Top 125 Players CBB 2021-22 - Three Man Weave

[ChrisSmithsPart]

Top 100 Players 2021-22

RJ is the only Huskie on the list at #78. Gonzaga's Timee at #1. Two freshmen in the top 5.

Big East with 12 players on the list. I think that's a pretty good representation given the amount of proven talent that has just exited the league. WIth the hgih quality of freshman and transfers entering the league, I would not be surprised to see this number reach 20+ at the end of the season.

 

[Jay-Bone]

Sanogo gonna surprise a lot of people.

 

[Kenny11]

Jackson will be very good. Looking at his freshman stats to project this season would be a huge mistake because of many factors (injury, covid issues, no true preseason in 2020, etc).

but for this list, the big East defensive player of the year should probably get a mention

 

[kansashusky]

a lot to prove this year. I think balance will be better for us though. No more relying on Bouk's heroics. Will expose some players and tighten up the rotation.

 

[businesslawyer]

The best comparison to the upcoming season was 94-95, the year we lost to UCLA in the Regional Final. We had graduated Donyell Marshall, coming off the first time a UConn player had ever been a first team All American, but returned all the important pieces around him. Four starters (Ollie, Donny Marshall, Knight and Sheffer), along with a guy who came off the bench the prior year named Ray Allen. And the team was better than they were the prior year.

The difference is that year we were looking at Ray Allen to replace Donyell as the star. This year, we have a bunch of candidates to take up the role as the go to guy -- Sanogo, Akok, Jackson, Hawkins -- but we have absolutely no certainty that any of them will be able to do it. It will be an interesting season. I wouldn't be shocked if we're no better than we were last year, but I also wouldn't be shocked if we get to the second weekend with a realistic shot at moving further.

 

[UconnU]

Cole, Sanogo and AJax should have made the list. These people didn’t do their research.

 

[auror]

Cole, Sanogo and AJax should have made the list. These people didn’t do their research.

Jackson should not have made it. Seriously? A top 100 player in college basketball?

He scored 3 points a game last year and averaged 7 fouls per 40 minutes while shooting 12% from 3 and turning it over 30% of the time.

 

[ucp990411]

Jackson should not have made it. Seriously? A top 100 player in college basketball?

He scored 3 points a game last year and averaged 7 fouls per 40 minutes while shooting 12% from 3 and turning it over 30% of the time.

Agreed, he has lots to prove.

 

[UconnU]

Jackson should not have made it. Seriously? A top 100 player in college basketball?

He scored 3 points a game last year and averaged 7 fouls per 40 minutes while shooting 12% from 3 and turning it over 30% of the time.

Everyone knows he was hurt and can project his year 2 leap. They have a bunch of freshman on the list, it’s all about projection.

 

[auror]

Everyone knows he was hurt and can project his year 2 leap. They have a bunch of freshman on the list, it’s all about projection.

Even if he makes a nice leap, which we're hoping but isn't assured, there's still a good chance he wouldn't be a top 100 player. There are 4.5k college basketball players. Top 100 is the 98th percentile. We were roughly 9 points of net rating better with him on the bench than playing last year. I don't think he would have started for any top 50 team last year, and he was likely worse than the best or top couple players on probably the next 100 teams and definitely some other high major bench players. He was somewhere in the range of the 400-500th best player in college basketball last year. Still 90th percentile. That's about right for a highly regarded but somewhat struggling high major freshman.

A nice leap has him bypass good bench guy, bottom tier starter, and goes right to decent high major starter level. Which is probably around 200th best player.

Yes, 12 of the top 100 are freshmen. But 72 of the top 100 are juniors, seniors, or redshirt seniors (yes, this year in college basketball is going to be especially deep because of those free red shirt years for seniors). You have to be an elite fresh or soph to be as good as guys with 2 or 3 more years of development, and he has not shown enough to make me think he will be elite this year. I will be surprised if he's consistently our best player or an all-Big East level player. It's within his range of outcomes, but it is not the most likely outcome.

 

[Rich]

Cannot keep track of all of these dudes. I have heard about Bates, Balanchero, Juzang, Holmgren and that's about it outside of UCONN's players.

But really, does anyone other than UCONN's players really matter here?

 

[gampelcrazies]

I'm really shocked RJ is the one player that got listed. I'd rank both Sanogo and Whaley higher than him.

 

[jibsey]

Sanogo gonna surprise a lot of people.

Uh yeah.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Cole, Sanogo and AJax should have made the list. These people didn’t do their research.

Good luck to any publication touting a 2.9 ppg player in their preseason top-100…

Interesting that the top seven players are all PF/Cs.

 

[Tiamat7]

Cannot keep track of all of these dudes. I have heard about Bates, Balanchero, Juzang, Holmgren and that's about it outside of UCONN's players.

But really, does anyone other than UCONN's players really matter here?

I guess it depends on how invested you are in the sport of college basketball. There are opportunity costs, for sure. But knowing some of these top 100 players makes the season and potential matchups far more compelling than would otherwise be the case.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Everyone knows he was hurt and can project his year 2 leap. They have a bunch of freshman on the list, it’s all about projection.

Any rational person would be more concerned than optimistic going into this year. Every player on the list is a 5 star recruit, or a returning star.