IOWA CITY, Iowa — In an era when many college basketball players want to speed up their careers in hopes of going pro, Iowa’s Jack Nunge took an unusual step back last season.
The sophomore redshirted for the Hawkeyes, and they hope that will help him blossom into an impact post player this winter.
The 6-foot-11 Nunge, who started 14 games as a freshman in 2017-18, took the next season off partly because Iowa wanted to balance out its frontcourt depth for the next few seasons and partly so he could bulk up. Nunge’s work behind the scenes — along with the expected loss of star forward Tyler Cook to the NBA — should put him in position to compete for significant minutes this season.
Iowa (23-12 in 2018-19), which is coming off its fourth NCAA tournament appearance in six seasons, opens on Nov. 8 against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
“I just thought it was the best decision for me, my skill development and to get to, ultimately, where I want to be,” Nunge said Wednesday during the team’s annual media day. “I got a lot stronger. I got to work on my game a lot.”
Nunge undoubtedly could have helped the Hawkeyes a season ago. He and the coaching staff instead bet that Nunge — one of a staggering seven forwards on Iowa’s roster in 2018-19 — would best help the program moving forward by redshirting.
Nunge had a promising freshman season, ranking second on the team with 25 blocked shots, fourth with 21 steals and fifth with 5.7 points a game. He said he has put on between 10-15 pounds since last playing.
“Physically, he is in a completely different place, especially as it relates to his ability to do things in the post,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “He was always a good post player, but he was on the thin side. He’s not on the thin side anymore. He’s finishing plays. Defensively, he’s always had tremendous defensive instincts, so now you have a bigger body to combat talented players in this league.”
How the Hawkeyes use Nunge in nonconference play will be one of their more interesting story lines ahead of Big Ten play.
Nunge is now listed at 245 pounds, but he also has a surprisingly strong shot for a guy his size, shooting 40% on 3s and 80% from the line in earning Mr. Basketball finalist honors as a prep senior in Indiana.
Those numbers dipped to 33.3% from beyond the arc and 75.5% from the line as a college freshman, but Nunge’s potential as a big man who can stretch the floor and create space for All-Big Ten honorable mention Luka Garza, emerging scorer Joe Wieskamp and others remains intriguing.
“Being a mismatch guy,” Nunge said when asked about his role. “Taking somebody who may not be as good on defense on the outside, or posting up a smaller guy down below.”
Nunge won’t be guaranteed a starting spot, with Ryan Kriener and Cordell Pemsl also competing for frontcourt minutes. Nunge might have an inside track at playing alongside Garza quite a bit at power forward.
“He’s a great shooter. Tremendous shooter. Really stretches the floor well,” Garza said. “He’s really comfortable on the block now as opposed to earlier in his career.”
Oregon’s freshman N’Faly Dante will be ineligible to play until at least Dec. 14th.
The five-star freshman released a statement to Shams Charania of Stadium on Tuesday morning indicating that he will will not be allowed to play during the first six weeks of the season.
“On December 14, 2019, I plan to enroll and play college basketball with the University of Oregon,” Dante’s statement read. “I have completed my academic requirements and am currently waiting for the NCAA eligibility process to finalize.
“Every prospective student athletes that purchases an NCAA Eligibility Center ID, regardless of their gender or origin, should be entitled to a timely and transparent process that’s in line with the student’s targeted enrollment date.”
Dante is one of eight newcomers to the Oregon program this season. The Ducks are a preseason top 25 team, currently sitting 12th in the NBC Sports Top 25. Dante is their highest-rated freshmen, but with UNLV grad transfer Shakur Juiston in Eugene, Dante was not necessarily going to be a starter from day one.
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Big 12 Preview Podcast: Kings stay King in … Kansas?
Rob Dauster was joined this week by Travis Hines to talk through each and every team in the Big 12. Can Kansas start a new streak? Is everything happening around the program going to be too much for them to overcome? Just how good is Texas Tech? Can Baylor make a run at the league title? Where does Kansas State drop off to? Why is Texas so interesting this year?
Here is the full rundown or the league:
Baylor: 4:20
Iowa State: 10:15
Kansas: 18:51
Kansas State: 31:19
TCU: 37:05
Oklahoma State: 42:40
Oklahoma: 47:00
Texas: 53:15
Texas Tech: 1:05:30
West Virginia: 1:12:35
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2019-20 NBC Sports College Basketball Preseason All-America Teams
Beginning in September and running up until November 5th, the first day of the season, College Basketball Talk will be unveiling the 2019-2020 NBCSports.com college hoops preview package.
