Kentucky is a title contender! Duke is doomed? Evaluating five

• Myron Medcalf, ESPN

  • Staff WriterNov 15, 2024, 08:00 AM ET Close Covers college basketball
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2011
  • Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato

The 2024-25 season isn’t even 2 weeks old. But in guys’s college basketball, we’re typically fast to analyze teams, players and coaches based upon restricted outcomes. It’s currently happening.North Florida looks like a scary Cinderella candidate after wins over South Carolina and Georgia Tech last week. Get your brackets ready. Cooper Flagg? He’s amazing. However a group of critics have actually currently used one rocky stretch versus him. In a loss to Baylor, John Calipari’s Arkansas team, shooting 25% from beyond the arc, looked like the Kentucky teams that faced late-game executions in Calipari’s final seasons there.And No. 1 Kansas

might not be No. 1? Why could not Alabama score for nine-plus minutes versus McNeese? Does Houston have Last Four skill after losing All-American Jamal Shead?We’re just here to add fuel to those flames. We’re going to help you decide if some of the early declarations about the top groups, coaches and players of this season are reasonable or overblown. We’re ready to join you in a season loaded with overreactions. Kentucky is a national championship contender once again

With new head coach Mark Pope, the No. 19 Wildcats balanced 101.5 points in their very first 2 games– wins over Wright State and Bucknell. However success over a pair of sub-150 groups on KenPom offered a restricted opportunity to assess this group’s ceiling. And after that, the Wildcats met No. 6 Duke at the Champions Classic in Atlanta on Tuesday. They left State Farm Arena with a thrilling 77-72 triumph after they corralled Cooper Flagg in the last belongings of the game.Editor’s Picks 2 Related Kentucky had to recover from a double-digit deficit but Pope’s group

never ever wilted under the pressure versus a top-10 challenger. A 40%clip from beyond the arc– Kentucky started 9-for-20 from the 3-point line– and the cumulative effort from Otega Oweh( 15 points)and Andrew Carr( 17 points )assisted protect among the very best wins of the season therefore far.Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION It’s early. Extremely early. Let’s begin there. However, at this point, the pool of potential

title contenders– in a men’s college basketball environment that might not feature the same dominant UConn group we have actually seen over the previous 2 seasons– is huge. On Tuesday night, Kentucky showed it belongs because mix. That grind-it-out effort over a Duke team with 3 forecasted NBA draft lottery picks was impressive because of the way the Wildcats won. It was a battle down the stretch, and they made late plays to get the victory.But there are issues. Kentucky does not yet have a player who can consistently get his own shot in clutch situations. The Wildcats will require that to make a Last Four run, it appears. Until then, they’re contending an outstanding clip from the 3-point line, and they’re revealing strong defensive abilities. It appears Pope has the pieces to compete with the Wildcats, who may put the lukewarm ending of Calipari’s reign behind them.Flagg, young stars will doom Duke’s nationwide title aspirations play 0:31 Cooper Flagg’s expensive turnovers doom Duke in loss to Kentucky Cooper Flagg devotes a pair of costly turnovers late in the 2nd half to seal a Kentucky win over Duke.The one-and-done age has actually not produced many one-and-done championship game stars. And yet three possible top-10 NBA draft picks– Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach– anchor what could be Jon Scheyer’s most successful season as Duke’s head coach.Against Kentucky on Tuesday, the freshman trio combined to score 50 points. And the Blue Devils had a healthy lead– up until constraining concerns started to impact Maluach’s efficiency. In general, the young players were fantastic, as they have actually been to begin this season. However Flagg’s late turnovers and one-track mind in the last seconds used a tip that it’s never simple to make a Final Four run– or win a big game– with a roster led by teenagers.Verdict: OVERREACTION First, everything that Flagg did Tuesday– before those late missteps– warranted all of the preseason buzz. He was a fantastic protector. He played point player on multiple possessions. He was a force in the paint and he was the most impactful player on the court. It’s unjust to take a look at his final belongings and question anything about his game, when the reason Duke even had a chance to seal a win late was because of that effort. Knueppel and Maluach had elite contributions on the huge phase, too.Not all one-and-done potential customers are developed equivalent. However Duke’s group might be special, and this trio proved as much throughout the majority of Tuesday night. The three will continue to grow. Though only Kentucky( 2012)and Duke (2015)have actually won nationwide titles with freshman leaders in the post-2006 NBA draft years (the one-and-done era ), Duke certainly appears to have young management that could help the program join that brief list.Kyle Neptune’s period remains in major jeopardy at Villanova In 2022, Jay Wright quickly retired after winning nationwide titles in 2016 and 2018. Wright left just as NIL rules and the extensive effect of the transfer portal had actually begun to alter the landscape of the sport. Neptune, who had actually been a Villanova assistant under Wright and the head coach for a year at Fordham, was worked with as his successor.Top stories of the week from Get special access to countless premium posts a

