DePaul Preview, 2024-25

DePaul Blue Demons

January 14th, 2025 at Wintrust Arena / February 11th, 2025

Head Coach: Chris Holtmann (251-171 overall, 0-0 at Butler)

Three-Year NET Average: 195.3

Three-Year kenpom Average: 180.7

Projected 2023-24 T-Rank: 128

Chris Holtmann is back in the Big East with the Blue Demons

Photo by Jeff Hanisch | USA Today Sports

State of the Program

The kenpom database goes back to 1997. In that time, less than 2% of Big East teams finished ranked 200 or worse, bottoming out at #234 Virginia Tech all the way back in 2001. Hopefully that illustrates just how bad DePaul finishing #304, by far the worst rank in league history, was in 2024. That 3-29 (0-20) season got Tony Stubblefield fired. DePaul turned to former Ohio State and Butler head coach Chris Holtmann, who cleaned house, bringing back zero minutes from last year's roster. He added 10 transfers and three freshmen. The good news for DePaul is when you were the worst team in Big East history, there's nowhere to go but up.

Rotation

Holtmann landed a solid point guard in Conor Enright, who started 32 games for a Drake team that went to the NCAA Tournament last year. He's a knockdown shooter from deep, can find the open man, and was well schooled in a winning system. He's joined in the back court by Layden Blocker, a high-upside transfer from Arkansas who was ranked in the top-100 coming out of high school. Blocker struggled to break through with the Razorbacks but is lightning quick, excels at driving to the rim, and is a better playmaker than his freshman year stats indicate. Isaiah Rivera comes to DePaul from across town at UIC, where he was an excellent shooter and high-volume scorer, but he started his career at Colorado State so he should be better acclimated to compete at this level. J.J. Traynor joins from a Louisville program that was a disaster, but as a player there's a lot to like. He is a dominant rim finisher, making 76.7% of his shots this past year (top-10 nationally) after converting on 76.3% the year before. He also added a three-point shot, connecting on 36.8% from deep. Louisville was better on both ends with Traynor in the game and he is one of the gems of Holtmann's massive transfer class, though he did only play 8 games last year. David Skogman comes from Davidson and is the epitome of a stretch 5. He took 94.6% of his shots from three or at the rim (evenly split at 47.3% each) and was great in both regards, making 46.8% from deep and 62.9% ATR. He's a much better offensive than defensive player, so don't be surprised to see him platoon with Missouri State transfer N.J. Benson. Jacob Meyer (Coastal Carolina), Troy D'Amico (Southern Illinois), C.J. Gunn (Indiana), and David Thomas (Mercer) provide depth and experience off the bench while all four are capable long-range shooters. Don't expect freshmen Chris Riddle or Sekou Konneh to contribute much yet.

Style of Play

Historically, Holtmann loves a balanced attack that excels in the spots other teams leave open, such as mid-range. In the past, he has run a slow-tempo offense that often uses the big as a hub for inside out or post-up actions. While there will likely be some elements of that, I don't think that's what Holtmann is planning for this DePaul team. DePaul's ten transfers combined to make 286/728 three point shots last season. If you compared that 39.3% clip to the rest of the country, Holtmann's roster would've ranked 6th nationally in three-point percentage last year. I expect the pace will stay slow, but Holtmann will use his team's three point lethality to keep them close and try to pull upsets. They have the ability to routinely put four and sometimes five long-range specialists on the floor at the same time. Holtmann likes to use motion offense so expect a lot of movement designed to open up the arc.

The biggest question will be on the defensive end. Holtmann has done great when he inherited defensive players, but his high-major stops seem to decline as he gets his own players in place. He had the 8th ranked defense his first year at Butler, followed by #97 and #49. At Ohio State, his first three years were 15/25/19, then the Wesson brothers (recruited by Thad Matta) left and he followed that with 82/111/106. Further, when he was fired at Ohio State on February 14th, their defense according to kenpom was ranked #124 but it finished at #63, a massive improvement. According to T-Rank, Ohio State's defense ranked #24 from the time Jon Diebler took over through the end of the season.

Holtmann's defense starts on the offensive end. They typically send three offensive rebounders to follow the shot while two players drop back to cut off transition opportunities. One player, the fullback, goes into the back court to take away easy dunks or layups while also calling out defensive sets. The halfback is there to slow runners and buy time for the rest of the defense to get back. Once everyone is back, the first big goes retreats to the post, pushing the fullback to the wing and they set up in man-to-man.

2024-25 Outlook

When you clear out the worst roster in league history, it's safe to say DePaul will be improved. Holtmann added experience with Rivera and Skogman, upside with Blocker and Meyer, and tournament pedigree with Enright. There are more offensive weapons than DePaul had in the past, a clear offensive vision built around shooting, and even with defensive questions Holtmann's worst defensive rank in 10 years as a high-major coach was better than Tony Stubblefield's best. The Blue Demons might still be the worst team in the league, but thanks to the roster overhaul and having a competent coach at the helm, there's actually a debate as to whether that will be the case. Their roster may be better than Georgetown or Seton Hall and while they'll still be around the bottom of the league, there's reason to believe they could fight their way out of the cellar. 

One Man's Opinion

It's entirely possible this whole thing collapses, it is DePaul after all, but I'm picking the Blue Demons #10 in the Big East. It's not the best roster, but there's a clear vision and plan, which I can't say for everyone on this end of the standings. This team is going to get into some shootouts and just might have the firepower to win some of them. More often than not, the defense will give up too much to keep up, but they have a competent, Big East level coach and a roster designed to mop up their soft non-con before pulling a few shocking upsets in league play. There's more work to be done, but Holtmann at least laid a foundation.

