The weekend in college hoops 🏀

Ah, nothing like opening up the Field of 68 Daily at the start of your week. Take a moment to enjoy your morning before work starts — because most of us don’t have the luxury of skipping out on our jobs like the Boston Celtics. (Sorry, Goodman.)

Let's get to the news.

1. Arizona keeps chugging

The state of Arizona experienced a nice little bounce-back week shortly after the Suns-Nuggets debacle crushed its spirits.

Sure, the Suns don’t look nearly as bad with how well the Nuggets have played against the Lakers. But more notably, the state’s flagship university has readied itself for another strong season. The Wildcats received a boost on Tuesday when senior wing Pelle Larsson announced his return. Then, over the weekend, Tommy Lloyd reeled in San Diego State transfer Keshad Johnson, who should thrive in the frontcourt.

Johnson is a tremendous athlete, ready to punish the rim whenever he gets into the lane. He finished third in the Mountain West in dunks last season (36) and will be primed for many more in Lloyd’s uptempo offense.

While he’s a bit limited offensively beyond his rim-running, he should instantly elevate the Cats’ defense toward the top of the Pac-12. A vital cog in San Diego State’s scheme, Johnson can switch onto smaller players and function as a weakside rim protector. (His defense on Alabama’s Brandon Miller in the Sweet 16 stands out as his shining moment.)

By bringing in Johnson, Lloyd adds a level of physicality that his teams haven’t possessed during his tenure. Plus, I don’t think a coach in the country would complain about supplementing his roster with a Final Four player.

Other notable commitments

Aziz Bandaogo (Utah Valley) to Cincinnati: Wes Miller is always going to prioritize defense — and he landed one of the nastiest shot-blockers in the portal in Aziz Bandaogo. The 7-foot Bandaogo topped the WAC in block rate at 9.3, with many of his swats occurring in emphatic fashion. Much like he did with Abdul Ado and Hayden Koval, Miller can alternate Bandaogo with junior Viktor Lakhin to ensure the interior is always secured.

Lance Ware (Kentucky) to Villanova: Ware, once a top-50 recruit, never found his footing at Kentucky, averaging 9.2 minutes per game through three seasons. However, he has a clear path to playing time at Villanova, presumably as a backup 5 who can share the court with Eric Dixon in certain lineups. Ware will specialize in rebounding and defense.

Seth Towns (Ohio State/Harvard) to Howard: Howard fans might get déjà vu with this one. Just a season ago, Penn transfer Jelani Williams came off a debilitating injury to excel for the Bison. Now, another former Ivy League player has the chance to do the same. Towns hasn’t played since the 2020-21 season due to back and knee issues, but pre-injuries, he was a knockdown shooter who could play either forward spot. He won the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2018.

Quick hitters:

• Jaylin Sellers (Ball State) to UCF

• Hansel Enmanuel (Northwestern State) to Austin Peay

• Dusan Mahorcic (NC State) to Duquesne

• Derrian Ford (Arkansas) to Arkansas State

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2. Bucket di-Spencer

The portal might be closed for underclassmen, but grad transfers are still trickling in — the most impactful, as of late, being Cam Spencer. The 6-4 guard, who started his career at Loyola Maryland before spending last season at Rutgers, adjusted to Big Ten competition immediately.

He shined for the Scarlet Knights as both a shooter (43.4 percent from 3) and a secondary playmaker (19.9 assist rate), logging the highest offensive rating on the team.

“He’s a crafty scoring guard that can really make shots and create for himself. Not the most athletic, but he’s very smart and confident,” one Big Ten assistant coach told me.

The same coach noted that Spencer’s strong frame helps him on defense and that he “is deceptive with his steals” (as his steal rate, which ranked third in the Big Ten, attests.)

Moreover, a deeper dive into his statistical profile shows he’s in elite company:

In the Bart Torvick era, only 18 players have hit the following benchmarks in a single season: 10-plus percent defensive rebounding rate, 15-plus percent assist rate, three-plus percent steal rate, 70-plus made 3s and 85 percent from the charity stripe. Spencer sits alongside both NBA and college greats like Stephen Curry, Malachi Flynn, Jevon Carter, Darius McGhee and Danny Green.

His late departure demoralizes Rutgers, which figured to contend for a postseason berth should Paul Mulcahy and Cliff Omoruyi return. Naturally, speculation arose in the wake of his transfer that NIL (or lack thereof) played a heavy role. Former Scarlet Knight (and Field of 68 analyst) Geo Baker shared some good perspectives on a Twitter thread.

3. Draft daze

Something tells me we’ll see a lot more of these announcements in the following days:

Mississippi State big man Tolu Smith became the latest big-time player to withdraw from the draft, declaring his intentions to return to Starkville. An All-SEC First Team selection, Smith tallied career highs in points and rebounds per game last season, emerging as one of the best low post threats in the league.

Now, he’ll anchor a Bulldogs team poised to receive Top 25 votes and earn another invitation to the Big Dance.

But he wasn’t the only noteworthy returner who announced this weekend. NC State’s Casey Morsell will suit up one last season for the Wolfpack. The 6-4 wing erupted last season, obliterating his previous bests in made 3-pointers (78) and 3-point percentage (41.1). And considering double-team machine DJ Burns returns alongside him, Morsell will again benefit from a bevy of clean looks.

This year’s NC State team will lack the star power of Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner, but Kevin Keatts retains enough and has done solid work in the portal to build off of last season.

Other notable draft decisions:

• Nijel Pack joins Norchad Omier back at Miami

• Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State) staying in draft

• Manny Bates (Butler) staying in draft

Power move

When Indiana sets its lineup next season, does it have to slot Mackenzie Mgbako at power forward? Or can it play him at the wing, which is where he’d prefer to play anyway? Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster break down why it’s a crucial decision for Mike Woodson.

Subscribe to The Field of 68 on YouTube here and subscribe here to AFTER DARK

Links as you pray the answer to this question is “yes.”

• Per Memphis’ Athletic Director, the Tigers remain in a “holding pattern” following incoming freshman Mikey Williams’ April 13th arrest.

• Four-star forward Baye Ndongo (2023) committed to Georgia Tech.

• Tennessee transfer Olivier Nkamhoua will visit West Virginia this week.

• A tweet thread that explains why the ACC financials are a hot topic.

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