Baylor got some huge news on Monday as potential All-American Jared Butler announced that he will be returning to school for his junior season, joining MaCio Teague is pulling his name out of the 2020 NBA Draft to get the band back together.
Butler was Baylor’s leading scorer a season ago, averaging 16.0 points and 3.1 assists for a team that went 26-4, spent a portion of the season as the No. 1 team in the country and was in line to receive a 1-seed had the 2020 NCAA Tournament taken place.
With Butler and Teague coming back to school, the Bears will return four starters from last season’s squad. Starting center Freddie Gillespie is gone, as is backup guard Devonte Bandoo, but those are holes that can be filled. Tristan Clark, who was Baylor’s best player during the 2018-19 season before suffering a knee injury that lingered through last year, will be back, and there is more than enough talent in the program to replace the scoring pop of Bandoo. Matthew Mayer will be in line for more minutes, while transfer Adam Flagler will be eligible this season.
Baylor will enter this season as a consensus top three team in the country. They will receive plenty of votes as the No. 1 team in the sport, making them not only a very real contender for the Big 12 regular season crown but one of the favorites to win the national title.
Baylor was one of college basketball’s best defensive teams last year. They finished fourth nationally in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric, a ranking that dropped after they Bears lost two of their last three games to TCU and West Virginia. Where they struggled was on the offensive end of the floor. The Bears would go through droughts were points were at a premium and their best offense was a missed shot. Butler’s intrigue for NBA teams was his ability to shoot and to create space in isolation. He’s the one guy on the roster that can create something out of nothing for himself.
And now he is back to try and lead Baylor to a Final Four.
The 15 NBA draft stay-or-go decisions that will shape college basketball’s 2020-21 season
The end of the 2020 NBA Draft early entry decisions period is bearing down.
Underclassmen that opted to declare for the draft saw the deadline to remove their name and retain their collegiate eligibility bumped back to August 3rd due to the coronavirus pandemic. To be frank, the extra two months has not done much more than allow these players to try and get a better feel for what the basketball landscape will look like during the 2020-21 season.
But truth be told, so much is still up in the air. No one knows what college basketball is going to look like next season, not with college campuses likely to develop into mini-COVID outbreaks if students return to campus. No one can say for certain if the G League is going to happen next year, or if foreign leagues are going to allow Americans to enter their country based on the way that the United States has handled the pandemic.
Throw in the fact face-to-face meetings haven’t been made and NBA teams are currently more concerned about finding ways to keep their players that are in the bubble in the bubble, the kids making the most important decision of their lives are put in a terrible spot.
I don’t envy anyone having to make these choices right now.
But choices are going to have to be made.
And these are the 15 most influential stay-or-go decisions remaining.
This one should be obvious. Garza is coming off of a season where he averaged 23.8 points and 9.8 boards for a top 25 team, was named a first-team All-American and put himself alongside Dayton’s Obi Toppin in the race for National Player of the Year.
But he’s also in a unique spot where he doesn’t really project as a great pro because of his lack of athleticism and mobility. How often does a player that is that unquestionably great return for another year in the collegiate ranks? Cassius Winston did it. Doug McDermott did it. They were both preseason National Player of the Year favorites, which is precisely what Garza will be. It’s a big deal having him on the floor, to say nothing of the impact that he has on everyone else on that Iowa roster.
Depending on how the chips fall, I think that Iowa can still be in the mix as a top 25 team without Garza, and I don’t think that it would be crazy if Garza opted to take a deal overseas. He can make a lot of money in Europe.
But with him back?
I think this team is capable of getting to a Final Four and winning a national title. And if I had to guess, I would guess Garza is more likely to be wearing Iowa colors than not next season.
Michigan State is going to take a hit next season because they are losing Cassius Winston, but the Spartans will still have a chance to win the Big Ten title if they bring back Xavier Tillman.
For my money, Tillman had an All-American junior season. He’s the anchor of Michigan State’s defense, a leader in the program on and off the floor and an underrated weapon offensively because of his ability to pass the ball. He’s the piece that brings everything else together for this roster.
And there are going to be some weapons there. Rocket Watts will be a year older, Gabe Brown, Malik Hall and Marcus Bingham. Joey Hauser will be eligible to play, and there’s a chance that Josh Langford will be back for his final season. Aaron Henry declared for the draft, but it seems fairly likely he’ll be back for his junior season.