Quiet Summer Means October Preseason Check In

Hello #mubb fans and welcome to the cusp of a new basketball season! It has been a real quiet off season as is typical for a Shaka Smart program it seems, so we're out of practice. We get together to talk preseason scrimmage content, season expectations, and schedule impressions. We've got less than a month until the ball is tossed on the first game of the season so let's start getting into game condition. Enjoy! https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/7bh4h7szmzbictzw/October_Checkin74gbo.mp3

Georgetown Preview, 2024-25

Georgetown Hoyas

January 7th, 2025 at Fiserv Forum / March 1st, 2025 at Capital One Arena

Head Coach: Ed Cooley (343-245 overall, 9-23 at Georgetown)

Three-Year NET Average: 214.0

Three-Year kenpom Average: 195.3

Projected 2023-24 T-Rank: 106

Jayden Epps is Georgetown's only returning starter

Photo by Daniel Rankin | Georgetown Voice

State of the Program

Georgetown hit rock bottom in 2023, as Patrick Ewing led them to their worst kenpom finish (#219) in program history just a year after going winless in league play (0-19). Enter Ed Cooley from Providence, who brought in a history of program building and NCAA acumen. Cooley did improve things, but only marginally. The Hoyas went 2-18 in league play for the second consecutive year and while they got back into the top-200 at kenpom, it was only up to #192, which was the second worst mark in program history. Now's the time for Cooley to prove that program building bit. He added three promising sophomore transfers and the 12th ranked recruiting class in the country according to 247 Sports. There's reason for optimism, but realization of that optimism may still be a year or two away.

Rotation

Malik Mack is the first of the heralded sophomores. He led Harvard in scoring and assists, though much of that is a product of his team leading usage rate (29.4% was 6th nationally among freshmen). His new running mate, Jayden Epps, had an even higher usage rate for Georgetown, though on mediocre efficiency. Micah Peavy comes in from an NCAA team at TCU where he was a role-player on offense but a standout defender. Kentucky transfer Jordan Burks struggled to crack Cal's rotation and will be looking for a bigger role. In a limited sample, Kentucky was 20.6 points/100 possessions better with Burks on the floor. Thomas Sorber is the jewel of Cooley's recruiting class. He's expected to start and has a Big East-ready body to go along with solid post moves and rim protection on defense. The bench is young. Kayvaun Mulready and Julius Halaifonua are projects that will likely get to prove their mettle early while Drew Fielder showed flashes last year and will provide coverage in the front court.

Style of Play

Cooley's best teams have had hyper-productive point guards like Vincent Council, Kris Dunn, and Bryce Cotton running the show. However while gaudy assist numbers at the point are a Cooley staple, his teams in recent years have run a ton through his big men. He runs a ton of post-up action or uses the drive to create roll opportunities for his big men. Cooley hasn't had great shooting teams (his best ever eFG% rank was #126) but they crash the glass hard and are excellent at finishing on second chance opportunities. This team has two productive ball-handlers that can both create and score, and don't be surprised if Sorber is a dark horse Freshman of the Year candidate because he should get plenty of scoring chances at the rim. When the toss-ahead isn't open, Cooley likes his teams to play in the half court and is comfortable with them milking the clock for the best shot opportunity.

Defensively, his teams are aggressive challenging shooters at the arc to either chase them off the line or contest the shot. Cooley's teams do this by getting as close as they can to the perimeter players to prevent them from being able to dribble. By closing that space, they aim to deflect passes and take away easy looks from three. If attackers get past the perimeter line of defense, Georgetown funnels attackers to the bigs, counting on their shot blockers to protect the rim rather than trying to keep teams out of the paint altogether.

2024-25 Outlook

The first question with this roster is how do Malik Mack and Jayden Epps coexist when there's only one ball? The second question is why did Micah Peavy, who started every game for a tournament team, transfer to a Georgetown team that will likely be bad? If the answer is that he was hoping for more prominent role, something Jordan Burks likely also wants, and Drew Fielder likely expects after a highly efficient freshman year, this team could have problems. It looks like Georgetown has too many players who want to be the star and not enough players who are there because they will accept a role. Combine that with the reality that Peavy and Epps are the only two players on the roster that are not freshmen or sophomores and the Hoyas could have a real experience issue as well. Cooley is great at grinding out results when he has lunch pail players whose hearts are bigger than their efficiency numbers. His best teams thrive because they have unselfish players, but this team looks like the antithesis of that. They are young and the possibility to mold this group into a team in the coming years exists, but I worry that this team might worry more about which player led the team in scoring than if the team's combined score was enough to win the game.

One Man's Opinion

Like Providence, I just don't see this roster fitting together very well. Unlike Providence, there's no Bryce Hopkins anymore to save Cooley's bacon, which is why I have the Hoyas picked #11 in the Big East. They have an undersized back court that will struggle on defense and constantly be in a "my turn, your turn" fight over the ball. Up front, they are very young and simply don't have players who have the experience to compete on day one in the Big East, and the bench is just as young. The one thing I will give to Cooley over some of his peers is I can see the vision. In two years, this team could still be together, but if they are it will be laden with juniors and seniors that have been through the wars. Cooley will likely have a star or two by that time (Sorber, Mulready, or Mack?) and you can see the vision of a NCAA Team again. But that time isn't now.

