At the time of writing, the calendar still reads late April, meaning we’re still less than a month removed from the Connecticut Huskies winning their 5th NCAA Basketball national championship. We’re a month into an offseason that will see plenty of coaching and roster changes, but the offseason cannot change or erase what’s already happened. Memories of San Diego State, Miami, Florida Atlantic, and all of the other unforgettable seasons will remain for years to come.
However, the page always turns forward. Players graduate, depart for the NBA, or transfer, while coaches retire or leave for other jobs just the same. A successful team can look entirely different one season later and the opposite could be true for a program that’s been struggling. The offseason is all about plugging those holes and finding the right fits for the betterment of these schools and their basketball programs.
In recent years, the explosion of the Transfer Portal has made this time of year even more intriguing than ever before. There’s an absolute flurry of names in the Portal and many of the biggest ones have already landed with new schools. There’s also the influx of freshmen for next season, with some of the usual suspects nabbing the top young players in the nation. Additionally, nearly every new head coach has been named and a few teams certainly made an upgrade in that regard.
Today, we’ll be considering all of these factors and looking more closely at the top winners of this offseason. We’re looking closely at the 25 best at this point in time, knowing full well that things could still change in the weeks and months ahead. The next season does not start until November and the next six months will surely be filled with prognostications and other analyses. For now, these are the winners of the first month of the offseason; let’s get right into the list.