NCAA Basketball: Preseason top-25 mid-major power rankings for 2021-22 season
4. BYU Cougars
There’s a lot of rightful talk about Oral Roberts star forward Kevin Obanor after the NCAA Tournament and how he was arguably the most efficient player in the country last season. Yet there was a player that had just as good numbers as Obanor did in Alex Barcello, who didn’t have a 25 ppg scoring teammate (Max Abmas) to work with either.
That was the case for the star of BYU, who shot over 52% from the field and nearly 50% from three-point range as the clear No. 1 offensive option for the team. The 16 ppg scoring point guard took a 5th year, instantly making the Cougars a contender for the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
There will be some debate as to whether this season’s team will be better than the last one but at least in the backcourt, BYU made an upgrade in terms of Barcello’s starting backcourt mate. Replacing Brandon Averette will be Te’Jon Lucas, an All-Horizon League guard at Milwaukee that averaged 14.9 ppg and 5.8 apg last season. He has more size and is a better distributor than Averette and gives BYU a real backup option at point when Barcello is on the bench.
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Another newcomer to the roster is Seneca Knight, who averaged 17.1 ppg at San Jose State in his last full season. He played just four games last year and went to LSU but then transferred to BYU this offseason. His 6’7 frame and perimeter skills allow Knight to play at three different positions and gives the team someone that can create their own offense without needing Barcello to initiate for them.
The frontcourt is where some questions lie. Replacing WCC Defensive Player of the Year Matt Haarms will be hard but 6’10 big Richard Harward is a capable double-digit scorer and solid interior defender, although he’ll be susceptible to the pick n roll. In that case, enters a hopefully healthy Gavin Baxter, a former top-50 prospect that has dealt with injuries in the past couple of years.
If sophomore forward and last year’s rebounding leader Caleb Lohner can take that breakout-like jump, BYU will be around the top-25 next season and a major threat to make noise in the Big Dance. And if they were in any other mid-major conference other than the WCC, the Cougars would probably be the preseason favorites to win it.