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NCAA Basketball: Villanova, Gonzaga headline early 2020-21 rankings

By Lukas Harkins

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 07: Collin Gillespie #2 of the Villanova Wildcats looks on during a college basketball game against the Georgetown Hoyas at the Capital One Arena on March 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 07: Collin Gillespie #2 of the Villanova Wildcats looks on during a college basketball game against the Georgetown Hoyas at the Capital One Arena on March 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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SUNRISE, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 21: Nembhard of the Gators in action. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 21: Nembhard of the Gators in action. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

25. player. 526. . . . Florida Gators

Florida definitely disappointed during this past season after entering as a preseason Top 10 team in the country. Even though the Gators were still likely to reach the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled, they never lived up to the hype of being a national title contender. This could partially be attributed to the roster’s youth, but that shouldn’t be an issue during this coming campaign.

Florida is likely to return the vast majority of its key contributors for 2020-21 and could be poised for a breakthrough.

Kerry Blackshear Jr. will no longer be manning the frontcourt as an elite graduate transfer, but the rest of the core appears ready to stay intact. Andrew Nembhard, Noah Locke, and Keyontae Johnson are all poised to return to full-time starting spots and that sets the Gators up quite nicely with a trio of upperclassmen leading the way. Additionally, it isn’t outrageous to think that former five-star recruit Scottie Lewis could return for his sophomore season.

With regard to newcomers, Florida is bringing in a pair of four-star recruits on the wing with Samson Ruzhentsev (No. 50) and Niels Lane (No. 114). These two could crack the rotation right away but the more important newcomers might be Florida’s transfer additions.

Anthony Duruji (12.2p/6.2r for La Tech) and Tyree Appleby (17.2p/5.6a for Cleveland State) sat out last season due to transfer rules and should both play pivotal roles. Osayi Osifo is also highly-regarded as a JUCO transfer.

The Gators finished 19-12 over this past season – that’s not great, but it’s also not bad. Considering the amount of talent likely to return (and the four newcomers), they could just take the next step with more experience to emerge as a Top 25 caliber team.

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