The EvanMiya College Basketball Show

Evan (00:05)
College basketball season is here. We've got games in just a few days, and we are here to get you ready for all of it. It is national preview day on the show. So without further ado, let's get to it.

Evan (00:26)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Evan Mia College Basketball Show. I am your host, Evan Mia Kawa, and the season is almost here. We are just a few days away. And in order to get you prepared for it, we are doing a national preview today of sorts. I'm really excited about this. The next time that we are podcasting, we're gonna actually have real results to talk about, which I cannot wait for. Today, Isaac Trotter from CBS is joining me here today. It's gonna be a really, really fun discussion. We're going to do final four picks.

We're gonna talk about national player of the year. We're gonna do a draft style, picking our favorite candidates to win the best player in the country this year. We're gonna talk about biggest storylines of the year, top mid-major teams, and a whole bunch more. And at the end of this show, I try and do this roughly once a month. We are going to have our first listener contest of the year. The person who wins will have get to get some free merch from the EvanMia.com merch store. I'm repping one of the Evan Mia hats here if you're watching on YouTube.

So stick around for the end to hear the instructions on how to get your submission in for the listener contest. Also, if you are an EvanMia.com user, great time of year to be signing up now as we got the season just a few days away. I have game predictions up for every single game in Division One, along with Vegas lines and odds coming out as well. So you can sort of see how my predictions compare to Vegas. So all of that stuff super, super useful to be diving in right now.

So, really appreciate the support for those of you who are subscribers there. All right, Isaac Trotter from CBS Sports is here with me.

Evan (02:08)
All right, Isaac Trotter from CBS Sports is here with me. And Isaac, I'm super glad to have you on today to kind of preview the season. I have been glued to your work this preseason. I think there's been a lot of really interesting stuff that you and the team at CBS Sports have done with your recent NIL study and talking about top players and top teams and exhibition results and all sorts of stuff. So with the season just a few days away, let me just kind of cue up first. Like how are you feeling about the season and and some sort of stuff that you're looking forward to finally seeing when we actually

Have some real games happening for us.

Isaac Trotter (02:39)
Well,

it's nice not to have to fully just talk about court injunctions and temporary restraining orders and who's eligible and who isn't eligible. Like I'm just excited for the games. I think once the games start, it is going to be really, really good because the the product on the court this year is a high level, right? Like there's been a lot of n of returners who could have gone to the NBA draft to come back to college basketball. There's some really, really good teams at the top. The talent I think in the freshman class is a little bit down, but I think a lot of those strong returners should buoy it a little bit.

and it's always just fun to kind of see like the new faces and new places and just how it all works out. So getting back to playing actual games and not talking about court cases is probably my favorite thing of of the season starting and then kicking it off in Italy. Like that's really, really cool. Villanova and Notre Dame, little Sunday morning hoops, like I'm down.

Evan (03:27)
Yeah, I'm actually really glad that you talked about the whole talent thing because this is one of my biggest storylines coming into the season. I'm kind of curious your thoughts. Like one of the things that I do obviously every season is I predict player ratings and team ratings and all this sorts of stuff. And so one of the things that I'm often monitoring is like when you look at the top 30 or top 50 players in the sport, at least according to my data driven projections model, who are the types of players who comprise the top talent in the sport? And my main takeaways this year are I I think it's arguable.

That we might have the most talent in the sport ever this year, especially in terms of players outside of the freshman class. Obviously, we had a generational freshman class last year, which we knew before the season even started that it was going to be great. This year, a little bit of a step down, but outside of that, like the the amount of returners that we have, both just from traditional means and the because of NIL an offer, but also specifically because of this unfortunate eligibility cr you know chaos that we've had this offseason, what it has led to.

Is a lot of players who are back this year who we didn't think would be back. And then along with, you know, incoming freshman talent, incoming talent from international ranks, I think this might be the, at least at the top of the sport, like the most talent we've ever had. And where that results for freshmen then is I talked about this on a previous podcast, but my top ranked freshmen, what I have like Tyron Stokes and Jordan Smith, are outside of my top 30 in the preseason. Now, if you're looking at the end of the year and we're talking about

First team, second team, all Americans. I would probably place a bet that we will have at least one freshman in that list come end of the year. But as of right now, we can't necessarily guarantee who that player will be. And so purely from this isn't as much of a slight on the top, you know, your Stokes, your Jordan Smiths, your Caleb Holtz. And there's some other guys in this freshman class I'm really excited about too. Quentin Coleman at Illinois, I think, is gonna be awesome. Dylan Mingo at Baylor playing with his brother Caden. I'm interested in guys like Miles Sadler and Jason Crow, who's a pro prolific scorer at Missouri. Like all of these guys are gonna be great.

But like h will the impact that they would have this season maybe be slightly more muted than say if we had had the same crop of freshmen maybe four to five seasons ago. What are your thoughts on that?

Isaac Trotter (05:36)
It's really interesting conversation because you could make a strong case that like life is harder now for freshmen to make college impact than basically ever before, right? You're playing against older guys, you also have to factor in the international influx of talent that's come in. You know, St. John's goes into the international waters and gets a 23 year old point guard and Quinn Ellis to be their starting point guard. That theoretically could have been a freshman, right? And in theory, if St. John's had chosen to go down that route. But it isn't. Now they're competing against that guy if you're playing against him in non conference player in.

The big East. So, like, you're right, like, it is a very, very stiff and top-heavy type of field of talent this year. At the same time, dudes will be dudes. And the dudes last year that were in the freshman class with Caleb Wilson, AJ Debanza, Cameron Boozer, Darius Acuff, Darren Peterson, Kingston Flemings, Keaton Waggler, like you go down the list, like the cream rises to the top. If there are freshmen that are good enough, they will play and they will be really, really impactful this year. But the freshmen.

that are impactful, I'm gonna be like especially early, I'm gonna be over-indexed on them right away. Because when you're young and you're playing against this amount of talent with that much like this much older guys and you're good and productive, yeah, you might be a baller.

Evan (06:48)
Yeah, I think especially if we see hot starts from any of these guys, given the amount of talent we just talked about, if they're playing against, you know, early non-con opponents that are, you know, top 50 team level opposition, I certainly think that will speak a lot in favor of those guys being really cut out for it. Whereas if you're one of these teams that has a top 20 freshmen and it's gonna take a little bit of time for them, like I also wouldn't overreact either in the sense that we have talked about it's just there might be a even bigger jump to competing against

Sometimes 23, 24 year olds that are regularly littering the top teams in the sport. You know, if you're a a 17-year-old or an 18-year-old, you know, I think that's gonna be really interesting to see. And certainly maybe some of these freshmen will look a lot better come February than they will in November. any other kind of just like big national storylines or trends that you're interested to see in the first couple weeks of the season?

Isaac Trotter (07:41)
Feel like

Early in exhibition play, just from the eye test, I feel like offenses are way ahead of the defenses right now. year after year, college basketball's offensive efficiency has spiked partially. That's like connected with shot selection. I think teams are becoming even more aware and hyper focused on the right shots versus the wrong shots. N obviously threes like the three-point rate has certainly gone up, but I think also part of that is just like extra layups as well, too, because of the threat of the three.

And so teams are being able to generate more layups. They're playing with more pace. They're shooting more threes. Like they're taking more efficient shots. So I'm just curious to see if that sticks again. Last year, like I was had a little bit of hesitancy of wondering if the offense was still gonna be so good and it leveled up. Like, do we have another gear that we can get to offensively in this sport? And if it is, like we're we're rewriting record books this year in college basketball when it comes to offensive efficiency ratings.

Evan (08:36)
Yeah, that's certainly going to be something to monitor for sure. Obviously, the way that teams play in exhibition games might be slightly different than when they're really laying down the gauntlet, but you might be right. Like just in generally speaking, you know, everything takes time to develop in the preseason. And sometimes it's if we see a trend where offenses are more ready to go and it's the defense that kind of lags behind. Would not surprise me at all. Okay,

I've got a couple fun sort of things queued up here to kind of do a

Good overview of interesting things that we're gonna see this season as we get ready for the season just a few days away. Let's start by talking about national player of the year candidates. And of course, in in the fact that of gamifying everything, we're not just gonna pick our favorites. We're actually gonna do a little draft here. And I'm actually gonna randomly generate right now who's gonna go first. Let's see durand generator.

