Just over a week removed from the conclusion of one of the wildest NCAA Tournaments ever, college basketball heavyweights are working to show that this year’s collection of teams at the Final Four — outside of UConn — was in fact an aberration. And the programs making the biggest headlines aren’t doing it by snatching talent from the transfer portal, where more than 20% of Division I players currently reside, but by keeping the players they have.
Duke’s case is as strong as anybody’s for a preseason No. 1 ranking heading into 2023-24, and it will be hard to top where the Blue Devils stand at the moment. ACC Freshman of the Year Kyle Filipowski made the unique choice of coming back to school — despite being a potential top-20 NBA Draft pick — joining guard Tyrese Proctor and forward Mark Mitchell in deciding to return to Durham.
On top of that, the Blue Devils will usher in four 5-star recruits, and that’s without counting Mackenzie Mgbako (No. 7 overall recruit for 2023 per 247 Sports) who reopened his recruitment following Filipowski’s decision to return. Averaging 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game this past season on 44% shooting, the 7-foot Filipowski stole the show in Durham and became one of the best bigs in college basketball.
The next big storyline for Duke will be what Jeremy Roach decides to do. Following a junior year that saw the 21-year-old average 13.6 points and 3.1 assists per game on 43% shooting, the Blue Devils point guard declared for the draft while maintaining his college eligibility.
My take on this decision: Roach is a really good college player and his value may never be as great as it would be if he returned to Duke for his senior season. There are NIL opportunities for him in Durham that could very well stretch beyond what he would be doing at the pro level, and Roach could cement his name in the history books by leading the program to the national championship. If Roach does return, Duke will be a clear preseason No. 1 entering next season.
Regardless, in a world where blue bloods are criticized for winning recruiting wars but not having the experienced horses to get the job done in March, that will not be the case for Scheyer entering his second season at Duke. He will have the best of both worlds, and if Proctor carries the late-season momentum he had into next season at the backcourt, the Blue Devils could end up being an outstanding unit.
But Duke isn’t the only big brand program getting big news of returns. Tom Izzo and his Michigan State Spartans are a lock for a preseason top-10 slot and should be considered a national title contender entering 2023-24. Why? Because the Spartans have gotten old, and the Hall of Famer will keep his entire starting backcourt intact heading into next season.
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The biggest news came from Tyson Walker, who announced Monday that he would return for a fifth season. Walker, a transfer who came to East Lansing after two years at Northeastern, went from a guard with questions to becoming one of the nation’s best backcourt players.
His return gives Izzo a closer and a star, as Walker tallied 15 points and three assists per game while shooting 46% from the floor, which included a pair of 30-point efforts in Big Ten play and a total of seven games at 20 or more. He’ll join senior A.J. Hoggard and junior Jaden Akins on the perimeter. Hoggard is the lead distributor, having posted six assists per game this past season while also having the knack for big scoring performances, while Akins came into his own down the stretch with six double-figure outputs in the final seven games.
The momentum rolled on for the Spartans on Tuesday when 6-foot-8 small forward Malik Hall announced he would be returning for a fifth season in East Lansing. Hall’s versatility and length make him a difficult matchup for opposing teams, and the biggest piece of the puzzle for him is staying healthy. A foot injury limited him this past season (8.9 PPG, 44%, 4.3 RPG), but games like his 20-point performance against Kentucky at the Champions Classic last November showed how much he can do when he’s at 100 percent and in rhythm.
While the loss of sharpshooter Joey Hauser is a key one for Michigan State to deal with, Izzo brings in one of his best recruiting classes ever, ranking No. 3 in the country according to 247 Sports. Five-star prospect Xavier Booker, ranked No. 8 among all incoming freshmen, should serve as a significant addition to a frontcourt in need of a jolt. Plus, there’s point guard Jeremy Fears to add another option to an already loaded backcourt, along with a pair of four-star recruits in power forward Coen Carr and wing Gehrig Normand.
Everything is looking up for the Spartans entering next season, and it’s almost like the dramatic loss to Kansas State in the NCAA Tournament is a perfect thing for this team to use as fuel to break through and reach the Final Four for the first time in five years. At the age of 68, Izzo will have his best shot at winning a second national championship and breaking the Big Ten’s title curse, a stretch that dates back to his championship in 2000.
