Now that we know the all the players who are and aren't leaving college early for the NBA Draft, the time has come to reevaluate our super early 2016-17 top 25 from the moments immediately following Villanova's national championship victory over North Carolina. There are a couple of newcomers and a whole lot of shaking up, but the three names at the top remain the same.
Duke still tops college basketball’s top 25 after NBA Draft declarations
A great deal has changed in the last month, but not our choice for the No. 1 team heading into the 2016-17 college hoops season.
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2015-16 Record: 25-11
2015-16 Finish: Sweet Sixteen
After a season partially plagued by injuries, inconsistency and a short bench, Duke will be back in 2016-17 with a team much more reminiscent of its most recent national championship squad. Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum, two of the top three players in the class of 2016 according to any network which ranks that sort of thing, should be able to do more than enough to fill the hole left by Brandon Ingram’s departure. Coach K’s class of 2016 got even more lethal last month when top-rated big man Marques Bolden picked the Devils over Kentucky.
While the youth is demanding much of the attention in Durham, it's what Duke is bringing back that gives it the potential to be one of the better college basketball teams in recent memory. Third-team All-American Grayson Allen is back, as are fellow double-digit scorers Luke Kennard and Matt Jones. Senior Amile Jefferson, who missed last season after nine games because of a foot injury, has both the experience and talent to push the incoming McDonald's All-Americans to be their best.
2015-16 Record: 27-9
2015-16 Finish: Second Round
For the first time in the John Calipari era, a Kentucky team that made the NCAA Tournament fell short of making it to at least a regional final. With another top-rated recruiting class on its way to Lexington, that's unlikely to happen again in 2016-17. Jamal Murray and Tyler Ulis bouncing for the draft was expected, and while plenty of people expected Marcus Lee to leave, his decision to transfer elsewhere for his senior season was perplexing. Even so, Isaiah Briscoe and Derek Willis are headed back to Lexington, giving Coach Cal the mix of youth and experience that he enjoys.
2015-16 Record: 35-5
2015-16 Finish: National Champion
Replacing the two winningest players in school history, Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu, won't be easy, but the reigning national champs still return three starters and might have a better chance of repeating than any team we've seen in the last decade. Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart should both be stars, and Jay Wright is adding some much-needed talent in the middle with five-star center Omari Spellman.
Also, let’s just watch this again because why not?
Bang.
2015-16 Record: 33-5
2015-16 Finish: Elite Eight
Double-figure scorers Frank Mason III and Devonte' Graham will be back, as will veteran forward Landen Lucas. Bill Self is also bringing in a pair of five-star freshmen in soon-to-be college superstar Josh Jackson and 7-footer Udoka Azubuike. Don't be surprised if Jackson winds up being a first-team All-American who proves to be the piece needed to get the Jayhawks over the hump and back to the Final Four.
2015-16 Record: 33-7
2015-16 Finish: National Runner-Up
Brice Johnson, Marcus Paige and Joel James are moving on, but the reigning national runners-up will still be returning experience at virtually every position. They're also bringing in a freshman class that includes top-50 prospects Tony Bradley, Seventh Woods and Brandon Robinson.
6. Oregon Ducks
2015-16 Record: 31-7
2015-16 Finish: Elite Eight
Forget the tournament struggles of the Pac-12 and the Ducks' one-sided loss to Oklahoma in the Elite Eight, Oregon is returning just about every key piece from a No. 1 seed thanks to the recent announcements of Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey. They also could finally going to get a healthy Dylan Ennis, the Villanova transfer who is seeking a sixth year after playing just two games in 2015-16 before a foot injury ended his season. Dana Altman's team will have a great shot at running the Pac-12 and being the West Coast's dominant team for a second straight year.
2015-16 Record: 28-6
2015-16 Finish: Second Round
Their 2015-16 season came to a disappointing end with a late collapse against Wisconsin in the second round, but that doesn’t change the fact that Xavier is losing just one starter from a team that earned a No. 2 seed in the Big Dance. Trevon Bluiett should get some preseason All-American love, and will be one of the favorites (if not the favorite) to win Big East Player of the Year.