Let's all right. Looks like you're starting first. And so here's what we're gonna do. We're each gonna pick teams of five. And the goal here is whoever of us lands the national player of the year at the end of the year wins this thing. So we're not going for what's the best overall accumulation. We're taking shots at who is gonna win the national player of the year ward at the end of the year. And we're gonna do this snake style. So you'll have the first pick, and then I'll have the next two, and we'll go back and forth until we do five.

so let's go and hear your first pick and see if it is kind of where everyone is on consensus, potentially on this early in the preseason.

Isaac Trotter (10:09)
Okay, with my first pick, I'll go with Tyler Tanner from Vanderbilt.

Evan (10:11)
Ooh,

interesting.

Isaac Trotter (10:12)
I think he is an outlier of all outliers. when you look at some of the advanced analytics of just how many dunks that he generates for guys who are six foot or shorter, it's a really short list of guys that are on Tyler Tanner's level. you're looking at like Russ Smith from Louisville back in the day, right? Like it's just like I think three j guys who are six foot or fewer at the high major level had 17 or more dunks in a season. So Tanner is an ultimate outlier. Every single time that he plays against a team.

team, the opposing defensive coordinator, the opposing coaching staff, and every player is like

my god, that guy is so good. Like he just completely destroys seams. I I think of one play specifically against like Nebraska, where he literally like depants three defenders on one play, like with three different crossover dribbles to constantly get to the rack. So I I love watching him play. I think his assist rate this year could theoretically come down just a little, but like he's gonna have a really, really heavy on on ball burden. The defense is there, his scoring package I think will improve a little bit. He's improved as a shooter every single year. I trust

Mark Buyington to really figure out an offense that works for him. You know, Vanderbilt's three-point shooting is going to be something to watch early. They've definitely gone more defense instead of offense with their with their build. They've gotten way bigger this year. But I think that will mean that they win more games. And you cannot win the National Player of the Year unless you if you don't win a lot of games. I think Vanderbilt is a top 15 team. And if Tyler Tanner is the best player on a top 15 team, he is going to be certainly in the mix for National Player of the Year.

Evan (11:41)
I the fact that we are starting a preseason national player of the year draft and Tyler Tanner is number one is awesome because we just talked about all the talent at the top of this sport. And for a guy who most people really were not familiar with him 14 months ago, is kind of insane just how good of a year he had last year. And, you know, he flirted with the NBA draft this year. Obviously, because of his size and nature, like that's gonna be a little bit of a harder translation. But as a college player, he is fantastic.

So I love seeing him in the first pick off the board. I am also a little surprised that you didn't go with Jeremy Fears, who's going to be my first pick here. I th I have Tyler Tanner for the record second in my preseason player rankings. So I think he would have been my next pick off the board. but I'm going with Fears for my first pick. And I think for me, like in just in terms of a known quantity who is going to be I you can make a similar argument for Tanner also in the sense that he's gonna be everything for this team. There is a massive, like

Clear, you are the number one, you are the alpha, you are running this offense. Both of those guys are very similar. I just think Fears has already shown last year that he was the best playmaker in the entire country, better than Braden Smith, who came in as the consensus national player of the year. And he outshone Braden Smith in the Big Ten conference, let alone nationally. And, you know, maybe Fears isn't everyone's cup of tea when it comes to some of the other court antics stuff, but as a player, he is absolutely fantastic. He is going to be the best player in.

Playmaker in the country again this year. That is my belief. He is also a very good scorer as well. and he also has a great presence for Michigan State. They are so much better when he's on the court versus off. And so I think maybe it's not the most sexy pick for number one, but I'm going with Fears as my first pick. And then my second pick here in the back-to-back, I am going to take Thomas Hauck from Florida. And I don't necessarily know if if this is like my

I'm not necessarily super excited to watch Thomas Houk, but when I'm thinking about who could be the national player of the year at the end of the year, Florida is gonna is the preseason number one team. I also have them as the most likely team to win the national championship, according to my preseason team rankings. And if they were to be in that spot, people are gonna heavily consider who is the best player on this Florida team. And there is a good chance that Houk is the the clear number one player. Now, Florida does have a lot of other really talented players. I would not be shocked if Alex Condon

at one point in the season we we're talking about as being the best player in Florida. Or maybe we're talking about Ruben Chignalu just because of his amazing defensive output. But Hawk has already proven it. He is already the just a multi-dimensional player. And in terms of taking shots at national player of the year, that's who I'm going with with my second pick.

Isaac Trotter (14:25)
Okay, that is the right order. I had fears in Hauk as well. you know, one thing I was looking at for history-wise as I set up like this pick, we have not had a guard win national player of the year since 2018. It's a lot of like six-nine pass dribble shoot wings or centers. So with that in mind, I will go with David Mirkovich from Illinois, who is a six foot-9

Evan (14:45)
Hmm. That was my next pick. Wow.

Isaac Trotter (14:49)
pass dribble shoot forward. again, the one caveat right now is the injury. He broke his foot.

Brad Underwood in July, Brad Underwood said that he has not had a re aggravation. I don't know if I fully agree with that, because he has gone from being in practice videos with that with you know normal practice videos to now being back in a boot and on a scooter. So that's a little bit of a concern. But if he gets healthy, I think he is going to be fantastic. You know, his ability on the glass, he is an awesome, awesome rebounder. You know, he impressed me a lot last year with his ability to shoot the three-ball. He made 57 threes at about a 37, 38% clip. I did not think that.

That was in the range of potential outcomes for him. And then the ball handling that he has at 6'9 is pretty incredible. Like his ability to consistently draw two defenders and create out of that is outstanding. I think he could be a guy who has a 20% or higher assist rate, 20% or higher defensive rebound rate, 10% or higher offensive rebound rate. Like he's an amazing offensive rebounder. and he could make 63s this year or whatever it is, like when he gets back, if he's if he only misses five to ten games. Like he is an outstanding, outstanding player.

I think for an offense at Illinois, that's gonna look a little different this year, but could be you know, one of the best two or three in the sport.

Evan (16:02)
All right, what's your next pick?

Isaac Trotter (16:04)
So this one you know where I'm going with this one.

I I think Tyron Stokes at Kansas, again, to go back to my six foot seven, six foot eight pass dribble shoot wings, he has a chance to be a box score stuffer this year for a Kansas team that if they get all of the eligibility cases with Melvin Council and Trey White and Trey Kaufman Wren, if they get those three guys to be able to play all year, like this is a Kansas team that could make the final four. And Tyron Stokes is gonna be the head honcho of this group. And you know, he is a little bit of a interesting case because his efficiency numbers were not great.

High school for long stretches, his shot diet was not good enough. But I think at Kansas it's gonna be a little bit more refined under Bill Self. And I just really like the skill set. Like he consistently is gonna shoot 10 plus free throws a game. That's a really high floor offensive player when you can constantly do that. and he's an amazing playmaker. Like he his feel for the game as a playmaker is absolutely outstanding. And I think that that combination of being able to get to the line a ton and being able to create and also defend and also.

rebound and also when he makes jumpers he's like completely unstoppable. That's very, very exciting to me. And I think if Trey Kaufman Ren can get eligible, that that TKR Tyron Stokes pick and roll is gonna be absolutely nasty to deal with.

Evan (17:20)
Yeah, I think that's a great point at the end of just like how has the roster evolved since Stokes committed to Kansas and will that help or hurt him? I think the TKR point is a is a very prescient one because yeah, like TKR does make the guards that he plays with better. and so I think that will be huge. I had Stokes on my board, but I knew you would get to him first. you know, we've talked about this. I know you love his game. And I think again, I I do not have Stokes ranked in my top thirty in the preseason, as I said, but if we're taking shots at

When we look up at the end of the year, who has the highest ceiling to finish number one, Stokes absolutely should be drafted here. And so I think that pick makes a lot of sense. I also liked your Merc pick. He was gonna be my next pick off the board. And actually, this will be a little Evan Mia plug here. You talked about predicting his offensive and defensive rebounding rate. I have these projections for him already this preseason at a predicted 10.2% offensive rebound rate and 20.8 on defense. So that would be both above those marks, his predicted assist rate.

Which you said could be at 20, I have it 15. So that's the one category that he could grow in. but there's been a lot of buzz about Merck being national player of the year good. And I think I'm willing I think that's a a worthy shot to take because he is a a very weird type of player archetype where he comes from Europe, he's got a really visibly a visually kind of interesting style of play and the way that he moves, but he is so freaking effective as a player.

