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NCAA Basketball: Duke, Gonzaga, and WVU rise in latest WTE ’23-24 power rankings

By Tristan Freeman

Mar 24, 2023; Louisville, KY, USA; Creighton Bluejays guard Ryan Nembhard (2) dribbles during the second half of the NCAA tournament round of sixteen against the Princeton Tigers at KFC YUM! Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 24, 2023; Louisville, KY, USA; Creighton Bluejays guard Ryan Nembhard (2) dribbles during the second half of the NCAA tournament round of sixteen against the Princeton Tigers at KFC YUM! Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports /
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NCAA Basketball New Mexico Lobos guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports
NCAA Basketball New Mexico Lobos guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports /

23. New Mexico Lobos

New Mexico won 20+ games for the first time in nearly 10 years and was in the NCAA Tournament until a late-season collapse. The good news is that they not only retained two crucial keys from this past season but in my opinion, got better in the past month.

The two leading scorers are back for the Lobos in Jamal Mashurn (19.1 ppg and 2.1 apg) and Jaelen House (16.9 ppg and 4.7 apg). Joining them in the backcourt is a Mountain West player, Jamarl Baker. He’s been in NCAA Basketball since 2017 and has been on three different teams for multiple years. At Fresno State, the 6’5 guard averaged a career-high 12.5 ppg on 39% shooting, including a whopping 43-point performance against Chicago State.

Losing starting forward Morris Udeze stings but the Lobos found a pair of frontcourt players to help replace him. Nelly Junior Joseph is a 6’9 forward that averaged 14.9 ppg and 9.3 rpg at Iona and was a 2-time All-MAAC performer. Mustapha Amzil is a 6’10 combo forward from Dayton, starting 19 games and averaging 9.3 ppg and 4.8 rpg, shooting 37% from three-point range.

Adding four-star guard Tru Washington to the backcourt depth will only make them deeper and not overly reliant on the star players. They already had NCAA Tournament potential this past season and with more depth inside and out, could very well be the team to beat in the Mountain West in 2024.

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