NCAA Basketball: 10 biggest winners and losers from 2021 NBA Draft decisions

2. Winner – St. John’s Red Storm

The Red Storm has completely revamped its roster this offseason, adding six transfers to replace the six that entered the portal. But none of that truly matters unless its star player Julian Champagnie decided to come back. The 6’8 wing is coming off a breakout campaign, leading the team with 19.8 ppg and 7.4 rpg this past season, scoring in double figures in every single game.

He was one of the truly 50-50 decisions and the announcement of his return automatically vaults St. John’s into the top-tier of the Big East and expectations of making the NCAA Tournament. Had Champagnie not came back, this team would’ve been a bunch of transfers with no leader and likely ending up near the bottom of the league.

2. Loser – Pittsburgh Panthers

The Panthers already were going through roster departures in March, losing both Xavier Johnson and Au’Diese Toney to the transfer portal. But the most important thing was the fate of Justin Champagnie, the All-ACC forward who led the team with 18.0 ppg and 11.1 rpg, including back-to-back games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. For a program that recently went winless in ACC a couple of years ago, Champagnie was viewed as the key for the Panthers to get back to national relevance.

And that’s why his decision to stay in the NBA Draft, compared to his twin brother Julian staying at St. John’s hurts. Pittsburgh had effectively no real way to replace his massive production and is projected to finish once again at the bottom of the ACC. Had he stayed, they would’ve had genuine hopes of making the NCAA Tournament. Now, it’s a fight with Boston College and Wake Forest to avoid the basement of the league.