NCAA Basketball: Preseason top-25 mid-major power rankings for 2021-22 season
15. Buffalo Bulls
The top teams in the MAC lost all of their star guards this offseason. Loren Jackson (Akron), Justin Turner (Bowling Green), Jason Preston (Ohio), and MAC Player of the Year Marreon Jackson (Toledo) are all gone, along with Buffalo guard Jayvon Graves, a three-year starter and quality two-way player for the program.
The good news for the Bulls is that they returned the three other main pieces for the upcoming season, led by big man Josh Mballa. The former Texas Tech forward averaged 15.3 ppg and 10.8 rpg last season and was the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. He even had a career-high 20 rebounds in a game against Akron in overtime.
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6’5 forward Jeenathan Williams returns after leading the Bulls with 17.6 ppg, including going for 20+ points in four of the last five games of the season. The former top-100 prospect has looked every bit of the potential out of high school and comes into this year as a big favorite to win MAC POY, unless his own teammate Mballa takes it from him.
Point guard Ronaldo Segu (13.3 ppg and 4.3 apg) will have the ball in his hands even more with Graves gone, joined in the backcourt by Keishawn Brewton, JUCO transfer Curtis Jones, and Fordham transfer Ty Perry, who was a solid bench scoring and provides depth for the Bulls.
The frontcourt, already in great shape with Williams and Mballa, also returns solid role players in Tra’Von Fagan, LaQuill Hardnett, and center Brock Bertram. And while he’s likely not to factor much this season, three-star freshman Kuluel Mading is a star in the making and will take a similar leap as Williams once he rises up the depth chart.