NCAA Basketball: Top 25 frontcourts for 2020-21 season

The frontcourt trio of Cody Riley, Chris Smith, and Jalen Hill was a huge stabilizing force for the Bruins, despite the long adjustment period for Mick Cronin’s new team. After rattling off wins in 11 of their last 14 games, UCLA looks to be in a much more comfortable position heading into the 2020 season.

While the development of the backcourt is certainly cause for excitement, the return of Riley, Smith, and Hill is going to pay significant dividends towards the potential success of this year’s team.

Smith was the most versatile scoring option Cronin had at his disposal last season. Leading the team with 13.7 points per game, he was the only Bruins player to reach double-digits. Smith was a consistent perimeter threat but was still an aggressive player in all areas of the court shooting the ball. Same can be said for his defensive efforts, where Smith was effectively guarding multiple positions.

Hill and Riley were nearly identical in their scoring production, at 9.0 and 8.8 points per game respectively. Despite taking nearly 30% fewer shot attempts compared to Riley, and 50% less than Smith, Jalen Hill was the most efficient frontcourt player on last year’s roster. He’s has a more traditional offensive skillset, but he thrives in that role and was a strong defensive big. Riley on the other hand showed a slight mix of skill sets from his counterparts.

With a stronger preference for midrange opportunities, Riley stands to gain a lot this season from a budding perimeter corps of Jake Kyman and Jaime Jacquez. As both players begin to assert themselves with more experience, the middle of the floor is going to open up and provide comfortable looks for Riley to take advantage of as both a shooter and a facilitator.

Despite the overall strength of the Bruins trio, there isn’t a ton of depth behind them to rely on should the season go awry.