Fanta's 2024 Title Contenders

[HuskyHawk]

Not that it matters what he or anyone thinks, but UConn shows up in Tier 2 "Fully Capable". "Connecticut isn't going anywhere, and with the mix of title run experience and some incredibly high-upside talents on his roster, Hurley has confidence and knows what it takes to win in March. All is right in Storrs."

College basketball 2024 title contenders: 12 teams to watch | FOX Sports

After a wild college basketball offseason, the 2023-24 season is only 10 weeks away. Let's spin things forward with a look at early title contenders.

www.foxsports.com

 

[Waquoit]

Teams with so much turnover at the top of the roster just don't repeat. That will make this season potentially historic.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Here my preseason comparisons of last years NC team vs this coming season
2022-23 preseason evaluation :

We had three in system veterans
5 Sanogo was going to be good for 28/30 minutues
Filling the voids or foul trouble and we were talking Richie Spring as a Backup. Clingan was an unknown who became a huge force
2/3 We knew Hawkins was a great shooter but injuries kept him off the floor as a freshman so health was another ?
Jackson we knew his skill set and defense would keep him in the line up but fitting in on offense with his shooting created another ?
4 We thought it would be Johnson another injury prone guy with very few minutes experience.
Back up by a red-Shirt freshman who we heard could shoot but he was a freshman. Another ?
We lost our PG Cole and went to the portal to get a big combo guard who we knew was good . But coming in as outsider for a potential lead guard is not an easy thing to do
Totally different system plus you have to be a leader on the floor . It took him awhile but he eventually and almost invisibly became that leader
We went.to the portal and got some seasoned guys with burn in good conferences . But looking more like solid subs than spectacular
The Backup 5 , Karaban and the Benches ability to score helped that team make a quantum leap .


2023-24
Backup minutes at the 5 again a huge ? How many effective minutes from Clingan
Can Spencer be the missing shooter to at least minimize the loss of Hawkins
How will Johnson evolve and where will he be the most effective
Newton should be in a better position to anchor the team
Karaban is a keeper
the key to how far we go is how quickly the freshman can get up to speed
Diarra’s experience will be huge
Really most questions arise about our Bench . The starting team really has less questions than last year but this years bench lacking the experience of last year is more of a question mark.

The fun thing about college BB is to watch the growth , wztch who steps up to answer the ? .

 

[Tyler2Rings]

The fun thing about college BB is to watch the growth , wztch who steps up to answer the ? .

Especially so with these Hurley coached teams. Completely different from beginning to end of the season. I expect some lows this year but I'm also confident we'll be a force come March

 

[Huskyforlife]

I think the minimum expectation for this year is to keep us in that top ten status. Establish that we’re back for good, not the flash in the pan opposing fans think we are.

 

[caw]

That seems pretty fair overall.

 

[Palatine]

IMHO it seems that the overall view of UConn is way below what it should be. This is a deep talented team. And Hurley's system is now completely in place meaning the program is now fully established as well. We should be a very tough out in March (if healthy).

 

[alexd]

How can you take this preview seriously if they don't list PC?

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

I think the minimum expectation for this year is to keep us in that top ten status. Establish that we’re back for good, not the flash in the pan opposing fans think we are.

I agree. The reasons we were “flashes in the pan” the two titles before this were anomalies.

2012 was kind of flukey in that it was Calhoun’s last year, the talent just didn’t mesh well, we forced Drummond into the lineup because we had to and it screwed up the chemistry of the team it seemed. Then Calhoun retired, we got a postseason ban and we were left in the AAC.

2015 was the beginning of the KO downhill trainwreck.

It won’t be the same this time around. It would take Hurley leaving the program for the level of play/recruiting to drop. He and the staff are cooking now, there’s no stopping them.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Here my preseason comparisons of last years NC team vs this coming season
2022-23 preseason evaluation :

We had three in system veterans
5 Sanogo was going to be good for 28/30 minutues
Filling the voids or foul trouble and we were talking Richie Spring as a Backup. Clingan was an unknown who became a huge force
2/3 We knew Hawkins was a great shooter but injuries kept him off the floor as a freshman so health was another ?
Jackson we knew his skill set and defense would keep him in the line up but fitting in on offense with his shooting created another ?
4 We thought it would be Johnson another injury prone guy with very few minutes experience.
Back up by a red-Shirt freshman who we heard could shoot but he was a freshman. Another ?
We lost our PG Cole and went to the portal to get a big combo guard who we knew was good . But coming in as outsider for a potential lead guard is not an easy thing to do
Totally different system plus you have to be a leader on the floor . It took him awhile but he eventually and almost invisibly became that leader
We went.to the portal and got some seasoned guys with burn in good conferences . But looking more like solid subs than spectacular
The Backup 5 , Karaban and the Benches ability to score helped that team make a quantum leap .


