NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 8 teams in the 2021 ESPN Events Invitational
1. Kansas Jayhawks
Bill Self is already earning that lifetime contract after the offseason for the ages. Self-convinced some NBA hopeful players to return to school and reeled in two of the most sought-after transfers out on the market. The Jayhawks don’t have just nonconference tournament aspirations, their sights will be set on making a run deep into the NCAA tournament.
The Jayhawks return all of their top guys from a team that really started peaking towards the end of last season. Ochai Agbaji will be leading the way coming off a season where he averaged 14.1 points per game along with 3.7 rebounds. Agbaji will be one of the early favorites for the Big 12 player of the year.
David McCormack and Jalen Wilson will make up the frontcourt, two energy-filled players that don’t mind doing the dirty work. The two combined for 14 rebounds last season and surely are one of the five best frontcourts in the country. The rich also get richer. Stud point guard Remy Martin comes over from Arizona State.
Preseason PAC 12 favorite from a year ago, averaged over 19 points a game for an underachieving Sun Devils team. Martin’s probably won’t reach the 19 points a game plateau but with all the talent around him, his efficiency will be through the roof.
With Martin coming over, Joesph Yesufu probably gets moved to the 6th man spot which fits his game better anyways. Yesufu will provide scoring off the bench and defensive energy to help take the pressure off of the starters.
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Calling my shot here, I would be very surprised if Kansas doesn’t take home the crown. Granted this is an early-season tournament and teams won’t exactly be in full form but still. The talent gap between Kansas and everyone else is pretty wide.