Who’s the Best College Basketball Team Paper for the 18-19 Season?

Kentucky:

Key Players:

PG Quade Green: 9.3 PPG 1.8 RPG 2.7 APG

PG Austin Hagans: ESPN No. 20 Recruit

PG Immanuel Quickley: ESPN No. 25 Recruit

SG Tyler Herro: ESPN No. 30 Recruit

SF Keldon Johnson: ESPN No. 7 Recruit

PF E.J. Montgomery: ESPN No. 14 Recruit

PF: Reid Travis: 19.5 PPG 8.7 RPG 1.3 APG

PF: P.J. Washington: 10.8 PPG 5.7 RPG 1.5 APG

C Nick Richards: 5.1 PPG 4.4 RPG 0.9 BPG

Argument For:

Prior to adding Grad Transfer Reid Travis Kentucky was a solid team, but now they could be terrifying. He has been a legit No. 1 option for two years now and is now surrounded by potential NBA lottery picks in Keldon Johnson and E.J. Montgomery. Calipari will likely run a 2 PG offense similarly to 2010-2011 with Wall and Bledsoe, Star recruits Hagans and Quickley will have to compete for minutes in a very deep rotation with Sophomore Quade Green at PG. Anytime you return 3 key rotational players, a legit preseason all American, and possess the #2 recruiting class in the nation, you are a team that contends for the top team in the nation.

Argument Against: 
A very young team with only one Upperclassman (Travis), this team lacks the experience of the veteran Kansas team, and at the same time doesn’t quite have the natural talent of the stacked Duke team. Kentucky get labeled inexperience every season and ends up making a deep run so this isn’t exactly new territory for Calipari, but a concern none the less. Quade Green is a respectable shooter and Herro looks the part, but Kentucky’s two likely best players Travis and Washington have been traditionally post players and there isn’t much shooting in the rotation which has been Kentucky’s main downfall in the past.

Duke:

Key Players:

PG Tre Jones: ESPN No. 17 Recruit

SG Cam Reddish: ESPN No. 3 Recruit

SG Alex O’Connell: 3.3 PPG 1.4 RPG 0.5 APG

SF R.J. Barrett: ESPN No. 1 Recruit

PF Zion Williamson: ESPN No. 2 Recruit

PF Joey Baker: ESPN No. 41 Recruit

C Javin DeLaurier: 3.4 PPG 4.0 RPG 0.6 BPG

C Marques Bolen: 3.9 PPG 3.6 RPG 1.0 BPG

Argument For: 
Duke may have secured the best recruiting class in CBB history. 3 locks for the NBA lottery next season (baring something unforeseen), this Duke team is the most talented in the nation. No. 17 recruit Tre Jones seems like an afterthought, but he should be much better than Duval was in his freshman season and could be one of the better Point Guards in the ACC. With Barrett, Williamson, and Reddish playing 2-4, this team should be the favorites in every game. DeLaurier and Bolen will fight for the starting job at the 5 but will just need to do the dirty work and crash the boards surrounded by so much firepower.

Argument Against: 
Young teams rarely live up to the hype. Outside of Anthony Davis’s Kentucky team and Jahlil Okafor’s Duke team, the past 10 years have seen most CBB champs consist of upperclassman such as Villanova, UNC, UConn etc. Are Reddish, Williamson, and Barrett going to suck? No. With that being said there’s basically no proven talent on the team. The top returner is likely Alex O’Connell who averaged only 3.3 PPG in 10 MPG. This team is the youngest in the nation and will have to mesh their tremendous talents together before they can compete with players 2-3 years older than them night in and night out. 

Kansas:

Key Players: 

PG Charlie Moore: 12.1 PPG 2.0 RPG 3.5 APG

PG Devon Dotson: ESPN No. 24 Recruit

SG Quentin Grimes: ESPN No. 8 Recruit

SG Lagerald Vick: 12.1 PPG 4.8 RPG 2.1 APG

SG Marcus Garrett: 4.1 PPG 3.4 RPG 1.1 APG

SF K.J. Lawson: 12.3 PPG 8.1 RPG 2.8 APG

PF Dedrick Lawson: 19.2 PPG 9.9 RPG 2.1 BPG

PF Silva De Sousa: 4.0 PPG 3.7 RPG 0.2 BPG

C Udoka Azubuike: 13.0 PPG 7.0 RPG 1.7 BPG

C David McCormack: ESPN No. 27 Recruit

Argument For: 
Kansas is the deepest team in the country. Vick announced a few days ago he will be returning, which would be a major win for any other team in the nation, but Kansas didn’t even really need him. They’re are unbelievably stacked 2 deep at every position. Dedrick Lawson and Udoka Azibuke headline a veteran team that have 3 Transfers capable of starting, 3 Top 30 Recruits, and 2 returning starters. Garrett and De Sosa may not even play more than 10-15 MPG and both could start on the vast majority of Power-5 Teams. This team doesn’t have the NBA prospects that Duke and Kentucky but has far more depth and experience across the board.

Argument Against:
The Lawsons both starred at Memphis, Azibuke and Vick are looking to be First Round Picks next season, Grimes is a projected lottery pick. Are there enough shots to go around? Kansas has 6-7 Potential NBA Players and there are only 5 spots on the court. The team doesn’t have a true POY candidate like Mason and Graham, and that may be its only true downfall.

Outside Looking in:

Virginia: 
For: Returns 7/10 Players on a Team that went 31-3.
Against: Has nowhere near the talent as any of these teams.

Tennessee: 
For: Returns 6 Top scorers on a team that won the SEC last season
Against: Once again, lack of talent to compete at the level of the blue bloods on paper.

Villanova:
For: Won 2/3 Years and have one of best cultures in Sports
Against: Got absolutely massacred by the draft, losing their 4 Best Players

All Recruiting Ranking courtesy of ESPN

---