NCAA Basketball: 10 biggest winners and losers from 2021 NBA Draft decisions
1. Winner – UCLA Bruins
After the Final Four run as an 11 seed and near upset of Gonzaga, UCLA ever since has been talked about as a way-too-early title favorite for next season. They have no seniors and saw Johnny Juzang become a national star after averaging over 22 ppg in the NCAA Tournament run. But he had a major decision to make, as his stock was at an all-time high and five-star wing Peyton Watson was set to join, potentially taking away playing time.
In the end though, the Bruins got back its leading scorer and national star, along with starting big man Cody Riley. They bring everyone back and also have Rutgers transfer big man Myles Johnson and should be easily preseason top-10 and could be in the top-5 as well. This was one of the tougher decisions for him to make and us to guess but this is huge for UCLA and the Pac-12 overall.
1. Loser – West Virginia Mountaineers
The hierarchy for the Big 12 is getting established, with Kansas, Texas, and Baylor looking like potential top-10 teams next season. Texas Tech got good news with Shannon back, while both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State did well in the transfer portal and have reloaded.
Of all of the teams in the league, West Virginia looked as if it got worse. Big man Derek Culver went pro early on while leading scorer and All-Big 12 point guard Miles McBride just elected to stay in the draft, as a projected 2nd round pick. Those are the two leading scorers on the team, without any real replacements for what either does.
Next. WTE mid-major rankings for 2021-22 season. dark
Double-digit scoring guards Sean McNeil and Taz Sherman will be back, which gives the Mountaineers some offense to build around. But if Old Dominion transfer Malik Curry can’t be the point guard they need and forward transfers Pauly Paulicap and Dimon Carrigan aren’t capable on offense, this team will take a big step back in the conference and as an NCAA Tournament contender next season.