And you can make the argument that now having been back as a returner in this Brad Underwood system, he's gonna be lights out. So I'm really excited about that part for sure.

Isaac Trotter (18:56)
Evan, let me thr run my little merc comp to you. Like he runs like he has horseshoes on. That's how like he's like a clopper. Like that's how he clops down

Evan (19:00)
Yeah.

Isaac Trotter (19:03)
the the the the court like he has horseshoes on. Anyway, we can proceed.

Evan (19:06)
I freaking love that. All right.

Okay, I've got two picks here. So you have Tanner, Murkovich, and Tyron Stokes. And my first two picks were Jeremy Fears and Thomas Houk. So now that you've made this comment on it's been a while since a guard won, I'm gonna take two guards here back to back and try and disprove this. I'm gonna take with my third pick, I'm taking Silas Demery from Yukon. And Demery, I think, has rightly gotten a lot of preseason hype this year, but I have been a Demory backer.

Going back to like middle of the season last year, I had him as one of the top ten most valuable players in the sport, even before his injury. And I think Hurley, Dan Hurley sees him that way. He's talked about it in the preseason as him being one of the more underrated players and could have been in the conversation for a first team All American last year if he hadn't gotten hurt. I really, really think he's that high level of a player. I have him top five in my preseason this year, highest of any biggies player.

And I think if UConn is as good as we think they're gonna be, there's usually some kind of standout player for them. And I think Demory is gonna be that guy. So I am taking him with my next pick. And then my fourth pick, I think this is where it got a little bit harder for me because if we're taking shots at national player of the year, I see that as a slightly different conversation than who are my preseason first team all Americans. Because I can make an argument for guys like

Alex Condon at Florida. I can make an argument for Joseph Tugler at Houston, some of these guys whose skill sets really are valuable, but have probably very little chance of winning national player of the year. And so if we're taking shots at that, I am going with Rob Wright at BYU. I think Rob Wright offensively, people love to talk about, you know, offensive impact and value for these awards. Rob Wright, I have as the third highest offensive player in the preseason behind Fears and Aiden Holloway at Alabama.

And I think this year at BYU, unlike last year, where he was playing with AJ DeBonsa and Richie Saunders, like he is going to be the dude. Everything is gonna be around Robert Wright. This is what Baylor wanted to do last year with Wright before he transferred to BYU was build a team around him. And I think he is going to be everything. He is just so gifted in so many different areas as a scorer, as a three point shooter, as a playmaker. and I think he's gonna put up insane numbers. So I'm going with Robert Wright for my

Fourth pick.

Isaac Trotter (21:29)
Yeah, I had right on my board as well. I I think there's a legitimate chance he leads the country in scoring this year. Like it's all set up for him to smash. Okay, so I have back-to-back picks here to round out my five. Again, we're in the in the theory of taking shots. I'm gonna go out with the two guys from two teams that I'm pretty high on, maybe a little higher than consensus, but we'll see. the first one is Amari Allen from Alabama. I think that Amari Allen has a chance to be a massive breakout player for for Nate Oates this year. I think we have basically a four-year sanction.

Sample size of the best player on Alabama being an all-American type of player, right? If you think of Brandon Miller, you think of Mark Sears a couple times, you obviously think of LeBair and Phylon. But Amari Allen, like, I think he could be a 20 and 10 guy this year. And then you throw in a little bit of the creation that he has on top of it. Like he is a darn good player that really impacts the game in a bunch of different ways. Can defend big wings, small guards, switch on to power forwards. Like he can literally a five, like he can guard every single position. But I think just like the ability to come back to

Alabama for a sophomore season after like the a little bit of flirtation with the NBA really shows me that he has a lot of trust from this staff to put the ball in his hands. And if you have the ball in your hands for a Nate Oates offense, like hit turbo smash. So I think he is gonna be really, really good this year. And if Alabama's a top twelve-ish team, I think Allen could have the counting stats to be in this discussion all year long.

Evan (22:51)
I think that's an interesting one because I absolutely could see like Allen really popped a lot, maybe unexpectedly so for some as a freshman last year. But you're right. Like he was surrounded by a lot of other good talent. And I think if he takes another massive leap this year, which there are a lot of freshmen who are talented kind of top fifty recruitist style guys who who then their sophomore year really, really take a massive leap. I know that was the case for a guy like Jeremy Fears, for example, or you know, even Tyler Tanner last year. I guess my concern with that would be like

W he's playing with Aiden Holloway, who will also be really prolific too. Will that hurt his chances? And then we're talking about an Alabama team that is 20th in the preseason AP poll. Now I have them higher than that, but you know, I made the case for Houk, but I made the cows for Houk, even with a bunch of other talented players because he was on the preseason number one team, right? So Alabama, I feel like if they're not top 10 good, that could be a little bit of a struggle. But I certainly like this a lot as a as a potential kind of upside play here.

Isaac Trotter (23:50)
Okay, and now we're going to another

Big strong pass dribble shoot forward from Virginia, Testa Ritter. I think if

Evan (23:56)
Mm.

Isaac Trotter (23:57)
if Virginia, again, if they're a top fifteen team or top ten team, I think Testa Ritter is going to be a huge part of that calculus. And he was fifteen points, six rebounds a game last year, shot over thirty-five percent from three on about three attempts per game. And he's gonna be one of the oldest players in college basketball this year. I don't see why he can't be like a 17 and 11 guy this year. I think his rebounding needs to absolutely tick up. I think their defensive projection will be a little bit.

bit better this year because they've added a bit more perimeter size. They're not quite as finesse as they were a season ago. And it just seems like a wheels up situation for him, right? Like him and Chance Mallory are going to be an awesome pick and pop type of partnership together. You know, I I think that like the Virginia's offense is really tailored around finding advantages and playing out of it. DeRitter's like a total bulldog who can find who you know every mismatch that he gets, like he'll he'll just barrel right through them and either get to the free throw line or get a shot at the rim. So

really talented guy and a team that I think is gonna be very, very solid this year. And if Virginia, you know, if all pops for them in their top ten team in DeRitters seventeen and eleven, again, I think he could be a first team All American and a potential national player of the year candidate.

Evan (25:05)
Great pick. I think Deritter has a really, really high floor. Like I think it's almost a lock that he will be a first team all ACC player. He's just gonna be, it's really hard to see a scenario where he's not extremely productive. maybe the opposite case could be made too, where like his ceiling is a little bit capped because of his style of game and things like that. So, you know, there's gonna be players who really just explode this year and will he be able to keep up with that? But I certainly think he's gonna be probably in the conversation if he's doing.

what he wants. So I like that pick. Okay, so your final team is Tyler Tanner, David Merkovich, Tyron Stokes, Amari Allen, and Testa Ritter. I've got one more pick here and I have Fear, Jeremy Fears, Thomas Houck, Silas Demerry, Rob Wright. I am gonna go with I feel like this is kind of similar to your last pick, and then I'm going with a guy who I think could be everything for a team that I'm also very high on. I'm gonna take Braden Huff at Gonzaga. Now I have been

A huge huff believer for years. I think even going back to his his freshman year when he was playing with other really talented players, he has just been one of the most efficient players in the country and just unstoppable on offense. And unfortunately, like last year, he could have been this level of player, but he has just had injury issues and different things going on. If he is healthy for this year at Gonzaga, with a team, you know, truly built around him to help him.

be the best and he's not sharing a front court this year with Graham EK. Like I think Huff could be outstanding. And so this is kind of my like, I've been wanting to cash bets on this guy for a while. Maybe this is the year that he's actually really in this like top five, top ten conversation. And he's just really offensive explos or explosive offensively. So if he's putting up the type of numbers I think he could put up, I think he's going to be in the national player of the year conversation.

Isaac Trotter (26:56)
It's not the exact same comp, but it reminds me similarly of like when Zach Edy was sharing that front court with Trevion Williams and then Travion Williams leaves and then it's like, Okay, we're building it everything around him. So if that happens for Huff, it's all there. And I I've called him the Isaiah Hartenstein offensively of college basketball. That little push shot that he has is basically automatic. we'll see how the front court works, right? Davis Fogle is a guy that's gonna definitely take some shots. Izan Almansa is another big

Gonzaga has, but I'm with you. Like all of those guys are good players. But Braden Huff is the best offensive player, and we have a very, very long proof of concept that the top dog in Gonzaga usually gets fed in their best spots. I think he's due for a really, really huge year. And honestly, he doesn't even need a ton of volume to get there because he's so efficient. Yes.