2015-16 Record: 29-8
2015-16 Finish: Elite Eight
Finding offense will be the biggest issue for a team losing Anthony Gill and ACC Player of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, but there's enough coming back to give the Cavaliers a solid chance to exorcise the demons they created with their second-half collapse against Syracuse. Veteran point guard London Perrantes will likely step into a larger scoring role, and the addition of Memphis transfer Austin Nichols will be huge for Tony Bennett's frontcourt.
2015-16 Record: 29-6
2015-16 Finish: First Round
Associated Press Player of the Year Denzel Valentine is gone, as is sharp-shooter Bryn Forbes and "glue guy" Matt Costello. Eron Harris, Gavin Schilling, Matt McQuaid and Tum Tum Nairn will all be back, though, and they'll join forces with one of the most talented recruiting classes Tom Izzo has ever brought to East Lansing.
2015-16 Record: 22-13
2015-16 Finish: Sweet Sixteen
The Badgers lose nobody from the team that completely turned its season around in mid-January and was a composed final 30 seconds away from playing for a third straight trip to the Final Four. Wisconsin also gets a full offseason with Greg Gard running the show, which -- if his first run in the big chair is any indication -- is going to be a good thing for everybody involved.
Photo by Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
2015-16 Record: 23-8
2015-16 Finish: Self-Imposed Postseason Ban
Louisville loses its two leading scorers in graduate transfers Damion Lee and Trey Lewis, and was dealt a huge blow when big man Chinanu Onuaku opted to keep his name in the NBA Draft on deadline day. Still, U of L returns a loaded sophomore class and also brings in McDonald's All-American V.J. King as well as graduate transfer Tony Hicks from Pennsylvania. Unless the NCAA hits the program with some harsh penalties (assuming its investigation comes to a close before the start of next season), the Cardinals figure to be right back in the national conversation a year after self-imposing a postseason ban.
12. Arizona Wildcats
2015-16 Record: 25-9
2015-16 Finish: First Round
An extremely accomplished group of seniors saw their careers end with Arizona’s first-round loss to Wichita State, but there still figures to be more than enough talent in Tucson for Sean Miller to limit his team’s (relative) time out of the national spotlight to just one season. Allonzo Trier is returning for his sophomore season, and he’ll unite with three incoming five-star freshmen to give Miller a great chance at capturing that elusive first trip to the Final Four.
13. Indiana Hoosiers
2015-16 Record: 27-8
2015-16 Finish: Sweet Sixteen
How much the departure of Troy Williams hurts is up for debate, but there’s less confusion about how big the returns of James Blackmon Jr., Thomas Bryant and OG Anunoby are for Indiana’s hopes to repeat as Big Ten champions. If everyone comes back, the reigning Big Ten regular season champs could very easily start next season somewhere in the top 10.
14. Gonzaga Bulldogs
2015-16 Record: 28-8
2015-16 Finish: Sweet 16
Despite losing Domantas Sabonis, Kyle Wiltjer, Eric McClellan and Kyle Dranginis, the Zags might actually be a more complete team in 2016-17 than they were a year ago. Przemek Karnowski is coming back to man the middle, and Josh Perkins returns after a solid freshman season running the point. Perkins will pair up with two stellar transfers in Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington) and Johnathan Williams III (Missouri). Never doubt Mark Few. This past March taught us that lesson for about the 75th time.
2015-16 Record: 26-9
2015-16 Finish: First Round
Big man A.J. Hammons is gone, but Purdue has still been one of the biggest winners of the offseason thus far after getting both Caleb Swanigan and Vince Edwards back for another year. Matt Painter also added Michigan transfer/2013 national championship game legend Spike Albrecht for good measure.
