NCAA Basketball: Michigan, Gonzaga among top 2021 offseason winners
7. Kentucky Wildcats
The Cats are coming off their worst season in decades, and they lost several talented freshmen from a year. However, John Calipari has done a splendid job of reloading the roster with several top-notch transfers, starting with Kellan Grady and Oscar Tshiebwe. Grady is an excellent shooter who can score on all three levels, while Tshiebwe is a dominant defensive force, although he is very limited offensively.
Calipari also brought in Georgia transfer Sahvir Wheeler, and Iowa transfer CJ Frederick, both of whom should also make a huge impact. In addition, Davion Mintz has returned after going through the NBA process and the Wildcats have a nice incoming freshman class even though it is small — all three players are top-50 prospects. Six-foot-3 point guard TyTy Washington leads the class and is joined by 6-9 forward Damion Collins as well as 6’7 forward Bryce Hopkins.
6. Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue, ranked ninth in the WTE poll, really only lost one rotational player — Aaron Clark — this offseason and the Boilermakers got a huge coup with the return of 2020-21 All-Big Ten selection Trevion Williams, who had been testing the NBA waters. Coach Matt Painter also has two four-star forwards as part of this year’s recruiting class in Trey Kaufman and Caleb Furst.
5. North Carolina Tar Heels
Hubert Davis will have his hands full trying to fill Roy Williams’s shoes but he was an excellent choice to replace the Hall of Famer. Davis will also need to replace potential first-round draft pick Day’Ron Sharpe and Garrison Brooks (transfer), who produced his best season as a Tar Heel this past season, along with former 5-star recruit Walker Kessler (transfer).
But Davis got good news early when Armando Bacot, as expected, decided to return for his junior campaign and he also brought in fifth-year senior Brady Manek, from Oklahoma, along with former Marquette big man Dawson Garcia while also “poaching” Justin McKoy from arch-rivals Virginia. The Tar Heels recruiting class includes four-star recruits Dontrez Styles and D’Marco Dunn.