Our team ADJeff (Adjusted Efficiency) rating primarily measures the talent of returning players. It does not account for factors such as coaching, team fit, continuity, spacing, etc. While it serves as a crucial guidepost for evaluating experienced and proven talent— which is the primary component of the rankings— coaching, fit, and other factors are also considered. This is why these rankings are not solely based on ADJeff.
*Players Below without a blue hyperlink are projected
I had high hopes for Matta’s return to Butler, but it’s proven to be a much more daunting task building in the Big East than in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference he was in back in 2001. They’ve failed to crack the top 60 in three years, and I wouldn’t expect Year 4 to be any better.
Creighton is Iowa East with Dix and Freeman. I do think they’ll fare much better than they did at Iowa. Freeman in a drop coverage will help his defense—he’s always blocked a lot of shots, and Creighton has traditionally gotten a lot out of their center defense.
I’d call Season 1 for Holtmann a massive success—going from 300+ to 122. This team returns some continuity and adds Kaleb Banks, who might be a little undervalued in the model. He’s one of the few players I was surprised to see rated so low, but the AAC was really down.
When your best-rated player in the model is KJ Lewis, you might have a problem. He’s a good player, but more of a supporting piece, and there isn’t much star power or anyone to replace Sorber’s production. The post depth is especially concerning.
Perhaps no coach trusts internal development and avoids the portal more than Smart. I see no Koleks or Joneses here this year, so a drop-off is likely. I don’t get the complete lack of portal use, especially since Kolek himself was a transfer. Even Purdue went and got Cluff. They need to use the portal—at least to fill glaring needs—and they have several.
Providence has the talent to rank much higher, but until the coaching proves it can deliver, we have to rank them lower. Edwards could lead the nation in scoring—he averaged a highly efficient 17 in 25 minutes last year for an SEC team. Selller was out last year but averaged 16 PPG in the Big 12 two years ago. There are weapons here. I expect English to ride them, and Erhumwunse gives them rim protection behind it. There should be no excuses for English this year with a roster this talented—31st in talent-only rankings.
This roster is rough. When your best projected player is Fisher—who led two teams ranked between 275–300—you’ve got issues. When your second-best is Stanton-McCray from Miami (OH), you’re really in trouble. I believe money is holding Holloway back to a degree, but I still think he could be recruiting better talent.
Nova fans should have more interest in moving on from Neptune to Willard. However, this roster looks worse than recent Nova teams. When you’re depending on a 4-star freshman and Askew, that’s less than ideal.
Pitino did a good enough job at Minnesota that he probably shouldn’t have been fired. He proved his worth at New Mexico as well. Unfortunately, this roster has some issues, and I don’t think they get off to the start Xavier fans hoped for. As solid a hire as Pitino was, I think not calling Chris Mack back was a miss.