2015-16 Record: 25-11
2015-16 Finish: Second Round
Connecticut was something of an underachiever in 2015-16, but they'll have an opportunity to rectify that this season even with the somewhat surprising departure of Daniel Hamilton. Amida Brimah and Rodney Purvis are both back, though, and Jalen Adams will also step into a much larger role as a sophomore. Then there's also that top-five recruiting class that Kevin Ollie is bringing to Storrs.
17. West Virginia Mountaineers
2015-16 Record: 26-9
2015-16 Finish: First Round
The surprising loss to Stephen F. Austin makes it easy to forget what a stellar season West Virginia had in 2015-16. Bob Huggins will return a lot of scoring from that group, but the contributions of departed senior Jaysean Paige and star forward Devin Williams will be very difficult to replace.
18. UCLA Bruins
2015-16 Record: 15-17
2015-16 Finish: No Postseason
UCLA is this year’s California, in that they haven’t done anything to earn the trust we’re giving them here, but when you see everything they have coming in, it almost feels wrong to not have them even higher. If the team meshes and Lonzo Ball is as good as advertised, they could be as good as just about anybody in the country. If one or both of those things doesn’t happen, Steve Alford could have another disaster on his hands.
2015-16 Record: 27-9
2015-16 Finish: Sweet Sixteen
The Terps lose four starters, but the one they’re bringing back just happens to be Melo Trimble. There won’t be any national championship predictions for Maryland this offseason, and maybe that’s a good thing.
2015-16 Record: 20-14
2015-16 Finish: NIT Second Round
FSU is another dangerous pick because on paper it looks so good, but the exact same thing could have been said about the Seminole team that ended last season with a loss to Valpo in the NIT. Malik Beasley is gone, but Dwayne Bacon (who surprised many by quickly announcing he would return for his sophomore season) and Xavier Rathan-Mayes might make up the most talented backcourt in the ACC. Throw five-star freshman Jonathan Isaac into the mix, and there's no reason why this team shouldn't be one of the 25 best in the country in 2016-17.
21. Syracuse Orange
2015-16 Record: 23-14
2015-16 Finish: Final Four
Forget the talk about whether or not they even deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament, Syracuse was always on the path of taking a step up in 2016-17. There’s no guarantee that they’ll make it back to the season’s final weekend, but even without Malachi Richardson, Jim Boeheim has a team that is unlikely to be sweating it out on Selection Sunday again.
22. Saint Mary’s Gaels
2015-16 Record: 29-6
2015-16 Finish: No Postseason
One of the biggest tournament snubs in 2016, Saint Mary's doesn't lose a single player from a 2015-16 roster that tasted defeat just six times. Emmett Naar and Joe Rahon figure to make up one of the best backcourts in the country, one which should lead the Gaels back to the Big Dance for the first time since 2013.
23. Clemson Tigers
2015-16 Record: 17-14
2015-16 Finish: No Postseason
There might not be a player in the country who made a more important spring decision for the success of his team than Jaron Blossomgame. The brilliantly named forward returning for his senior season immediately moves Clemson from a likely ACC also-ran to a team that should finish in the top half of the conference.
24. Oklahoma Sooners
2015-16 Record: 29-8
2015-16 Finish: Final Four
The Sooners are in a position eerily similar to the one we saw Wisconsin in exactly 12 months ago. They're losing a National Player of the Year, as well as a strong supporting guard and the team's best frontcourt producer. It'll be on Jordan Woodard and Khadeem Lattin to keep the ball rolling in Norman.
2015-16 Record: 25-9
2015-16 Finish: First Round
Five sophomore starters led Seton Hall to its first Big East Tournament title since 1993 and made the Pirates one of the hottest teams in the country heading into the NCAA Tournament. The leader of that pack, Isaiah Whitehead, made the decision to bolt for the NBA, but there's still enough talent returning to South Orange for Kevin Willard's team to taste even more success next March.
Next Five:
26. Miami Hurricanes
29. Dayton Flyers
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