I ran through what was happening wit all of our BSC basketball programs. Once, before all of the portal acivity and an update now that the majority of portal activity is over. There will still be some players added to teams, but each teams core is almost set in stone. A couple of teams have new coaches and that makes things a bit harder to predict. (UI, MSU)
BSC 2023/24 Basketball Outlook
Keep in mind that this doesn’t include all transfers or summer recruiting. Things will change.
School - Trending
About
EWU - Same, update; Down a bit
What they lose. SF/SG Alegri. Update; Venters transferred out
A starter and big contributor for the Eagles. Not easily replaced, but they do have 4 starters coming back. I expect they will be just as strong.
Update: With Venters leaving and the replacements not quite up to his level, EWU will be down a bit this year. Probably still top 4, but down.
MSU - Same, update; Down significantly
What they lose. C Belo, SF Fuller. Update; Coach left & mass transfers out.
Substantial losses, but returning starters are strong and experienced. They were one of the deeper teams and I expect they will be good again.
Update; Mass transfers only leaving 4 returning players, none of whom played much, It’s a total rebuild in Bozeman. Not looking good for transfers coming in. They will drop out of the top 4.
WSU - Trending Up; update; Looking good
What they lose. SG Porter, SG Ballard. Update; Lost 2 bench players to portal
Losses were two bench players. All five starters will be back and three commitments seem to be upgrades in talent. Should be improved next year.
Update; Incoming transfers and other recruits seem to have addressed weaknesses. Should be much improved.
UM - Same (if Moody is back – Trending Up) Update; slightly down
What they lose. SG Moody??, PF Anderson. Update; top big man went pro
Moody was their top scorer and Anderson’s role as the first post off the bench and defensive enforcer, make for substantial losses. The Griz have some promising recruits to fill in, but they are mostly unknowns at this point. I expect that they will be very similar to this year’s team.
Update; UM could be a bit down or about the same depending on the strength of the incoming freshman class.
ISU - Trending Down, update, Still down.
What they lose. SG McKenzie, SF/SG Smellie, SF Chang, PF Rodriguez, SF Nagle, C Lee.
Wow, that’s a lot. They do return some nice pieces, but this looks like a big rebuild. I can’t see them getting any better or even staying the same. Head first into the portal, I guess.
Update; In transfers do not seem to be up to the out transfers.
UNCo - Trending Down, Update; still Down
What they lose. PG Johnson, SG Kountz. Update; Kneckt out transfer
The Bears lose two of the better guards in the BSC, but return two of the better wings, along with some young post players who got substantial experience this year. No replacements for those guards yet, so the outlook is not good at this point.
Update; With Kneckt leaving it just adds to the uncertainty
UCSac - Trending Down; update; Still Down
What they lose. SG Chappell, SF Wilbon, SF Marks, C McRae.
They lose 80% of their starters and close to 90% of their scoring. Their first year coach brought in a bunch of transfers and made them competitive this year. Not sure he can match the high level transfers once again. I see them dropping off a bit.
Update; With 9 new players coming in and none quite at the level of what left, Sac will be down a bit. As usual, their recruits come in with some hype, but that does not win you games.
PSU - Same
What they lose. PG Parker, SG Starks. Update; a good in transfer.
Parker was the leading scorer in the BSC. He made them go. PSU will, more than likely, be heavily involved in the transfer market once again, as always, but stay about the same, as always.
Update; Doesn’t matter who they bring in. They will stay the same.
UI - Trending Down, Update; New staff & solid recruiting UP
What they lose. CG R Smith, CG Moffitt, SF T Smith. Update; Top player, Jones transferred out.
They return Jones, one of the better post players in the league, but lose their guard line. They have very little in the pipeline and will likely dive into the portal. Their coach has one foot on a banana peal and the other one wearing a roller skate. They won’t get out of the cellar.
Update; With a new coaching staff solid blue collar recruits coming in, they should move up a bit this year.
NAU - Same, Update; Slightly down
What they lose. SG Fuller, SF Mains. Update; top player, Cone, transferred out.
They lose those two starters, but return the best tiny guard in the league(Cone), a solid post man(Towt), and some serviceable role players. I feel that they under achieved this year. I don’t see them getting any better next year.
Update; Cone leaving does hurt, but incoming and returning players keep them about the same to down a bit.
2023/24 Top 4
WSU, UM, EWU, (NAU or UI)
Bottom 4
PSU, UNCo, Sac, (MSU or ISU)
If forced to pick an order of finish…
EWU
WSU
UM
NAU
UI
ISU
MSU
PSU
Sac
UNCo