Five SEC teams in early preseason basketball ranking

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From the second the off-season began the Aggies were one of the sport’s biggest winners, courtesy of Robert Williams' decision to return to school. Williams had been projected by most as a Top 15 pick and when coupled with the return of leading scorer and rebounder Tyler Davis and sharp-shooter D.J. Hogg the Aggies could be a dark horse SEC title contender. And since our initial “Way Too Early Top 25” in April things have only gotten better in College Station, as A&M has added Marquette transfer Duane Wilson. He will be eligible to play right away.

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Things were already trending upwards for Razorbacks hoops (a third place finish in the SEC regular season, a trip to the conference tourney title game, a near upset of eventual national champion North Carolina in the second round of the tournament) and they were made even better when second- and third-leading scorers Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford both withdrew their names from the NBA Draft a few weeks ago. Add them in with a loaded recruiting class and the Razorbacks should get back to the second round of the NCAA Tournament — and possibly beyond.

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We had Alabama higher than virtually any other outlet in our “Way Too Early Top 25” after the Final Four, and after watching five-star signee Collin Sexton dominate for a week at the Ball Is Life All-American Game (where he earned MVP honors) we might not have had them high enough. Sexton is truly a game-changing talent and future lottery pick, who combined with returnees like Braxton Key and Donta Hall, as well as fellow freshman John Petty, could push Alabama not only to the NCAA Tournament, but potentially into the second weekend.

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The Gators were a few short minutes away from the Final Four this season and return most of their key players in Mike White's third season in Gainesville. That includes leading scorer KeVaughn Allen, guard Chris Chiozza and John Egbunu, who will be back after suffering a torn ACL towards the end of the season. The Gators did lose production on the wing from Canyon Barry and Devin Robinson (who declared for, and stayed in the draft) but replaced them nicely with the addition of transfer Egor Koulechov. The Ukrainian-born forward averaged 18 points per game at Rice last season and is eligible to play right away.

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John Calipari never disappoints on the recruiting trail, but even by the insane standard he has set in Lexington, it was not only a banner year, but a banner last few weeks specifically. First, came the surprise commitment of five-star forward Kevin Knox in early May (fittingly on the day of the Kentucky Derby), who unexpectedly chose the Wildcats over a host of schools, including Duke and North Carolina. More importantly, Kentucky got the best possible news at the NBA Draft deadline, when Hamidou Diallo — who enrolled for the second semester this season but did not play — decided to withdraw from the NBA Draft and return to Lexington. Those two are part of a recruiting class which features six of the Top 25 high players in America, meaning that while Kentucky will be insanely young next year, they’ll be insanely talented as well. 

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