Dayton Preview, 2024-25

Dayton Flyers

December 14th, 2024 at UD Arena

Head Coach: Anthony Grant (342-182 overall, 149-72 at Dayton)

Three-Year NET Average: 51.0

Three-Year kenpom Average: 52.0

Projected 2023-24 T-Rank: 70

Dayton's Enoch Cheeks scrambles for a loose ball
 Photo from daytonflyers.com

State of the Program

You've probably heard it before, but COVID shutting down the 2020 NCAA Tournament had a negative impact on Dayton more than anyone else. They were 29-2 with both losses in overtime to projected single-digit seeds, were a lock for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and one of the favorites to cut nets behind National Player of the Year Obi Toppin. Sure, teams like Kansas, Gonzaga, and Baylor also lost opportunities that year, but those programs are all perennial Final Four contenders who have been there in the years since. That's not the case for Dayton, who last went to the Final Four in 1967 and only has one second weekend trip in the last 40 years.

While Anthony Grant hasn't brought them back to that level of success, the Flyers have won 20+ games in five of the last six seasons, with the only exception being COVID-shortened 2021. They also finished in the top-3 of the Atlantic 10 in each of those five seasons. Grant has built a program that is perennially at the top of their league and competing for an NCAA bid, even if they've landed in the NIT more often than not. Last year was their best since 2020, led by DaRon Holmes, who was a second team All-American, earning both the A-10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards. In addition to Holmes as a dominant two-way force, Dayton had a plethora of shooters that ranked #3 in the nation from beyond the arc. The Flyers notched high-major wins over LSU, St. John's, and Cincinnati, building an at-large resume in the process. They also earned their first NCAA win since 2015 in shocking style, rallying from a 17-point deficit with 7:14 to play to steal a 63-60 result from Nevada. The downside to that success was the departure of Holmes to the NBA while sharpshooters Kobe Elvis and Koby Brea transferred to high-major programs in the offseason.

Rotation

The strength of the Flyers starts in the backcourt. Malachi Smith was injured in the season-opener but they're hoping he's finally healthy. He's a capable scorer but is better as a distributor. Smith is joined by Posh Alexander, who comes over from Butler. Alexander is inconsistent offensively, but is one of the premier ballhawks in the nation. He applies tremendous on-ball defensive pressure and is routinely elite at forcing turnovers. Enoch Cheeks rounds out Dayton's three-man backcourt. He started all 33 games for Dayton last year and does a little bit of everything, but isn't really elite at anything. Nate Santos is the leading returning scorer and also started every game last year. His contributions were a bit of a surprise as he wasn't a leading figure or elite shooter at Pitt, but elevated his game in every way at Dayton. Zed Key will be charged with replacing Holmes. He was a four-year rotation player at Ohio State where he was an effective rebounder and rim protector. They'll need him to move up his contributions to featured player if he's going to adequately replace Holmes. The bench looks solid, starting with Javon Bennett. He started 28 games last year as he shared point guard duties with Kobe Elvis, but it's hard to envision him holding on to a starting spot with Smith back and Alexander joining the fold. Having three players 6-feet and shorter would be a nightmare defensively, even in the A-10. I still expect him to get heavy minutes as they likely cycle through their three point guards. Marvel Allen is a talented redshirt freshman who rescinded his commitment to Georgetown and Patrick Ewing before joining Dayton. Jacob Conner is the most likely big off the bench, but Dayton also boasts Hamid Mousa and Amael L'Etang, a pair of big bodies from overseas with little experience but lots of upside.

Style of Play 

Grant likes to run a continuity ball screen offense. They play deep into the shot clock, with the players and ball constantly moving. They ran heavy drive and kick actions last year and were in the 100th percentile in efficiency on those plays, but losing three of their top four shooters from deep may change the style a bit. What this team has in spades is high-quality passers. Expect a patient offense with lots of movement off the ball to create open looks and defensive confusion. Zed Key and Nate Santos are both excellent finishers at the rim, so when they aren't looking for open threes expect both of them to be fighting to either screen and roll or cut backdoor to get easy opportunities inside. How well they shoot will likely determine how good their offense is. Grant has three top-30 offenses in his coaching career, and all of those were accompanied by top-30 three-point shooting teams.

The Flyer defense excelled at forcing teams into midrange looks

Shot chart from cbbanalytics.com

Defensively, Dayton will make you work for every look. They run a man defense that excels at taking away attempts at the rim and forcing teams into midrange and three-point jumpers (see chart above). Dayton is one of the best at defending without fouling, but still attacks closeouts aggressively. While it's true that teams are more efficient in the midrange against Dayton, that's relative to the rest of the country. Dayton forces you to midrange where they allow teams to convert on 38.6% of their shots, which is poor nationally (#257) but far better than allowing attempts inside where teams hit 58.4% against them. The Flyers know which looks are low percentage and let teams take those looks early and often. If they get into foul trouble, which is rare, Grant will break out a zone, but it's a break glass in case of emergency situation.

2024-25 Outlook

Dayton fans have to be salivating at their non-conference schedule opportunities. They open the Maui Invitational, where they were runners-up in 2019, with North Carolina, and follow that with a likely top-10 matchup against Auburn or Iowa State. They have Cincinnati on a neutral court as well. At home, they host Northwestern, UNLV, and their on-paper biggest home non-con game since 2007 (Pittsburgh) in Marquette. Dayton fans have long desired a Big East invitation (except for this guy) and will view a home-and-home opportunity as their chance to audition for that ticket. A packed UD Arena will be one of the most hostile venues Marquette travels to this year, and with Hilton Coliseum and the AMP on the schedule, that's saying something. If Dayton can manage to get 3-4 wins from Maui, Cincy, Northwestern, UNLV, and Marquette, that should be enough to have them in the at-large conversation. They get A-10 round robins with VCU, St. Louis, and Loyola, all of which should be good resume builders. Come March, this will likely be a team on the bubble with their tourney resume hinging on how well they do in non-con play.

