NCAA Basketball: 25 biggest offseason winners heading into 2021-22 season

Before this past week, I had no intention of putting Memphis in the top-25. Their overall offseason was more of a wash, as they lost several key transfers (DJ Jeffries, Moussa Cisse, Boogie Ellis) while landing former top-50 prospect and Miami guard Earl Timberlake from the portal.

That changed, with the news of the Tigers landing Jalen Duren, a five-star recruit who was originally No. 1 overall in the 2022 class before reclassifying. He’s had as good an individual offseason as anyone, rising to the point where he was viewed as better a college prospect than Emoni Bates.

The 6’10 forward is an elite offensive player, capable of scoring inside and out, and can also play at the center position. He’s a massive offensive upgrade over Cisse and gives Memphis a go-to scorer to work with for next season. If he’s 20 ppg and 10 rpg kind of guy, this team not only becomes the team to beat in the AAC but potentially a contender to go deep in the Big Dance.

And there are rumors that Duren could be joined by Bates, which would make Memphis not only the clear-cut No. 1 offseason winner but a preseason top-5 team for next season. In a matter of a couple of weeks, the Tigers went from out of the picture to possibly the most fascinating team to watch for 2021-22.