Riley Saxon
By Riley Saxon
College Hoops Breakdown Offseason Winners and Losers
The college hoops season is fast approaching, and the offseason is finally starting to close as teams are beginning to start officially practicing in the preseason. With that, College Hoops Breakdown Takes stock of the Winners and Losers of the Offseason:
Three Biggest Winners
Memphis Tigers
Three weeks in August completely shifted the narrative surrounding the Tigers. Coming off an NIT Championship, most expected Memphis to be better in 2021 – make the tournament better, maybe Sweet 16 better. But on August 6, the tide began to turn. Top 5 Recruit Jalen Duran committed to Memphis, and then less than three weeks later, Emoni Bates ended a second round of recruiting by tabbing Memphis as his new home. That gave Memphis two top 5 recruits and raised the expectations from “a Sweet 16 would be nice” to “a Sweet 16 would be a disappointment.”
Texas Longhorns
Where to begin for the Longhorns? They have a new leader in Chris Beard, and a handful of new transfers from midmajor star Tre Mitchell to leaders on disappointing Power Conference teams, like Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr. If the new players (6 of the ESPN top 31 transfers) mesh well under Beard, Texas should win its first NCAA Tournament game since 2014. All of these moves probably weren’t even the biggest move of the offseason for Texas: They announced, along with Oklahoma, that they were heading to the SEC, starting the next great shakeup of Conference Alignment in the NCAA.
UCLA Bruins
Johnny Juzang’s return was the big news for UCLA in the offseason, and it’s one of the big reasons why they are a consensus Top 10 team heading into the 2021 season. His return, along with Cody Riley’s decision to withdraw from the draft, meant UCLA returns everyone who contributed meaningful minutes during their Final Four run returns… but that’s not all. Myles Johnson, allBig 10 defensive team members, transfer from Rutgers, and Peyton Watson, 5-star recruit, are also being added to the mix. UCLA has started slow the first two years under Cronin, but that should not be the case this year.
The Biggest Losers
Louisville Cardinals
The Cardinals offseason wasn’t so much a loss on the court, as much as it was a mess off the court. On the court, the Cardinal fan had to endure a snub from the selecting committee (and watch former coach Rick Pitino dance), then had to miss out on ESPN #1 transfer Marcus Carr. Off the court, however, is where the real headaches began. Chris Mack fired assistant Dino Gaudio, a mere blip on the radar at the time. That blip soon became a bomb however, as Gaudio threatened to sue and Mack released tapes of Gaudio trying to extort/blackmail Mack. The tapes made headlines immediately, and as people listened to and read the transcripts… a new impression of Mack arose. The tapes also troubled the university, who suspended Mack for how he handled the situation. For a University that moved on from a well-respected, albeit controversial and scandal-laden coach, the last thing the university wanted, or needed, was another scandal.
Wichita St Shockers
The 2020 offseason was full of turmoil for the Shockers, and after parting ways with Gregg Marshall, the Shockers hoped to leave everything behind. Now, the turmoil surrounds their conference, the American Athletic. WIth Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, the Big 12 looked to increase their numbers. They found four new teams, three from the AAC (Cincinnati, Houston and UCF). That leaves the AAC scrambling: Memphis and Wichita St remain, as does SMU, but the conference that was once mentioned in the same breath as the other Power 6 basketball conferences is on its last leg. Memphis and SMU can bolt at any time, and with football to take care of, they very well could. Unlike Louisville and Rutgers, however, Wichita State still has some time to sort it all out.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Rutgers’ offseason started much earlier than anyone hoped. After winning their first tournament game since 1983, Rutgers had a nine point lead in the second round with just under five minutes to play. The lead slowly evaporated, Rutgers was held scoreless over the final two minutes, and the Rutgers offseason began. Although two big names in Geo Baker and ROn Harper Jr returned to school, Rutgers lost four players to the transfer portal, include two stars heading to the PAC 12: Jacob Young and Myles Johnson. Both Young (Oregon) and Johnson (UCLA) are poised to make deep runs into March Madness, so while Rutgers offseason wasn’t nearly as bad as the Shockers or Cardinals, there is a very good chance there will be more reminders this season of what could have been.
BRUIN BIAS
UCLA announced Top 60 2021 Recruit Will McClendon tore his ACL last week, ending his season. In the short term, the loss of McClendon won’t be felt on the court – UCLA was already 13 deep, and there was going to be a fight for minutes to begin with. If anything, the injury highlights how important that depth will be to UCLA this season. The injury will have much more effect long term: McClendon loses a year of practice and game experience, and he was getting reps at Backup PG, meaning his development at that position will also slow to a halt.
McClendon will still be a stud at UCLA – labeled as the type of player Mick Cronin loves, he’ll get his chance to shine over the next couple of years.
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 …
