NCAA Basketball: Arizona, Indiana, and Ole Miss rise in updated 2024-25 WTE power rankings

1. Kansas Jayhawks

At the very beginning of the offseason, Kansas was a top-5 team, simply because of who they could bring back. Star wing Kevin McCullar Jr. and Nicolas Timberlake are gone but the Jayhawks are one of five programs to not lose a single player to the transfer portal.

That includes three starters, led by All-American big man Hunter Dickinson. Starting forward KJ Adams is back, as well as point guard and former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Dajuan Harris Jr. Starting freshman wing Johnny Furphy is expected to go pro but that’s okay because Kansas overloaded on talented guards/wings via the portal.

The first pickup was Zeke Mayo (18.8 ppg), a 6’3 guard from South Dakota State who was the Summit League Player of the Year. Riley Kugel is a 6’5 guard from Florida and nearly averaged double figures, while Rylan Griffen was a starter at Alabama, putting up over 11 ppg on nearly 40% from deep. And former Wisconsin star AJ Storr led his team with 16.8 ppg and is one of the top transfers from the portal this offseason.

Considering that Emarko Jackson, Jamari McDowell, and incoming 5-star center prospect, Flory Bidinga rounding out the rotation, it’s hard to envision a program with more talent. Maybe one will emerge in the next month after most of the transfer portal moves get made but right now, the Jayhawks are the clear team to beat in NCAA Basketball for 2024-25.