I will try and limit my comments about freshmen, since my views on the early drafting of freshmen are well known. I am going to look at how each team’s roster appears, post-draft and look at the changes, positive or negative, by each division in their conference.
>Teams are ranked in descending order from most promising roster to least promising roster.
KEY:
Impact players are players with the potential to average 23-25 fppg.
Impact starters are players with the potential to average 20+ fppg. Fantasy studs are players who can put up 25 or more fppg.
Big “O” Robertson Conference
Driesell Division
Virginia Gentlemen
Impact players pre-draft: Ballo-c, Jones-f, Clingan-c
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Johnson-f, Bona-f/c
Any draftees that are a definite plus: McCullar-g
Any draftees w/upside: Cleveland-g
Analysis: They have 3 impact starters. All 3 of whom are fantasy studs, and Johnson could easily do 22-24 fppg. And how did McCullar last to the 13th round?!?!?!? I believe that McCullar will average 23-25+fppg, giving them 4 possible studs. They could use another freshman and another guard, but they are loaded.
Vindaloos
Impact players pre-draft: Townsend-f, Ike-f/c
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Anderson-g/f
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Traore-f
Any draftees w/upside: Not really
Analysis: They have 4 good starters. 2 of whom are fantasy studs, and, one other could be. That’s a good place to be in, like NPFR they can easily add two impact starters from the FA pool.
North Pole Fightin’ Reindeer
Impact players pre-draft: Dickinson-c, Edwards-f/c
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Tyson-g/f
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Mayo-g
Any draftees w/upside: Hall-f, Griffiths, fr-g
Analysis: Getting Mayo was huge. Gives them 3 guys who could be fantasy studs (at least 25 fppg)-which is really good. They need Tyson to be a 20, 20+ fppg player as they are still short a starter, which would be two if he can’t be that guy, but they have a good base and if they are active early in the FA market, they can easily find two impact starters.
Hoosiers
Impact players pre-draft: Daniels-f, Aimaq-f/c
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Oduro-f/c
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Watson-f
Any draftees w/upside: Wagner, fr-g, Avila-c, Mara, fr-c
Analysis: Hmm, outside of Wagner, who’s a freshman, you don’t see any guards listed above. And, Wagner, by far, is their best freshman, so, they need guards…BADLY
Crum Division
Gator Bait
Impact players pre-draft: Omoruyi-f/c, Devries-g/f
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Abmas-g, Pride-g
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Records-f/c, Marshall-f
Any draftees w/upside: Mullen-f
Analysis: GB has a good roster, the question is: How good is good? In other words, I am talking about how effective Abmas & Pride will be at their new schools. At their old schools each had to be the man and carry a big load. Abmas will probably lead Texas in scoring, but will he produce the same fantasy numbers in doing so? Pride should be good, but St. Bonaventure has a veteran team returning with a few double-digit scorers. Again, he will be productive, but how productive? They have a good starting lineup, but how good will good be?
Maize and Blue Bloods
Impact players pre-draft: Omier-f, Kalkbrenner-c
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Scheierman-g, Jones-f/c
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Nelson-f, Corbett-g
Any draftees w/upside: Galette-g/f
Analysis: Similar to Gator Bait, the MBB’s have a good starting lineup. I didn’t mention the freshmen-Castle & Walter, but I think one or both will get the job done. They need Jones to impact big, Nelson to get 20+ and they need to have Corbett jump up 2-3+fppg, which he can, and, with the Bewley twins currently not eligible to play, that increases the odds that he will. Galette, who was disappointing as a fantasy option last year could be their “ace in the hole,” so to speak, if he can be a 21-22+ fppg player, which he is certainly capable of.
Psychos
Impact players pre-draft: Cohen-f/c
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Stevens-g
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Thompson-f, Rogers-f/c
Any draftees w/upside: Edwards-fr-g,
Analysis: The Psychos pretty much turn over their roster each year as they prefer seniors. The five players listed above are all capable, but they don’t have the firepower to match Gator Bait or Maize and Blue Bloods, so, they need to add two impact players in a quality guard and quality forward to have a shot at winning their division.
Hillbilly Maulers
Impact players pre-draft: Fiedler-f, Wiliams-f/c
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Porter-f, Hinson-g/f
Any draftees that are a definite plus: None
Any draftees w/upside: Adelekun-f
Analysis: The Maulers roster is in much better shape than it was a year ago, mainly due to a trade they made with the DVG’s that landed them Williams & Porter. However, in making a pre-draft decision to keep Darrion Williams, who transferred to Texas Tech & will not be very productive, it cost them a first round pick, and, IMHO, they did not draft well. I don’t believe they drafted one player who can really help them with the possible exception of Adelekun. Without any doubt, they desperately need guards.
