Announcement

**WuShock Reaper** · June 28, 2019, 12:17 PM

Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs

2019-2020 Overall Rank: #136
Conference Rank: #2 Big South

Gardner-Webb reached their first ever NCAA Tournament last season and gave Virginia a tough game in the first round. This Runnin’ Bulldogs squad loses David Efianayi and DJ Laster, but they are bringing in the top recruiting class in the Big South and that should help keep Gardner-Webb towards the top of the conference for years to come.

Projection:
Sophomore Jose Perez figures to be the new top scorer on the team. As a freshman last season he averaged 15.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. At 6-5, Perez can use his size to attack the basket or shoot over smaller defenders. Nate Johnson is a very productive shooter as well. The 6-3 junior hit 62 three-pointers at a 38.7 percent clip. Add Jaheam Cornwall to the mix and Gardner-Webb will continue to be a very good three-point shooting team even without Efianayi. Eric Jamison will be the new leader of the frontcourt after averaging 7.0 points and 4.2 rebounds. The frontcourt will get a big boost from freshman Kareem Reid. The 6-9, 205 pound Queens, New York native was a huge pick up for the Running’ Bulldogs and he has the talent to make a big impact from day one. With a handful of other talented freshmen providing depth, Gardner-Webb should compete for a Big South regular season title and make a push for their second trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT

#136 Gardner-Webb Men's Basketball 2019-2020 Preview

https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/17589

college sports madness,Men's Basketball,Big South,Gardner-Webb,Joel Welser

**WuShock Reaper** · June 28, 2019, 12:18 PM

UCF Knights

2019-2020 Overall Rank: #134
Conference Rank: #10 American

2019 marked UCF’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2005. Their first round victory over VCU is the school’s only NCAA Tournament win since joining Division I in 1984. Now, the Golden Knights may have to enter rebuilding mode with four starters gone from a year ago. Head coach Johnny Dawkins has brought in several transfers to try to avoid a full-on rebuild. Chemistry could be an issue with so many new faces, but inexperience won’t be the reason if UCF fails to reach consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

Projection:
The lone starter returning for the Golden Knights is 6-11 junior Collin Smith. Smith averaged 8.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists while starting 32 games for UCF as a sophomore. Ceasar DeJesus and Frank Bertz are the only other returning rotation players from last season, and neither scored more than four points per game. To make up for the massive loss of production, Johnny Dawkins has added six transfers to the roster this season, four of which have Division I experience. Dazon Ingram is a talented grad transfer from Alabama. Ingram flashed very good potential during his three full seasons at Alabama, but only averaged double-digit scoring once, as a freshman. Matt Milon started his career at Boston College, but spent the last two seasons at William & Mary. Milon started 58 games over the last two seasons averaging 13.0 points each season while shooting higher than 40% from three every year of his career. Yuat Alok was one of the highest rated junior college recruits in the nation in 2018 and elected to sign with TCU. Alok only played 10 games at TCU, averaging 3.3 points and 2.5 rebounds before transferring to UCF. Ibrahim Doumbia played in only 12 games as a freshman at South Carolina. Moses Bol is a relative of Manute and Bol Bol who stands 7-2 and averaged 5.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 25 junior college games. Avery Diggs is also a big man from the junior college level who averaged 10.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks last season. The Golden Knights also have two three-star recruits rounding out the roster along with redshirt freshman Dre Fuller. To say there will be a lot of new faces at UCF this season would be an understatement. About 75% of the roster is players who will be seeing their first playing time as a Golden Knight this season. Coach Dawkins led UCF to their first NCAA Tournament win ever last season, and he will have his hands full getting them back to that stage this season.

Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT

#134 UCF Men's Basketball 2019-2020 Preview

https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/17591

college sports madness,Men's Basketball,American,UCF,Jacob Young

**WuShock Reaper** · July 23, 2019, 11:11 AM

SMU Mustangs

2019-2020 Overall Rank: #106
Conference Rank: #9 American

SMU has had a rough couple of seasons following their 2017 NCAA Tournament appearance. They were well on their way again in 2018 before injuries derailed the campaign. And last season the Mustangs finished below .500 overall. With three starters gone, SMU could take another step back, but the talent is definitely here and it is about time SMU exceeds expectations instead of underperforms.

