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NCAA Basketball: Updated early top-25 rankings for 2021-22 after NBA Draft deadline

By Tristan Freeman

Mar 20, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Ochai Agbaji (30) dunks the ball against the Eastern Washington Eagles during the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Ochai Agbaji (30) dunks the ball against the Eastern Washington Eagles during the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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Purdue Boilermakers guard Jaden Ivey NCAA Basketball NBA Draft Big 10 Men S Basketball Purdue Vs Ohio State Buckeyes
Purdue Boilermakers guard Jaden Ivey NCAA Basketball NBA Draft Big 10 Men S Basketball Purdue Vs Ohio State Buckeyes /

. . . Boilermakers . 8. team. 492

Along with the Stanford Cardinal, the Boilermakers are the only teams to not add a single transfer this offseason. And they didn’t need to, as they retained every single player in their rotation from this past season with the exception of now-St. John’s forward Aaron Wheeler.

Purdue also had no NBA Draft drama to deal with, as star forward and leading scorer/rebounder Trevion Williams (15.5 ppg and 9.1 rpg) never even went through the process. Neither did freshman guard Jaden Ivey, the team’s second-leading scorer (11.1 ppg) and near-consensus projected breakout star for next season. He’s currently viewed as a future lottery pick in the 2022 draft.

Starting guards Sasha Stefanovic, Brandon Newman, and Eric Hunter will be back as well, along with 7’3 center Zach Edey. He would start on most teams but isn’t a great fit with Williams on the court. Instead, he and incoming top-60 frontcourt recruits Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufmann-Penn establish Purdue as one of the teams with the most depth inside in the country.

As long as Ivey proves prognosticators correct with a starting performance, Purdue will be one of, if not the team to beat in the Big Ten next season. But they crept up on opponents last year. This time around, they’ll have a target on their backs.

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