Busting Brackets
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NCAA Basketball: Loaded field for the 2018 AdvoCare Invitational

By Jason Burgess

WICHITA, KS - NOVEMBER 13: Guard Grant Riller (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
WICHITA, KS - NOVEMBER 13: Guard Grant Riller (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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SAN ANTONIO, TX – APRIL 02: Confetti falls as the Villanova Wildcats celebrate after defeating the Michigan Wolverines during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Final Four National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 2, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. Villanova defeated Michigan 79-62. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, TX – APRIL 02: Confetti falls as the Villanova Wildcats celebrate after defeating the Michigan Wolverines during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Final Four National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 2, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. Villanova defeated Michigan 79-62. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /

Alabama-Birmingham Blazers

Third-year head coach Robert Ehsan will have some work to do after last year’s team finished sixth in Conference USA with a 20-13 record returns just one of their four double-digit scorers. The good news is that Zack Bryant will be just a sophomore. The bad news is four other contributors decided to transfer.

Help is on the way for Ehsan, however. The Blazers do add three transfers. Guards Tyreek Scott-Grayson and Nolan Bertain come by way of the junior college ranks while Will Bathurst joins the Blazers as a graduate transfer from Cornell.

The Blazers’ freshmen recruiting class consists of three three-star commits. Chukwuebuka Akabueze and Tammell Pearson will add to the frontcourt depth and Tavin Lovan should contribute in the backcourt.

Villanova Wildcats

The field for the AdvoCare Invitational is rounded out with the defending national champions. Coming off of another title, the Wildcats lose four key cogs in Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Omari Spellman and Donte DiVincenzo to the NBA.

For most teams, that would be a huge blow, but Coach Jay Wright has built the Wildcats into a program that reloads rather than rebuilds. The cupboard isn’t completely bare, either, as both Eric Paschall and Phil Booth. Also returning are a couple of sophomores that played in at least 32 games in guard Collin Gillespie and forward Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree.

Next: Updated way-too-early Bracketology

Wright’s recruiting class should make an immediate impact as well. Jahvon Quinnerly is the sixth-rated point guard recruit in the country and should help fill the void of Brunson. The forward duo of Brandon Slater, Cole Swider and the recent addition of Saddiq Bey should help offset the loss of Bridges and Spellman. Wright’s biggest addition of the summer may have been when he landed a commitment from guard Joe Cremo as a transfer from Albany. Last season, he averaged a team-high 17.8 points and 3.8 assists for the Great Danes.

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