Evan (27:44)
Yeah, the vision is Drew Timmy, right? Like Timmy

was the focal point offensively of many great Gonzaga teams and was that level player multiple years in a row. I think this could be Brayden Huff's opportunity. Okay, so that rounds up my team. So to summarize, I have Fierce Houck, Demery, Rob Wright, and Brayden Huff. And you, Isaac, have Tyler Tanner, Merkovich, Stokes, Amari Allen, and Tester Ritter. I will definitely be putting this up on social media and have people vote on this.

Ultimately the winner will be decided is the national player of the year on whose team at the end of the season, or is there a chance that it's not on this list at all, which would be really interesting as well? But that will hopefully give some people a kind of overview of who the best players in the sport are. Any other players that you think are worthy of a mention quickly here that could reasonably be, you know, in this top ten conversation.

Isaac Trotter (28:35)
Think Mo Crevas at Arizona is a guy that, like with a bigger offensive role to go along with his special, special defense could theoretically be in play there. you know, I think another name that I thought of is Alex Condon from Florida. I think he's awesome. I think he's really, really good and has a chance to be maybe the focal point, honestly, of this Florida offense for long stretches. And I think if he could find a way to to shoot the basketball again at a higher level, that would help. I I think we'd probably be foolish not to mention Duke here. I just don't know who it is. it's just a such a a

balanced group and and team. To to be honest, I think Pat Gongbo would probably be my pick as of right now. I think he is going to be their highest usage player to go along with his special defense, to go along with his great playmaking. we've seen again Duke be able to build offenses around really strong interior players. If if John Shire looks at Gongbo and goes, he's the guy that we can consistently create advantages with the most and they want to play through him the most and Duke is, you know, 30 and two this year, right? Gongbo's going to be in that mix.

Evan (29:33)
Yeah, I, you know, I'm I'm on the same page with Gung, but I love his game maybe more than anybody. people have pointed out to me that I have him as a top three in the country in preseason BPR. That's just the level of impact that I think he's gonna have for this Duke team. But it could be John Blackwell. You know, if you want to throw a dart at the board, it could be Boomchay Boomchay if he really hits like the the eventual potential that he has. There's so many talented pieces on that roster. No slide against Duke that we didn't pick any of them. There's just so many potential options there. I considered

Aiden Holloway, I consider Price Sanford as other outstanding offensive players. Condon, I think, would have been the next player off my board. I think if you replayed some of the last couple seasons and just shuffled the order of Florida's games, there's a chance that if Condon had ended the season like as the some of the dominant stretches that he had, that he would be viewed as Florida's best player this year because he absolutely has shown that in stretches in his Florida career. so also we didn't mention JT Toppin. Now Toppin.

Skill-wise is good enough to be in this conversation, but if he's not playing till January, I don't think there's any shot he's gonna be national player of the year, but he's certainly that level of talent, obviously if fully healthy, but there's a lot of question marks there.

Isaac Trotter (30:44)
I mean, we're probably talking about him back in January on a minutes restriction. Like he might not be playing full real minutes till like mid-February. Like 'cause he I remember he got hurt at the end of February of twenty twenty six. So like l let's just calm the breaks on JT Top I think we can ha all we all know the deal with JT. Like we all love him as a player, but the situation here feels a little bit steep for him to be a national

player of the year.

Evan (31:07)
All right, let's go ahead and move now on to our picks for the final four this year. And just to kind of make this more interesting, so that we don't just pick our best four teams, I wanted to kind of put some constraints on this. So as you're picking your final four, the rules are you can only have two preseason top five AP pole teams, and one of your final four teams must be outside of the preseason AP top ten.

So why don't we go ahead and start with yours, Isaac? Go ahead and give us an overview of your top four teams and kind of why you are picking these four as your preseason potential final four group here.

Isaac Trotter (31:42)
Yeah, so I have Duke and Florida power rated at a different level. I think there's they are the clear top shelf in college basketball this year. So those are the two that I have in. partially for here's just the pitch on them. I think Florida has a chance to be the number one offense and the number one defense in college basketball this year. Very few teams have that in their range of potential outcomes. And I and I think it's in play for Florida. Obviously, their elite two-point dominance is is the first way that you start there. If they literally just like don't go a month without making

Making a jump shot, like they're gonna be really, really good this year. And I am bullish that like Boogie Plan will take another step forward as a shooter. Denzel Aberdeen is a very competent three point shooter, even though he didn't show it early in exhibition play. And then Urban Klavzar, again, another really, really good shooter that they can bring off the bench. And if one of their young guys pops, like an Alex Lloyd or something like that, I think that's where the the case for Florida gets pretty clear. Duke, same type of deal. I think the talent is outstanding. I think their starting five is one of my favorite units in the country.

Like Caden Boozer, awesome playmaker. Dame Sarr, big wing who can really, really guard. John Blackwell, pound for pound, the best shooting guard in the sport. Joaquin Boomchay Boomchay, like total net shredder at seven foot one from three. But Gongba, I think he might be the best center in the sport this year. Like that's their starting five. They have the and then that like that's a that's a really good one. okay, so those are the those are the

Evan (33:05)
Let me let me go

ahead and pause you here because I'll just go ahead and say like those are also my top two teams. So let's just have the

Isaac Trotter (33:10)
Beautiful.

Evan (33:10)
conversation, then we'll move on to the other teams here. I'm absolutely on the same page. I do think these teams are a tier above everyone else. If you want to throw Illinois in that category of saying they're closer to Florida than Duke, then they are to four and five, I would certainly take that. But I think Florida and Duke to me are just if if I had to put the odds on either one of them winning a national championship this year, I wouldn't take them over the field. But you can make an argument that it's like

It's kind of close. Like both of them are really, really good. I just think there's no way to look past Florida with this front court returning of a team that was a one C a top four team last year. And these guys were on the team that won a national title in Condon, How can Chinulu. Boogie Fland, I think, you know, he ended the year poorly because of a bad mistake that he made against Iowa. But he is better than his reputation. And I think he's gonna be like peop people are gonna get five games in the year and be like, well, Fland is awesome. Having Aberdeen is back is great.

Clavshar is a really reliable offensive weapon from deep. So, you know, I just there's not really any holes with this Florida team. And then with Duke, like their whole roster is so overwhelming. I think, you know, Patrick and Gongba and Caden Boozer are no longer playing under Cam Boozer's shadow in the sense that they're gonna take more of the limelight as the good players that they are. John Blackwell, as you talked about, just a proven, proven score, and it's just such a key piece for them.

The upside with Boomchay Boomchay is enormous. He also could struggle. Like there's a really wide range of outcomes with him, no question. And that's part of why I don't have him ranked as highly, just because of some of that uncertainty. But he absolutely could pop. And I think there's an argument that coming into the year, Duke has the best 10-man rotation, maybe I've ever seen. Like the the level of stackedness that they have from one to 10. Like when they kept adding these pieces over the offseason, it's like, how on earth is there room for all of these guys?

We haven't even mentioned Daron Rippey and Cam Williams and Bryson Howard, some of these other talented freshmen, because of all this other talent that they have on board and Drew Sharnowski coming from Belmont. There's just so many good pieces on this team. It is it's I think it's gonna be interesting to see how much as we get towards the periods of games when teams have to rotate out their best players, that Duke just kind of really runs up the score on some of those groups. So that to me is gonna be really interesting to watch.

Isaac Trotter (35:25)
They're so unpredictable too, which I love. Like I thought last year was very much of like all right, stop Cameron Boozer. Good lu like that's what you have to do. Like it was like that was the game plan.

Evan (35:33)
It was simple and no one could do it, but

at least it was simple.

Isaac Trotter (35:36)
Yeah, at

least at least you had an idea in theory of like like how you're supposed to beat Duke. This year though, this team, I just feel like they can just kill you from a bunch of different areas. And I think like structured randomness is something you kinda hear about with like offenses. I think Duke could be very structured randomness this year with just how how many different guys can can kind of go get fifteen and beat you that way. And that's that's that introducing all of that variance from like up and down the roster, I think does increase their floor and does increase their ceiling in a major way.