This team feels like they have a low floor and very high ceiling based on a series of ifs. If guys like Alexander and Key can come in and be A-10 stars, if Malachi Smith can stay healthy, if Marvel Allen can turn his high-upside talent into on-court production, then this Dayton team can be an A-10 and at-large bid contender. But if Posh tries to take over games, if Key is better suited as a role-player, if Smith gets injured again, and if there aren't answers on the bench to address those questions, things could go very bad for Dayton. This should be a Q1 road opportunity, but without an All-American like Toppin or Holmes, there's the possibility things go very wrong.

Marquette Connection

Shaka Smart began his head coaching career at VCU, where he replaced now-Dayton head coach Anthony Grant. Those two men are responsible for the resurgence of VCU basketball. Grant's 2007 team earned VCU's first tourney win in over 20 years, while Smart's 2011 Final Four team followed by NCAA wins in 2012 and 2013 helped spur the most succesful run in program history, earning 12 NCAA bids in a 17-year span. While they never coached on the same staff, both Grant and Smart were assistants to Billy Donovan at Florida when they took the VCU job. The two also have faced off twice in the past, as Grant's Alabama program agreed to a home-and-home with VCU in 2011 and 2012. The teams split the results, with Grant beating Smart 72-64 in Tuscaloosa in 2011 while Smart got revenge in Richmond the next year with a 73-54 victory.

Wisconsin Preview, 2024-25

Wisconsin Badgers

December 7th, 2024 at Fiserv Forum

Head Coach: Greg Gard (186-107)

Three-Year NET Average: 41.0

Three-Year kenpom Average: 38.3

Projected 2023-24 T-Rank: 41

Max Klesmit has mastered the "opponent is close, pretend I was fouled" motion.

Picture by Andy Manis | AP Photo

State of the Program

Wisconsin has long prided itself on stability. They rarely took transfers, their players didn't transfer out (unless they lost their love for the game), and they ran a system that always finished in the top-40 of kenpom (15 straight years from 2003-2017). All of this happened despite opposing fans regularly predicting the new Badger roster wouldn't be good enough. Last year's results mirrored that history, with A.J. Storr stepping up as the go-to scorer, Wisconsin starting the year 16-4, reaching the Big 10 Tournament final, and finishing #17 at kenpom. A late-season slump and upset loss to James Madison in the NCAA Tournament may have soured the season, but consistency and quality looked to be back. In terms of the roster, though, the times they are a-changing. Storr and three-year starting point guard Chucky Hepburn transferred out of the program, along with once heralded Connor Essegian. Gard reacted by bringing in a trio of transfers to bolster the roster. The question is will all the turnover have a negative impact on results.

Rotation

The first of the transfers is Camren Hunter, a prolific scoring guard from Central Arkansas. He's a solid inside-outside threat who made his team better at every level of offense. The downside is he's not a great defender and it's hard to assess how well a guy who has always been on sub-300 teams will adjust to high-major basketball. Max Klesmit has made that transition successfully. While he doesn't score as much as he did at Wofford due to lower usage, he had career highs in offensive efficiency, eFG%, and three point percentage while providing solid defense. John Blackwell will be the guy Bucky fans are hoping breaks out. He's a high-efficiency sniper who also excels at getting to the rim and the free throw line. Xavier Amos is the other likely transfer starter. The Northern Illinois transfer is a long athlete who is excellent both at the rim and at the arc. He's a lethal catch-and-shoot option (1.2 ppp/85th percentile) who like Hunter needs to show he can step up from sub-300 to high-major. Steven Crowl is somewhat unsung, but should be the star of this team. Crowl shot 44.8% from three, 61.6% at the rim, grabbed 9.9% of offensive rebounds, 21.5% of defensive rebounds, and did it all at a high efficiency. The bench is unproven but talented. Daniel Freitag looks like the next annoyingly good Badger guard. He's a productive scorer with great defensive length (6'8" wingspan) who should be a day one contributor. Don't be shocked if Freitag works his way into the starting lineup and is a breakout freshman. John Tonje was a high-level performer in the Mountain West at Colorado State, but will have to bounce back from an injury-plagued year at Missouri. Nolan Winter was supposed to be the impact freshman last year, but struggled to earn minutes.

Style of Play

At this point, Marquette fans should be almost as familiar with the Swing as Wisconsin fans are. Lots of ball movement, get the ball into the paint, then either finish there or continue moving the ball to get an open perimeter look. Lots of motion and cutting, running time off the clock, then finding the open shooter in the last 10 seconds of the shot clock. That said, Gard has tweaked his system based on roster composition more than Bo Ryan seemed to. Last year, he had a pair of driving guards in Hepburn and Storr who were not great outside shooters, which led to a heavier focus on shots at the rim. The bulk of last year's offense came from the drive or from cuts, as 57.3% of their actions were rim attack (29.5%), drive and kick (13.8%), perimeter cuts (10.3%), or big man cut and rolls (3.7%). They were in the 87th or better efficiency percentile in all of those plays, so Wisconsin maximized what they did well. When Gard had his best shooting teams, they shot heavier volume from three (2020 & 2021) and when he had Johnny Davis, his teams played faster (66.5 possessions/game in 2022 is the fastest by any Wisconsin team in kenpom's database going back to 1997). If Hunter, Amos, and Tonje can translate to the Big 10 they can legitimately put five shooters on the floor simultaneously. Expect this team to slow the pace and rain threes. With Crowl and Amos, there's the potential for more big-to-big high/low actions. Gard will likely have enough wrinkles to keep it effective.