But without Tillman, that is all just window dressing.
I would draft Tillman in the late first round if I was an NBA team. I think he’s the best two-way big man available in this year’s draft and a player that can impact an NBA game today. He’s already married. He had his second child in February. He’s mature and carries himself as a professional as it is. The smart financial decision here would probably be to enter the draft.
That said, he may be a guy that can improve his draft spot by being the focal point offensively. He’s also said that he will not be leaving campus without a guaranteed contract, and for some reasons, there are questions about whether or not he can get one. The way that Michigan State has set him and his family up on campus is wonderful, and he has a really good thing going while sitting a year away from a college degree.
At this point, I think Tillman is a legitimate 50-50 decision.
WHAT ABOUT AARON HENRY AND JOSH LANGFORD?
UPDATE: Henry will be returning to school.
Henry is clearly a valuable piece to the puzzle for the Spartans, as is Josh Langford, who may or may not be returning after a foot injury cost him the 2019-20 season. Losing Henry would be a blow, but the sense I get is that he will be back in school. Langford is a bigger question mark, and there’s an argument to be made that his absence last season was the biggest reason that the Spartans struggled early.
3. COREY KISPERT, Gonzaga
For my money, of the three Gonzaga players who still have their names in the 2020 NBA Draft, Corey Kispert is the most influential. He’s a good defender and a great shooter as a 6-foot-6 wing, a role that gives him value as an NBA prospect. There’s a real chance that he can get picked in the late 30s or early 40s this year. That might be enough to get him to leave school.
Kispert’s skill-set also slots him in a position where the Zags really don’t have any depth to speak of. Mark Few’s teams pound the ball into the paint, and next season is not going to be any different given the amount of talented big men on the roster. But without Kispert’s floor-spacing, the lane can get clogged up awful quick. For a team that projects in the preseason top five, that matters.
WHAT ABOUT JOEL AYAYI?
UPDATE: Joel Ayayi announced that he will be returning to school.
Losing Ayayi would certainly hurt, because his value as a secondary ball-handler and playmaker that can also space the floor is immense. The best teams in college basketball this decade all played with two point guards. Ayayi would qualify as point guard No. 2 on a team with Jalen Suggs. I think, however, he needs another season of seasoning in college.
(William Mancebo/Getty Images)
4. TYRELL TERRY, Stanford
UPDATE: Terry announced on Friday that he will be staying in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Tyrell Terry was one of the more underrated freshmen in college basketball last season. He averaged 14.6 points, 4.5 boards and 3.2 assists while shooting just under 41 percent from three. He’s listed at just 160 pounds, but he’s certainly on the radar of NBA teams and might even be able to sneak his way into the end of the first round.
So he has a very real decision to make.
Because, as a potential breakout star as a sophomore, Terry will be playing on a team with the potential to win the Pac-12. The Cardinal bring back everyone off of last year’s team while adding Ziaire Williams, a five-star, one-and-done freshman that will slide right in at the four. With Terry, arguably the best point guard on the west coast if he returns, Stanford could have two lottery picks on their roster and we could legitimately be looking at a team that can get to the Final Four.
Without him, do they even have a point guard on the roster?
5. JARED BUTLER, Baylor
UPDATE: Butler is returning to Baylor.
I currently have the Bears sitting as the No. 3 team in my preseason top 25, and that’s assuming that Butler is coming back to school. That, however, is not a guarantee. Butler showed enough as a creator in isolation and ball-screens this past season that he could end up getting picked early in the second round of the draft, and that has been enough to make worse players opt to leave school.
The big issue with Baylor this past season is that they went through stretches where they just couldn’t score. Butler is, by far, their best scorer, the one guy that can go create a bucket out of nothing. Without him, how long will those scoring droughts last?
6. CHRIS SMITH, UCLA
Smith is a really interesting prospect in this year’s draft class. He’s a 6-foot-9 wing that averaged 13.1 points and shot 34 percent from three and 84 percent from the line for the Bruins, who turned into one of the 25 best teams in college basketball by the end of the season.
UCLA brings back the majority of last year’s roster, but they already suffered one major blow this offseason when five-star point guard Daishen Nix opted to accept a contract from the G League instead of heading to Westwood. Losing Smith would be another significant blow to a program that was once considered a borderline top ten team heading into the 2020-21 season.