Projection:
The Mustangs are not going to have any concerns in the frontcourt. Ethan Chargois, a 6-9 junior, wasted no time making a huge impact after transferring in from Duquesne. He averaged 12.4 points and 6.2 rebounds and hit 45 three-pointers. Like Chargois, 6-8 junior Isiaha Mike can stretch the defense with his outside shooting abilities. Mike also added 5.4 rebounds and a team high 1.1 blocks. Feron Hunt is not going to take quite as many three-pointers as Chargois or Mike, but the sophomore will hoist up the occasional three-pointer. Despite the frontcourt talent in front of him, Hunt made a big splash as a freshman and averaged 7.6 points and 6.4 rebounds. With a year of experience under his belt, Hunt is in for a breakout sophomore season. Isiah Jasey is expected to be eligible in December and will add quality depth to the frontcourt. The backcourt will rely quite heavily on transfers. Emmanuel Badoumel and Tyson Jolly come from the junior college ranks and Grant Youngkin saw very limited minutes at Rice. The big name Division I transfers are Kendric Davis from TCU and Darius McNeill from California. Those two will have to receive a waiver to be eligible for the 2019-2020 campaign and it would be a huge boost to the backcourt if they are. But even without Davis and McNeill, the frontcourt can carry SMU to more success than they have seen in the last two years.

Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT

#106 SMU Men's Basketball 2019-2020 Preview

https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/17637

college sports madness,Men's Basketball,American,SMU,Joel Welser

**WuShock Reaper** · July 24, 2019, 11:08 AM

Tulsa Golden Hurricane

2019-2020 Overall Rank: #105
Conference Rank: #8 American

Tulsa has been a member of the American Athletic Conference for five seasons now, the same amount of time Frank Haith has been their head coach. The Golden Hurricane have been to the NCAA Tournament just once in that span, a surprising selection to the First Four back in 2016. Tulsa has gone three years without a postseason appearance, and the pressure is growing to get back. Tulsa has two of their top three scorers back this season, but depth will be a concern as the Golden Hurricane look to compete in the AAC.

Projection:
Tulsa returns two starters from last season, along with their third highest scorer who came off the bench. Martins Igbanu is a senior now and will be viewed at Tulsa’s best player entering this season. Igbanu has started 72 games in his career, including all 32 contests last season. Igbanu was second on the team in scoring with 12.5 points per game and led the squad with 5.7 rebounds per game. Jeriah Horne was a great sixth man for Tulsa last season, but he will need to take on a bigger role as a junior. Horne averaged 10.1 points and 4.9 rebounds while leading the team with 49 threes made on 4.1 attempts per game. Lawson Korita started 25 games last season and averaged 5.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Elijah Joiner will likely become the starting point guard this season. Joiner averaged 5.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while backing up Sterling Taplin last season. Darien Jackson and Simon Falokun will both also be asked to play bigger roles as juniors this year. Reggie Jones will be eligible this season after sitting out 2018-19 as a transfer from Western Michigan. Jones is a 6-6 guard who averaged 10.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists as a sophomore. Brandon Rachal and Emmanuel Ugboh are both junior college transfers. Rachal spent one season at LSU where he played in 27 games as a freshman. Last year, Rachal averaged 15.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals in junior college. Ugboh is a Nigerian native who spent the last two seasons in junior college. Ugboh is 6-11 and averaged 12.0 points and 9.6 rebounds last season. Tulsa also adds two freshmen in Josh Earley and Isaiah Hill. This will not be an especially deep team, but there is some talent and potential at the top of the roster that could potentially compete in the AAC. An NCAA Tournament appearance seems unlikely, but the Golden Hurricane should be focused on competing in their conference and finding their way back to a postseason invite.

Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT

#105 Tulsa Men's Basketball 2019-2020 Preview

https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/17640

college sports madness,Men's Basketball,American,Tulsa,Jacob Young

**WuShock Reaper** · July 29, 2019, 08:55 AM

100 days until the official 2019-20 Season begins against the University of Omaha Mavericks on Tuesday, November 5th.

