The Next Great Team

Tipoff

On Monday night, a group of upperclassmen, including Adam Flagler, Davion Mitchell, MaCio Teague, and Jonatan Tchamwa Tchachoua, each climbed the ladder to cut down a piece of the net for their Baylor Bears. Talking heads would point to these experienced players and note that you need that kind of experience in March (and April). Yet, as Virginia was doing the same thing two years prior, during the most recent NCAA men’s basketball tournament, none of those players had spent a single minute on the court for Baylor. All four began their college careers elsewhere. Flagler had finished his freshman season at Presbyterian in 2019, where he started all 36 games. Tchamwa Tchachoua was a rotation player at UNLV. Mitchell and Teague were both sitting out a year after transferring from Auburn and UNC-Asheville, respectively. The team that just dominated the 2021 Final Four was being pieced together two years ago at this time.

This is the challenge now facing the coaches of college basketball. More than 1,200 names have entered the transfer portal as this is written. Teams are being torn apart and reassembled. For the first time in the history of the sport, at least half of the core rotation players of a National Championship team feature transfers. The narrative around successful teams is that you need an experienced roster, players that have been in practice and game situations together for years. The core group of players that took Baylor to the top of the ladder on Monday night had only been together since last season. This begs the question, can you shortcut the path to experience? A bunch of coaches are going to try and find out.

The transfer free-for-all has an unintended effect on another ritual of the sport. In the morning hours following the National Title, all the major sports publications rushed to publish their way-too-early top 25 lists. With so many rosters in flux, these rankings seem even sillier than normal. Keep an eye on those rankings, though. The next championship team may rise in the rankings by the time the first games tip off in November.

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The Mixtape

The Field of 68 team puts out lots of great content each week. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

• Everyone knows that Valparaiso, Indiana is the center of the college basketball universe, right? I was born there. Robbie Hummel is a Valpo native. Scott Drew was the head coach at Valparaiso University, if only for just a year. The 219 is where it’s at! For a long time, Scott Drew received a ton of questions about his coaching abilities. Those questions were answered definitively this week. When Drew took over at Baylor, the team was as decimated as any team could possibly be. Now, they are National Champs. Jeff Goodman & Robbie Hummel ask the question: Did Scott Drew do the best rebuilding job in the history of the sport? Well, yeah.

• I’ll tell you what the stupidest question in sports is, “Was Gonzaga overrated?” Let’s start with the facts here. They didn’t just beat Kansas, Iowa, Auburn, West Virginia, and Virginia, Creighton, and USC. They rolled over them. Look, the NCAA Tournament is a meat grinder. It’s single elimination. An NBA team can lose by 30 one night in May and still cut down the nets in the Finals. It’s incredibly rare for the top-rated team to cut down the nets at the end of the NCAA tournament, men’s or women’s (hello, UConn). At the end of the day, it’s all about the matchups. Over the most recent 6 tournaments, Gonzaga has been to 6 Sweet 16s, 3 Elite 8’s, and 2 National Title games. That’s not overrated. Rob Dauster, Da’Sean Butler, John Fanta, and guest debate the question.

• On a very special edition of 68 Shining Moments, March legends Ed Pinckney and Harold Jensen of the 1985 Villanova Wildcats join Jeff Goodman to talk about one of the best games ever played. Nova took down the behemoth that was the mid-80’s Georgetown Hoyas. All it took to do it was perfection. The game was played at an extremely high level with Villanova hitting nearly every shot they needed at the end of the game to upset Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas. It all started with a 2-point win over Dayton. Hear from the legends themselves of how their championship run went down.

• The season was barely over before the big news broke. On Wednesday, Arizona made the decision to sack head coach Sean Miller after 12 years. Miller spent years sweating through his shirts during the FBI investigation. For the university, it all came down to winning. They missed the NCAA Tournament and that was the end of the road for Miller. Jeff Goodman & Robbie Hummel are joined by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello to discuss the leading candidates for the new head coach in Tucson. Jeff has some wild theories for the next top man for the Wildcats. You’re going to have to watch to hear how looney it is.

Enter the Portal 

Players are on the move during college basketball’s offseason. We’ll highlight a few of the big moves of the past week.

• Jalen Cone: Virginia Tech → Northern Arizona

This week in the portal, it is all about the little men and we’re starting with a true microwave player in this 5’10” guard. Cone is a gifted scorer and can get hot from deep in an instant. He did that off the bench for Mike Young’s Virginia Tech Hokies the past two seasons. Now he is moving along to Northern Arizona and the Big Sky Conference for more playing time and opportunities to shine. If you are looking for the next Max Abmas, the star of Oral Roberts this past March, Jalen Cone might be that player.

• Xavier Johnson: Pittsburgh → Indiana

Mike Woodson has begun his head coaching tenure at Indiana with a bang, convincing star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis to stay for a junior year. Other teammates that played for Archie Miller have recently agreed to remain in Bloomington as well. The loss of Al Durham was a bit of a blow, but Xavier Johnson fills that hole. Johnson started at point guard throughout his three seasons at Pitt. His three-point jumper remains needs a little work and he has a penchant for turnovers. Still, he’s a dynamic athlete and can contribute with his scoring and playmaking for a maturing team under a new coach.

• Myreon Jones: Penn State → Florida

A promising season at Florida went awry when star forward Keyontae Johnson collapsed on the court in December. The team rebounded behind star guards Tre Mann and Scottie Lewis, both of whom are off to the NBA. Head coach Mike White looks to reload his team in the transfer portal and added a stud scoring guard in Myreon Jones. The former Nittany Lion is a deadly shooter and provides offensive punch to pair with former Michigan big man Colin Castleton. The two could form one of the best inside-outside duos in the SEC this upcoming season. 

• Chris Lykes: Miami → Arkansas

Florida wasn’t the only team in the state beset by injuries. Chris Lykes was one of a number of Miami Hurricanes players that spent much of the season watching the action during rehab. Lykes is a dynamic scorer from all over the court. At just 5’7”, he manages to use his quickness and quick release to score from around the rim all the way out past the 3-point line. He will join a resurgent Arkansas team under Eric Musselman. The Razorback head coach successfully blended his own recruits with key transfers this past year to take the Hogs to the Elite 8, losing to eventual National Champions Baylor. Lykes could provide an additional scoring punch for Arkansas next season.

• Joseph Yesufu: Drake → Kansas

The dunk of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament occurred during the First Four when Drake’s Yesufu posterized Wichita State. The 6’0” guard will take that athleticism and scoring abilities to Lawrence, Kansas to play for Bill Self and the Jayhawks. Self has done well with players like Yesufu who can play at a fast tempo and get their own shot. Think Frank Mason 2.0 here. Yesufu was not a starter for most of his time at Drake, so expectations could be that he contributes off the bench.