One thing that is worth noting here: Smith, a junior, is three months younger than Precious Achiuwa and Cassius Stanley, both one-and-done freshmen that are expected to be drafted this year.
7. YVES PONS, Tennessee
Pons is definitely not a guy that is going to make any preseason All-American lists if he opts to return to school, but he may just be the best defensive player in all of college basketball. At 6-foot-6 and the best athlete in the sport, Pons can quite literally guard anyone from a point guard to a center, and he can make a step-in three. His presence will allow the Vols to play all kinds of small-ball lineups, which is exactly what they need to do with the number of talented guards on next year’s roster.
He is a borderline first round pick in my mind, although I would expect him to go in the second round if he decides to keep his name in the draft. With Pons back, Tennessee is my pick to win the SEC next season.
8. AYO DOSUNMU, Illinois
UPDATE: Dosunmu announced on Friday night that he’ll be returning to school. That’s enough to bump the Illini into the top ten of the preseason top 25. Cockburn announced on Saturday that he will be returning as well.
Dosunmu had a really, really good sophomore season for the Illini, averaging 16.6 points and 3.3 assists. The problem, however, is that while he hit a number of big shots over the course of the season, he didn’t really do much to prove to NBA teams that he can actually be a consistent perimeter shooter. He’s not expected to be a first round pick and there’s a chance he could drop out of the top 45. Sometimes guys that are great college players don’t project well to the NBA. Dosunmu is that guy.
That said, the safe bet seems to be that Dosunmu will keep his name in the draft, and with some backcourt talent coming into the program, Brad Underwood should be able to survive the hit. But if he does come back, Illinois will have an outside shot at winning the Big Ten title.
WHAT ABOUT KOFI COCKBURN?
Despite a terrific freshman season, Cockburn is not expected to be drafted if he keeps his name in the draft. He’s a slow-footed, 280-pound center that is more likely to tear a rim off the backboard than he is to make a three. If this was 1990 and not 2020, he’d be a top ten pick. But as it stands, he has one of the easier 2020 NBA Draft stay-or-go decisions.
(Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
9. REMY MARTIN, Arizona State
UPDATE: Martin announced that he will be returning to school.
In addition to having the best name in college basketball, Remy Martin is coming off of a season where he averaged 19.1 points and 4.1 assists for a team that would have made the NCAA tournament had it been held. He’s a potential preseason All-American on a team that will add five-star freshman Josh Christopher and likely will return Alonzo Verge. With Martin in the fold, Arizona State will be in the same conversation as UCLA, Stanford and Oregon when it comes to predicting the Pac-12 champion. They may even be the favorite.
10. JAY HUFF, Virginia
UPDATE: Huff will be heading back to Virginia for his senior season.
I think that Jay Huff has quite a bit of potential as an NBA player. He’s 7-foot-1 with three-point range and the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim, and he’s also a rim protector that has spent four years playing for Tony Bennett. To me, he makes perfect sense as an off-the-bench big in the league.
That said, his production has not quite lived up to his potential. Even playing in a system that stifles scoring numbers, Huff’s 8.5 points and 6.2 boards as a junior was a disappointment. So I think he should come back to school, where he would anchor a lineup that should be much improved for the Wahoos.
11. TRENDON WATFORD, LSU
The Tigers are already losing Skylar Mays to graduation and Emmitt Williams to the professional ranks. But with five-star Cam Thomas headlining a solid crop of newcomers, Will Wade should have a pretty solid roster. Watford, who averaged 13.6 points and 7.2 boards last season, is a bucket-getting combo-forward that should be their best player if he opts to return to school.
WHAT ABOUT JAVONTE SMART?
Smart is coming off of a season where he averaged 12.5 points and 4.2 assists as a sophomore, and with Mays gone, the Tigers are going to need someone to anchor their backcourt. Neither Watford nor Smart are projected as first round picks, and if they follow Williams out the door, the Tigers would be one of the biggest losers of the early entry period.
12. ISAIAH JOE, Arkansas
UPDATE: Joe is returning to school for his sophomore season.
Arkansas already lost Mason Jones, who was last year’s leading scorer, to the draft. Joe entered the season with some NBA Draft hype due to the fact that he is a 6-foot-7 wing that shot a lot of threes as a freshman and made quite a few of them. His sophomore season was not quite as efficient, and also featured a knee injury in the middle of the year that slowed things down.
