Last year, all of Big East Basketball would’ve earned a “D” grade collectively. Just three teams made the NCAA Tournament out of 11, with none of the others even remotely in the postseason chase. There was certainly pressure on all of the teams to improve this offseason, with some hitting the mark, while others have struggled.
Which teams are in position to compete for the 2026-27 campaign? Here’s an overall review of each team’s offseason moves, giving each of them a grade.
Butler Bulldogs - Grade: D
- 2025-26 record: 16-16 (7-13)
Roster departures
- Finley Bizjack (17.1 ppg and 2.5 apg)
- Michael Ajayi (16.4 ppg and 11.1 rpg)
- Jamie Kaiser (9.5 ppg and 4.3 rpg)
- Yohan Traore (8.3 ppg and 3.0 rpg)
- Evan Haywood (7.2 ppg and 1.9 rpg)
- Azavier Robinson (6.1 ppg and 2.5 apg)
- Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor (5.0 ppg and 2.2 rpg)
- Yame Butler (4.2 ppg and 1.4 apg)
Roster returnees
- Drayton Jones (6.3 ppg and 4.6 rpg)
Roster additions
- Eduardo Klafke (4.6 ppg and 2.5 rpg at Ole Miss)
- Jordan Ellerbee (13.1 ppg and 3.4 rpg at Florida Gulf Coast)
- Christian Moore (11.2 ppg and 3.1 rpg at The Citadel)
- Treyson Anderson (10.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg at North Dakota State)
- Samis Calderon (0.4 ppg and 0.8 rpg at Kansas)
- Herly Brutus (4-star wing prospect)
- Marko Matic (international forward prospect)
New coach Ronald Nored has nearly 10 years of NBA coaching experience and is a former Butler guard. Will he be an upgrade over Chris Holtmann? It’ll be hard to do that with the current roster, considering how much they lost. Losing all-league guard Bizjack to the portal was a major blow to their hopes of staying competitive.
As for the portal moves, all of their double-digit scorers come from the mid-major ranks. It’s certainly possible that guys like Moore, Ellerbe, or Anderson could thrive at the Big East level. But it’s hard to envision a scenario where the Bulldogs aren’t out of the basement in the conference.
Add us as a preferred source on Google