:bball_spin:

**WuShock Reaper** · July 29, 2019, 04:46 PM

In other news, the Missouri State Bears are ranked #2 in the Missouri Valley for upcoming season and #100 overall. They're projected to be in a postseason tournament of:CBI/CIT.

#100 Missouri State Men's Basketball 2019-2020 Preview

https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/17655

college sports madness,Men's Basketball,Missouri Valley,Missouri State,Joel Welser

**WuShock Reaper** · August 9, 2019, 03:44 PM

#89 - Minnesota Golden Gophers are the "Last Team In" in the 2020 NIT.

#89 Minnesota Men's Basketball 2019-2020 Preview

https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/17690

college sports madness,Men's Basketball,Big Ten,Minnesota,Jacob Young

That means: Memphis, Cincinnati, Houston, Wichita State, South Florida, Connecticut, and Temple will be included in either the 2020 NCAA Tourney or the 2020 NIT.

**WuShock Reaper** · August 12, 2019, 09:02 PM

Northern Iowa Panthers (Cancun Challenge Potential Opponent)

2019-2020 Overall Rank: #86
Conference Rank: #1 Missouri Valley

"For the third straight season Northern Iowa has failed to finish above .500 in MVC play. Last season ended painfully after the Panthers blew an 18 point lead in the conference tournament final to Bradley. However, with six of their top seven scorers returning, UNI should be able to not only have a winning conference season, but also compete for a trip to the NCAA Tournament....

Projection:
AJ Green is coming off a great freshman campaign in which he averaged a team high 15.0 points per game. He is not shy about hoisting up shots from anywhere on the floor and it mostly worked out last year. That year of experience should lead to more consistency shooting the basketball. Trae Berhow, Isaiah Brown, Spencer Haldeman and Tywhon Pickford are all experienced upperclassmen on the perimeter. Berhow and Haldeman are prolific outside shooters, while Pickford is coming off a disappointing sophomore season. Brown is a big, versatile 6-7 guard who can attack the basket and help out in the rebounding department. While Brown is the perimeter player with size, it is Berhow who does a bulk of the work on the glass. Last season he led the team with 6.1 rebounds and his ability to rebound allows the Panthers to play a bit small. Luke McDonnell is often the only forward on the floor. The 6-9 senior is a consistent outside shooter who can stretch the defense. The return of Austin Phyfe, who missed much of last season with an injury, and the addition of freshmen Noah Carter and Cole Henry, will help bolster the frontcourt. Northern Iowa is always going to play tough defense, but they need a couple players to compliment Green in the scoring department. If they can find that, this group has the talent and experience to make a big jump up the MVC standings.

Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA 14-seed..."

**SHOCKvalue** · August 12, 2019, 09:48 PM

MVC #1 is projected as a 14 seed.

“lateral move”

#DerpDerp

**ShockerFever** · August 12, 2019, 10:28 PM

Originally posted by SHOCKvalue View Post

MVC #1 is projected as a 14 seed.

“lateral move”

#DerpDerp

I was told UNI was gonna be the next WSU.

3 straight losing seasons and then a conference championship that nets you a... 14 seed rofl

**pogo** · August 12, 2019, 10:39 PM

WSU was able to garner better seeding due to ooc scheduling. Winning the Valley gets you no respect and a 14 seed. Brutal fact of life for the valley

**DUShock** · August 13, 2019, 08:19 AM

I miss the days of “The Valley of Death” but we are in a better place. I do not miss the days of winning a conference road game and having RPI slip because of the poor quality of the conference and its members.

**Cdizzle** · August 13, 2019, 10:00 AM

Originally posted by ShockerFever View Post

I was told UNI was gonna be the next WSU.

3 straight losing seasons and then a conference championship that nets you a... 14 seed rofl

To be fair, these are projections in August which I think we all know are worthless. Doesn't mean they will actually get a 14 seed. In fact, I'd put good odds on them not.

Do they even seed the CBI?

**Fafhrd Mouser** · August 13, 2019, 10:02 AM

MVC conference games were like a minefield but you got zero credit for navigating it unscathed. But one misstep could be fatal (to an at large)

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2019-20 Top 144 Previews Men's Basketball

2019-20 Top 144 Previews Men's Basketball

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