The Hogs have some talented transfers in the fold and four four-star prospects enrolling this summer. They remade their roster is typical Eric Musselman fashion. Keeping a veteran scorer around could be the difference between fighting for a spot in the NCAA tournament and seeing themselves ranked in the top 25.
13. MCKINLEY WRIGHT, Colorado
UPDATE: Wright is returning to school.
Colorado is already losing Tyler Bey, so the Buffaloes are taking a hit with early entries in this year’s draft. Wright matters, however, because he could be a preseason All-American. He’s coming off of a season where he averaged 14.4 points, 5.7 boards and 5.0 assists. He’s the kind of player that can put together a senior season where he throws a team on his back and carries them to a postseason run. Colorado is relevant with Wright in the fold. They are not without him.
14. SANDRO MAMUKELASHVILI, Seton Hall
UPDATE: Mamu is heading back to school, he announced on Saturday.
Mamu is coming off of a season where he averaged 11.9 points and 6.0 boards as one of the more underrated big men in college basketball. Someone on the Pirate roster is going to have to fill the void left by Myles Powell, Quincy McKnight and Romaro Gill, and Mamu would be that guys if he opts to return to school.
15. MARCUS CARR, Minnesota
UPDATE: Carr announce that he will be returning to school.
The Golden Gophers have quite a bit left up in the air at the moment — their two most impactful transfers are both awaiting word on whether or not they will be sitting out for the upcoming season — but Carr may be their most important decision. I’m not sure that he has an NBA future, but he may have an all-Big Ten future if he returns to school. Carr averaged 15.4 points, 6.7 assists and 5.3 boards last season.
As MaCio Teague returns, Baylor now awaits Jared Butler’s NBA draft decision
Villanova is the healthiest college basketball program in America right now.
The Wildcats have won two of the last four national titles. They were on track to be a top three seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament, putting them in a spot where a third trip to the Final Four in five years was a very real possibility. They are the No. 1 team in the country in the NBC Sports Preseason Top 25 despite the fact that their best player, Saddiq Bey, has left the program two years earlier than anyone expected him to.
Villanova’s success in the last half-decade is the result of two things: For starters, Jay Wright and his coaching staff are arguably the most efficient recruiters in the sport. What I mean by that is that the Wildcats identify the players that fit within their culture and their style of play, recruit those players hard and bring them into the program. The other part of it is that they bring in players that have pro potential and spend more than one season on campus.
That’s the recipe for prolonged and sustained success.
And that is the track that Baylor’s basketball program has found themselves on.
The Bears got the news on Wednesday night that MaCio Teague will be withdrawing from the NBA draft and returning to school for his senior season. Teague averaged 13.9 points and shot 36 percent from three for the Bears last year, and he will likely find himself on more than a few all-Big 12 teams during the preseason. Teague will be rejoining Davion Mitchell, Mark Vital, Tristan Clark and Matthew Mayer to make up the core of what should be a very good team heading into the 2020-21 season.
The key, however, is going to be Jared Butler. A rising junior that is coming off of a terrific sophomore season that saw him average a team-high 16.0 points while shooting 38 percent from three. Like Teague, Butler has drawn out his decision-making process when it comes to turning pro, gathering as much information as possible before the NCAA’s August 3rd deadline to withdraw. Even then, Butler will technically have until the NBA’s August 17th deadline to decide on whether or not he will be turning pro. Unlike Teague, however, Butler actually has a chance to hear his name called in this year’s draft. He’s likely a mid-second round pick at best, but his combination of shot-making, handle and the ability to create space off the dribble makes him an intriguing player in a league that prioritizes those things.
Butler’s decision will have a major impact on Baylor this season. With him, Scott Drew will return essentially everyone of note not named Freddie Gillispie from a team that went 26-4 and spent time as the No. 1 in the country last year. With him, Baylor will be a consensus preseason top three team, if not the No. 1 team in the country. With him, they could win a national title.
If he’s gone, the Bears will still be very good, but they will be losing their most dangerous offensive weapon from a team that struggled to score at times a year ago. They’ll still be a top 10-15 team, but being really good and being a title favorite are two different things. Baylor’s been really good before. They’re not often a title favorite.
So Butler’s decision is, rightfully, one of the most anticipated as we head into the final days before the deadline to withdraw.
But at the same time, Butler’s decision will have relatively little impact on the direction that the Baylor basketball program is heading.