And I'm glad you brought up Drew Sharnowski as well. That guy would start for like 60 high major teams in college basketball this year, and he is going to be their third big who backs up the four and the five. He St. Louis would have been an amazing team with Drew Sharnowski. They thought they had him, and he gets poached by Duke at the last second. That's that's Duke for you.

Evan (36:22)
All right. So now that we've gotten those two obvious ones out of the way, the other three teams that are in the top five in the preseason AP poll, which we're not picking because we're limiting ourselves here, are Illinois, Arizona, and UConn. So those teams are off the board. Who are your other two final four teams?

Isaac Trotter (36:39)
I think I might be an A C C boy this year 'cause my two others are both in the A C C.

Evan (36:44)
my

goodness.

Isaac Trotter (36:45)
Yes. So like my first one that's just at barely in the top ten is Virginia. this is a team that I want to bet on. they have great retention. I think their core four of Chance Mallory, Sam Lewis, Testa Ritter, and Johan Grunlow. That's a great quartet. They all like complement each other so well. Chance Mallory's like really fast and a great on ball defender, but like who also can make pull up threes. Sam Lewis is like a star hiding in plain sight. Like if you were just like looking at the guys who averaged 11 points per game or less last year, like Sam Lewis is like one of the best.

Best players of that group. Like, he's awesome. Pass dribble shoot wing, 6'7, plays defense, nasty handle, can get to the rim, three-level score. Like, he's really good. And then obviously, Tessa Ritter and Johan Grunlow are outstanding. So, one exercise that I'm really focused on this year is like I want to bet on teams that have really good front courts. And Virginia has a great front court, I think, in De Ritter and Grunlow. I like their depth pieces as well. You know, Elijah Gertrude's been really good in the preseason. they've gotten some really good contributions up and down the roster, to be

So I'm just a big, big fan of the depth that they put together. Nolan Atacunle looks like a legit hit from them from the international market. And then my one from outside the top 10 is Miami. I think Miami, I am bullish on Jay Lucas putting it all together this year. If you're keeping track, that means three ACC teams in my final four. That's a little weird to say. But again, I want to be bullish on teams with awesome front courts. Caleb Gaskins, Malik Renew, Santo Cyril. That's a front court that can go toe-to-toe with anybody.

Shelton Henderson is a sophomore that I'm way in on, six foot six, two hundred and forty pound fire hydrant wing that just wants to bully ball anybody. And then a Kaden Lewis, their point guard, just the straw that stirs the drink. I think he is a

I thought Trey Donaldson was a good player for them. Caden Lewis is so much more talented than Trey Donaldson. Like his playmaking is is awesome. Was one of the best freshmen in the Big East last year. I think he's gonna be a flat out star for Miami. And just mixing in like all of this physicality with an awesome point guard like that, like I I think the hurricanes are in for a really, really big year.

Evan (38:47)
That is wow. So you got three ACC teams and no teams from the Big 12 or Big Ten or Big East. What a hater.

Isaac Trotter (38:53)
Crazy.

Evan (38:54)
no, I these are fun picks. I think Virginia, I can absolutely see the scenario where they are just one of the most reliable teams in the country. That big three, especially of DeRitter, Grunlow, and Chance Mallory. I I'm really excited about Chance Mallory having the ball in his hands.

And being able to just show what he's got. I think he's gonna make a big jump as a sophomore. So I'm really big believer in him. So, you know, I I think absolutely, even if they got into the tournament as a a three or four seed, like seeing looking up and seeing in the final four, like would not surprise me at all. So I love that pick. And then Miami, I'm also super on board with them this year. We s went more at length with them in my last episode. So I won't won't do that here. But I mean, they just have so many exciting pieces on this roster. And I, you know, they opened the season playing Florida, I think.

And that is gonna be something to watch for sure. and

Isaac Trotter (39:44)
No teeth.

Everyone who's plays in that game will lose their teeth in that game. They're so physical.

Evan (39:47)
Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, that's gonna be like on a, you know, more official opening day of the year. So that that matchup with Florida is gonna be really, really exciting. so you've got Duke, Florida, Virginia, Miami. Fascinating. Okay, so my two that I'm going with outside of those top five is I am going to first I'm basically going with betting on coaching here and like just guys who are successful no matter what. So I'm going to go with Houston.

As my third Final Four pick, I have them ninth in the preseason. I think they're 10th in the AP poll. Kelvin Sampson, there's an argument for him being the best coach in America. I think he was second on the recent CBS list behind Dan Hurley, but he has just consistently done so much better with his roster. Now, you can make the argument that this is Houston's worst roster they've had since maybe 2021. That's at least how it looks on paper, according to my site. But it's still a top 20 roster, and we're talking about a team who

With the Kelvin Sampson factor is a top 10 team in the preseason. And you I mean, the track record is there. They rarely finish outside the top five in the last half decade or so in terms of nationally. And the thing is, like, we don't know who's gonna pop on this Houston roster. I love Joseph Tugler, and he's gonna be awesome defensively. He's obviously not an offensive engine for them. But Houston often, when they are good, they end up having some player who pops in a kind of major way. Dayton Thomas from Louisville,

could or sorry from LSU could be that player for them. Del Reco Gillespie from Kent State is another interesting get. And then they've got a top 25 seven foot one center and Arafon Diani, who's a physically dominant big man. And Houston loves to have their big man. And if he's playing next to Tuggler, that could be pretty intimidating. I think they have a 10 deep roster. They're pretty the you know the top of the roster isn't necessarily as exciting as years past, but I think they're deep. So Houston is my third pick. And then I am going

With St. John's, who is also one of my big, my three bandwagon teams from the last episode, for listeners who will remember, I have St. John's eighth in the preseason, and I think they're 13th in the AP poll. Now, there is potentially some uncertainty with this group in terms of like, is everyone eligible? But if that whole group is there, Patino always outperforms his roster talent. He's done an incredible job in his first several seasons at St. John's. This is the most talented roster he has had.

Coming into a season, in my opinion, at St. John's, he has five of the top 14 players in the Big East in my preseason player rankings. Tunde Yesafu, I think, is gonna be a really, you know, needed score and focal point for the offense from a scoring variety coming from Baylor. Quinn Ellis, I am really, really excited to see him play. I mean, he is gonna be one of the most exciting international newcomers that we have in the sport playing point guard. And, you know, St. John's last year had to battle through.

the, you know, greatest point guard in St. John's history, Ian Jackson, becoming not a point guard. And so now they actually have this guy in Quinn Ellis. Keyshawn Hall is going to be another big piece. The there's a lot of upside with Baba Carsane. So I I am in on this group and I am backing Rick Petino to get there.

Isaac Trotter (42:53)
I think St John's has the best backcourt in college basketball. I've watched

Evan (42:56)
Wow.

Isaac Trotter (42:57)
I've watched Quinn Ellis, Ian Jackson, and Toonday play a couple exhibition games. They all mesh with each other perfectly. They're all like really big. Ian Jackson's an awesome shooter and super fast in transition. Tunde Yesafu is like that big jumbo wing who can really drive the basketball, put pressure on the rim, dunk all over you, get to the foul line a lot. And Ellis just makes their life so much easier. He had twenty-two assists to just three turnovers in the first three exhibition games combined. I think that's totally real. Like he just

just gets the ball where it needs to go at the right spots. And I think Jackson and Yesafu should like send him a thank you card at the end of the year because they are going to be the best version of themselves because they get to play with that dude. I I'm a little worried about the center spot. That's the only reason I'm a little bit concerned about like St. John's like maybe winning the title, but I definitely think they can get to the final four because that backcourt absolutely rocks.

Evan (43:48)
Love to hear that. Okay,

let's move on to I want to do something interesting here. So, you something that I have to deal with as someone who puts out computer generated model rankings and things is that I have team rankings for all 365 teams and I play rankings for over 5,000 teams. And as a result, there is always going to be certain data points that I am just by nature of doing this, happen to be like low on or pessimistic on relative to consensus and

You know, those fan bases will often, you know, air that out online. You know what I mean? So something that I like

Isaac Trotter (44:19)
You're the worst for it. Yeah, right?

Evan (44:22)
to do from time to time is talk about things that I would love to be wrong about. So things that maybe I don't necessarily believe will happen, but if it does, I will be excited to see it and it will be great for the sport. So I thought it would be fun for both of us because I know you also have a lot of opinionated preseason prognostications and things that you might think are, you know, peep fan bases are optimistic about that you might not be so as much.