year from leading writers. – 7 unexpected trends in NHL so far”- Predicting NFL vets who could be traded”- UFC 309 specialist picks, bets: Jones-Miocic “More ESPN +content”For the many part, every famous coach’s successor has actually struggled. UCLA had four coaches in ten years after John Wooden retired. Matt Doherty comprehended the North Carolina culture as a former player,

but he could not sustain the track record developed by Dean Smith. And Kevin Ollie won a nationwide title at UConn after Jim Calhoun retired, however his tenure ended after back-to-back sub -.500 seasons. Neptune is 2-2 in his third season, after losses
to Columbia and Saint Joseph’s, a set of sub-100 groups on KenPom. It feels as if he needs his very first NCAA competition appearance to conserve his job.Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION Wright, who won 520 games with the Wildcats, established a strong standard any successor would have struggled to extend. It’s why numerous training prospects choose versus following a legend. Neptune accepted the job as college basketball was being reshaped in genuine time. That has actually been a barrier for most coaches, including the veterans. However Neptune did not have a lot of experience as a head coach– which did not help his cause.After the Wildcats’ loss to Columbia– their 2nd successive loss to an Ivy League opponent– Neptune said,”It is what it is. “A remark that did not sit well with some fans, who are looking for a sign of hope

for their team’s season.The 39-year-old head coach is now 37-34 in his tenure, without a postseason appearance. And the record is not the only concern. Traditions do not matter as much in this NIL and portal period; a declared program can lose every essential player from one season to the next and end up being an afterthought. The reality of the sport will only boost the pressures on Neptune, who plainly needs a turn-around to feel excellent about his task security.Kansas’rotation is overcrowded play 2:09 Hunter Dickinson drops 28 as Kansas tops Michigan State Hunter Dickinson does it all for the Jayhawks with 28 points and 12 boards in a win over the Spartans.After Kevin McCullar Jr. sustained a foot injury in the second half of last season,

he barely could experiment the group. An annoyed coach Costs Self acknowledged that 2023-24 team just did not have the depth to compete without the all-Big 12 selection. He vowed to avoid the very same situation in the future.So he brought in Zeke Mayo(South Dakota State), AJ Storr(Wisconsin), Rylan Griffen(Alabama)and David Coit (Northern Illinois) to improve a Kansas rotation that assisted protect a top-10 win over North Carolina in Lawrence recently and defeat Michigan State in the Champions Classic.The latter game likewise

included some sloppy moments, though, as players continue to learn their functions for the No. 1-ranked Jayhawks. Self lastly has the depth he has longed for however does he have space for all of the new talent?Verdict: OVERREACTION This group already has an All-American center in Hunter Dickinson and a set of veterans(Dajuan Harris Jr., KJ Adams Jr. ). On Tuesday, Self confessed his team would require more time to construct chemistry to respond in key moments.But there is space for every single player, too, even if that doesn’t suggest constantly playing a substantial function as the season progresses. Storr, Coit and five-star prospect Flory Bidunga give Kansas a rotation that will not experience a major drop-off when Self turns to his bench, and there are numerous scorers who can assist the Jayhawks weather the storm in hard times.Mayo did whatever for South Dakota State last season. Things are various for him in Lawrence. Griffen, Self stated, has to get more comfy in the offense, and Storr needs to also adapt by playing an effective game instead of hurrying some shots the way he has through 3 games. This is not a rotation concern, however. The Jayhawks

just require more time together to solidify a lineup that could be nation’s best.It’s prematurely to judge John Calipari’s start at Arkansas play 1:55 Troy Trojans vs. Arkansas Razorbacks: Video Game Highlights Troy Trojans vs. Arkansas Razorbacks: Video Game Emphasizes Throughout his initial news conference in the spring, Calipari said he had no team, as every player on the roster had gone into the transfer portal. He developed a team from scratch with five-star potential customers and key transfers, such as previous top prospect D.J. Wagner and former Florida Atlantic star Johnell Davis.What was expected to be a solid lineup has also handled a multitude of injuries, however. Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo has played minimal minutes while recovering from an offseason injury while forward Trevon Brazile played only 9 minutes in the group’s win over Troy earlier today. Calipari has actually stated they have actually had to practice with only five players sometimes. The injury bug has actually already been a significant story for the Razorbacks in Calipari’s very first

season. Need to we be worried?Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION Arkansas

has linked on only 30.8 %of its 3-point efforts, and ended the week ranked in the 60s

on KenPom in adjusted offending performance. Last season, Calipari had the leading 3-point shooting group in the nation– and still lost in the preliminary of the NCAA competition. The Razorbacks, who are a top-10 protective group, have not remained in sync thus far. That’s OK. They can improve, especially once they’re healthy.But college basketball is likewise a long, five-month affair, and Arkansas has just nine standout players when fully healthy. Those injuries are an ominous indication for a currently shorthanded team. Calipari has skill in Fayetteville– he simply may not have enough to get this group to the goal. Which is why the early reviews of this group appear reasonable. Arkansas may not have the depth to reach its ceiling over the next 30-plus games.