2025/2026 season NCAA draft discussion

Do college teams look to get all their guys some minutes in friendlies/exhibition matches or is it all about getting the rotation and starting line up set?

Does extra depth make a difference in the college game beyond about 8th man as teams don’t often seem to go deep into their bench even in blow out wins or losses?

The “experts” have the Gators as a top 3 side and Arizona at around 13th so certainly a big opening night match. I’m not sure Florida will be quite so strong as last season but have recruited well and key players at SF to C have returned. My fun thing to watch with Florida is will the big man Olivier Rioux get on court this season.

Arizona have highly touted recruits in Peat and Burries so they will be two guys to follow with one eye on next couple of drafts.

Purdue being ranked one with Edey does seem strange but they have two live contenders for player of the year in Smith and TKR as well as Loyer and Cuff who are top level college players.

Koa Pete came out and dominated the 1st half against the champs.

Koa Pete is such a rare player. He’s stronger, more athletic and more talented than everyone and he plays physical. He’s gonna be a problem. 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists at halftime.

Acuff has 20 points at halftime in his debut.

It wasn’t the most interesting of opening nights. New Orleans with new President of Basketball Operations/Assistant Coach Master P knocked off TCU. Bethune Cookman couldn’t hold off Auburn, and lost in OT. Most of the games, however, were duds. At one point in its game, Louisville was up 76-17 against SC State. It seems as though the more experienced European debutants started strong. FAU junior-standing 22-year old Belgian Xander Pintelon started and played 36 minutes giving 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 steals. Texas A&M’s 22-year old junior-standing Ruben Dominguez led them with 18 points in 19 minutes. Mississippi’s new senior-standing 22-year old Ilias Kamardine started and gave 13 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. Illinois’s 19-year old David Mirkovic gave them 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 assists. Washington’s Hannes Steinbach led them with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Virginia’s Thijs De Ridder had 21 points and 10 rebounds. His frontcourt mate Johann Grünloh added 12 points and 7 rebounds with 3 blocked shots. Va Tech’s Niko Avdalas didn’t shoot it well, but had 8 points and 9 assists. Louisville’s Sananda Fru had 9 points and 8 rebounds with 2 blocks. It is worth following as the year progresses how well these older guys with legitimate pro minutes fare.

Not to let the Europeans be the only olds around, Green Bay started a 29-year old Navy veteran Ramel Bethea against Kansas.

Oooh, those Duke returnees do not seem like they made a leap in the offseason. I’m sure Cam Boozer will settle in and have a nice second half to pull this one out, but that was an NIT-level first half between those two teams. Having one guy on each team who can shoot is not going to work. I expect early college games to be sloppy and disorganized, but that was a half fit for MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.

Melvin Council Jr might be this season’s AJ Storr. He doesn’t fit with a team built around Peterson. It is a Kansas team where too many of its core players need the ball and are not off-ball shooters. It is a shame. Council was really good last year, and could have been really good in a lot of places.

Damn I’m missing all the games. This is so sad. Im gonna have to quit my job. This is the best ciollege basketballs been ever. Is there some sort of streaming service for college basketball where I can replay the games hours after they are done like League Pass?

For all that has changed in college basketball, home court advantage remains.

Louisville smacked its first two opponents, so it wasn’t a “finally” situation in my eyes, but the fact that Brown and Fru came through as well as they did against Kentucky is sign that Louisville can hit a Final Four/title contending ceiling.

Illinois having two freshmen in David Mirkovic and Keaton Wagler come through right away is a huge boost for them, and Kylan Boswell has been fantastic. Can he remain a solid threat from three? Will Wagler? If so, they have a chance to compete for the top of the Big Ten.

In honour of Olivier Rioux getting onto the court to get some gametime I return to make one final post.

Alabama just has no interest in doing anything but play three-point roulette. It will get them some good wins, but they will not win six tournament games in a row thinking Taylor Bol Bowen and Aden Holloway will never go cold. It wasn’t like Purdue played well, but they got offensive rebounds and made free throws from being in the bonus for 11+ minutes in the second half. Simple game, and on the road no less.

What are some of the head to head matchups you guys are excited to see this year? The clear one everyone wanted to see before the season started was Dybansta vs Peterson since the two are in the Big 12 but for me its gotta be Caleb Wilson vs. Cam Boozer UNC/Duke clash. Caleb already called him out more or less. Its gonna be an intense game. Unfortunately that game wont be played until February 7th.

