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NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 2019 Diamond Head Classic squads

By Andrew Dieckhoff

HOUSTON, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 10: Dejon Jarreau #13 of the Houston Cougars talks with head coach Kelvin Sampson of the Houston Cougars in the final seconds of the game at Fertitta Center on February 10, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 10: Dejon Jarreau #13 of the Houston Cougars talks with head coach Kelvin Sampson of the Houston Cougars in the final seconds of the game at Fertitta Center on February 10, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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SAN DIEGO, CA – DECEMBER 20: Head coach Whitford of the Ball State Cardinals directs. (Photo by Kent C. Horner/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA – DECEMBER 20: Head coach Whitford of the Ball State Cardinals directs. (Photo by Kent C. Horner/Getty Images) /

8. Portland Pilots

The Pilots are coming off a trainwreck of a season in which they won only seven games overall and exactly zero in the WCC. Losing leading scorer Marcus Shaver, as well as Josh McSwiggan and Franklin Porter, certainly doesn’t help. That said, Terry Porter does bring back a solid point guard in JoJo Walker to go along with a stable of young bigs, including defensive stalwart Theo Akwuba, who averaged 1.5 blocks in just 17 minutes per game last year.

Perhaps the biggest reason for Portland to be hopeful is that they’re bringing in a couple of grad transfer wings in Isaiah White and Lavar Harewood. The former led Maine in scoring last season, while Harewood shot nearly 40% from downtown for South Carolina State. They will try to replace some of the production lost from the players who transferred out.

There is a narrow path to success for Portland this season and it centers on continued development from their big men on the offensive end. Players like Tahirou Diabate, Jacob Tryon, and Hugh Hogland will need to step up to take some of the scoring pressure off of the backcourt. If they can’t, it will be another long season in the Chiles Center.

7. Ball State Cardinals

The Cardinals had a pretty mediocre season in 2018-19, finishing 16-17 overall with a lowly 6-12 mark in the MAC. Gone from that team is leading scorer Tayler Persons, who leaves behind a pretty big hole. However, seniors Tahjai Teague and KJ Walton could thrive with even larger roles. Teague, in particular, continued his upward trajectory during his third year in Muncie. He didn’t collect any hardware, but he was a solid contributor on both ends of the floor.

Ball State will need Teague to continue to play big, as their starting center from last season also graduated. There’s not much bulk on the roster outside of seldom-used Blake Huggins, though freshman Ben Hendriks does bring some height to the frontcourt. As for guards, redshirt freshman Jarron Coleman II and junior Ishmael El-Amin seems like a good bet to see a lot of minutes alongside Walton. El-Amin missed two months last season with a wrist injury but returned for the end of the year.

There’s not a lot of new blood coming into the squad, so head coach James Whitford is going to have to rely pretty heavily on internal development. In reality, another season hovering around .500 seems pretty plausible.

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