Your college hoops weekend recap

Loads of recruiting and transfer news, plus a lament about the ACC/Big Ten Challenge

June 27, 2022

This used to be the quiet time in college hoops. The post-NBA draft, pre-summer tournament period made it the perfect time to take vacations, hit the golf course, or just burn through Stranger Things.

That’s how it used to be. Not anymore.

Sure, there could come a time in mid-August when the others writers text me and claim I jinxed everything. But we’ll jump off that bridge when we get there.

Let’s get to the news.

STARTING FIVE

1. Bummed by these ACC/Big Ten matchups

I’m old enough to remember when the ACC/Big Ten Challenge had more than one game to hype.

That Nov. 30 North Carolina-Indiana showdown is carrying all the water for this annual series. Yes, I’m still going to watch most of them, and yes, many of them will be entertaining matchups. But where’s the juice?

Virginia-Michigan is a good matchup, but it shouldn’t be the highlight of the night. (Maybe if it was a Va Tech-Purdue doubleheader, then we’ve got something.) Duke and Illinois often overmatch opponents at home. Iowa and Miami, two likely tournament teams, should have easy Ws. All in all, the slate just reaffirms the SEC/Big 12 Challenge as the conference series showdown.

So let’s focus on that North Carolina-Indiana game. We already know UNC’s perhaps the team to beat in 2023, but it’ll be far more interesting to see how the Hoosiers fare. They return four of five starters from a 21-14 squad, including potential All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis, and they have quite a few marquee games to start.

We’ve argued quite a bit at The Field of 68 about Indiana’s ceiling. Can a team that was on the NCAA Tournament bubble until a Big Ten tourney run improve enough to make the leap? I’d argue yes.

Indiana’s going to deploy an elite defense thanks to size and experience, with an impact freshmen (6-5 guard Jalen Hood-Schifano) who can ease some of the scoring burden off of Jackson-Davis. Are they a Final Four lock? Nah. But you could find worse value picks.

2. Another year, another 5-star PG commits to Kentucky

Ever since John Calipari had John Wall running the show in 2009-10, Kentucky’s had talent at the point — but 2023-24 could be the peak.

Dillingham, a 6-2 point guard from North Carolina, is a consensus top 10 recruit who’d originally committed to N.C. State, makes it 15 five-star point guards for Calipari at Kentucky (per Jeff Borzello). He’s a dynamic shot-creator and exceedingly quick, averaging 19.9 points, 3.2 assists, shooting 52.9 percent from the field, and 38.4 percent from beyond the arc this spring on the Nike EYBL circuit. He joins another five-star 2023 prospect, Reed Sheppard, as the two recruits thus far for Coach Cal.

Does this mean Kentucky is conceding D.J. Wagner, perhaps the best 2023 prospect, to Louisville? Would two ball-dominant guards mesh in the same backcourt?

“I can’t speak for Wagner, but Rob’s not opposed at all to playing with other talented guards,” Steve Shelton, director of Nike-sponsored Team CP3, told The Athletic. “He and Aden Holloway (a top 40 point guard) wanted to play together with us. I think it’ll be good for Rob.”

Dillingham agrees.

“I really feel we could feed off each other by scoring and making assists,” Dillingham told ESPN. “We could easily play together and learn from each other. DJ is crazy good. He is one of the toughest players I have seen. A shot-maker and scorer.”

Dillingham’s also NIL ready. Expect nothing less at Kentucky.

3. In which we cram recruiting news into one section

Turns out Joey Baker wasn’t Michigan's last addition this offseason.

Khayat’s announcement Sunday with Jeff Goodman on The Field of 68’s channel gave the 6-8 Lebanese wing a chance to highlight his attributes (he prides himself on defense and transition game) and what he’s looking forward to most in Ann Arbor. (Watch the video for more.)

Meanwhile, a trio of 2023 recruits announced their plans. Bullet points:

4. Flyers ‘got a chip on our shoulder’

Few teams turned in a more perplexing first six games last season than Dayton. They followed three Quad 4 losses with wins against Miami and Kansas, eventually an Elite Eight team and the national champ.

Heading into 2022-23, Dayton returns all five starters from its 24-11 team that finished second in the A-10 and was likely one win short of an NCAA Tournament berth. If anything, that’s a squad motivated for big things next season.

“Everybody knows what we’re capable of. Nobody’s really bragging about the team or what we can do. We’re really confident in our potential and really confident about what we can accomplish,” Toumani Camara told the Dayton Daily News. “But nobody’s overthinking it. Everybody’s feet are on the ground. We take it as motivation, too, because even if we’re Top 25, we believe we should be higher. It’s the competitive mindset and the belief we have in each other.”

Still, it raises the regular argument among college hoops fans — if you return everyone, but don’t add any impact pieces, how good can you really be? (See above: Indiana)

There’s a good chance the Flyers land in the preseason Top 25 considering they already have a few votes. More likely, they’re somewhere in the 25-35 range and could have 2 to 3 losses by mid-December given their early schedule. Are they among the three best A-10 teams and in line for an NCAA tourney bid? Sure. But could they be a mainstay in the AP poll? We’ll see how motivated they are.

5. Solid week for G-League Ignite

After three G-League Ignite players were drafted Thursday (in two seasons, it’s had three players drafted each year), two more significant moves followed over the weekend.

The 6-10 forward and consensus top 15 recruit had been considering Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida State and Wake Forest. But he’ll go the same route as recent Ignite players Jaden Hardy and Jalen Green.

Former Washington State forward Efe Abogidi is also joining the squad, becoming the first player to leave a Power 5 school with remaining college eligibility, per the Athletic. It’s interesting because he elected against a potential transfer and NIL opportunities, opting for Ignite’s salary and developmental advantages. It won’t be long before the G-League program is seen as the primary option for many players.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

#OscarWorthy

Love that hashtag. Anything that mixes college hoops and movies, just inject it into my veins. Anyway.

What’s the over/under on the total number of trophies Oscar Tshiebwe adds after 2022-23? 3.5?

Also, this Oscar photo is killer. Props to the Kentucky social media team.

ICYMI

The transfer portal is still open

Programs continue to fill out their 2022-23 rosters via the portal, with a handful of players picking programs over the last few days.

ONE LAST THING ON THE NBA DRAFT

The silver lining for Jabari Smith & Houston

For weeks (months?), everything pointed to Auburn forward Jabari Smith going No. 1 overall. He dropped to the Rockets at 3. So what now? Well, with the other pieces they got — Tari Eason and TyTy Washington — plus Jalen Green, Houston is now more athletic and has a guy in Smith who could win them a playoff series on his own.

Rob Dauster explains.

THE FAST BREAK

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