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

Considering that they were just one of a few teams that didn’t have an outgoing transfer or graduation, all eyes were on the two players who were still in the NBA Draft process. Big man Cody Riley, who averaged 10.0 ppg and 5.4 rpg last season, decided to stay but the biggest name waited until the final hours to decide.

Johnny Juzang went from little-used bench player at Kentucky to leading scorer at UCLA this past season, averaging 16.0 ppg. But the sophomore guard became a national star in the NCAA Tournament, scoring over 22 ppg and leading the 11 seed Bruins to the Final Four and nearly to the national title game.

His stock soared but there were still concerns about how Juzang would translate to the NBA level, making his draft projections outside of the first round. It was still a difficult decision but in the end, the sophomore guard elected to come back, making this Bruins squad a consensus top-10 preseason team.

Everyone else is coming back, including double-digit contributors Tyger Campbell, Jaime Jaquez, and Jules Bernard. Key reserve David Singleton is also back, along with transfer pickup center Myles Johnson, a good defender, and rebounder from Rutgers. And five-star wing Peyton Watson may be considered an afterthought at the moment but look for him to have a major impact as a freshman.

While there may be concerns that UCLA is being overvalued based on its unexpected Final Four run, there’s just way too much talent to think they’ll underachieve under head coach Mick Cronin next season. And if Juzang picks up where he left off in March, they’ll have an All-American leading them to a Pac-12 title.