So I thought it could be fun to talk about a few of these. So I'll go ahead and start here as an example. One of the teams that I have ranked really low relative to the expectations for this group that I would love to see not be the case is North Carolina. I have North Carolina 50th in my preseason rankings. Now, the amount of money that they spent on this roster, according to your reporting and many of others that are out there, is that they are not aiming to be a top 50 team in the sport. They are aiming to be a top 15, top 10 team in the sport based on how they have spent.

Under new coach Mike Malone. And just in terms of the roster talent that they have accumulated, I just don't think the quality is there. However, if I am wrong, and Neo of Dallas is really great and Cyancada really pops, and Mike Malone shows that he is one of the best coaches in the sport in his first year, that would be awesome. I would love to see that. And I would love to be wrong about this one because North Carolina being good is good for the sport. And so even though I don't

you know, I'm not high on some of their players, like Terrence Brown, for example. If he ends up scoring 17 points per game, like I would be thrilled with that. Another example of this, and we've talked about this a little bit offline, and this has probably been the one I've gotten the most criticism for online from a certain fan base, is I am not that high on Missouri this year. And some of that centers around the fact that my preseason high school projections model is not as in love with Jason Crow as many Missouri fans hope for, and certainly a lot of

You know, people who have been watching him for a long time are he is a prolific scorer. He is, I think, set the the California history for for most points scored or something like that. And he is objectively one probably one of the most fun freshmen to watch coming out of the gate this year because it is awesome that Missouri can have a player like this, you know, paired with a guy like Mark Mitchell, you know, pending he stays eligible and everything like that. for for them to be really good. I am not personally that high on Crow and

From a, you know, the standpoint of what contributes to winning and especially defensively, some question marks there. But if he turns out to be like Darius A. Cuff from last year for Arkansas, where it's just like maybe defensively, it's a little bit hit or miss, but offensively, he is just unstoppable. I think that's certainly in the cards. And if that were to happen, I am fully on board. So thoughts on either of those? And also, do you have any other thing that kind of falls in this type of category?

Isaac Trotter (47:05)
Yeah, the thing w I noticed with Crow, like the thing I noticed with Acuff was just like how consistent he was on a day to day basis. I worry if Crow can match that because the shot diet that he takes is a tough one. Like it's a lot of tough step back jumpers a lot of times that are

really contested. So when they go in, I think it can look really cool and you're gonna see a lot of Twitter highlights. And when they don't go in, there are gonna be some games where Missouri loses it. So I that's certainly something that I've noticed. Carolina, I'm right there with you. I've gotten absolutely eviscerated for this take all off season, but I thought North Carolina was the worst roster of all the teams that spent over twenty million dollars. Now we do the reporting, now everybody looks at the rosters, now they see they get out rebounded by Charlotte and out rebounded by Indiana in the preseason and somehow my mentions are a lot less quiet. So like it's just how it is.

Evan (47:48)
But hey, hold on, Isaac,

we shouldn't react overreact to exhibition games.

Isaac Trotter (47:52)
Right. I accepted lest they prove my point, which I'm going to actually use.

Evan (47:55)
Yeah.

Isaac Trotter (47:58)
no, but this is this is a good exercise 'cause I think it makes you like have a conviction about something. One of the things that I'm pretty convicted in is like I think Nebra d Nebraska's defense is gonna stink this year.

Evan (48:08)
Mm.

Isaac Trotter (48:09)
Like they lost four really good defenders. Sam Hoyberg was an all-defensive team candidate, but Rink Mast, Berkeley Bayuchdensell, and Jamarcus Lawrence were all awesome defenders who had been in that scheme for multiple years. And that's a scheme that's like hard to pick up. It's like it's hard to understand like how the the no-middle defense, they're really, really focused on over-rotating and scrambling. And last year's team, like last year's team, like really connected and gelled. This year's team, they're gonna have a lot of newcomers.

A lot of new faces in that mix. They are big, but like I think they lost their four of their best five defenders. And I don't think that this defense will even sniff the top 10, let alone the top 25. Like, I think it's probably closer to a top 50 defense this year. And it could be something that like kind of changes the way that they have to play. I think they're gonna have to be more offense first, defense second, with Price Sanford and Braden Frager, and those two dudes are awesome. But like I just I just don't think that this defense with the personnel that they have in place has the main.

Evan (49:14)
That's so interesting because I I do have Nebraska's defenses being ranked higher than their offense. I have them as sixteenth in the country. And some of that is what goes into the individual player defensive evaluations. And I looking at this roster, they have mostly plus defenders here. But, you know, that'll be interesting to monitor there. One other one I want to get your take on is I am relatively low. And this is something I would have said pre exhibition game, so I'm not just bringing this up now because of this. I am relatively low on Tennessee and have been all offseason from the sense of

I generally speaking, a team that assembles a ton of scorers who are, you know, you know, easy, super easy to score, getting the ball in the bucket, maybe shooting efficiency is hit or miss, and there's not a lot of other like outside skill sets beyond that. Tennessee has a lot of dudes. And my model just does not love a lot of those individually or how that comes together. And so I have them as the 18th best team in the preseason, but roster talent-wise, I have them ranked outside the top 30.

And I have them as the 30th best offense going into the year, which is obviously not what Tennessee is going for. that being said, like if this team has so many fun scores on this roster that if, you know, Juke Harris and Terrence Hill and Dwayne Brown and all of these other guys, Day Day Ames can all Tyler Lundblade is an incredible shooter from outside. Like, if they can get it to hit, this could be one of the most fun Rick Bards teams we've ever seen. I don't think that's gonna happen, but I I want it to happen because it would be awesome. What's your take Tennessee there?

Isaac Trotter (50:42)
Yeah, I'm right there with you. I had them seventh in my way too early SEC rankings. Again, something I got skewered for. But like I I just it is one of those things where I think their front court is not a top half of the SEC level of room. Dwayne Brown and Miles Rubin both have to really show me a lot more. Rubin was part of a disastrous Loyola team last year. Dwayne Brown is somebody who's like a six foot eight, six foot nine undersized center. So like there's some room to grow there. I think I think the Jalen Washington edition in the five for five market is actually really important for them because they need just another buy.

To be able to kind of do what they need to do defensively. but I just think that like when you when you're a lead up front, you have such a high floor, and when you aren't a lead up front, it will it really does introduce a lot more variance, and this is gonna be more of a perimeter-based team this year. I'm also just kind of curious of like the pecking order, who's the alpha? Who wants to make others better? Who who doesn't want the ball in their hands? Like, that's all something that I think Tennessee certainly has to work through. Because I think Data Ames, Jalen Harrelson, Juke Harris, even Terrence Hills, all of four of those guys like one.

to play with the ball. So finding ways to like sacrifice offensively is gonna be a a major thing. I'm right there with you on a little bit of the Tennessee skepticism, and that was well before the exhibitions play.

Evan (51:52)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, same page here. Okay, let's let's kinda close our conversation by talking about some

Isaac Trotter (51:58)
Ebbett

Evan (51:58)
of the biggest go ahead.

Isaac Trotter (52:00)
hold on. I have one really hot take of something I'm I have to I have to fire

Evan (52:03)
please, please get it in.

Isaac Trotter (52:04)
this one off. I have to fire this one off. The Joking Boomchay Boomchay hype has left the station. We need to chill. We need to chill.

Evan (52:09)
Okay, I was gonna I wanted to mention this one. This is fascinating.

Isaac Trotter (52:12)
We need to chill. Like on three ranked him as the number one player in college basketball this year. Not the number one prospect, the number one player.

Like right after I watched the Kansas exhibition where he stood in the corner for twenty five minutes. He didn't have the ball. He they're not playing through him. So like can we just hold off on it? Like Boomchay Boomchay's a really nice player. He's a really nice player. I think he could be like a top forty player in the sport this year. Maybe top thirty if everything really clicks. Awesome shooter. I think he's a good has good feel. Like he's seventeen. Like we're putting him number one in the country. Like that's just like insanely too high expectations for a guy that Duke clearly doesn't want to play through yet. Gongba and Blackwell will be the higher

and usage rate than boomche boomchay. So like let's just ease the pedals just a little bit there. There is a very good chance that he's even not the best seventeen year old in sport this year. Nicola Kusteritica at UCLA is a really, really good basketball

Evan (53:02)
Mm-hmm.

Isaac Trotter (53:03)
player.