Wisconsin knows what they do well and do that frequently
Graph from hoop-explorer.com

Defensively, the Badgers run man-to-man. They apply ball pressure, but do so without reaching to avoid fouls. The pressure isn't designed to turn teams over but to force the offensive player into help defense and bad looks. Wisconsin focuses heavily on how to defeat teams that screen, like Marquette. They are taught to both prevent the backside slip of a screen and to aggressively go over screens. They also extend their bigs to create defensive mismatches, which requires the bigs to be able to effectively play drop coverage. Crowl has been instrumental in this. Teams that play heavy drop coverage are often vulnerable on the defensive glass because the big men are extended away from the rim, but Crowl's defensive rebounding efficiency has led to the three best defensive rebounding rates of Gard's tenure, and the best rate since Frank Kaminsky was in Madison.

2024-25 Outlook

The consensus seems to be down on Wisconsin. T-Rank, ran by Wisconsin alum Bart Torvik, has the Badgers #41, which would be squarely on the bubble. Three Man Weave ranked Wisconsin as #57. Sports Illustrated pegged the Badgers as 12th in the Big Ten while 247 said 13th, all of which would likely be on the outside of the NCAA Tournament looking in. If Hunter and Amos can't adjust to the Big 10, if John Tonje doesn't bounce back to his pre-injury form, if Daniel Freitag isn't ready, there's a very real chance the floor is low for this team. Gard missing the tournament for the second time in two years would put him on the hot seat.

However, I suspect these outlets are underrating the Badgers. The first reason is A.J. Storr. Coaches, fans, and pundits alike all tend to overvalue volume scorers. Yes, Storr was productive, but as a team, Wisconsin was 4.6 points/100 possessions worse with him on the floor, and it was a negative margin on both ends of the court. When he was at St. John's, they were 12.6/100 worse with him on the floor, so it seems like it's an A.J. Storr thing. Chucky Hepburn was better, providing a 4.4 points/100 possessions improvement on offense but being 3.6 points/100 possessions worse on defense nearly offset that. When they played together, the Badgers were slightly better on offense, but they were terrible on defense leading to a net -13.0/100 with Hepburn and Storr on the court. Bottom line, while the players they lost significantly impacted the box score, their impact on winning basketball was far less evident. Storr and Hepburn are replaceable players. If Hunter and Amos are indeed high-major players, and their transfer offer lists indicate many coaches think they are, this Wisconsin team could exceed expectations and possibly be even better than last year's. This team may not have the flashy names or an appealing play style, but expect them to be better than the sum of the parts, near the top of the Big 10 again, and in the NCAA Tournament. They have the proven defense to make every possession matter and an offensive system that thrives when it has shooters, which they do. Don't expect it to be easy if Shaka Smart manages to get his first win over Wisconsin since taking the Marquette job.

Marquette Connection

With Wisconsin's current three-game winning streak over Marquette, there isn't a single player on the Marquette roster that has ever beaten Wisconsin. Head coach Shaka Smart has only coached against Wisconsin while at Marquette, so he also has never defeated the Badgers. On the Wisconsin side, there is only one player who has ever played in a game that was a loss to Marquette. It isn't long-time Badgers Steven Crowl or Carter Gilmore. Both were members of the 2020-21 team that lost to Marquette at an empty Fiserv in the COVID season, but neither played in that game. The only current Badger who has lost to Marquette is Xavier Amos, who was a part of the Northern Illinois team that lost last year's season opener at Marquette 92-70. Amos played 28 minutes, scoring 8 points and tallying 4 assists, but came up short as Marquette ran out to a 22-point halftime lead and held it the rest of the way.

Xavier Amos tries to stop Tyler Kolek in NIU's 2023 loss at Fiserv
Photo by Mark Hoffman | Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Iowa State Preview, 2024-25

Iowa State Cyclones

December 4th, 2024 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, IA

Head Coach: T.J. Otzelberger (169-98 overall, 70-35 at Iowa State)

Three-Year NET Average: 22.3

Three-Year kenpom Average: 26.7

Projected 2023-24 T-Rank: 3

Tamin Lipsey led ISU to a Big 12 Tourney Title and the Sweet 16
Photo by Amy Kontras | USA Today Sports

State of the Program

There were questions about how good Iowa State really was early in the season. Their 11-2 non-conference record looked good, but they lost to Virginia Tech and Texas A&M in the Orlando Invitational, not exactly juggernaut teams, and their gaudy record was boosted up by playing eight buy games with an average winning margin of 39.8 points. They proved their mettle as the season went on. Their 13-5 Big 12 record was good for second in the toughest conference in the country. They followed that with a Big 12 Tournament Championship, then beat South Dakota State and Washington State to reach the Sweet 16, where they lost to Illinois 72-69. T.J. Otzelberger seems to have found the perfect program fit for his coaching style, as his three seasons in Ames have yielded a 70-35 record, three NCAA appearances, two Sweet 16s, and he has outperformed his kenpom projection each year while improving his team's NCAA seed from 11 to 6 to 2. This year, the Cyclones are widely regarded as a top-10 team once again while being a legitimate Final Four and even National Championship threat.