2019-20 NBC SPORTS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM
PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR: CASSIUS WINSTON, Michigan State
Winston is coming off of a season where he was a First Team All-American that averaged 18.8 points and 7.5 assists for a team that won 32 games, the Big Ten regular season title, the Big Ten tournament and reached the Final Four. This is also a team that brings back enough talent to be the preseason No. 1 team in the country in the NBC Sports Top 25.
With respect to the other players on this list, I don’t really think there is much of an argument here. When the best returning player in the sport is on the best team in the sport, you name him Preseason Player of the Year.
MARKUS HOWARD, Marquette
On the podcast above, I mentioned that I think that Howard is the guy that is the most likely to go from being in the conversation for First Team All-America in the preseason to out of the mix come March. There are two reasons for that. For starters, I think there is a real chance that the Golden Eagles end up being a team that falls in that 10-12 seed range come Selection Sunday, and the past has taught us that you need to have a truly special season to make a run at Player of the Year on a team that isn’t a title contender. The other reason is that there is a world where Howard’s efficiency goes in the tank. I like some of the other pieces that Wojo has at his disposal, but without the Hauser brothers, this is a different basketball team that is much easier to guard.
Howard’s going to get his, he’s going to have nights where he goes for 50 and he’s going to get on runs where he makes four, five or six threes in a row. He’s awesome. But when everyone in Milwaukee knows that he is getting the ball, how often will those runs come?
MYLES POWELL, Seton Hall
I am very high on Seton Hall this year, and the biggest reason why is the return of Powell, who has grown into one of the very best scorers in the country. He’s coming off of a season where he averaged 23.1 points and put on some scoring displays that looked an awful lot like what Howard can do. He’s going to have a monster senior season, the battles between him and Howard are going to be legendary and the Pirates, with essentially everyone back from a season ago, should be good enough to make a run at a Big East title if things go well.
JORDAN NWORA, Louisville
Nwora was one of the breakout stars in college basketball last season, opting to withdraw from the NBA draft and return to school for his junior year. A combo-forward and a big-time shot-maker, Nwora is the perfect fit for Chris Mack’s offense, and his presence is the biggest reason that the Cardinals enter this season as a top five team in the NBC Sports Top 25. The big question with Nwora is going to be where he improved this offseason. If he comes back to school as a more fluid and explosive athlete, someone that can put the ball on the floor and create at a higher level, there’s no doubt that National Player of the Year is within his range of outcomes. He’s that good and Louisville is that good.
JAMES WISEMAN, Memphis
I don’t think that Wiseman is going to be the most productive freshman in college basketball this season but I do think that he is going to be the best freshman. His combination of physical tools, athleticism and a system at Memphis that should allow him to show them off is ideal. My big question with Wiseman is how well his skillset translates to the role he is going to be asked to play in college. At the next level, I think that he becomes the next Myles Turner, an elite defensive presence that can space the floor and create matchup problems against bigger defenders. I do not expect that that will be the way he is used at Memphis – nor should it be – and it will be interesting to see just how well he can overwhelm players that aren’t as physically gifted as he is.
2019-20 NBC SPORTS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM
COLE ANTHONY, North Carolina: Anthony is going to have a massive freshman season. I don’t see any way around it. He’s going to slot right into the role that Coby White vacated, he’s going to play at just as fast of a tempo and he is not going to have anywhere near the level of talent around him. I think that he’ll average 20 points and six assists. North Carolina’s ceiling will be determined by whether or not those 20 points come on 15 shots or 25 shots and if those six assists are paired with two turnovers or eight turnovers.
DEVON DOTSON, Kansas: Trying to figure out who to slot in as the All-American on Kansas is tough. I don’t think I can go with Udoka Azubuike after seeing the way Villanova neutralized him in the Final Four two years ago, and while I’m enamored with Ochai Agbaji, I do believe that he is still a year away from truly being in this conversation. That leaves the head of the snake, point guard Devon Dotson. He really came on down the stretch of last season, and as his turnovers went down and efficiency went up, Kansas improved. I think he has a big sophomore season.
