The oldest and the youngest groups in 2023-24

• John Gasaway, ESPN InsiderJun 14, 2023, 09:30 AM ET Close ESPN Insider college basketball contributor

• First began covering college hoops in 2004
• Has written for Basketball Prospectus and the Wall Street Journal

In 2012, Kentucky won a championship game with a roster headlined by first-year stars Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague. Three years later, Duke followed basically that same course, with Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones.The NBA eligibility rules that made those Wildcats and Blue Devils groups possible are still with us. One-and-done is still here, as demonstrated most just recently by players like Brandon Miller, Jarace Walker and Jalen Hood-Schifino. The most gifted 18-year-old players worldwide are still required to play another year somewhere other than the NBA prior to they’re qualified for the draft.So why do we hear less about one-and-done today and more about the critical importance of “experience”? Perhaps, this shift reflects the fact that current champions have altered older. Chalk this approximately two changes made by the NCAA.For beginners, the adoption of a one-time transfer guideline in 2021 changed the landscape of recruiting dramatically. Where coaches as soon as focused their efforts primarily on high school skill, the increasing significance of the transfer portal has actually persuaded some observers that we are now in”the portal era. “In addition, we still see the impact of the NCAA’s choice in October 2020 to give an additional year of eligibility in action to the

COVID-19 pandemic. Basketball players who showed up on campus in the fall of 2019, for example, are still qualified to utilize that additional season if they wish. The beginners of 2019-20 are often today’s fifth-year seniors.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Forecasting rotation ages for 2024 As a result of these changes by the NCAA, the population of Department I men’s players is both more

mobile and, in all likelihood, older

than it utilized to be. How may we see these patterns play out at the top of the league in 2024 in regards to average age weighted by playing time?To address this concern, we’ll obtain from outstanding work already done by others. Our ESPN.com coworker Jeff Borzello has helpfully ranked the top 25 guys’s college basketball teams for 2023-24. Not to be outdone,

Bart Torvik has actually bravely approximated the number of minutes each player in D-I will tape next season.Before we begin, nevertheless, 2 warnings remain in order. Initially, just because the NBA’s early-entry withdrawal due date has reoccured doesn’t indicate we understand in June what rosters will truly look like in November. Players are still on the move.Second, forecasts of minutes played are simply that: forecasts. For all we understand, a few formerly underrated first-year players will make surprisingly heavy minutes. Deal with the following discussion with all due care. The return of Eric Dixon and Justin Moore to Villanova make the Wildcats the earliest group for 2023-24. Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports Kansas might be seriously old Working from Mr. Borzello’s preseason top 25 and Mr. Torvik’s

forecasts for minutes played, we discover no less than 11 teams clocking in with an average age weighted for minutes(AAWM)of 22.0 or older.(See listed below for complete rankings.)Congratulations to Villanova, the earliest of the bunch with a predicted AAWM of 22.8. Mainstays Justin Moore and Eric Dixon logged heavy minutes back in the Jay Wright days. This season, they will be joined by veterans like Richmond transfer Tyler Burton, who celebrates his

24th birthday in February.Perhaps the real age news, however, is discovered in other places in the rankings. Kansas is No. 1 in the Borzello top 25 and likewise nets out as No. 3 for expected age. Bill Self’s group is predicted to have a 22.6 AAWM this coming season. Among Borzello’s top 25, just Villanova and Arkansas project to be older.Assume for the moment that the Jayhawks reach the 2024 NCAA competition( and yes, do ask North Carolina about 2022-23 and assumptions). Featured players Dajuan Harris Jr., Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson would all enter the round of 64 as 23-year-olds. Then again, all of the above will be simple youngsters compared to colleague Nick Timberlake. The Towson transfer will by that time be five months shy of his 26th birthday.Kentucky looks about as young as it carried out in the’old days’At the other end of the predicted age spectrum for 2024, we find two familiar names: Kentucky and Duke. The Wildcats in particular show a young appearance, with a predicted AAWM of 20.2. For comparison’s sake, the 2012 championship game UK group sported a 19.7 AAWM. While Duke in 2015 was similarly positioned demographically(20.1)

, current champs have skewed towards “typical” (UConn last season at 21.3)and even “old” (Baylor and Kansas in 2021 and 2022 were both over 22.0 ). As for heaven Devils, a forecasted 20.8 AAWM in 2024 does appear younger compared to other Borzello top-25 choices. On the other hand, Jon Scheyer’s group is likely to be measurably older than the 2021-22 Duke team(20.0)that came within 5 points of reaching the national championship game. Which causes one last pointer… Age isn’t everything The earliest group in the 2023 Sweet 16 was San Diego State( 23.0 )– a truth that did not

prevent UConn from trouncing the Aztecs in the national title game.The oldest group in recent memory was Providence in 2021-22(23.3), a reality that did not avoid the Friars from bailing out versus Kansas because year’s Sweet 16. Age is a considerable factor in college basketball because players improve year-to-year in their late teenagers and early 20s. But naturally we have actually seen this particular type of significance rendered relatively irrelevant numerous, often times. Anybody who saw Kevin Durant as an 18-year-old at Texas understands that age isn’t whatever in college hoops.Nevertheless,

it’s possible age will carry a bit more weight as the pattern toward older groups continues. If that ends up being the case, keep an eye on experienced teams like Kansas in 2023-24. Jeff Borzello’s 2023-24 top 25 groups, ranked by changed age