Rotation

The backcourt is the strength of this team. Tamin Lipsey is a legitimate All-American candidate and one of the best point guards in the country. Offensively, he's an excellent creator and reliable shooter, but his biggest strength is on defense at the point of attack, where he's one of the nation's best ballhawks. No returning player in the country had more kenpom game MVPs than Lipsey with 15. His backcourt partner is another defensive difference maker. Keshon Gilbert was originally recruited by Otzelberger to UNLV but joined him in Ames last year. He is a capable scorer who excels at getting downhill and scoring at the rim. Similar to Lipsey, he is a stout defensive presence that can generate turnovers. Milan Momcilovic is fairly one-dimensional as a shooter. Despite his size he struggles to get to the paint and is far more likely to settle for midrange or take spot-up threes. Up front, Joshua Jefferson is a transfer from St. Mary's who seems to fit TJO's system perfectly. While he can contribute offensively, where he really stands out is on defense. St. Mary's was 10.8 points/100 possessions better with him on the floor, he's an elite rebounder on both ends, and like Lipsey and Gilbert excels at forcing turnovers. Dishon Jackson is another transfer from Charlotte who will provide a post-up threat inside and rim protection on the defensive end. Their bench is deep and experienced. Curtis Jones is yet another exceptional ball thief and competent offensive contributor that gives little dropoff when Lipsey or Gilbert need a rest. Demarion Watson and Seattle transfer Brandton Chatfield provide size and defensive versatility up front while both are also solid on the offensive glass.

Style of Play

While TJO has a variety of players that have shown the ability to score, there are no go-to scorers on this roster. Last year's Iowa State team was #52 in offensive efficiency, which is his best mark with the Cyclones, but still nothing overly impressive. Their best offense comes in transition, which is keyed by ranking #2 in steal rate each of the past two seasons. However they bog down in the half-court. They aren't great at driving and settle too easily for midrange shots (10th in midrange rate). They did seem to make a concerted effort to add offensive rebounding in the transfer portal, so expect this team to hit the glass harder next year as they saw first hand (Texas A&M, Houston, Illinois) how much it can help teams that are shooting-challenged.

No one is better at creating turnovers & turning them into points than ISU
Chart courtesy of cbbanalytics.com

Iowa State had the #1 defense in the nation last year. The Cyclone defense is predicated first on turning teams over. They start with active hands and relentless ball pressure. They aim to force opponents to difficult spots on the floor and push them into two-man defensive sets. They try to create effectively a triangle defense that allows two players to close out on shots. While Iowa State stresses putting ball pressure on early, in the half-court they want to create space on defense between the offensive player and the defender. The larger the gap between the defender and the offensive player, the harder it is to drive and the more difficult it is to pass because they have that much more time to get a hand on the ball. The theory is simply that the more space the defender creates, the harder it is for the offensive player to play their game. Otzelberger also preaches taking big steps. His players are drilled to only move toward the offensive player when they are closing out on a shot and are strategic in covering as much ground as quickly as possible. The downside to this is the defensive three-point rate. ISU has ranked sub-350 in three-point rate allowed the past two seasons. The aggressive closeouts and pursuit of turnovers also lead to many free throws. As good as the defense is, the aggressiveness can be exploited.

2024-25 Outlook

ISU is playing a tougher non-con this year, though still have 6 buy games on the schedule. In addition to Marquette, they have Iowa on the road and travel to Maui where they'll open with a top-10 matchup against Auburn, followed by UNC/Dayton, with UConn and Michigan State on the other side of the bracket. Their Big 12 schedule will be tough, with double-dips against Kansas and Arizona. The Cyclone defense gives them a very high floor, but how far they go will likely be determined by the offense. The highest percentage of shots they took were from midrange, which is the least efficient place on the floor to shoot from, while ranking sub-300 in frequency of shots taken both from three and at the rim. I don't expect significant shot selection improvement, but they have good enough shooters that modest improvement in 3PFG% and rate could lead to a significant improvement, while having stronger offensive rebounders could help clean up all the bricks their midrange shooters leave on the court. If this offense is in the 40-60 range again, their ceiling is probably a high seed but a second weekend flameout because at some point you have to score. But if they can tick up to a top-25 offense, this could be a Final Four team.

Marquette Connection

It feels like Marquette fans have referred to Ames as Marquette South for years. So many Marquette players have transferred to Iowa State that I decided to try to make a starting five of Marquette Cyclones. Let's see the roster!

 

PG - Scott Christopherson: He's the one that started it. Recruited by Crean, Buzz Williams ran him off and he went on to score over 1,000 points for the Cyclones.

SG - Mackenzie Hare: It isn't just the men that have transferred to Iowa State. Hare led the Big East in 3PFG%, then entered the portal this offseason right before coach Megan Duffy left for Virginia Tech.

SF - Marial Shayok: Okay, he never actually played for Marquette, but Shayok was a Marquette commit who followed Buzz to Virginia Tech, then transferred to ISU.

PF - Deonte Burton: Perhaps the one that hurts the most, Burton was an explosive freak athlete who was a cornerstone of the 2013 recruiting class, but decided to leave Milwaukee after his mother died. He averaged 15.1 ppg/6.2 rpg as a senior.

C - Jameel McKay: The JUCO transfer made it to campus but transferred before his first year at Marquette started, in part because he didn't want to play center. At Iowa State, he averaged 11.1 ppg/8.3 rpg over two years...playing center.

