NCAA Basketball: 8 programs with rough starts to 2023 offseason

5. Saint Louis Billikens

This past season was a perfect situation for Saint Louis to compete in the Atlantic 10. But things ultimately didn’t work out when it came to reaching the ultimate goal, the NCAA Tournament. And a number of seniors are now gone. That includes the program’s all-time leading passer Yuri Collins, along with multiple other key pieces.

Scoring guard Javonte Perkins, big man Francis Okoro, and forwards, Jake Forrester and Javon Pickett have departed. Making matters worse, Phil Forte, one of the rising assistant coaches, left for a job back home at North Texas.

If there’s good news, Gibson Jimerson, who led the team in scoring at 14.0 ppg, is back for another year. And the Billikens have also added CJ Noland, a transfer from Oklahoma that averaged 3.6 ppg and 1.3 rpg in 13 mpg the past two years. He adds backcourt depth but even in what could be a down A-10, that’s not going to be enough.

Saint Louis offers more for transfers than most of the A-10 but teams like Rhode Island, Loyola-Chicago, and others are doing much better so far this offseason. Considering that head coach Travis Ford needed a vote of confidence after the end of the season, this hasn’t been the most inspiring start this offseason.