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The Breakfast Buffet: March Madness Edition

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Things To Sample

St. John’s made a major splash with the addition of Providence transfer Bryce Hopkins
There’s a legitimate chance that the Red Storm — who still need to recalibrate their perimeter after losing Deivon Smith, Kadary Richmond, and RJ Luis — could have two Preseason All-Americans next season with Hopkins and Zuby Ejiofor (14.7 points, 8.1 rebounds). The 6-7 Hopkins has battled a knee injury the past two seasons, but averaged 17.0 points and 7.7 rebounds in three games this past year and 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds in 14 games the year prior. There won’t be a better power forward/center combination in college basketball next season than Hopkins and Ejiofor.

Retention still matters in college basketball
The four teams in the 2025 Final Four — Florida, Duke, Houston, and Auburn — played a combined 29 players double figure minutes in the Elite Eight. 20 of those players were in their respective programs last season while four were freshmen and five were transfers. To win at the highest levels of college basketball, retaining your roster still usurps what you add to your roster.

Kansas has a major offseason ahead
Nobody is immune to this new climate in college basketball. Not even a Hall-of-Famer like Bill Self. The Jayhawks are coming off back-to-back seasons with double digit losses for the first-time ever under Self and now, will have to essentially retool their entire roster. Since Kansas lost to Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, four players in the Jayhawks’ program who appeared in 20 or more games this season and had remaining eligibility — Flory Bidunga, Rylan Griffen, Rakease Passmore, and David “Diggy” Coit — entered the transfer portal. Kansas’ top four scorers from this past season — Hunter Dickinson, Zeke Mayo, KJ Adams, and Dajuan Harris — all exhausted their eligibility. Self should get Elmarko Jackson back from an knee injury and brings in a five-star freshman in shooting guard Darryn Peterson, but other than that, it’s a complete makeover in Lawrence.

On The Side

  • Duke’s Jon Scheyer is one win away from having the most wins ever for a head coach in his first three seasons. Scheyer’s 89 victories are currently tied with both Brad Stevens (Butler) and Brad Underwood (Stephen F. Austin).
  • Houston has 62 offensive rebounds in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
  • Chaney Johnson is the unsung presence in Auburn’s frontcourt. The 6-7 forward is averaging 8.3 points and 6.5 rebounds during March Madness. Keep a close eye on this guy this weekend.
  • North Carolina transfer Elliot Cadeau announced his commitment to Michigan on Monday. The 6-1 point guard averaged 9.4 points and 6.2 assists during the 2024-25 season.
  • Florida’s Todd Golden was Monday’s guest on my new podcast with CBS Sports. You can watch the full interview by clicking HERE.

Leftovers