Drew’s staff has been as good as anyone in the country at identifying under-the-radar talent and figuring out how to use those pieces effectively. For a program that had a reputation for being great at recruiting, Baylor’s best team in program history did not have a single player on the roster that was a consensus top 75 recruit on the roster. This is notable because Drew has landed commitments from Kendall Brown and Langston Love, a pair of five-star prospects in the class of 2021 that double as the first five-star commits Baylor has landed since Isaiah Austin in 2012.
So while Jared Butler’s decision will tell us what the Bears are going to be this season, the future of Baylor basketball has already been solidified.
The Bears are here to stay for the long haul.
2020 NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Is Tyrese Haliburton the next Lonzo Ball?
Tyrese Haliburton is not the best prospect in this year’s NBA draft class, but he may be the most fascinating, a guy who is going to inspire debate in draft rooms for a number of different reasons.
A 6-foot-5 guard that just turned 20 years old in February, Haliburton had a breakout sophomore season that saw him average 15.2 points, 6.5 assists, 5.9 boards and 2.5 steals while shooting 50 percent from the floor, 42 percent from three and 82 percent from the free throw line. He’s the only player to reach those thresholds in Sports Reference’s database, which dates back to 1992. No high-major guard has posted a 63.1 true-shooting percentage while averaging 15 points and 6.5 assists in the last decade.
The numbers nerds are going to love him. He’s an aberration, a freak of efficiency, a glitch in the simulation.
And that’s before you consider the fact that he played as a ball-dominant lead guard as a sophomore after spending his freshman season doing nothing but playing on the wing, or that he was the best player for USA Basketball’s U-19 team, which won a gold medal last summer.
On paper, he looks like a guy that is tailor-made to have an NBA offense built around him.
Haliburton has a tremendous basketball IQ. His feel for the game, the way that he can read defenses and his ability to make the right play based on what the defense is giving him, is elite. He can make pocket passes to rolling bigs when two players go with him. He can hit his center in traffic with pinpoint lob passes. He can find shooters in either corner when taggers venture just a little bit too far away from their man, slinging crosscourt bullets off of a live dribble with either hand. If you go under the screen, he can make you pay. He can beat switches, either by stepping back and shooting from distance or by putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim. He can snake ball-screens and score in the mid-range.
He can do all of the things an NBA point guard needs to do in ball-screens.
But there are varying degrees to how well he can do all of these things.
Take, for instance, his jumper. Haliburton is, by any account, just a terrific shooter with deep, deep range. When he’s given time and space, he’s deadly. According to Synergy, he ranks in the 99th percentile in spot-up shooting and in the 98th percentile in catch-and-shoot situations, checking it at 1.493 points-per-possession (PPP).
But he has a long, slow and low release. His feet are positioned awkwardly. The mechanics are not ideal, and this really shows up when Haliburton is forced to shoot off of the dribble, where he ranked in the 35th percentile nationally this past season at 0.684 PPP. That’s a drastic difference, and it’s exacerbated by the fact that Haliburton can struggle to consistently turn the corner against good defenders. When you can’t beat a man, you’re forced to shoot a midrange pull-up, often contested. That’s a suboptimal outcome for any player on any possession, let alone a guy that shoots 49 percent off the catch and 28 percent off the dribble.
The thing is, the length is there for Haliburton. He has long strides. He has the reach to finish around a shotblocker. He is bouncier around the rim than he gets credit for. But if he had struggles getting past defenders at the college level it’s not a good indicator of his ability to get to the rim moving up to the pros.
Part of the issue is that Tyrese Haliburton has a bad habit of leaving space in between him and a screener, allowing his man to get over the pick without too much effort. This is something that can be cleaned up after the NBA draft, as can Tyrese Haliburton’s habit of leaving his feet to make passes.
And truthfully, I’m not sure just how much of this you want to take away. Haliburton has a special ability to move a defense with his eyes, and it’s something that has been particularly effective for him when he’s in the air. He has a knack for being able to hang, make a defender commit and hit whoever is open at the last second. Truth be told, that ability to pass the ball is maybe his greatest strength. It’s not just passing out of ball screens. He can make the flashy passes, finding cutters while driving or pulling out the And-1 mixtape tricks in transition.
Haliburton thrives in the transition game as well. He’s always a grab-and-go threat because of his ability to rebound the ball, and once he gets a head of steam going, he can score himself or create a layup for a teammate with no-look dimes or hit-ahead passes over the top.
