NCAA Basketball: Duke, Gonzaga, and WVU rise in latest WTE ’23-24 power rankings
1. Purdue Boilermakers
The longer we get away from the memories of the NCAA Tournament, the better Purdue’s roster looks for next season. Of course, that depends on what Zach Edey, the reigning National Player of the Year, does. The star big man led the team with 22.3 ppg and 12.9 rpg and dominated everyone not named Fairleigh Dickinson last season.
If he comes back from the NBA Draft process, I don’t see why the Boilermakers don’t repeat last year’s success when it comes to being ranked No. 1 overall in the AP polls for some time. And that’s assuming that the young guards, Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, have breakout campaigns.
Almost everyone else is back for the Big Ten program too. Forwards Caleb Furst, Mason Gillis, and Trey Kaufman-Penn are back in the frontcourt, while Lance Jones adds to the guard depth. The transfer from Southern Illinois averaged 13.8 ppg and 2.4 apg and gives them needed experience in the backcourt, whether as a starter or a key bench role.
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It’s hard to view Purdue as a national title contender but for a team that returns 90+% of its offensive production after dominating the Big Ten with two freshmen guards, not having them in the top-3 feels wrong. That being said, Edey’s departure would plummet them down and potentially out of the rankings.