College Basketball Season Preview Mailbag Edition

With college basketball officially kicking off last week, there’s been plenty of questions starting to float around about teams and players. Whether it’s thanks to the rankings or preseason award watch lists that were announced this week people are wondering why is x person or team left off. We did these mailbags last year and decided to get back into them again this year as they are an easy way to answer questions of all varieties. Submit your questions by tweeting at me @barstoolreags

This is something I hear quite a bit, especially from Illinois. The fact of the matter is ever really since Bill Self left Illinois players decided to go elsewhere. Yeah, Bruce Weber had some success, but a lot of that came with guys Self recruited. Once that lore of playing for Illinois went away and the growth of AAU ball, kids didn’t feel the need to stay at home. Look at schools outside the Big 10 that make a point to play back in Chicago. Schools like Duke and Kentucky will play at the United Center in the nonconference to help recruit. But, really it’s a combination of losing Self – and we’ve seen what he can do recruiting at Kansas – combined with wanting to go play for a successful school at sending kids to the NBA. I’ve always said if you’re a top-10 recruit you should only go to Duke, Kansas or Kentucky. If you’re top-20 throw in UNC, Arizona, Villanova and Michigan State. Until Illinois starts winning and gets lucky by keeping the first big time recruit home, there’s no reason for people to go play at Illinois. What won’t help them though was this past year where guys like Malik Newman and Stephen Zimmerman decided to stay home instead of going to a top team. Both considered top-15 recruits, one will be in the D-League and one is transferring to Kansas.

This is one where I think everyone is starting to agree on. The top transfers are Austin Nichols (Virgina), Nigel Williams-Goss (Gonzaga) and Marcus Foster (Creighton). Nichols, who transferred from Memphis should fit into Virginia’s system beautifully. He’s a rim protector – top-3 in blocked shots a couple years ago – while also has the ability to finish anywhere in the paint. Williams-Goss was a high recruit at Washington before transferring to Gonzaga after two years. He’ll step in and play the point guard spot there and should be a candidate to make an All-American team. Finally Marcus Foster burst onto the scene at Kansas State averaging over 15.5 points per game. He combined with Mo Watson to give Creighton one of the best backcourts in the country.

Hate to break it to you Chip, but that’s where your expectations should be now. I don’t know where you think Maryland should be now, but they aren’t above a No. 5 seed that’s for sure. This is a team that will resemble Melo Trimble’s freshman year with less talent and no safety blanket. That year he had Dez Wells to bail him out, who was more important than people want to give him credit for. Last year they couldn’t put talent together so this year they are taking a step back. They are relying on a guy coming off of injury to help save Melo. Realistically the Terps should be thrilled to get a No. 4 seed, but I see them in the No. 5-7 range right off the bat.

Advertisement

I mean last year we saw USC start to put it together. They weren’t expected to do much but ended up as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament because they stumbled down the stretch. However, they swept UCLA, beat Arizona and beat Wichita State. They had a ton of talent, but to say they will put it all together this year is a little stretch. They lost some key guys but Bennie Boatwright is good enough to carry this team to a NCAA Tournament. As for Enfield being a top tier coach? No. He’s a nice coach, but he’s not sniffing top tier. He’s had one miracle run in the NCAA Tournament, but other than that he hasn’t achieved a lot to be called top tier.

I’m out on Justin Jackson. I had him as ACC Player of the Year last year and he completely let me down. I think he’ll continue to be the inconsistent player that shows flashes of greatness. He has all the tools to be a star, yet something keeps holding him back. His freshman year he had one of the prettiest floaters in the game and could beat you from all around the court. He ended that year strong, but last year just felt flat. So, no, Justin Jackson won’t ever reach the potential of what he once was or what he should be. As for Grayson Allen, I don’t think he missed a chance to go pro. His ceiling is probably the same no matter when he comes out of college. He’s an athletic scorer and that translates to the NBA. You could argue last year’s class was weaker so he should have came out then, but he was never going to be a top-10 pick. He’s somewhere in that 20-30 range and he’ll be there this year, last year, next year, you pick.

This is in regards to the report of the new NBA CBA, which would keep the one and done rule. Personally, I wish it was how it used to be. Let these kids, like anyone else in the world, make the decision of whether they want to go to college or go pro. On top of that it would help build a stronger D-League, which would help improve these younger guys. There will still be stars in the college basketball world and we’d all go on our lives cheering for the same laundry that we currently cheer for. You’ll still be a UCLA fan whether Lonzo Ball went there or not.