Evan (53:03)
I think this is if we're talking about okay, what is too far in overreacting to pre preseason exhibitions, this is it. Now, the thing is, before we had any exhibition games, like the conversation was is Boomchay Boomchay like their eighth best player? Like that's where we started the offseason of like, can he beat out Drew Sharnowski for a rotation spot? Now that is a reasonable conversation to have. But all of a sudden, after one or two really good games, all of a sudden it's like this guy who

I mean, part of it is if he didn't have the potential number one pick label next to his name, we would not be having this conversation. But because of that, you know, he is being talked about that way. Now, is there an outside chance that he is, you know, Duke's best player and one of the the most watched players in the country this year? Yes, because that's the level of potential that this guy has. You could same the same say the same for Kusteritza at UCLA. but I I'm on board with you as well. I think he could be awesome, but I am not counting on him being awesome.

Because the kid is seventeen. Like, let's give it a little bit let's give him a little bit of time.

Isaac Trotter (54:05)
And this team's loaded. They don't need him to be awesome right away. They just need him to be a really, really good, awesome role player. And I think that's his path early. And if he starts playing like an NBA player in February, March, then Duke's ceiling is like ridiculous.

Evan (54:18)
Yep, yep, I agree. I mean, I have them second in the country, and that's with Boom Tay Boom T being their seventh or eighth best guy. So obviously, if he's more their third or fourth best player, even like we're talking about a whole lever ceiling there. So I'm glad you brought that one up. Very interesting. Cannot wait to watch him play and the rest of this Duke squad.

Let's talk about biggest storylines outside the power conferences. I am just going to fire off some of the teams I have the rated the highest outside of the power conference structure.

and then just sort of get your takes on anything that's interesting to you. We've talked about Gonzaga a little bit with Braden Huff. I have Gonzaga seventh in the preseason. And I think if everyone that they want stays eligible, you know, Xavier and Lee coming from Florida as an example, they are gonna have another really, really good group. And I think it is people should not count out or dismiss Mark View and what he does with his rosters. And I think this group is really talented. So, you know, the Gonzaga's gonna be awesome again.

Outside of that, obviously we have the new Pac 12 conference. The best team outside of Gonzaga in that group I have is Utah State at 44. best overall mid major outside of Gonzaga, which if we're not considering them the mid major conversation, I have St. Louis at 39. That's with the addition of Robbie Avula, assuming he stays eligible, which I just updated on my site this morning as of recording. I had St. Louis is more in the 60s without Avula, though. So if he is not on the court, that makes a massive difference for them.

But Utah State at 44, Mason Fauslev, I think, is going to be one of the most indispensable players in the country to his team in terms of how important he is to them being successful and how much they would drop off without him. I think he's gonna be huge again this year. Grand Canyon is a top fifty team, and they have a lot of dudes who are not mid major players. Trey Holliman, Dan Skillings, Dylan Darling, all guys who have had various degrees of high major success.

Jaden Henley is returning and he is an incredible scorer. So they've got a really, really fun group of players there. VCU, I also have a top 50 team. A bunch of guys coming back from a team that beat UNC last year in the first round of the tournament. Neek Lewis, Brandon Jennings, Lazar Djokovic, all back. I think VCU is going to be awesome. I'm really excited about New Mexico. I think their roster build is really, really interesting. And I know that they are kind of trying to zig when everyone else is zagging in terms of their relationship with.

Getting bigs in the portal this year. Like everyone is having to pay a pretty penny for bigs, and New Mexico is trying to just load up on skilled players and maybe sacrifice a little bit of length there, but they have a lot of really good players. They nailed their returners in Uriah Tennant and Jay Call coming back. Some really skilled players in the portal. So I'm excited about them. My top team in the American is Wichita State at sixty four, Santa Clara at sixty eight from the WCC. Just mentioned a bunch of stuff there. Anything stick out or any other teams worth mentioning in this conversation.

Isaac Trotter (57:07)
Yeah, we can have some quick hitters. I think the New Mexico kid that I really liked was Hudson Mays as well. I don't know if you saw the the preseason one. He absolutely baptized a defender with a huge, huge dunk. So I think just throwing him into the mix with Tennant and Jake Hall, who's a complete utter f flamethrower, I like that. And I think in this era for mid-majors when the gap is growing, where there's way more money in the power five than compared to some of the mid mid-majors, you just have to be different. I respect it. I respect being different trying to load up on trying to find a way to

be a guard driven team and we'll see if it goes there. Grand Canyon's interesting man. Like that so you said you have them as a top 50 team. Is that I'm assuming with everyone eligible? Yeah.

Evan (57:46)
That's with everybody, yep.

Isaac Trotter (57:48)
I think that's totally valid. Like this team is like 10 high major caliber players. You know when our reporting for the NIL tiers like Grand Canyon spent over twelve million dollars on their team. Like that is

Evan (58:01)
That's crazy.

Isaac Trotter (58:02)
that is way more than like

twenty high major teams. So like that's the type of caliber of like of of roster that they have put together. You know, I think Marion Dickerson is a very underrated get for them. He was like a defensive player of the year candidate when he was at Robert Morris, throw him into the mix. FA Demiro is like a seven foot one interior big man that like looks like a high major player as well. Henley is a pro, like was a legit NBA level prospect, and I thought was gonna go in the second round. So they they just have good guards, big wings, big centers, like that that they look like a high major

Your team to me, and I think if they get in the NSA tournament, like they have the personnel to go toe to toe with everybody. I think I one other note that I had of just like some an interesting one is keep an eye on Loyola Chicago this year after their disastrous year last year. They have this French point guard, Guillaume Gratzinger, that's really good. Like he's really good. I think it's a really good get for them. He had 20 points and six assists, I believe, in their exhibition against DePaul. Completely got in the lane whenever he wanted. their point guard play last year was really one of the bigger

why I thought that they did not, you where they honestly why the floor just completely fell out, this year their point guard play is gonna be a major, major strength.

Evan (59:12)
All right, I was just looking at Grand Canyon's schedule here because they have some really, really fun matchups on the calendar. So stay posted. They're playing St. Louis, so this will be, you know, two two of the top mid majors in the country playing in like late November. They also play Oklahoma State, they play Santa Clara, they play Memphis, and then mid December, they play against Florida. So we're gonna have that. I can't that's a really, really fun matchup, and also kudos to Florida and Todd Golden scheduling that game. Obviously.

He is under no job pressure whatsoever. The results of this game won't really change anything about Ford's season, but really, really awesome to see that they're willing to schedule a team like Grand Canyon. That's gonna be awesome to watch. I can't wait for that.

Isaac Trotter (59:52)
I would also throw Murray State in as a as a mid-major

Evan (59:54)
Mm-hmm.

Isaac Trotter (59:55)
team to keep an eye on. Again, spending big, big money. Roman Damond, if you haven't seen him play, big wing slasher can shoot it, really talented, can play on the ball. And then they're very excited about Auburn, Trancer, Caden Magwood, like a little bit of a just like a complete wrecking ball off the balance. Like he can he can go score with anybody. So that add Murray State to the mix of like teams like if it's selection Sunday and you Murray State pop up against you, like I'm like, awesome, fantastic, really looking forward to this like dog.

Yeah.

Evan (1:00:24)
Yeah,

Domon was one of the best international players last year, I think, who came in and obviously was a little bit off the radar being at Murray State. But I'm kind of surprised. I have no inside information as to his offseason, but I'm surprised that he didn't like transfer somewhere else because I

Isaac Trotter (1:00:39)
they tried, don't worry.

Evan (1:00:40)
I'm I'm sure they did. but it the fact that Murray State has him back is awesome. So I love seeing that because it's not a given in this day and age that players like this who who pop in their first year stay at their program. So I have no information on that.

Whatsoever, but it's fun to see him back with the racers.

Isaac Trotter (1:00:57)
Yeah, some of his splits last year in conference play, thirty-eight percent from three on seventy-two attempts, fifty-five percent on twos, seventy-eight percent at the free throw line, he drew seven po point six fouls per forty minutes. And he barely like turned the basketball over. Like he is just a total freak show. I think he is gonna be one of the best players in the valley this year. And you know, I'm I'm honestly I'm kinda like even considered like potentially throwing him a vote in like a top one hundred and one players thing that we had. Like I think he is that level of good.

Evan (1:01:25)
Sure.

