10. UCLA Bruins: The Bruins may be coming off of just an okay year, but they are ready to be a top contender after what they were able to accomplish during the off season UCLA was able to receive commits from the #2 recruit in the nation, Shabazz Muhamed coming from Bishop Gorman Highschool, and #5 recruit, Kyle Anderson of the world renowned St Anthony Friars. With these great players heading in, UCLA has the number one recruiting class of 2012. Hopefully all of this recruiting will pay off in the long run for the Bruins.
9. Florida Gators: Florida is coming off of a solid season where they were almost able to make it to the Final Four. There team did not have the best regular season last year, but that is expected to change with their star point guard, Kenny Boynton returning for another year. The big 6-9, 249 pound junior, Patric Young will be playing down low alongside Erik Murphy. Although the gators are coming off of a depressing end to the season, I believe that this will motivate them and they will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
8. Duke Blue Devils: It was a depressing ending for Coach K and his squad last season, losing to Lehigh in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. After winning gold in the Olympics Coach K is hoping that his Blue Devils can turn things around this year. Seth Curry, entering his senior year should be a big time player and lead the team. They also have Mason Plumlee returning who will be big man on campus this year, and have a large role in the offense. I believe the Blue Devils can comeback and have a solid season.
7. Syracuse Orangemen: Syracuse did not have a terrible end to the year, making the Elite Eight and losing to the Buckeyes of Ohio State. They ended up losing three of their best players in Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters and Fab Melo. The Orangemen are most definitely not empty handed. They have returners such as Brandon Triche, Michael Carter-Williams, Rakeem Chistmas, C.J Fair and James Southerland. The recruiting staff for Syracuse also did a solid job by receiving commits from #14 recruit DaJuan Coleman and Jerami Grant. Even though they lost some star power, the Orangemen are one of the top teams heading into the regular season.
6. Ohio State Buckeyes: Due to the NBA Draft, the Ohio State Buckeyes lost their franchise player in Jared Sullinger. Even though he was the best player on the team, I have a feeling the Buckeyes will still be pretty sucesfull this season. They still have Deshaun Thomas who can score at will and rebound the basketball. He probably played better than Sullinger during the NCAA Tournament. They also have star point guard, Aaron Craft returning who is a pure shooter and can dish the rock when he pleases. The Buckeyes may have lost a big star, but they still have plenty of fire power left over for the 2012 season.
5. Kansas Jayhawks: Kansas as most college basketball fans know, fell to Kentucky in the finals of the NCAA Tournament. After working so hard to end up short, they lost Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor who were drafted. Over the offseason the Jayahwks did some heavy recruiting bringing in Jamri Taylor and Perry Ellis. Their main returner is the huge 7 foot tall Jeff Withey who has decided to stay for his senior year to mature into a premiere player in the NCAA. They are a bit short on a big time offense, but the Kansas basketball program is to good just to roll over and call it quits.
4. Michigan Wolverines: As of now Zach Lisman is rejoicing because his wolverines are back in action. They may have been beaten in the first round of the Big Dance last year but, they have Trey Burke who is supposed to be the best point guard in the nation. He is only a sophomore so he has a lot of room to grow as a player. The Wolverines were able to receive a commit from Mitch McGary who is 6-10 and Michigan hopes he can make an impact to their team. The Wolverines are back and so is Zach.
3. Kentucky Wildcats: The best team in the 2011-2012 season has lost their starting five to the NBA Draft. You may say that Kentucky has no chance of having any success this season, but you would be wrong. Kentucky had the number two recruiting class with #1 recruit Nerlens Noel, who has the shot blocking ability of Anthony Davis. They also have the 7 foot Willie Cauley-Stein. He is expected to step into the offense and be a menace to defenses around the league. The Wildcats picked up a new 6-4 guard, Archie Goodwin who is supposed to fill the shoes of Marquis Teague. It will be interesting to see how these new recruits end up playing for Kentucky.
2. Louisville Cardinals: The expectations for Louisville are through the roof this year. They have some of their star players returning such as, point guard Peyton Siva, Chane Behanan and big man Gorgui Dieng. They are also excited about freshman Montrezl Harell who is supposed to step in and play the small forward position. All of these components should make Louisville an extremely elite team and instead of losing to Kentucky this year, maybe they will take them down.
1. Indiana Hoosiers: Indiana is the number one ranked team on ESPN mostly because of the return of Cody Zeller. He is projected to be one of the best if not the best player in the nation. The Hoosier do not just only have Zeller, they also have Christian Watford, Victor Alidipo and Jordan Hulls returning which will make for an offensive power house. They were one of the two teams to beat the wildcats of Kentucky last year with the last second shot by Christian Watford. This year Kentcuky may have to be the ones on the other end of that scenario.
Nerelens Noel, #1 recruit of 2012 and forward for Kentucky.
No comments:
Post a Comment