Whats everyones thought on Braydon Burries. I see hhe had a big game against Labaron Philon today. I watched some Arizona this year mostly for Koa Peat but as of late Burries has looked like the better prospect.

Trevon Brazile has been playing some great ball this year for the Razorbacks and has emerged as a deep sleeper and one of this years top Seniors. He’s 6’9 with a 7’4 wingspan and has shot the ball very well on decent volume 55% FG and 47% 3PT on 3.5 Attempts per game. It will be interesting to see if his effeciency continues through the tough SEC conference play. Anybody in the NBA ould use that kind of combination of shooting and length.

Caleb Wilson with the game winning block against Ohio St. in Atlanta. UNC was up by double digits in the 2nd until Ohio St. came back and took the lead in the last minute. UNC cut the lead to 1 with 33 seconds left on the clock then forced a turnover and Henri Vesaar took the lead on a dunk in the lane. Mobley then missed the go ahead three, Ohio St got the offensive rebound and Caleb blocked the putback attempt.

Hes just so intense and productive despite being so raw. When I watch him play theres so much he can improve and these things will make him a much better player despite already being great.

AJ Dybansta is starting to seperate himself from the pack with his last 2 games. The competition wasnt the greatest but first he had 36 points on 12 shots and then he had 35 points on 13 shots with a triple double. Hes also averaging 3 steals a game in his past 4 games. He’s my clear cut #1 prospect.

2023 Draft 31st pick James Nnaji committed to Baylor and will play the rest of the season there in 2026. He’s gonna have 4 years of eligibility. His rights are currently owned by the Knicks. Im not sure whats going on these days but I dont mind. College basketball is basically a professional league now.

On the most basic level, James Nnaji is no less qualified to play college basketball than Thijs de Ridder. Nnaji is a half-year younger. Last year, de Ridder was starting in games against Serge Ibaka, Jabari Parker, and Markus Howard. Nnaji has never really been able to find a level where he can progress as a player. He has a great physical makeup, which is why he got drafted. The act of being drafted might fit the technical definition of him being a pro due to how college basketball set its rules, though it isn’t for baseball or hockey, but is not a “pro” in terms of where he is at as a player or having gotten NBA-esque paychecks. It is similar to Thierry Darlan. He has the physical ability to become an NBA player, which is the limiting factor for most college basketball players. Nnaji being 7’0″ and having a 7’7″ wingspan means either the Knicks or some other team will have interest in him 3-4 years from now if he improves as a player. That doesn’t mean he is going to walk into Baylor and stand out in the same way it has been for Darlan at Santa Clara. Some of these guys who enter the draft young or went the G-League route and struggled are no more above college basketball from an ability stand point than an A-ball baseball player would be on a college baseball team.

Now, this is a radical shift. Eric Dixon and AJ Hoggard were suspended a game way back in the 2024-25 season for participating in the Portsmouth Invitational the previous spring. Nnaji was drafted and played in the summer league, and now that means there is no suspension for participating in non-sanctioned games. For many years, guys have made career-altering moves to enter the NBA draft when teams weren’t all that interested, only for them to find out after the fact. It doesn’t offend me as someone who likes both the college and pro games if a gut punch reality check doesn’t prevent them from playing college basketball. I do think, however, this decision kills that draft deadline where players have to choose to stay in the draft or go (back) to college. That could actually be the biggest part of this story. The NBA Draft might end up resembling the MLB draft where everyone who is age-eligible is in the draft, and simply go play college if they don’t like where they go. For the players, I think that is for the best. In this world, guys like RJ Luis, Mark Armstrong, and Judah Mintz can see whether the NBA actually want them or not, and then decide whether they think it is time for them to play pro ball or not. For NBA scouts and certainly college basketball coaches, they will find this world to be maddening.

I think you got the time wrong. It is 4:30 ET, 3:30 Kansas time.

Peterson dominant so far. Hard to win in Kansas. Jayhawks clearly trying to keep the ball out of Dybansta’s hands. BYU didnt seem ready for that. They need to find ways to get him looks off the ball maybe some curl screens or pin down screens to get his 10 foot jumper off.