And as an added treat for college basketball fans: Duke and Michigan State will meet in the Champions Classic on Nov. 14 in Chicago, with Kentucky–Kansas being the other showdown.
Five other storylines to monitor …
1. Where is Hunter Dickinson heading? Sources tell FOX Sports that the Michigan transfer and Virginia native will visit both Maryland and Georgetown this weekend. The 7-foot-1 former All-American is arguably the biggest name ever to enter the portal, having averaged more than 18 points and nine rebounds per game in each of the last two seasons en route to All-Big Ten honors. Will the DeMatha Catholic product elect to head back to his home area? At the end of the day, NIL will play a major role, and if there is a larger offer from someone else, nothing should be ruled out. Dickinson would make the Terrapins a lock in the preseason top 20, if not the top 15. If he ends up as a Hoya, he would be the key piece for Ed Cooley to build his team around in Year 1 at Georgetown. This is a fluid situation, and a fascinating recruitment to monitor.
2. Mike Woodson and Indiana reeled in a big name on Monday with former 5-star recruit Kel’el Ware, who transfers into the Hoosiers after an underwhelming season at Oregon. The 18-year-old 7-footer averaged 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game under Dana Altman this past season, averaging 16 minutes per game in 35 contests. A take: Before we start proclaiming that Ware is the heir to the throne of Trayce Jackson-Davis, let’s wait and see if Woodson and staff can get Ware to play to his potential. He carries more questions than answers entering next season.
3. Where is Adama Sanogo going to end up? The decision of UConn’s rising sophomore Donovan Clingan to return to Storrs signals the fact that the 7-foot-2 Bristol product is taking on the starting center slot heading into next season. But Final Four Most Outstanding Player Sanogo has yet to publicize his next move. Will Sanogo, who’s not projected to be a high draft pick, elect to go pro? Will he enter the transfer portal and move on to a new college destination? It would be hard to fathom him leaving after winning a national championship, but in the world of NIL, everything is on the table.
4. The Muss Bus keeps on rolling. Eric Musselman has become one of the most consistent roster builders in college basketball, and he’s reeled in Houston transfer Tramon Mark, Washington transfer Keyon Menifield and Temple transfer Khalif Battle.
The big questions to monitor for the Hogs in the coming days and weeks: What’s the status of Jordan Walsh and Devo Davis? If both of those players come back, Arkansas will have the pieces to go on a fourth straight run to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament if not further.
5. Three other names to watch in the portal: Oral Roberts transfer Max Abmas, Creighton transfer Ryan Nembhard and Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram …
A big decision is coming on Friday from one of the top names in the portal: Washington State transfer TJ Bamba, who is going through the NBA Draft process but will decide between Villanova and Georgia Tech if he is to remain in college next season.
The 6-foot-5 guard from the Bronx, NY, took a sizable leap in production this past season, averaging 15.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game on 43% shooting. Most notably, Bamba had a 36-point performance on 13-of-20 from the floor in a win over Washington on March 2.
What would it mean for each program to land Bamba?
For Villanova, Bamba would be the perfect addition alongside Justin Moore on the perimeter and it would signal needed momentum for Kyle Neptune and his staff heading into a critical second season on the Main Line. The expectation levels at Villanova have changed, and the Wildcats are going to need to find a way to the NCAA Tournament in a challenging Big East. Bamba would increase their chances as the Cats still lost some major pieces from this past year.
For Georgia Tech, it would be a splash for first-year head coach Damon Stoudamire, who takes over a Yellow Jackets program that went 15-18 this past year and has gone to just one NCAA Tournament since 2010. Stoudamire, 49, takes over after two years as an assistant with the Boston Celtics. He had been in the college game in the 10 years previous to that, serving as the head coach at Pacific from 2016-21. Getting Bamba would be big in the rebuild efforts.
Stoudamire made headlines on Wednesday, completing the hire of associate head coach Karl Hobbs, who comes from Rutgers, where he served in the same role for the last six years under Steve Pikiell.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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