I think there's absolutely an argument there. Okay. That I think is going to do it for this conversation, just to kind of make sure we keep things tidy here. But I do want to end with one fun sort of personal question. I love to do this with guests. So, Isaac, you are relatively new in the like college basel media landscape. You and I both are on the younger side of being in this industry. And it's been amazing to see how quickly kind of

your work has been relevant in this space. I want to ask you, and I'll answer the same question. In your career so far, working in college basketball, what has been one of your biggest like pinch me moments in your career of like, I can't believe that I got to do this or that I had this interaction or something of just like, whoa, this is so cool that I get to be like working in this college basketball media space.

Isaac Trotter (1:02:13)
always get goosebumps right before tip off at the final four. It's

Evan (1:02:17)
Ugh, it's unbeatable.

Isaac Trotter (1:02:19)
it's incredible. Like the fact that like I got to sit on the floor like ten feet away when like Illinois was playing Yukon last year and then Michigan was playing Arizona, like that is like one of the coolest things of all time. Like it it it really is. The final four like the mecca of it. You know the other thing that was cool is like we did a show. Like we we got to do like a broadcast show from inside the final four like arena like up top. It was super cool.

Evan (1:02:42)
Was that the one you did with

Cal Tucker for part of the assist? Was that like the first the first assist show that was was ever done? Yeah. That was awesome. Yes.

Isaac Trotter (1:02:45)
Yeah, yeah, with Kyle Tucker. Yeah. Yeah. I in in the arena, like that that

was very, very cool. So yeah, we that was probably the the first kind of like, wow, this is a very cool job. I cannot believe I'm getting paid to watch basketball for a living. I I can't complain. This it's so cool. It's so cool to be in this industry.

Evan (1:03:05)
That's awesome. Yeah. I love being at the Final Four every year as well. It's been a real treat the last couple of years. What I'm gonna go with, and I'm just kind of going with a funny one here. So in 2023, when obviously my website was a little bit less well known than it is now, one of the things that I shared kind of in middle of January that ended up getting a ton of traction was this was Kentucky's year where they were really struggling to figure out like who their group was that was really gonna lead them to the promised land. They had Oscar Shibuy.

Back for a second year, but they had a bunch of other pieces. And I basically shared a piece of analysis on Twitter talking about how they had a group of five players, the specific lineup that was like head and shoulders better than any other Kentucky lineup. And then I thought that they should play that more. And then whether it was r like just happened to be random circumstance, John Caliperi did play this lineup, and it was Caseen Wallace, CJ Frederick, Antonio Reeves, Jacob Toppin, Oscar Shiwe. And they ended up being really good in the stretch in in January.

And Kentucky Sports Radio Matt Jones, who is a big deal in obviously Kentucky circles. He's probably the biggest Kentucky voice, but also just well known in sports media in general. He not only like quote tweeted my tweet, which is really cool, but he actually talked about it on his show. And he completely, it was great, but also funny because he completely butchered my last name, when which is not uncommon. He was like, there's this piece of

I I I've tried to pull up the clip, so I don't have it. So this is my best imitation of this, but it was something along the lines of like, you know, there's you know, the this guy on Twitter who does the stats site showed how this lineup is the most efficient in the country from Evan Mikka Mikkawaya or something. And he it was it was so funny to hear that. and also like amazing to get a shout-out from from Matt Jones and his team at KSR. I that was one of the funniest things that's happened to me.

And also like I can't believe that my work is being shared on this level. That was really cool.

Isaac Trotter (1:05:00)
So Evan, what you need to do is you need to go like cut that audio and find it. And then you need to make it a bumper for every one of your podcast intros. Like before intro right before the podcast starts, it's just like Matt Jones just

Evan (1:05:11)
Evan Mikawire!

Isaac Trotter (1:05:12)
Evan just like just you're butchering the last name as

Evan (1:05:14)
Ha ha ha ha.

Isaac Trotter (1:05:15)
you head into the show. I think that'd be a perfect bumper for it.

Evan (1:05:18)
Man,

I could probably find at least 10 different examples of that happening. And the funniest thing too is I'm sure if you're listening, you probably know this right by now, but my last name is pronounced Miyakawa. And most people, when they read the full name, they get it right in that pronunciation. Obviously, if they get it wrong, like I totally get it. It's happened my whole life. But when they read the shortened version of my website name, they often default to Evan Maya. So I've even had some

Isaac Trotter (1:05:41)
That's me.

I do that.

Evan (1:05:42)
Yeah, of course. I mean, I I think

that's a a reasonable thing, but the funny thing is sometimes I've been like on a podcast or something and someone's been like, Here we have Evan Miyakawa from Evan Maya dot com. Like they say it the right way and then the wrong way in the same sentence. Very funny. I'm not offended by it at all. I take I take all of it. It's it's all me. I know who they're referencing, but

Isaac Trotter (1:06:03)
maybe maybe this is your way to get the Evan Mia show, Miyakawa show, right? Or unless unless we call it the Evan Maya show just to make it funny. like we maybe this is your way to get it on KSR for like once a week. This is you should just use that as your poll to get on on KSR.

Evan (1:06:18)
They they they coined it, so we're just gonna run with it.

Isaac Trotter (1:06:20)
Yeah, they they need at least a little bit of good content, right?

Evan (1:06:23)
Yeah. my goodness. that was fun. Thank you, Isaac, for being here today. hopefully this gets people really excited for the new season. I reference that you're doing a lot of great work. Please let the people watching and listening know where they can find all of your content as we have the college basketball season just right around the corner.

Isaac Trotter (1:06:40)
Yeah, CBS Sports.com will be all of my writing. And then you can follow me on Twitter at Isaac Double underscore trotter. It'll be hoops all the time for the next twelve months, basically.

Evan (1:06:49)
Awesome, Isaac. Thanks again for being here, man.

Isaac Trotter (1:06:52)
Of course, thanks for having me.

Evan (1:06:56)
All right, folks, hopefully you enjoyed that conversation. That's all we've got for you today on the content side of things. But before we get out of here, I did say at the top of the show that we're doing a listener contest today. So here is how this works for those of you who are faithful listeners of the show. the contest this week is we're recording our episode next week after the first day of games has been completed.

Specifically looking at Sunday, where we have one game between Notre Dame and Villanova, and then Monday's games, which there will be a bunch. The contest submission is which team will have their team rating improve the most from their preseason ranking till to after their first game when I look at it on Tuesday morning. So any team that's playing on Sunday or Monday is eligible. Pick any team and send it to me. And the person who picks the team that that improved the most.

After their first game, we'll win the contest. You can submit it by emailing me at admin at evanmia.com, or you can send me a DM on Twitter or Instagram. And I will be looking at all of those submissions up until I think Sunday before any of the games have been played. So if you get your submission in, the person who picks the team that has the best improvement will get a free item of their choosing from the EvanMia.com merch store.

And I will announce the winner of the contest on next week's show. Speaking of next week, normally during the season, we record on Mondays, and then the show comes out early on Tuesday, recapping the weekend's action. However, this Monday we'll only have had one game played so far. But if we wait just one extra day, there is a lot of really exciting action on the first full day of the schedule. So we're gonna record on Tuesday and publish on Wednesday next week.

And we're gonna mainly be breaking down everything that we've seen in the first day of game so far. There's gonna be a lot of really interesting stuff. So if you're not aware of this, Villanova and Notre Dame play kind of a standalone game early Sunday morning because it's gonna be played over in Italy. So that should be fun. And then on Monday, we have a really good slate of very enticing games. I'm gonna say these teams based on how they are ranked at evanmea.com right now. Number one, Florida plays 13, Miami. That is gonna be an awesome game.

Number four, Arizona plays 23 UCLA. Number seven, Gonzaga plays 22 Purdue. And then number 24, BYU plays number 32 Ohio State. There's gonna be a lot of stuff to unpack from those games. So I cannot wait to get into it on next week's show. So look for that on Wednesday morning on whatever platform that you listen to. So looking forward to that. As always, this is a completely ad-free show to make it as fun and undistracting for you guys as possible.

Really helps the show grow if you leave five-star reviews on the podcast platforms, Apple and Spotify. If you are watching on YouTube, there's a lot of really great stuff to be seeing visually on YouTube. just really excited for the output that we have there. So subscribe to the channel on YouTube if you've been watching there and haven't subscribed already. That really helps the show reach more people. And again, thank you guys so much for listening. We will be back next week to talk about real games. And until then, take care.