Coming off the excessive of 2023, the 2024 NBA Draft class is destined to be some of the lifeless in trendy historical past , which explains the predicament males’s school basketball has discovered itself in right here in 2024. Whereas the ladies are pumping out family names akin to Caitlyn Clark, JuJu Watkins, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese, males’s school basketball is nearly devoid of a single headline star. It’s doubtless that the repeat winner of the Participant of the Yr will likely be Purdue’s Zach Edney, a senior obelisk within the low publish who would have been a top-5 choose 20 years in the past, if not the primary general prospect. At this time, he’s an anachronistic memento.
There’s no higher time to be a Houston Cougar, although. UConn and Purdue could have a case for being the No. 1 general seed within the match, however In a season with out principal characters, Houston is school hoops’ Checkov’s Gunman. Kelvin Sampson’s nondescript assortment of starters has no marquee stars on the subsequent stage, however seems poised to steal the present.
Subsequent season, Duke will introduce Cooper Flagg to the nation because the first white college hoops phenom in a technology and Rutgers will pair dynamic wings Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, however the 2024 NCAA Match’s most outstanding character could also be a middle from Indiana State nicknamed Cream Abdiul Jabbar, who could by no means play a second of NBA basketball. John Calipari’s diamond-studded Kentucky roster could turn into one other cubic zirconia knockoff.
Sampson has fermented water into wine with a roster devoid of any fringe prospects. But, of their first season as a Large 12 member, the Cougars have left an impression the 12 months after shedding Marcus Sasser and one-and-done ahead Jarace Walker to the NBA. The Cougars have held down the highest spot within the convention for a lot of the season, been the No. 1 in Ken Pom’s rankings since December and are the Related Press’ No. 1 group within the nation.
They’ve performed all that and not using a single projected first-round choose within the upcoming draft or in 2025. If Kelvin Sampson can pull a championship out his hat on the conclusion of March Insanity, it could set a brand new gold normal for sideline shot callers within the trendy period. Since 1976, each single champion within the trendy period has fielded not less than one first-round choose. Technically, Bob Knight’s 1987 Indiana group didn’t characteristic a future first spherical choose in its rotation, however solely as a result of Steve Alford was the twenty sixth choose in a 23-team league. Butler would have been the primary in 2011 in the event that they hadn’t developed a concern of buckets for a 13-minute, 26-second span throughout the second half of the 2011 national title game.
Houston guard Terrance Arceneaux is the highest-rated high school recruit on Sampson’s roster. The 6-foot-6 guard flew out of the gates as a freshman, however his momentum for the 2023 draft stalled out the again half of the season and in December, he tore his Achilles. Barring a quantum leap between his sophomore and junior seasons whereas recovering from a devastating harm, he gained’t justify a first-round grade subsequent 12 months.
Freshman defensive skeleton key JoJo Tugler is already probably the most demoralizing quick-twitch shot blocker in school hoops as a freshman.
The 6-foot-8 Houston native with a 7-foot-6 wingspan seems like he was 3-D printed to suit into trendy switch-heavy NBA defenses, regardless of his uncooked skillset. NBA franchises fall in love with wingspans and Tugler has the instruments in spades. If he flaps these appendages he may manifest twister winds over the Gulf of Mexico or redirect a shot or two.
.Together with Tuglers’s potential, Jamel Shead is Houston’s most NBA-ready prospect and because the tip of the spear for the nation’s No.1 protection, his affect on the defensive finish permeates by means of the roster. After 4 years within the limelight, scouts know what they’re getting in Houston’s 6-foot-1 desk setter. Shead’s a tenacious point-of-attack defender and distributor, however comparatively small in stature, and a streaky shooter behind the arc. The reigning AAC Defensive Participant of the Yr is projected as a second rounder or as an undrafted free agent. In the meantime, former Baylor Bear, Houston’s main scorer L.J. Cryer is a future undrafted free agent and a senior who will spend subsequent season within the G-League or abroad.
The closest analog to Sampson’s Houston Cougars group are Tony Bennett’s 2019 Virginia Cavaliers and Scott Drew’s 2021 Baylor Bears items. Enjoying crushing protection, Bennett’s Virginia group battled their solution to a nationwide title the 12 months after changing into the primary No. 1 seed to be eradicated by a 16-seed. Nonetheless, even that lineup included top-10 choose DeAndre Hunter, whereas ESPN rated Kyle Man as a five-star recruit in school. Drew’s 2021 nationwide championship group featured a slew of four-star commits, however was led by first-round choose Davion Mitchell. Profitable a nationwide title and not using a five-star recruit is extremely uncommon. Profitable one and not using a five-star recruit and a first-round choose is indistinguishable from magic.
