68 reasons to be excited for the 2017-18 college basketball season

GLENDALE, AZ - APRIL 03: The North Carolina Tar Heels hold the championship trophy after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four National Championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium on April 3, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. The Tar Heels defeated the Bulldogs 71-65. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

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CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 27: Mohamed Bamba goes up for a dunk during the 2017 McDonald’s All American games POWERADE Jam Fest on March 27, 2017 at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images) /

7. NBA Draft prospects are everywhere

As per usual, college basketball houses many of the top prospects for the upcoming draft. With top-25 recruits Marvin Bagley and Jontay Porter both reclassifying as potentially one-and-done players after this season, this 2018 NBA Draft class is becoming special. In addition to those two, it is important to note Jontay’s brother, Michael Porter Jr., who is one of the projected top-3 prospects in the draft, as well as every teammate on Bagley’s Duke team.

This season also sends top recruits across the country to make splashes, including Brandon McCoy at UNLV (more on him later), DeAndre Ayton at Arizona, and Mo Bamba at Texas. Even though Mitchell Robinson is spending the year training instead of playing college ball and top prospect Luka Doncic is dominating overseas, this is still a special group of freshmen in college hoops this season.

Of course, it is also impossible to talk about great freshmen without bringing up Kentucky and its ridiculous class, which once again touts several top-100 players (eight to be exact if you include Hamidou Diallo). The top freshmen are well-scattered across the country but it is not just freshmen. If you tune in to just one Michigan State game, sophomore sensation Miles Bridges will remind you that not just freshmen can be NBA prospects.

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