Can you hear the buzz?

Recruiting in the Southeast is as difficult as ever, with Calipari, Musselman, and Oats all around. Yet it looks as if another threat on the trail is starting to emerge down there in the Atlanta area.

Let's check it out.

1. Yellow Jackets building out their hive

New Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire has been tasked with getting the Yellow Jackets back to national relevancy after just one NCAA Tournament appearance in the past 13 years. That starts with better recruiting classes and more Top-100 talent.

They landed one on Thursday in Jaden Mustaf, a consensus 4-star prospect. He’s seen as a do-everything guard, and good defender, and has significant pedigree. His dad, Jerrod, was a first-round NBA pick in 1990.

The 6-4 combo guard is originally from Maryland, but currently plays in Atlanta for Overtime Elite. It’s a significant get for Stoudamire and Georgia Tech, which at one time has a pipeline to NYC talent in the 80s and 90s. Retaining the local talent would be the new approach.

That old pipeline? It’s a fan.

This is the first class of 2024 commitment for the Yellow Jackets. They’ll lose Kyle Sturdivant after next season. Ole Miss transfer Amaree Abram is a potential breakout/NBA Draft candidate, so Mustaf could have immediate opportunities for big minutes.

It’s a good start for Coach Stoudamire and Georgia Tech, landing a top-50 player before the season even started. Plenty believe this is a new day for the ACC program, with Mustaf being one of them.

THE ALMANAC IS ALMOST HERE

Are you ready for the season?

There are 362 D-I men’s hoops teams. There were thousands of transfers this offseason, and dozens of coaching changes. How do you keep up ahead of the season?

The Almanac. (Obviously.)

The single-best college basketball preview available includes every team, insights from every coach, the most-up-to-date rosters and much more. And it lands on Wednesday, which means you only have a couple more days to buy at the discounted price of $15.99.

So why wait? Order The Almanac, Vol. 2 today.

2. Start planning for these Pac-12 finales

At the risk of getting emotional, it’s the final conference schedule release for the Pac-12. (Probably. Oregon State and Washington State are trying to keep the conference on life support.)

Unless you’re an annual member of the #Pac12afterdark games, this season’s set of games could interest you even more than normal and be worth staying up for.

The pairings for each week’s games are out and there are some notable matchups to watch for. The ones that could get heated are the historic regional rivalry games, such as Oregon State vs Oregon and Washington vs Wazzu.

Will there be significant animosity toward the Ducks and Huskies for leaving? Oregon State will host the Ducks the week of Feb 14-18, while Washington State hosts the Huskies during the final week of the regular season.

As for the teams projected to finish at the top, this will be the last official time we’ll see western juggernauts Arizona and UCLA do battle.

The Wildcats will spend the final week in Los Angeles, with road battles against both USC and UCLA, which could decide the regular-season title. Meanwhile, the Bruins will take on the Arizona schools in the final week, both at home.

With 10 of the 12 teams in the conference going to three different leagues after this season, all of these games will have even more meaning, since we won’t know when they’ll schedule each other. And if you’re the Beavers and Cougars, all of these games outside of each other could be viewed as revenge games.

3. Games that would create hostile crowds

If Washington-Wazzu and Oregon-Oregon State aren’t intense, there’s always this one.

Cooley coached the Friars for the past 12 years. His decision to leave for another Big East school hasn’t sat well with the fan base, so expect a hostile environment that weekend in league play.

Would that be an unmatched rowdy of the season? What if we could create matchups that would drive a lot of interest?

Kansas at Michigan

The biggest transfer news this offseason was Hunter Dickinson’s decision to join Kansas. The Michigan big man also made some less-than-flattering comments about the Wolverines when comparing the two programs. Imagine Dickinson having to come back to Ann Arbor?

Arizona at UNC

This one could depend on the mood of UNC fans, because Arizona transfer Caleb Love did give them some incredible moments, including the 2023 Final Four against a certain Tobacco Road rival. At the same time, he played a big role in one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory.

Duke at UConn

Duke is the biggest name in all of college basketball, but UConn is the reigning national champion. That alone would be a nice storyline for this matchup, but there’s also the Cooper Flagg factor, where the No. 1 prospect is looking hard at these two specific teams. In a hypothetical scenario, this would be a big opportunity for the Huskies to make another national statement on the traditional blueblood in front of Flagg.

Penn State at VCU

Mike Rhoades spent six seasons at VCU and took the Rams to three NCAA Tournaments. He left for Penn State this offseason, and star guard and Conference Player of the Year Ace Baldwin Jr. also left for Penn State. VCU has rebuilt itself nicely with new coach Ryan Odom, but that would make this matchup even better since the Rams might be the favorite in this game.

Gonzaga at Creighton

One of the more surprising decisions this offseason was Ryan Nembhard following his brother’s footsteps and transferring to Gonzaga. He could’ve easily stayed at Creighton and ran it back with a top-10 overall roster that was seconds away from making the Final Four. Watching him play the Jays would be quite the showcase for him.

Somewhere in middle America

Without Ryan Nembhard (and Arthur Kaluma), what do we make of Creighton’s offseason? Should the Jays have done more to address their floor leader heading to Gonzaga? Or does retaining Ryan Kalkbrenner and Trey Alexander (among others) mean Creighton has enough to compete for the Big East title? Rob Dauster and Greg Waddell discuss.

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

Links as you pick which Philly running back to pick in fantasy football.

• Jeff Goodman talks to Houston coach Kelvin Sampson about what to expect in the program’s first year in the Big 12.

• BYU and Saint Mary’s highlights Utah’s non-con schedule for 2023-24.

• Robert Morris will host Penn State in a preseason charity exhibition game on Oct. 27.

• Will more schools find themselves in the realignment cold, similar to Waazzu and Oregon State?

• Current NCAA transfer rules violate antitrust law, argues for North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr.

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