-Originally published 11/28/20-
This season is going to be wild with cancellations and players pulled last minute due to covid concerns. Fingers crossed everyone can stay healthy and we make it to the NCAA tournament. Regardless of how their teams turn of this season, here are some of the players to put your peepers on whether you’re picking between games to watch on a Saturday or flipping the television on a random Tuesday evening.
Luka Garza – C, Iowa
Garza was the nation’s 5th leading scorer at 23.9 ppg last season and he skipped the NBA draft to come back for his senior season. He led the Hawkeyes in rebounds (9.8 rpg) and blocks (1.8 bpg). He shot 54.2% from the field and 35.8% from three. He’ll have competition every night in the loaded Big 10 meaning he’ll always have to play his best. Iowa’s ceiling depends entirely on how high Garza can carry them.
Aye Dosunmu G/Kofi Cockburn C – Illinois
Cockburn racked up a dozen double-doubles and shot oer 50% from the field (13.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg) and Dosunmu passed on the NBA (16 ppg 3.3 apg) to return to make Illinois one of the best teams in the country. Its taken time, but these two have spearheaded a turnaround in Champaign and will be exciting to watch on both ends of the floor.
Marcus Zegarowski – G, Creighton
The brother of Michael Carter-Williams, Marcus will soon be in the NBA as well. Averaging 16.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5 assists on 48% shooting and 42% 3p% as a sophomore he led the Blue Jays to a Top-10 ranking before the season was suspended. Creighton will again be challenging for the Big East and a top 4 seed in the NCAA tournament behind the all-around ability of Zegarowski.
Jared Butler – G, Baylor
Butler decided to pass on the NBA to return for a chance at a Big 12 title and a National Championship run. He averaged 16 points, 3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, shot 38% from three and he could be even better this season. His numbers could come down with several big recruits coming in, but he’ll be the #1 player on a loaded roster.
First-Look Freshmen
Jalen Johnson – F, Duke
John is listed as a 6’9 point guard coming out of high school. Whether he plays forward of actually runs point we’ll see, but he can shoot, handle, and attack the boards. He’ll be part of a lineup for the Blue Devils that is primality freshman but he should be the #1.
Scottie Barnes – F, Florida State
Turning down Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and others a top-10 recruit that decided to spend his one college year in his home state. A great defender and ball handler, Barnes is currently listed at 6’9 and will make the Seminoles must-watch basketball this season as they battle with traditional powers UNC, Duke, and Virginia in the ACC.
Cade Cunningham – PG, Oklahoma State
With #1 in this year’s recruiting class, Jalen Green, heading to the G-League #2 Cade Cunningham to of the freshman watch list. The 6’8 point guard and 2020 Prep Play of the Year turned down blue bloods Kentucky and North Carolina to play for coach Mike Boynton for his one year of college ball. Everything the team does will run through Cunningham and he’ll have the green light all the time. Check him out before he hits the NBA lottery.
Josh Christopher SG/Marcus Bagley SF – Arizona State
Marcus Bagley is the brother of Marvin Bagley III of the Kings. This pair of top recruits will join guards Remy Martin and Alonzo Verge Jr of the Sun Devils to form an elite quartet of scorers. Christopher is a sniper that’ll be expected to walk right in and take some of the scoring load from fellow guard Remy Martin. Bagley is 6’7 forward who can score, run the floor and play solid defense. Neither of these guys will be in the desert long, the NBA is calling.
Evan Mobley – PF, USC
One and done 6’11 Mobley will have a shot at being the #1 pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He can shoot 3’s, rebounds and plays D. An all-around player, Mobley will the face of USC this season and he’ll impact the offense and the defense just by stepping on the floor. The Trojans won’t be a great team but be sure to flip them on a couple times check this guy out.
Caleb Love PG/Day’Ron Sharpe F/Walker Kessler C – UNC
North Carolina was terrible building around freshmen Cole Anthony last season. When he went down for a couple weeks mid-season there was no backup play. How about building around 3 top-30 recruits? Maybe UNC will have more success this season, history now tells us that unless you have future NBA Hall of Fame talent (Anthony Davis) a team led by freshmen isn’t a championship contender. This trio will have a shot at the NBA with 6’3 top-10 recruit Caleb Love the most likely to have success.
Small School Studs
Jhivvan Jackson – G, UTSA
Jackson was the nation’s 2nd leading scorer at 26.8 ppg last season. He shot 35.4% from 3 last season on almost 11 attempts per game. He added 5.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game as well. Texas San Antonio isn’t expected to be very good this season but they’ll rely on Jackson who was 5th in minutes play in the conference last season to keep them in the hunt for a conference title. He should land on his 3rd All Conference USA first team and keep the Roadrunners an entertaining watch.
Makur Maker – C, Howard
Cousin of Thon Maker, currently with the Pistons, Maker is the first 5 star to commit to a HBCU and hopes to pave the way for others. He won’t get much TV time, but he’ll be the best player every time he steps on the court for a HU team that only won 4 games last season. A 6’11 flagpole that shot over 70% of his twos last season, if he can shoot 3’s and turn into a shot blocker like his cousin he’ll be in good shape.
Antonie Davis – G, Detroit Mercy
Antonie Davis (not to be confused with Anthony Davis) was the nation’s 4th leading scorer at 24.3 ppg last season. A dip from the 26.1 ppg his freshmen year. He also saw his FG% dip from 40 to 38% and 3p% dip from a whopping 38% to 32.4 last season. He made 4.4 of 11.6 threes as a freshmen and attempted a full three less at 3.4 makes per 10.4 attempts as a sophomore. He’s still an elite shooter that can rebound this season. He chipped in 4.5 assists, 1.7 steals and has a career 3.1 rebound-per-game average. This 6’1 guard does it all for a Detroit Mercy team that only has 19 wins in his two seasons and he almost never comes off the floor logging over 36 minutes per game in his career. He’ll be in the NBA soon.