2023-24
Backup minutes at the 5 again a huge ? How many effective minutes from Clingan
Can Spencer be the missing shooter to at least minimize the loss of Hawkins
How will Johnson evolve and where will he be the most effective
Newton should be in a better position to anchor the team
Karaban is a keeper
the key to how far we go is how quickly the freshman can get up to speed
Diarra’s experience will be huge
Really most questions arise about our Bench . The starting team really has less questions than last year but this years bench lacking the experience of last year is more of a question mark.

The fun thing about college BB is to watch the growth , wztch who steps up to answer the ? .

I agree with these question marks.

• Clingan was far and away the best 15 mpg center in the country. How effective will he be at 28 mpg?
• Is the dropoff when he goes to the bench in favor of Johnson negligible, moderate, or enormous?
• Is Cam Spencer closer to a Hawkins -- a guy you design plays for, run off of screens and punish the defense, and opens up things for other people -- or is he closer to a Calcaterra, who can shoot when open and helps with spacing but is otherwise not keeping the defense preoccupied?
• How does Castle's individual talent translate to Hurley's offense, and can he shoot? Can he defend?
• Can the (generally young, instead of generally experienced) bench maintain a high level of play?

Newton and Karaban will remain studs, no concerns there.

 

[ucp990411]

So Fanta has 2 Big 10 teams in the top 4. When will these experts finally acknowledge that this is a very overrated conference that appears to be strong during the regular season then flame out when it counts.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I think the minimum expectation for this year is to keep us in that top ten status. Establish that we’re back for good, not the flash in the pan opposing fans think we are.

Well for that, we really have to be good next year as well, which currently does not appear at all as guaranteed, with Newton Clingan Spencer and Castle all leaving

We’ll see what we have with the other freshmen though who will be starting with Karaban and Sampson

 

[Tenspro2002]

As for Fanta's list, we're in the #4-6 tier, which is about right and I have no issues with it.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

IMHO it seems that the overall view of UConn is way below what it should be. This is a deep talented team. And Hurley's system is now completely in place meaning the program is now fully established as well. We should be a very tough out in March (if healthy).

I'm not sure how UConn can be "way below" where they should be - they're one of the first 6 teams he mentions as having a chance to win the national championship. That seems to, at minimum, translate to being a "very tough out" as you say.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

Here my preseason comparisons of last years NC team vs this coming season
2022-23 preseason evaluation :

We had three in system veterans
5 Sanogo was going to be good for 28/30 minutues
Filling the voids or foul trouble and we were talking Richie Spring as a Backup. Clingan was an unknown who became a huge force
2/3 We knew Hawkins was a great shooter but injuries kept him off the floor as a freshman so health was another ?
Jackson we knew his skill set and defense would keep him in the line up but fitting in on offense with his shooting created another ?
4 We thought it would be Johnson another injury prone guy with very few minutes experience.
Back up by a red-Shirt freshman who we heard could shoot but he was a freshman. Another ?
We lost our PG Cole and went to the portal to get a big combo guard who we knew was good . But coming in as outsider for a potential lead guard is not an easy thing to do
Totally different system plus you have to be a leader on the floor . It took him awhile but he eventually and almost invisibly became that leader
We went.to the portal and got some seasoned guys with burn in good conferences . But looking more like solid subs than spectacular
The Backup 5 , Karaban and the Benches ability to score helped that team make a quantum leap .


2023-24
Backup minutes at the 5 again a huge ? How many effective minutes from Clingan
Can Spencer be the missing shooter to at least minimize the loss of Hawkins
How will Johnson evolve and where will he be the most effective
Newton should be in a better position to anchor the team
Karaban is a keeper
the key to how far we go is how quickly the freshman can get up to speed
Diarra’s experience will be huge
Really most questions arise about our Bench . The starting team really has less questions than last year but this years bench lacking the experience of last year is more of a question mark.

The fun thing about college BB is to watch the growth , wztch who steps up to answer the ? .

My take is that we are going to be better than last year. I am not saying that we are going to win it all, but hear me out. I think DC will be better than Sanogo was last year. Kid is a monster, and you cannot teach being 7'2". I think that AK will be better as a sophomore, and that is saying a lot, because he was immense last year for us. I think TN will be more assertive, and more consistent than he was last year. I think that this year we have better TEAM shooting, meaning that while we wont have Hawk, we also wont have an offensive liability in AJ (not hating on AJ, just a reality that his offensive game sucked). I think that Castle is a stud. We did not have anyone like him last year. NOBODY. And with all due respect to Joe California and the bench last year, I think Samson, Ball and Ross will give us more impact off the bench. This year we are going to have 5 players at all times on the floor who can get a bucket. And if Samson stays healthy, our defense will be top notch as it was last year.