Defensively, he’s something of a mixed bag as well. He is not a great on-ball defender right now. He bites on fakes, he doesn’t always sit in a stance and his 175 pound frame needs weight added to keep players from finishing through his chest. That said, the effort is there. So is the IQ. He’s one of the best team defenders that you’ll find in this draft class. He has terrific anticipation, which allows him not only to be able to jump passing lanes but also to block and alter jumpers; he has an impressive knack of being able to read when someone is looking to shoot and get a contest up. His official wingspan has not been measured anywhere yet, but watching the film, it’s clear he has the length to be a playmaker defensively, and he understands where he needs to on the weakside of the floor, whether he is tagging rollers, sliding into helpside or zoning up two players away from the ball.
Put it all together, and I actually agree with The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie in seeing Haliburton as a guy that will play the same role as someone like Lonzo Ball at the next level: secondary ball-handler that can space the floor, initiate offense and run ball-screens on the weak side of the floor, and lead the break when he has the chance. Like Ball, he has a tremendous understanding of the game and feel for making the right play on both ends of the floor, but what he adds in size and length he lacks in quickness and burst.
In an era where putting two playmakers side-by-side in the backcourt is becoming more and more valuable, Tyrese Haliburton has all the makings of an ideal, modern two-guard in the NBA draft.
I really like him as a prospect if you calibrate your expectations to be a guy that averages somewhere around 12 points and six assists while shooting 40 percent from three and playing good, solid team defense with the potential to be more if it all comes together.
In this year’s NBA draft class, that might be make Tyrese Haliburton a top five prospect.
The nine most influential transfer waivers we are waiting on
With the 2020 NBA Draft bearing down on us, the biggest question marks heading into the 2020-21 season are the players that have yet to decide if they are going to pull their name out of the NBA draft.
But there are also a number of transfers that are still considering applying for, or are already waiting on, immediately eligibility waivers.
These are the biggest names.
For the most impactful stay-or-go decisions, click here.
Sarr is easily the most impactful transfer currently waiting on a waiver. As we have come to expect out of Lexington, Kentucky is turning their roster over completely, with a brand new crop of freshmen ready to carry the torch.
Brandon Boston is expected to be the best of the bunch. Terrence Clarke isn’t all that far behind. Devin Askew, as well as Creighton grad transfer Davion Mintz, should be able to handle point guard duties well enough. Throw in Keion Brooks, who is back for his sophomore season, as well as Cam’Ron Fletcher, that’s a pretty good place for Kentucky to start.
The problem is up front. E.J. Montgomery went pro despite having almost no chance of playing in the NBA in the near future. Isaiah Jackson and Lance Ware are both highly-regarded, four-star big men heading to Kentucky, but neither of them are the kind of impact player that John Calipari needs at the five to be able to thrive. Sarr, however, is. He was a third-team all-ACC player a season ago, averaging 13.7 points and 9.0 boards. He put up 30 points and 17 boards on Notre Dame. He had 25 points against Duke. He went for 21 points and 13 boards against Arizona. He’s really good.
But he also has said publicly that he left Wake Forest because of a coaching change that occurred this offseason as well as the chance to improve his basketball life. Historically, the NCAA has not given out waivers to players that are transferring because of a coaching change. There have been players that transferred after a coaching change and got a waiver, but there was a reason beyond just a different staff that allowed them to get the waiver.
We’ll see what Kentucky cooks up.
Because with Sarr, they are a top ten team. Without him, the Wildcats are more of a back-end top 25 team.
2. LANDERS NOLLEY and DEANDRE WILLIAMS, Memphis
There were three dominoes that the Memphis basketball program has been waiting on.
The first fell last night, as Moussa Cisse committed to play his college ball for Penny Hardaway. Waivers for Nolley and Williams are the other two.
For my money, Cisse was the most important piece here. I detailed why in this column. Nolley, however, is almost as important. A 6-foot-7, 230 pound forward, Nolley averaged 15.5 points for Virginia Tech this past season as a redshirt freshman. He’s a really good shooter that was one of the best players in the conference before tailing off down the stretch of the season. Given the current roster makeup of Memphis, he’s also a perfect fit for a program that has a defensive anchor, a ton of guards and not all that much in between that can bring it all together. With Nolley and D.J. Jeffries on the wings, Cisse in the middle and the likes of Boogie Ellis, Lester Quinones, Alex Lomax and Damian Baugh handling backcourt duties, the Tigers would be a top 20 team that could compete with Houston for an AAC title.