Bench - Nick Noskowiak: A blast from the past name, the Buzz recruit was released from his National Letter of Intent after Wojo took over. He committed to Iowa State and enrolled, but stepped away from the program before ever suiting up with multiple felony charges hanging over his head. Here's hoping he turned things around after those rough years.

Western Carolina Preview, 2024-25

Western Carolina Catamounts

November 30th, 2024 at Fiserv Forum

Head Coach: Tim Craft (188-166 overall, 0-0 at Western Carolina)

Three-Year NET Average: 214.0

Three-Year kenpom Average: 209.0

Projected 2023-24 T-Rank: 280

 

Bernard Pelote is the only returning player that logged minutes for WCU last year

Photo from Western Carolina Athletics

State of the Program

The past three years under Justin Gray the Catamounts was a constant elevation. They finished last in the SoCon his first year, but thanks to triple-double machine Vonterius Woolbright they climbed to fourth in the league and went from #296 in kenpom in 2022 up to #110 last year. Unfortunately for Catamount fans, Gray and Woolbright are both gone, as is every other starter. Replacing Gray at the helm is Tim Craft, who spent the last 11 years at Gardner-Webb, taking over from Chris Holtmann. He sustained Holtmann's success, never had a losing Big South season, is responsible for the four highest kenpom rankings in program history, and led the Bulldogs to their only NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019. WCU will be a complete overhaul, however. He returns just one player that logged 2023-24 minutes for the Catamounts in Bernard Pelote, and bolsters his roster with a mix of D1 transfers, JUCO transfers, and freshmen.

Rotation

It's hard to project what this team will be when nearly everyone from the head coach to the last man off the bench is new, but the strategy seems to be clear. Brandon Morgan was a stud at the JUCO level, putting up big numbers for Caldwell Tech. He can create for himself, find the open man, make threes, and protect the ball. He's joined by Neenah, WI native Chevalier "Ice" Emery, another JUCO transfer who led Dodge City CC in scoring. Emery was also a state champion at Neenah who is dangerous beyond the arc. The third guard is Cord Stansberry, who joins from Pepperdine. While he played limited minutes, he could score at all three levels, hitting 38.8% from three, 55.2% in midrange, and 68.4% at the rim. He played sparingly, so it remains to be seen if he can do that with a heavier minute load. Bernard Pelote is the lone returnee. He will step up from the sixth man role and has proven himself to be a high-efficiency inside-out scorer who is an asset on the glass and rarely turns the ball over. Brandon White is a bit of a mystery. He spent his redshirt freshman season with Buzz Williams at Texas A&M before transferring closer to home. White is a big, physical shot-blocker who had a number of high major offers including Creighton, Houston, and Purdue. The bench will likely be anchored by another JUCO sniper in Jamar Livingston and Princeton transfer big Vernon Collins.

Style of Play

Tim Craft will be adjusting to a new team, but as we note above, the strategy looks clear. His Gardner-Webb teams love to attack the paint, and when he has shooters, take a heavy volume of threes. They rarely get forced into mid-range shots. Looking at this roster, he will regularly be able to put four players who are capable shooters around a productive space-eater inside. Expect Morgan, Emery, Stansberry, and Livingston to move the ball, drive to collapse the defense, then either finish at the rim or dish back out to the open shooter. White, Collins, and Pelote are both capable at the rim finishers who can also do work on the offensive glass. Pelote has the ability to step out to the arc as well, which gives the Catamounts true four-out ability. Craft added the wrinkle of pushing transition last year, something his teams didn't typically do. They don't force a ton of turnovers, but were in the 96th percentile in creating transition opportunities. Aside from an offensive rebound, it was their highest points per possession play (1.17 ppp) so even though they were not efficient relative to the rest of the country, GW still recognized the effectiveness of catching teams napping, so don't be surprised to see Western Carolina attack quickly when the opportunity presents itself.

Craft had to adjust his defense last year. Typically, he likes to have a pair of rim protectors in the middle to shut down drivers. It's been effective, as Gardner-Webb was top-50 in three of the past four years at forcing teams into midrange shots. Last year, his shot blockers all left at the same time, so they shifted their focus to chasing teams off the three point line. Despite not having shot-blockers, they still were 26th at forcing midrange, so the philosophy was effective even with different personnel. I expect White to be the hub of the defense. The guards will try to take away open threes and either funnel to White or cut off the drive to force midrange attempts.

2024-25 Outlook

T-Rank is pessimistic on the Catamounts. Their #280 preseason ranking is 8th out of 10 teams in the SoCon. I'll go out on a limb and say this is one I think Torvik's model misses on. While they weren't at the D1 level, this team is full of accurate three-point shooters. If you take the roster as a whole, they shot 236/598 (39.5%) combined at the D1 and JUCO D1 levels. That would've been top-5 in the nation last year. They have a high-major recruit in the middle of those shooters who was a target of elite programs. And Craft is an overachiever, finishing higher than his preseason kenpom rank in 8/11 seasons at Gardner-Webb. This is a well-coached team with solid offensive weapons all over the floor. Craft's defense was in the top-half of the SoCon in 10/11 seasons, including finishing in the top-3 each of the past three years. This roster is heavy with JUCO players and has 4 scholarship players that redshirted last year. That's not easy for a computer model to accurately evaluate. Expect Western Carolina to contend for the top half of the SoCon, blow their computer projection out of the water, and possibly be a Q3 game by the time Selection Sunday rolls around.

