The SEC has just received a serious upgrade in coaching talent. Now the task remains: which can win with mediocre talent?
I'm gonna do my best to break down a few teams with an opinion and as many facts as I can dig up. Stay till the end and I'll make a little profound statement on what happens next year in the SEC.
Top of the League:
UK --- Kentucky is gonna be Kentucky. They most definitely won't be unbeatable next year though. Still, they'll finish 1st in the league. They bring back Ullis, Poythress(stud if he's healhty), and Marcus Lee at Center. That's not alot. Briscoe will be very good, and I would assume Matthews(SG recruit, 4*) will be decent enough. Skal is a wildcard. He throws up HUGE red flags for me... Last summer before he picked I didn't think there was any way he would ever even make it to college. We'll see. If he shows, he'll be very very good. They'll pick up a few more top recruits in the next week or 2.
Recruits considering UK- Jaylen Brown(1-and-done, SF, better than anyone not named Ben Simmons). Thon Maker, who I hope they get cause he's so much fun to watch. Could get Newman and possibly, 7-footer Zimmerman from Vegas.
Let's look at the new coaches and their squads... starting with some guys who are already in the league.Auburn -- Bruce Pearl is a great coach. I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever win big at Auburn. He just has no talent. They lose 3 of their top 4 scoring options, and 4 of their top 6 players. They only return Bowers(a 6'7" center) and Shamsid-Deen(a 5''8" PG) to a team that wasn't very good a year ago. Trayvon Reed was a 7'2" 4* C, but if he wasn't good enough to crack the lineup they had last year I doubt he turns into an All-SEC post-man next year. They have 2 Top 100 recruits,a PF and a SF, so they still don't have anyone over 6'8" worth a crap. I just don't see how they win next year with what they have. Those freshmen aren't better than KT Harrell.
Bama -- I can't do this Avery Johnson hire... I've said it before I think they turn into a dumpster fire. They're losing everyone worth a damn on that team and they have no one signed that is any good. They have a 4* top 100(by ESPN standards, and no one elses rankings) kid, but anytime a kid from Bama or MS comes out with a Top 100 ranking but doesn't hold offers from anyone else, I'm skeptical. One of their best signees is from Alabama and he is contemplating picking someone else. He'll decide this week. Bama WILL be the worst out of MooU, Bama, and Tennessee.
Tennessee -- Rick Barnes is a glorified Rick Stansbury. Never has a man recruited so well, and won so little. They lose their best player in Richardson and everyone that contributed from this past season is now seniors. They have absolutely ZERO impact recruits right now. Gonna be a struggle in Knoxville.
MooU -- assuming they get Newman and Kasongo, they have a chance to be good. Newman and Sword, plugged with Ware and Kasongo gives them 4 very good players. The problem? Who else steps up? They need depth and have absolutely none of it. They'll need some guys to step up who haven't previously done it. Fred Thomas and IJ Ready would need to have good years. They'd need alot of things to go right to make the NCAA Tourney, but they'll be better than they were a year ago, and probably the best of the new coaches.
Now how about 2 schools that have been good lately. Tigers and Hogs
LSU -- Obviously they bring in Blakeny and Simmons. They'll be good players. The problem with LSU is they have no post play anymore. They lose Martin and Mickey and aren't signing any post players. Josh Gray and Hornsby are now seniors and Quarterman is a junior. After next season(which Jones will find a way to screw up) they have NO ONE. They'll lose Simmons and probably Blakeny and end up with no quality basketball players outside of young PG Jalyn Patterson.
Arkansas -- They lose Madden, Alandis Harris, and Bobby Portis. They have no scoring ability in the post. They'll have some quality at guard with Qualls, Bell, and Beard. They'll have Moses Kingsley down low for D but they won't have anything down low on offense. Kingsley is very similar to Dwight Coleby except Coleby is bigger and can shoot mid-range.
My bold statement?
The SEC's best teams next year will be from coaches who have been in this league. Calipari, Donovan, Stallings, AK, Kennedy(A&M). Those 5 teams will comprise the top of the league.
A&M will be very good and in my opinion top 3 in the league. Stallings and Vandy could be #2 if they improve like they did at the end of the year last year. UGA should fall off as they aren't recruiting well and lose everything in their post. We'll see what Gaines and Mann do, but I think they're back. UF and Billy D will be improved as long as he isn't the coach of the Magic in the NBA next year. If he leaves, all bets are off. We have pieces to capitalize on these transition periods from everyone else.
We have a good core group. Moody/Finely up top gives us 2 dynamic guards. Brooks and Newby will play the 3 while Coleby/Saiz/Hymon will patrol the block. If Brutus can spell those guys down low or we get another transfer to play in the post, we'll have a great shot at finishing in the top half of the league again and get back to the NCAA Tourney.
These are my "Wayyyy too early thoughts on the SEC" and I reserve the right to declare them completely false in 6 months. Lol. Hope some people find it interesting. Got a little bored after class. Feel free to debate disagreements!