Williams, who averaged 15.2 points and 6.9 boards in 18 games for Evansville last year, is more of a big than he is a perimeter weapon, but he can still contribute in that role. Williams will be 24 years old by the time the season rolls around.
3. L.J. FIGUEROA, Oregon
Finding impact scorers on the transfer market has become something of a specialty for Dana Altman’s program, and Figueroa is no different. He averaged 14.5 points last season for the Johnnies, and he should be a really good fit in Altman’s offense. With a roster that already includes the likes of Will Richardson, Chris Duarte, Amauri Hardy, Eugene Omoruyi and Eric Williams, it may be tough for Figueroa to crack into the starting lineup, but getting a player like this eligible immediately is only going to help.
Figueroa appears to have a shot at getting the waiver due to the coronavirus pandemic. When Figueroa left, New York City was still the hardest hit place in the country.
4. MAC MCCLUNG, Texas Tech
McClung is a YouTube sensation known for his highlight reel dunks and ability to put up points in a hurry. He broke Allen Iverson’s record for points scored in Virginia high school basketball history. If there’s one thing that he can do on a basketball court, it’s get buckets.
McClung cannot, however, guard. Anyone. He’s a really, really, really bad defender. If there’s one thing that Chris Beard will not stand for at Texas Tech, it’s someone not playing defense. And if there is one thing that this Tech program desperately needed last season, it’s someone that could get a bucket.
Now, this all assumes that McClung is going to buy in defensively, Beard is going to put in the effort to develop him defensively and that the combination of those two things will allow McClung to beat out some of the more talented pieces on this roster — Kyler Edwards, Nimari Burnett, Kevin McCullar, Terrence Shannon — for playing time. But he is unquestionable a useful piece that Beard should be able to get the most out of, and I’m not sure there is a better place for McClung to be if he wants to fix the flaws in his game.
McClung may have a real shot at getting a waiver as well. Georgetown’s program went through quite a bit of drama in the last eight months, including a nagging foot injury that McClung just couldn’t seem to shake.
5. CHAUNDEE BROWN, Michigan
Brown is a powerful, athletic wing that averaged 12.1 points this past season at Wake Forest. He left the program after his junior season, entering the NBA draft and the NCAA’s transfer portal on the same day. That was more than two weeks before head coach Danny Manning was fired by Wake Forest. If Brown does receive a waiver, he would be a nice compliment to Isaiah Livers, who is still weighing whether or not to remain in the NBA draft.
6. BOTH GACH and LIAM ROBBINS, Minnesota
The Golden Gophers have quite a bit left up in the air at the moment — they are also waiting on Marcus Carr to decide whether or not he is going to pull his name out of the draft — but Gach and Robbins have a big impact as well. Robbins is a 7-foot center that averaged 14.1 points and 7.1 boards as a sophomore at Drake last season, while Both Gach is a talented wing that transferred back to Minnesota, where he played his high school ball, after averaging 10.7 points as a sophomore.
7. JAVON FREEMAN-LIBERTY, DePaul
I know it’s hard to get too excited about anyone that is going to be playing for DePaul, but Freeman-Liberty has a chance to be really good. He’s coming off of a sophomore season where he averaged 19 points for Valparaiso, and at 6-foot-4, is the kind of explosive guard that will draw the attention of NBA scouts.
NCAA case against Kansas hoops taken for independent review
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The NCAA’s infractions case against the University of Kansas men’s basketball program has been accepted into a newly created independent investigation process that was created to handle especially complex cases.
The Infractions Referral Committee said Wednesday that the case against the Jayhawks and coach Bill Self would go through the Independent Accountability Resolution Process. The approval is the first significant step in a process that was created in August 2018 to deal with select cases and minimize perceived conflicts of interest.
Kansas has been accused by the NCAA of committing five Level I violations, which are considered the most egregious, as part of the fallout of an FBI investigation into college basketball corruption. The case hinges on whether representatives of apparel company Adidas were acting as boosters when two of them arrange payments to prospective recruits.
The case against Kansas is the third to be accepted by the review panel. The NCAA’s case against James Wiseman and Memphis was the first and four violations involving North Carolina State and ex-coach Mark Gottfried was the second.