Marquette Connection

The Golden Eagles are 4-0 all-time against the Catamounts, but it wasn't always easy. The teams opened the season against each other in 2004-05 and Western Carolina could smell the upset. It was a homecoming game for big man David Berghoefer, who played his high school ball at Middleton and paced the Catamounts with 20 points. Western Carolina surged out early, establishing a 38-33 lead at halftime and putting a scare into Marquette. It was Dameon Mason who finally clawed back the lead at 46-44 in the second half, but it wasn't until Steve Novak's hit jumpers on consecutive possessions to push the lead to 58-52 that Marquette started to get some breathing room. Travis Diener led the way with 27 points while Novak added 22. Ultimately, Marquette held on for a 75-64 victory in the Bradley Center.

Stonehill Preview, 2024-25

Stonehill Skyhawks

November 27th, 2024 at Fiserv Forum

Head Coach: Chris Kraus (148-143 overall, 18-44 in Division I)

Two-Year NET Average: 334.5

Two-Year kenpom Average: 345.0

Projected 2023-24 T-Rank: 342

Todd Brogna and Chris Kraus hope for better results in 2024-25

Photo from Stonehill Athletics

State of the Program

Stonehill joined Division 1 two years ago with some modest success. They notched 4 non-conference wins, 3 against fellow D1 opponents, and followed that up with a respectable 10-6 NEC campaign, tied for the second best record in the league. Year two fell off massively. They went just 4-27 and finished last in the NEC, which was the worst league in D1. They ranked #359 according to kenpom out of 362 teams. The dismal season was backed up by their top three scorers departing, two to transfer. It looks like a stiff uphill climb already for Chris Kraus.

Rotation

Transfers forced Kraus to overhaul his backcourt. Amir Nesbitt comes over from Hampton and will likely get the first shot at the point. He's a solid distributor but struggled to get consistent minutes. Josh Morgan will be looking to recapture his sophomore year success. He had his peak in scoring, rebounds, assists, and efficiency that year but has seen his minutes and starting opportunities decline in the two years since. He's a better shooter than last year's numbers indicate, hitting 35.2% from deep for his career. Chas Stinson steps up from spot starter to bigger minutes. He was better as a defensive ballhawk than as an offensive player, but did have a 5-game stretch where he averaged 15.0 ppg/7.0 rpg, showing flashes of potential. Shane O'Dell only played in 5 games all season, but started all of them and Kraus will hope he comes close to matching his D2 numbers, where he did a bit of everything for St. Rose, posting 16.3 ppg/6.9 rpg/4.4 apg. Todd Brogna will need to play bigger this year. He's a solid rim protector and rebounder. The bench is anchored by Iona transfer Alex Bates as well as a pair of returning forwards. While Stonehill isn't big across the board, they do have some size off their bench and won't get smaller when they need to go to their reserves.

Style of Play

Offensively, Stonehill is a slower paced version of modern basketball philosophy. They attack the rim and take a ton of threes, while ranking 341st in attempts from the midrange. They get a lot of their perimeter shots from drive and kick or inside out action. When they attack inside, it either comes from the drive or from cutters flashing in from the perimeter. The problem is they simply weren't very good at any of that. As a team, they shot 30.1% from three (327th nationally) and at the rim shot 51.8% (345th). Just look at their shot chart, that's a lot of blue. Kraus will need internal development as well as his transfers to add shooting pop if they want to elevate their offense.

Whether inside or outside, Stonehill struggled to make shots

Shot chart from cbbanalytics.com

On the defensive end, the Skyhawks pressure for turnovers and try to keep teams off the line. The problem is their rebounding weaknesses and proclivity for turning the ball over on offense put them into a ridiculous number of transition defense situations. Teams got out in transition on 22.3% of possessions against Stonehill, which was 358th in the country. That's not good. In addition, Stonehill is too willing to get into three-point shooting contests, ranking 359th in defensive three-point attempt rate. When you take and miss a ton of threes on offense and allow opponents to take a ton (and make a ton) on defense, it's not a good combination, which is a big part of why they had 18 double-digit margins of defeat.

2024-25 Outlook

The optimistic case for Stonehill is that last year's roster just didn't fit. They had two guards who were necessary to make the offense go but were liabilities on defense. With them gone and the potential for improved shooting on a team that prioritizes the three, maybe they turn the page back to 2023. But the problem with that is their new back court is made up of what look to be castoffs from other sub-300 teams. None of the returners were very productive and none were difference makers on what was one of the worst teams in Division 1. Frankly, this team should be little more than a speed bump when they visit Milwaukee, and a team that turns it over a lot and lets opponents get out in transition probably looks at a defense like Marquette's as their worst nightmare. Maybe they figure it out by conference play, but this team has a long way to go and shouldn't pose much of a threat to Marquette.

Marquette Connection

This game will be a reunion of sorts for Tre Norman. In 2023, he was on a loaded Worcester Academy team with Virginia forward T.J. Power, Georgetown freshman Kayvaun Mulready, and Stonehill big man Todd Brogna. Together they led the Hilltoppers to a 29-5 record, making it to the semifinals of the National Prep Championship where they lost 65-62 to Sunrise Christian. This will be the first but not the last time this season that Norman takes on one of his old prep school teammates. He'll see Mulready when Marquette faces Georgetown in conference play as well.

Power, Brogna, and Norman at their National Signing Day ceremony

Photo from Worcester Basketball Twitter | @WA_VBB