Rivals Roundtable: Looking ahead to the 2023-24 season
This week’s special edition of the Rivals Roundtable sees our weekly discussion move up a day from its usual Friday slot to Thursday, and this week’s conversation comes without a theme. Instead, Rivals analysts Rob Cassidy and Jason Jordan attack three questions dealing with wide-ranging topics from the world of college hoops and college hoops recruiting.
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Recruiting Rumor Mill: Latest on Harper, Fland, Queen, more
2024 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2025 Rankings: Top 130
2026 Rankings: Top 65
Transfer Portal: Latest news | Portal player ranking/transfer tracker (hoops) | Portal player ranking/transfer tracker (football)
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1. WHICH UNRESOLVED RECRUTIMENT ARE YOU MOST CERTAIN WILL DRAG ON BEYOND THE EARLY SIGNING WINDOW?
Cassidy: Dylan Harper’s recruitment felt like it may have been nearing its end at a few different moments this summer, but those days appear over now. The five-star guard is now mulling additional fall visits, and it seems Kansas, Auburn, Duke and Rutgers are in store for a four-way fight that could rage into winter and, possibly, spring. The Scarlet Knights should still be looked at as the leader here I suppose, but the longer this thing drags out, the more nervous moments there will be in Piscataway. At this point it seems unlikely that Harper will sign in November.
Jordan: Bryson Tucker for sure. After he left IMG Academy last season there wasn’t much news coming out regarding his recruitment. That hasn’t changed substantially even now. Tucker didn’t play on any circuits then showed up at the NBPA Top 100 camp and played well. Now, he’s at Bishop O’Connell for the coming season. He took one official to Michigan State, but things have remained quiet ever since. No motion tends to lessen the chances for a commitment and certainly a signing.
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2. WHICH FRESHMAN OUTSIDE THE 2023 TOP 100 DO YOU FEEL COULD HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON THE UPCOMING SEASON?
Cassidy: I’ve always been intrigued by the upside of Georgia Tech’s Baye Ndongo, and reports coming out of Atlanta say he has set himself up to see big minutes as a freshman. He was recruited out of high school by the new staff, which views him as a steal and seems to have a plan for him as a freshman. Ndongo is one of few big men on the Yellow Jackets’ roster and should find himself on the floor early and often, making his development key to Tech’s season. His game still needs some refining, but he is powerful and athletic enough to immediately impact college games as an at-the-rim scorer and physical defender.
Jordan: Oh no doubt about it, Gus Yalden at Wisconsin. He’s 6-foot-8, 240 pounds and super light on his feet but knows how to throw his weight around to reset space and finish through contact in the paint. He had a strong summer in the Nike EYBL last summer and put up big numbers against the country’s top bigs. What he lacks in athleticism he makes up for with skill set and IQ. Expect Yalden to make his presence known in Greg Gard’s system.
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3. WHICH TEAM NOT NAMED NORTH CAROLINA THAT MISSED THE NCAA TOURNAMENT A YEAR AGO ARE YOU MOST CERTAIN WILL MAKE IT THIS YEAR?
Cassidy: This is a trickier question than it used to be because roster turnover via the transfer portal has made projecting almost anything exceedingly difficult. Nevertheless, I’ll take Colorado. Highly regarded freshman Cody Williams gets a lot of the ink and will contribute massively this season, but the key to the Buffaloes may well be TCU transfer Eddie Lampkin, who averaged 6.5 PPG and 5.9 RPG on an NCAA Tournament team a year ago. He’ll shine even brighter as a senior in the Pac-12, as he projects to be one of the more seasoned and talented bigs in the conference. Tad Boyle’s squad has some depth to it as well. I think a tournament berth is a very realistic expectation. In fact, the roster looks like one capable of advancing once it gets there.
Jordan: I’ll stay in Madison for this one, just because I really like Greg Gard’s 2023 haul of underrated prospects who can fill a lot of roles in the system. Yalden, Nolan Winter, John Blackwell and St. John’s transfer AJ Storr give the Badgers options on lineups they were missing a year ago. The Badgers missed the Dance for just the second time since 1998, and that’s after a season where they played six overtime games, so, be clear, Gard’s group was always competitive. Expect them to get back in the saddle and reappear next March.