11. Michigan State- The Spartans lose all everything Draymond Green, he did everything for the Spartans. The Leader for the Spartans will be point guard Keith Appling. Joining him in the backcourt will be one of the top recruits in the nation Gary Harris. Branden Dawson returns after an injury cut his impressive freshman season short. Michigan State will have a ton of beef inside with Adreian Payne and Derrick Nix. Nix’s status for next season is up in the air after a recent arrest. No matter what you can always count on Tom Izzo having this team near the top.
12. Memphis- The Tigers lose leading scorer Will Barton to the draft but they bring back their next four leading scorers. Point guard Joe Jackson will be the Tigers best players. Talented wings Chris Crawford and Adonis Thomas also return. Tarik Black will be the man in the middle for Memphis. Josh Pastner brings in a top recruit in William Goodwin. Like always this team is very talented now can they put it all together.
13. Creighton-Doug McDermott, one of the best players in the nation returns. He should be the early favorite to be player of the year. Including McDermott the Blue Jays also return 3 4 starters and their top 2 reserves. Gregory Echenique will anchor the inside for Creighton. Ethan Wragge also returns inside. Josh Jones will take over the point guard duties for the departed Antoine Young. The question for the Blue Jays will they get on defense, which they lacked last season.
14. Duke –After overachieving in the regular season the Blue Devils were a huge disappointment in the tournament losing to 15th seed Lehigh. Their best player Austin Rivers also departs to the NBA, and their best big man Mason Plumlee has yet to make a decision on the NBA. Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly will be the leaders of this Duke team. Look for guard Quinn Cook to have a breakout season. Also watch out for redshirt freshman Alex Murphy. Once again the Blue Devils will be an excellent three point shooting team, but they lack of presence inside and lack of playmaker will hurt them.
15. Michigan – It all but sounds like star point guard Trey Burke is heading to the NBA but no official word yet. If Burke returns Michigan will move up if he doesn’t the Wolverines will most likely fall out of my top 25. Tim Hardaway Jr. returns and will be one of the best wing players in the country. Jordan Morgan also will be back in the middle. John Beilein brings in a top 10 recruiting class. Leading the way is Mitch McGary, who has been compared to Tyler Hansbrough. Nick Stauskas and Glenn Robinson are both impact freshman.
Follow me on twitter @ScottBasketball http://twitter.com/#!/ScottBasketball
Also like the Roundballchat site on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/roundballchatcom/191263564258333