Willard’s first season, when this system superior to the Spherical of 32.
It is Might in Michigan, and the Wolverines are underrated.
Seeing Michigan Basketball at ninth within the Huge Ten preseason ballot appears like a recipe for the Wolverines to exceed that marker. Dusty Might, who took Florida Atlantic to the Ultimate 4 in 2023, takes over in Ann Arbor and has constructed a roster that has the makings of an NCAA Match workforce.
The most important power: pairing up former FAU standout Vlad Goldin on the heart place with unanimous Ivy League first-team choice and former Yale star Danny Wolf. Not one, however two 7-footers collectively? Might believes it would trigger matchup issues for everyone else.
“We must always have the ability to management the glass and discover mismatches with these two,” Might stated. “You’ll be able to play excessive along with your passing. We wish to be a problem to protect. That is my largest factor.”
May additionally introduced in 6-10 Alabama switch Sam Walters, who the Michigan head coach stated will present perimeter taking pictures and mismatches. Walters shot 39% from deep as a freshman.
With Auburn switch Tre Donaldson, who was a teammate of Walters and has been pals with him because the seventh grade, together with Ohio State switch Roddy Gayle, the Wolverines ought to have a stable backcourt. Can Might degree as much as the Huge Ten? There are many indicators that say the reply to that query is “sure.”
UCLA can problem for the Huge Ten title, and Mick Cronin is assured in his Bruins.
Of the brand new additions to the Huge Ten, count on UCLA and Oregon to take advantage of noise in Yr 1, with the Bruins as a professional title contender within the convention.
Up till final season’s disappointing 16-17 marketing campaign, Mick Cronin had UCLA dreaming of the glory days once more. The Bruins went to the Ultimate 4 in 2021 and reached three straight Candy 16s with a 31-win season in 2022-23.
Final season spiraled as a consequence of a lot of causes, together with poor perimeter taking pictures, because the Bruins shot 33% from downtown and had plenty of youth on their roster.
Junior Dylan Andrews and sophomore Sebastian Mack want to construct off their double-digit scoring campaigns final yr, however Cronin additionally needed to reel in expertise from the switch portal. The Bruins introduced in transfers Kobe Johnson (USC), Skyy Clark (Louisville), Tyler Bilodeau (Oregon State), William Kyle (South Dakota State) and extra.
“We have been simply not sufficiently old final yr,” Cronin advised the Huge Ten Community. “The truth of school basketball, we would have liked to grow old and we would have liked a frontrunner. Kobe Johnson is a big addition for us. I will be shocked if he’s not an all-league participant when it issues within the postseason, when the votes are tallied up. He is only a winner. He defends. He is nearly as good a defensive participant as I’ve ever coached, and I coached a nationwide participant of the yr two years in the past defensively in Jaylen Clark.”
Cronin in contrast placing a roster collectively at UCLA with NIL {dollars} to a different large model in sports activities: the Bronx Bombers.
“It is virtually just like the Yankees,” he stated. “You need to exit and get a complete bunch of free brokers and determine it out. We’re within the technique of that and attempting to develop some successful habits, however I like the truth that we’re extra gifted. I like the truth that we’re older. Now we simply should turn into a workforce that is aware of find out how to win. It is plenty of strain. I perceive that. We now have excessive expectations at UCLA to attempt to get the twelfth banner up there, however there’s nothing I might reasonably be doing.”
With Cronin considering that method, maybe the Bruins might speed up to the highest of the league. One factor is for sure: Having UCLA solely helps the league’s trigger to win a nationwide title, which has not occurred since Michigan State climbed the mountaintop in 2000.
John Fanta is a nationwide faculty basketball broadcaster and author for FOX Sports activities. He covers the game in quite a lot of capacities, from calling video games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Community to offering commentary on The Area of 68 Media Community. Comply with him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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