Riley Saxon
By Riley Saxon
All Conference NLI Teams
We are in the doldrums of the College Basketball Offseason: The excitement of the Transfer Portal has died down and rosters are virtually finalized, but official practice is still a ways away. In other words, it’s the perfect time for thought exercises.
College Hoops Breakdown compiled its first ever All Conference teams, but these inaugural selections aren’t predictions about who will be the best on the basketball court. Instead, we’re predicting which players will make the most money this season from their NLI deals. Combining factors such as on-court performance, potential, and marketability of a player, here are College Hoops Breakdown’s All Conference NLI Teams for the Power 6, American and the rest of the mid majors:
ACC
Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech
Armando Bacot, North Carolina
Paolo Banchero, Duke
Kihei Clark, Virginia
Caleb Love, North Carolina
American
Kendric Davis, SMU
Jalen Duran, Memphis
Tyson Etienne, Wichita State
Landers Nolley, Memphis
Marcus Sasser, Houston
Big East
Justin Champaignie, St. John’s
Collin Gillespie, Villanova
Tyler Polley, Connecticut
Jermaine Samuels, Villanova
Nate Watson, Providence
Big 12
Ochai Agbaji, Kansas
Andrew Jones, Texas
Matthew Mayer, Baylor
Kevin Obanor, Texas Tech
Flo Thamba, Baylor
Big Ten
Kofi Cockburn, Illinois
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
Jaden Ivey, Purdue
EJ Liddel, Ohio State
Fatts Russel, Maryland
Pac 12
Marcus Bagley, Arizona St
N’Faly Dante, Oregon
Johnny Juzang, UCLA
Isaiah Mobley, USC
Will Richardson, Oregon
SEC
John Fulkerson, Tennessee
Kellan Grady, Kentucky
Walker Kessler, Auburn
Jaden Shackleford, Alabama
TyTy Washington, Kentucky
Mid Majors
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts U
Patrick Baldwin Jr, Milwaukee
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
Kyle Lofton, St. Bonaventure
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Bruin Bias
In the spirit of thought exercises, today’s Bruin Bias is about building the best defensive lineup the Bruins could put on the floor. The idea stems from how deep UCLA is, and from how many last second gut punches UCLA has lost during the Cronin era (Stanford, USC twice, and Gonzaga in the Final Four, to name a few). Assuming this lineup could get enough reps together and solidify their communication, we’d love to see Cronin trot out this lineup in do-or-die defensive stands:
Jaylen Clark: Cronin says he can guard any position 1-5; sparked UCLA with his hustle numerous times last year
Peyton Watson: One of the oft-played clips of the US U19 Championship run was a defensive possession where Watson switched, and guarded well, every player on the opposing team. His length and athleticism are a must at the end of games
Will McClendon: Often called the prototypical Cronin player; his will to work, athleticism and Basketball IQ should help put a stop to buzzer beater defeats
Myles Johnson: A defensive stalwart who was named to the all-Big 10 defensive team last year
Jaime Jaquez: The fifth spot was tough, as Singleton, Campbell and Bernard were all considered, but we’ll go with the guy who can bang on the low block and run around the perimeter
College Hoops Breakdown appears twice a month through the summer at JoeTorosian.com
Riley Saxon can be reached at:
Email: rileymsaxon@gmail.com
Twitter: @CHoopsBreakdown …