McGuire Conference
Olson Division
Deep Valley Grouchos
Impact players pre-draft: Pember-f, Soriano-f/c, Bacot-f/c, Hopkins-g/f, Noel-f
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Broome-f/c
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Kolek-g, McFarlane-g
Any draftees w/upside: Sandfort-g/f, Essandoko-fr-c
Analysis: DVG’s returned the best pre-draft roster in their history. They addressed their only need by acquiring Kolek & McFarlane. They appear to have two freshmen that are capable. On paper, there are no pressing needs for this team.
KC Warthogs
Impact players pre-draft: Edey-c, Shumate-f
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: A. Traore-g/f
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Freeman-g/f, Estrada-g
Any draftees w/upside: Collier-fr-g
Analysis: KC is a lucky dude. By that, I mean that it usually takes one and a half players on the opposing team to equal Edey’s production, so, KC doesn’t have to have 6 impact players + a really good freshman. Shumate should absolutely explode this year, giving them two studs. I don’t know if Traore can bump up, but he’s certainly a candidate to do so. Freeman is going to produce some big games, and, although Estrada is moving up from Hofstra to Alabama, they brought him in to be Estrada and not Estrada light. Yeah, I think they need to get one impact player, but just one ought to do the trick.
Hardwood Heroes
Impact players pre-draft: Filipowski-f/c,
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: None
Any draftees that are a definite plus: F. Traore-g/f, Enaruna-f
Any draftees w/upside: None
Analysis: Hardwood was hit hard when Dingle left Penn for St. John’s, and, even harder as it appears that Freemantle, who was about to be a full-on stud, was declared out due to injuries. Ashworth is a decent guard, but you already saw what I said about decent, and, I don’t think the freshmen have enough “oomph.” They need to find 3 impact starters.
Saluki YRD’s
Impact players pre-draft: None
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Shannon-g
Any draftees that are a definite plus: None
Any draftees w/upside: Vanover-c, Murdix-g, Maring-f/c, Claude-f, Brown-f
Analysis: The Saluki roster is not a “desert” in regards to decent player, it’s just that you need more than a bunch of decent players to be competitive and in their case, they need the 5 players I listed as “draftees with upside” to all hit-that’s a gamble that would be called a sucker’s bet in Vegas, but, it’s possible. They will need two impact players and I don’t think either freshman will meet the standard.
Tark Division
House of Sparky
Impact players pre-draft: Freeman-f
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Beagle-f/c, Ighodaro-f
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Sharp-g, Lendeborg-f
Any draftees w/upside: Cook-f/c
Analysis: Roster is in good shape and could be even better than I see it if guards Reynolds & Forbes can increase their productivity. They also need the centers (Beagle & Cook) to be 20+ guys, along with Ighodaro. However, he has 3 possible/probable studs in Freeman, Sharpe & Lendeborg. He has a really good base. If he adds two more impact players+a freshman, he’s there.
The Hoop Guru
Impact players pre-draft: Carlson-f/c
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Talford-f
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Krikke-f, Post-f/c, Davis-g
Any draftees w/upside: Mast-f/c, Small-g
Analysis: A lot of question marks for the Guru’s, but most of them are small ones. Carlson seems primed to bump up his average, ditto for Talford. Krikke should post good numbers at Iowa and Post is primed to take the biggest leap of any player on his roster in terms of increasing his fantasy average. Davis could take a small but still significant bump up. Those are the “small” question marks that THG needs answered positively. The bigger ones are Mast & Small. Booker is no help, so, they need two impact starters, with at least one, and maybe both being guards, and a freshman. It’s not a bad roster but there is so much uncertainty and they have no wiggle room as far as expected production goes.
Prozac Pups
Impact players pre-draft: Holmes-f/c,
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Dante-f/c, Joseph-f/c
Any draftees that are a definite plus: Woolbright-g
Any draftees w/upside: Raynaud-f/c
Analysis: They should get decent production out of freshman Harris-Smith, but they are extremely thin at the guard while being top-heavy (which is fine-as far as having quality depth) at the f/c position. I think they should draw three to their inside straight…two guards and another forward.
Sam Jacobson Went To Class
Impact players pre-draft: Pepper-g
Returnee who could develop into an impact starter: Robertson-g/f, Cardet-g, Timberlake-g
Any draftees that are a definite plus: None
Any draftees w/upside: Traore-f/c
Analysis: Sam must have over-evaluated the quality of his returnees, because three of his first four picks in the draft were freshmen and his first non-frosh draftee is a high, high, high risk of a pick. Sam’s in trouble. I won’t say that he’s already in the blow it all up stage, but, if this was a roster I had just inherited, that’s what I would be looking at doing.