Honorable Mentions
HM: UNC Tar Heels
To their credit, the Heels have landed four transfers so far this offseason. The last two were most notable in Notre Dame sharpshooter Cormac Ryan and Stanford wing Harrison Ingram to pair with Armando Bacot and RJ Davis. But it’s hard to see how two starters from pretty bad teams will be better than what UNC had last season. Just not convinced they’re a top-25 team unless one more move is made.
HM: Boise State Broncos
The top three scorers are back for the 24-win team, including Tyson Degenhart and Max Rice. Landing freshman guard Roddie Anderson from UC-San Diego gives them a real replacement for Marcus Shaver in the backcourt. They were actually inside my top-25 last time but other teams, including one from the Mountain West, have pulled past them.
HM: Ohio State Buckeyes
The Buckeyes’ main offseason movement was on the wing, as Minnesota wing Jamison Battle will be replacing Tanner Holden. That’s a massive roster move to help offset the loss of leading scorer, Brice Sensabaugh. The hopes for Ohio State will likely come down to the preseason top-15 recruiting class and how much Bruce Thornton breaks out as a sophomore but the team should be much improved from last season.
HM: USC Trojans
The Trojans have back leading scorer Boogie Ellis but have lost a few key pieces in the rotation. Tre White is gone, along with Reese Dixon-Waters. No 1 overall freshman Isaiah Collier is joining the backcourt and they’re the rumored favorite for four-star guard Bronny James so USC may find a way to climb up into the top-25.
HM: Providence Friars
First-year HC Kim English was able to keep the two best players for the Friars (Devin Carter and Bryce Hopkins) while bringing in three players from George Mason, including leading scorer Josh Oduro. Providence also got a re-commitment from top-50 guard Garwey Dual but the lack of a proven ball-handler to run the offense, now that Jared Bynum is off to Stanford, is what keeps me from having them in the top-25.