I'm gonna do my best to break down a few teams with an opinion and as many facts as I can dig up. Stay till the end and I'll make a little profound statement on what happens next year in the SEC.
Top of the League:
UK --- Kentucky is gonna be Kentucky. They most definitely won't be unbeatable next year though. Still, they'll finish 1st in the league. They bring back Ullis, Poythress(stud if he's healhty), and Marcus Lee at Center. That's not alot. Briscoe will be very good, and I would assume Matthews(SG recruit, 4*) will be decent enough. Skal is a wildcard. He throws up HUGE red flags for me... Last summer before he picked I didn't think there was any way he would ever even make it to college. We'll see. If he shows, he'll be very very good. They'll pick up a few more top recruits in the next week or 2.
Recruits considering UK- Jaylen Brown(1-and-done, SF, better than anyone not named Ben Simmons). Thon Maker, who I hope they get cause he's so much fun to watch. Could get Newman and possibly, 7-footer Zimmerman from Vegas.
Let's look at the new coaches and their squads... starting with some guys who are already in the league.Auburn -- Bruce Pearl is a great coach. I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever win big at Auburn. He just has no talent. They lose 3 of their top 4 scoring options, and 4 of their top 6 players. They only return Bowers(a 6'7" center) and Shamsid-Deen(a 5''8" PG) to a team that wasn't very good a year ago. Trayvon Reed was a 7'2" 4* C, but if he wasn't good enough to crack the lineup they had last year I doubt he turns into an All-SEC post-man next year. They have 2 Top 100 recruits,a PF and a SF, so they still don't have anyone over 6'8" worth a crap. I just don't see how they win next year with what they have. Those freshmen aren't better than KT Harrell.
Bama -- I can't do this Avery Johnson hire... I've said it before I think they turn into a dumpster fire. They're losing everyone worth a damn on that team and they have no one signed that is any good. They have a 4* top 100(by ESPN standards, and no one elses rankings) kid, but anytime a kid from Bama or MS comes out with a Top 100 ranking but doesn't hold offers from anyone else, I'm skeptical. One of their best signees is from Alabama and he is contemplating picking someone else. He'll decide this week. Bama WILL be the worst out of MooU, Bama, and Tennessee.
Tennessee -- Rick Barnes is a glorified Rick Stansbury. Never has a man recruited so well, and won so little. They lose their best player in Richardson and everyone that contributed from this past season is now seniors. They have absolutely ZERO impact recruits right now. Gonna be a struggle in Knoxville.
MooU -- assuming they get Newman and Kasongo, they have a chance to be good. Newman and Sword, plugged with Ware and Kasongo gives them 4 very good players. The problem? Who else steps up? They need depth and have absolutely none of it. They'll need some guys to step up who haven't previously done it. Fred Thomas and IJ Ready would need to have good years. They'd need alot of things to go right to make the NCAA Tourney, but they'll be better than they were a year ago, and probably the best of the new coaches.
Now how about 2 schools that have been good lately. Tigers and Hogs
LSU -- Obviously they bring in Blakeny and Simmons. They'll be good players. The problem with LSU is they have no post play anymore. They lose Martin and Mickey and aren't signing any post players. Josh Gray and Hornsby are now seniors and Quarterman is a junior. After next season(which Jones will find a way to screw up) they have NO ONE. They'll lose Simmons and probably Blakeny and end up with no quality basketball players outside of young PG Jalyn Patterson.
Arkansas -- They lose Madden, Alandis Harris, and Bobby Portis. They have no scoring ability in the post. They'll have some quality at guard with Qualls, Bell, and Beard. They'll have Moses Kingsley down low for D but they won't have anything down low on offense. Kingsley is very similar to Dwight Coleby except Coleby is bigger and can shoot mid-range.
My bold statement?
The SEC's best teams next year will be from coaches who have been in this league. Calipari, Donovan, Stallings, AK, Kennedy(A&M). Those 5 teams will comprise the top of the league.
A&M will be very good and in my opinion top 3 in the league. Stallings and Vandy could be #2 if they improve like they did at the end of the year last year. UGA should fall off as they aren't recruiting well and lose everything in their post. We'll see what Gaines and Mann do, but I think they're back. UF and Billy D will be improved as long as he isn't the coach of the Magic in the NBA next year. If he leaves, all bets are off. We have pieces to capitalize on these transition periods from everyone else.
We have a good core group. Moody/Finely up top gives us 2 dynamic guards. Brooks and Newby will play the 3 while Coleby/Saiz/Hymon will patrol the block. If Brutus can spell those guys down low or we get another transfer to play in the post, we'll have a great shot at finishing in the top half of the league again and get back to the NCAA Tourney.
These are my "Wayyyy too early thoughts on the SEC" and I reserve the right to declare them completely false in 6 months. Lol. Hope some people find it interesting. Got a little bored after class. Feel free to debate disagreements!
