If we’re talking college basketball makeovers, the transfer portal is the beauty salon du jour, but coaching changes and good old-fashioned recruiting out of the high school ranks can inspire gorgeous results as well.
Three of the 12 teams cited by The Athletic’s men’s college basketball writers have new coaches, in fact, one of whom has won a national championship and one of whom has taken a mid-major program to the Final Four. Half of the list would be considered legitimate contenders, at varying levels, to cut down the nets on the final night in San Antonio. The other half ranges from hoping to earn a bid to Sweet 16 prospects.
The mid-major ranks, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC all are represented, with key enhancements including the No. 1 recruit in the country, a 7-footer from the Ivy League and two guards who went from one rival to the other.
Alabama
Alabama has brought in a killer freshman class led by Derrion Reid in addition to an awesome transfer class that plugs specific holes. Cliff Omoruyi brings the rim protection and rebounding. Aden Holloway gives the Tide another shot creator. Chris Youngblood and Houston Mallette give them shooting depth. When you already have Mark Sears, arguably the best player in college basketball, returning, you just need to make his life easier. Nate Oats did that. — Sam Vecenie
Arkansas
The Razorbacks completely fell off under Eric Musselman, but I fully expect John Calipari to turn things around quickly in Fayetteville, contend in the SEC and take Arkansas back to the NCAA Tournament in Year 1. The standard at Kentucky is almost impossible to meet, and I understand why things got stale. But the combination of a change of scenery and Calipari’s ability to attract talent — including transfers Johnell Davis and D.J. Wagner and freshmen Johnuel Fland and Karter Knox — will pay immediate dividends. — Justin Williams
Cincinnati
Cincinnati returned over 75 percent of its scoring from a year ago while adding a versatile elite athlete in Dillon Mitchell (Texas), a third-team All-MVC selection in Connor Hickman (Bradley) and a highly touted sophomore in Arrinten Page (USC). This should be one of the deepest teams in college basketball. — Tobias Bass
Duke
Betting big on freshmen in this era has not exactly paid dividends … but not all freshmen are Cooper Flagg. Flagg is legitimately the best high schooler I’ve ever seen, and Jon Scheyer’s willingness to let Jeremy Roach and multiple former five-star recruits leave this offseason — just to better maximize the fit around Flagg for the nine months he’s in Durham — speaks to his similar belief. Flagg should be that good. Duke did add some experienced, enforcer-type transfers like Mason Gillis (Purdue), Maliq Brown (Syracuse) and Sion James (Tulane) to complement the young’uns, and Tyrese Proctor has to take another leap, but I’m cautiously optimistic Scheyer’s third season will be his best. The Final Four isn’t just the goal for the Blue Devils; it’s eminently attainable. — Brendan Marks
Gonzaga
My colleagues went for the full makeover, but how about some love for the teams that decided to go out and just accentuate what they have? Gonzaga stands out here, having brought in Pepperdine transfer Michael Ajayi, a player who seriously gives them something they lacked last season on offense in that he’s an inside-out scoring threat at the three and four spots. Anton Watson was an awesome defender, but Ajayi’s overall game gives them more flexibility, positionally and on offense. The returns have also been quite good on Khalif Battle. — Vecenie
Kansas
To be clear, I do realize Louisville exists. Pat Kelsey performed a total roster teardown and put together a roster that could finish in the top half of the ACC and contend for an NCAA Tournament bid. But Bill Self took a long, hard look at a flawed roster, absolutely ravaged the transfer portal for shooting and athleticism and constructed a group that has arguably the best team in America. That’s some gangster stuff with a lot more at stake than striving for a First Four game in Dayton. — Brian Hamilton
Kentucky
Mark Pope left BYU for a huge opportunity at Kentucky, and he wasted little time in remaking a roster that looks considerably different. The Wildcats added nine players from the transfer portal, including 6-foot-6 guard Jaxson Robinson, the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year last season for Pope at BYU.
Fairleigh Dickinson’s Ansley Almonor (16.4 points per game), Wake Forest’s Andrew Carr (13.5), Drexel’s Amari Williams (12.2), Oklahoma’s Otega Oweh (11.4), Dayton’s Koby Brea (11.1), West Virginia’s Kerr Kriisa (11.0), San Diego State’s Lamont Butler (9.4) and Oklahoma State’s Brandon Garrison (7.5) round out the transfers. Pope has 3-point shooters who can keep Kentucky in games. — Jesse Temple
Michigan
I love what Dusty May did in his first offseason in Ann Arbor as he tries to restore a program that steadily eroded under Juwan Howard into something like the one John Beilein built. He grabbed half of Bruce Pearl’s point guard platoon from last season — Tre Donaldson — and the Ivy League big man who sent Auburn home early from the NCAA Tournament. Will 7-foot Yale transfer Danny Wolf work as a tandem with 7-1 Vladislav Goldin, who followed May from Florida Atlantic? Opponents with stretch fours will test that defensively, but on the other end those two skill sets should be a problem for people. May also plucked a wing with NBA ability, Roddy Gayle Jr., from Ohio State — of all places! — and a stopper from North Texas in Rubin Jones. Throw in 6-10 floor stretcher Sam Walters from Alabama and a freshman Pippen, 6-3 point guard Justin, and you have a fascinating, winning debut roster for May. — Joe Rexrode
Missouri
It’s unreal that the Tigers could fall to winless in the SEC, but they picked up some quality veterans in the backcourt with Northern Kentucky’s Marques Warrick and Iowa’s Tony Perkins. The frontcourt was fortified with forward Mark Mitchell from Duke and South Carolina’s Josh Gray. I’m not sure Missouri will make the NCAA Tournament, but it can probably compete for a winning record and the postseason because of these changes. — Scott Dochterman
Rutgers
I’m torn here. It’s nothing short of incredible that Steve Pikiell is bringing in two potential first-round NBA Draft picks. Freshmen Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper instantly make Rutgers one of the great curiosities in the country. At the same time, I’m unsure if the two young stars will actually win. Young teams, let alone teams headlined by two freshmen, don’t often find success in the rough-and-tumble Big Ten. Which brings us to the other part of Rutgers’ makeover. Much will depend on veteran transfers. Volume scorer Tyson Acuff (Eastern Michigan), shooter PJ Hayes IV (San Diego) and versatile forwards Jordan Derkack (Merrimack) and Zach Martini (Princeton) join returnees Jeremiah Williams and Jamichael Davis to give the Scarlet Knights some valuable experience. — Brendan Quinn
Texas A&M
The Aggies returned over 82 percent of their scoring despite losing Tyrece Radford. Buzz Williams added Zhuric Phelps (SMU), who has scored more than 1,100 points in his career. They also added the Big Ten’s third-leading scorer off the bench in CJ Wilcher (Nebraska) along with Pharrel Payne (Minnesota), who was one of only two Big Ten players to average 10 points and six rebounds in less than 27 minutes per game. — Bass
Xavier
I love what Sean Miller did in the portal after a down season last year. Former Indiana State guard Ryan Conwell is going to be a star for the Musketeers, and Miller has multiple guards — Conwell, Dayvion McKnight, Toledo transfer Dante Maddox Jr. — who could give him 20 any night. Based on minutes played, Xavier is the most experienced high-major team in the country, and a nice mix of veterans have been in the system (Zach Freemantle, Jerome Hunter) along with transfers who plug some holes. I’d expect Miller and the Musketeers to get back to the NCAA Tournament. — CJ Moore
(Photos of Steve Pikiell, Nate Oats: John Fisher, Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
