The Bruins’ ceiling for next season is certainly lower without Nix, a 5-star prospect who made the decision last week to bypass Westwood to instead be a part of the NBA G League’s select team.
UCLA will still be a major player in the Pac-12 without him.
Even if Chris Smith opts to stay in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Bruins will still return four of their top five scorers from last year’s team that was one missed shot away from sharing the Pac-12 regular season title with Oregon.
Mick Cronin will also add top-100 wing Jaylen Clark and redshirt big man Kenneth Nwuba to his returning nucleus which features a minimum of seven players who averaged double-figure minutes on a team that won 19 games last season. Cronin is also hoping that Kentucky transfer Johnny Juzang is able to receive a waiver from the NCAA to play immediately next season.
Barring something unforeseen, UCLA will be picked in the top three or four in next year’s Pac-12 preseason poll.
Houston has the requisites to be a 30-win team
Last year’s 23-win squad really could have easily had 26 or 27 victories prior to the American Conference Tournament if its end of game execution was tighter. Houston lost a total of four games in league play by two points or less and simply couldn’t make plays consistently with the game on the line.
With another year of experience and nearly everyone of significance expected back, Kelvin Sampson is going to have a legitimate chance to win 30 games for the second time in three seasons. The Cougars won 33 during the 18-19 season when it lost in the Sweet 16 to Kentucky.
Even though both Nate Hinton and DeJon Jarreau are slated to go through the NBA Draft process, the Cougars still plan on having at least one of those players back to go with a returning nucleus of six other players who averaged double-figure minutes last season.
The key for Sampson is the return of the 6-5 Hinton (10.6 points, 8.7 rebounds), someone the veteran coach called “the best rebounding guard he’s ever coached” after a win at Temple last season. If Hinton’s back for another year to anchor this team’s small ball attack on the glass then this program has more than a legitimate chance of again reaching the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Houston adds two rotational pieces in Idaho transfer Cameron Tyson, who made 106 three-point shots two seasons ago and redshirt freshman J’Wan Roberts. Top-100 freshman Tramon Mark will also contend for major minutes.
Major personnel changes at Cincinnati, Wichita State, and Memphis (Precious Achiuwa) combined with UConn’s departure to the Big East make the Cougars — at least on paper — head on shoulders above everyone else in the American Conference.
The Big 12 is in position to be college basketball’s best league in 20-21
I’ve currently got five teams from this conference — Baylor, Kansas, Texas, West Virginia, and Texas Tech — among my top 20 teams entering next season and two more — Oklahoma and Oklahoma State — in my top 40.
That’s 70 percent of the league, which is mightily impressive.
Another thing that’s mightily impressive?
Oklahoma State is currently projected as the seventh best team in the Big 12 according to the preseason rankings I’ve assembled and it features the highest potential NBA Draft pick in 2021 — incoming freshman Cade Cunningham — out of the teams listed above.
The one thing that seems pretty consistent when forecasting this conference for next season is that the majority of teams in this league are on track to better than they were last year.
As long as Jared Butler and MaCio Teague don’t keep their names in the 2020 NBA Draft, Scott Drew should have his best team yet in Waco. Texas, West Virginia, and Texas Tech also all figure to be better than they were last season.
Kansas meanwhile, may not have the sizzle it possessed last year when it was the overwhelming favorite to win the national title, but Bill Self returns a rock solid core led by Marcus Garrett, Ochai Agbaji, and David McCormack. Oklahoma should also be a consistent, reliable team thanks to a solid returning trio of De’Vion Harmon, Austin Reaves, and Brady Manek.
It’s definitely early and things can change, but all signs point towards the Big 12 being college basketball’s best league next season.
This and That:
– The last two head coaches hired in the ACC — Steve Forbes and Mike Young — both came from the SOCON. Forbes was hired by Wake Forest last week after an incredible five-year run at East Tennessee State while Virginia Tech hired Young a year ago to replace Buzz Williams.
– The NBA officially postponed both the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery and the 2020 NBA Draft Combine on Friday. Now we wait for the NCAA to potentially extend the deadline for underclassmen who wish to return to college next season, which is currently June 3rd.
– Matchups are set for the first ever Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge are set, according to a source. Oregon will face Baylor, Washington will play Oklahoma, and Colorado will square off with TCU on Dec. 19th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This event will also feature a highly anticipated women’s showdown between Oregon and Baylor.
– State Farm Arena in Atlanta will host a multi-game event on Dec. 12th, according to multiple sources. Dayton will play Mississippi State, LSU will face South Florida, and Clemson will take on Alabama. A fourth game could also be added to this event.
– 5-star prospect Moussa Cisse announced on Friday that he has cut his list to Kentucky, Georgia, LSU, Memphis, Georgetown, and Florida State. The 6-11 big man is expected to reclassify from the 2021 class to 2020 and be eligible to play college basketball season, according to a source. Cisse would instantly become one of the top interior defenders in the sport if he steps foot on a college campus next fall.