KERRY BLACKSHEAR JR., Florida: I really like Blackshear. He is a 6-foot-10, 250 pound big man that averaged 14.9 points, 7.5 boards and 2.4 assists on a slow-paced Virginia Tech team as their third option offensively. He can overpower smaller defenders in the post. He can make threes. He can beat bigger defenders off of the dribble. He is everything that Florida needed at the five this season.
MAMADI DIAKITE, Virginia: I’m out on a limb on this one, and frankly, I think there are very valid arguments to make that both of Diakite’s frontcourt mates – Jay Huff and Braxton Key – deserve to be slotted here instead. But I love what Diakite provides defensively, I expect him to build off of a terrific NCAA tournament run and I’ll ride or die with UVA’s starting power forward. We’ll see if it pays off.
ISAIAH STEWART, Washington: If Anthony isn’t the most productive freshman in this class, it very well could end up being Stewart, who is an absolute hoss on the block. He is going to soak up Noah Dickerson’s shots and anchor the zone that they run defensively.
2019-20 NBC SPORTS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA THIRD TEAM
TRE JONES, Duke: I love Tre Jones. I think he’s the key to this Duke team. I wrote all about it here.
ANTHONY COWAN, Maryland: I’m torn on Cowan. On the one hand, he’s the best player and the lead guard on a team with top ten talent. That’s good. The problem? Maryland guards seem to stop improving after a while. Melo Trimble never really got better during his three years on campus. Cowan didn’t take the leap we all expected him to take last season. Will he this year?
TYRESE MAXEY, Kentucky: I had a very difficult time picking which Kentucky player I think will be their best. I can see the argument for Ashton Hagans and E.J. Montgomery. I can see Kahlil Whitney being the guy. The Johnny Juzang hype train has already gotten rolling. But I’m going to go with Tyrese Maxey. He’s a terrific lead guard and John Calipari tends to do well with terrific lead guards.
JARRON CUMBERLAND, Cincinnati: It feels like no one ever mentions Cumberland when discussing the best players in the country, but here is a rising senior that only went out and averaged 18.8 points, 4.4 boards and 3.6 assists while shooting 38.8 percent from three. That’s not bad.
SAM MERRILL, Utah State: Neemias Queta seems to be the name that most people know on Utah State, but Merrill was their best player last season. His return to school is why the Aggies cracked the top 15 in the NBC Sports Top 25.
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The American Preview Podcast: A team-by-team breakdown of the league
Rob Dauster is joined by Travis Hines to breakdown every team, angle and story line in the American this season. Is Memphis really good enough to win a national title? How is Houston going to replace everything that they lost? Is Jarron Cumberland healthy? Will Wichita State, Temple, UConn or South Florida make the leap to tournament team this year?
OPEN: More Kansas vs. the NCAA talk.
12:20: Cincinnati
18:22: UConn
23:00 East Carolina
25:00 Houston
31:15: Memphis
44:00: SMU
47:10: USF
50:10: Temple
53:10: Tulane
56:15: Tulsa
58:10: UCF
1:02:05: Wichita State
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Jay Wright: Redshirting ‘a possibility’ for Villanova freshman Bryan Antoine
NEW YORK — Villanova freshman Bryan Antoine is expected to miss at least the first few weeks of the season after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.
The surgery took place in early June, and according to head coach Jay Wright, Antoine has been out of action ever since.
“He hasn’t touched a basketball since his last high school game,” Wright said. “He still hasn’t practiced. It’s going to be tough for him to make an impact early.”
Antoine is a top 20 prospect in the Class of 2019 and the crown jewel of Villanova’s recruiting class. The 6-foot-4 combo-guard was expected to compete for a starting spot this season.
Wright added that redshirting Antoine is “a possibility” due to the injury, but that it is still too early to know how long the recovery process is going to be.
“It all going to depend on his rehab. We have to get through his rehab first,” Wright said. “People don’t know, this kid, he knew he had a shoulder problem coming out of high school, but he didn’t get diagnosed with a torn labrum until he got to Villanova. He played with it last year, and then didn’t play all spring.
“It’s reconstructive shoulder surgery. We have to see how the rehab goes, then get him back on the court and see how much this layoff has affected him.”
Antoine is not expected back onto the practice floor until “mid or late November,” Wright said. “Then we’re going to have to see how he does, get him in shape, see how he picks things up. Our other freshmen have been there all summer. He’s been there too, but he hasn’t been able to do anything.”
