NCAA Basketball: Preseason top-25 mid-major power rankings for 2021-22 season
10. Belmont Bruins
Even after replacing longtime Belmont head coach Rick Byrd, Casey Alexander has picked up right he left off, starting his own career with consecutive 26-win seasons. And considering that the team returns is entire rotation from a year ago, odds are good that another 26+ win season will be in store.
The fact that losing Adam Kunkel to Xavier didn’t affect anything for the Bruins is a testament to how good the program continues to churn out talent. Replacing his production was redshirt JUCO transfer Luke Smith and freshman JaCobi Wood, both of whom were double-digit contributors on the perimeter.
Related Story. Belmont Bruins 2021-22 season preview. light
It helps that they played alongside one of the best guards in the country in Grayson Murphy. No one in the country had an average statline of 10.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 5.8 apg, while also being a two-time Conference Defensive Player of the Year. The 6’2 guard can do it all and also had a triple-double against Morehead State last season.
Murphy is part of an elite duo with big man Nick Muszynski, who led Belmont with 15.0 ppg last season. The 6’11 big man is one of the best post scorers in all of mid-major basketball and shot nearly 60% from the field. With 6’6 wing Ben Sheppard (10.5 ppg) and 6’8 forward Caleb Hollander rounding out the starting lineup, Belmont’s rotation has next to no real weakness on its roster.
Considering that they lost to Morehead State in the OVC title game, there’s a lot of motivation for this senior-heavy roster to at least get the auto-bid to get to the NCAA Tournament. But if the non-conference goes in a positive way, an at-large bid might not be out on the question.