You ask, we answer.
The new Twitter Tuesday series launches today as we accumulate a variety of college basketball and recruiting questions through the Twitter universe.
HOW THEY WERE BUILT: Northwestern | Villanova | Arizona
EVANS: Tremont Waters, a top-50 lead guard that signed with Georgetown but asked for his release this past weekend, will be quite the coveted prospect this spring. The second-best available point guard behind Trevon Duval should expect for the top schools nationally to chase after him. I fail to see Kentucky being a landing spot for him due to its depth of playmakers in the backcourt, but looking at places that need point guards for next year, Syracuse and Duke would be two of the top programs that would make a lot of sense. Depending on Devonte Graham’s decision to come back to Kansas or not, the Jayhawks could also be a capable suitor for Waters.
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EVANS: The best story of the 2016-2017 college basketball season has been Northwestern as it has finally made its way into the NCAA Tournament. The next step for Chris Collins’ program is remaining a consistent threat for not just future tournament berths, but deep runs into March.
The 2018 class will be a vital one for the Big Ten program as it will lose Bryant McIntosh and Scottie Lindsey to graduation. Landing immediate contributors in the backcourt will be of the utmost importance where top 100 recruits Cormac Ryan, Robby Carmody, Dwayne Cohill and Ayo Dosunmu remain high on the list. After losing Gavin Skelly in the post, picking up a versatile but productive big man will be vital as Race Thompson and Talen Horton-Tucker are two others to watch.
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EVANS: Butler has a tremendous class coming to campus in the fall, maybe the best that the program has ever put together on paper. While Kyle Young and Christian David have taken up most of the publicity so far, Jerald Butler is the ideal Butler forward that can work his way into minutes next season. Losing four producers from this year’s group to graduation, if Butler can get to campus early and shed some of the excess weight, he may have a chance to make some noise early on. Defensively, he may have some questions to answer as he really doesn’t have a defined position on the court. But his passing skills and unique abilities could make the three-star recruit a capable contributor early on.
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EVANS: Mo Bamba, a five-star and the No. 4 prospect in the 2017 class, has been down to a final four of Michigan, Duke, Kentucky and Texas for the past several weeks as a commitment won’t likely come until after the NCAA Tournament. At the time being, Kentucky has gained the most amount of traction with him. Texas is another program that is right there in the mix for him, a school that many others thought would be out of the running by now. Michigan may be on the outside looking in. Duke, to no one’s surprise, has remained in the hunt.
What it may come down to is who will be leaving and who might be staying following the early entry into the NBA Draft. If I have to select a landing spot, despite its loaded frontcourt, I would have to name Kentucky as his future home, a commitment that comes sometime in April.
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EVANS: Taking a look at the 2017 class, which programs might be primed for future March Madness runs? Five to watch:
Western Kentucky: Mitchell Robinson and Josh Anderson, two top 100 recruits with the former being a five-star big man, will immediately reserve defensive player of the year honors within Conference USA next year and thus, cause giant noise in Bowling Green.
St. Louis: Travis Ford inherited a program that displayed an empty cupboard of talent but the work that the former Oklahoma State head coach has done on the recruiting front is nothing short of impressive. Four-star wing Jordan Goodwin and blue-collared forward Hasahn French will get the Billikens back within the top portion of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
VCU: Thanks to a loaded class of four seniors, the Rams will see no dropoff in the years to come. Lavar Batts fits VCU's 'Havoc Defense' as a lead guard, while its frontcourt of Mayan Kiir, Marcus Santos-Silva and Sean Mobley all bring major value.
Northeastern: The Huskies missed the NCAA Tournament this year but the future will bring its share of chances. The gem to the four-man class is Jason Strong but he will be trailed by Derrick Cook, Tomas Murphy and Myles Franklin, each of whom should be ready to help next year.
Princeton: This season might just be the start for future runs in March. Led by Jerome Desrosiers, the Ivy League gang has a four-man recruiting class that should only add more depth to Mitch Henderson’s program.
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EVANS: Brian Bowen, a five-star small forward, recently took a visit to DePaul this past weekend. The recruitment process for Bowen has gone on longer than most thought as it now seems like a college commitment won’t take place until the spring. If that is the case, it definitely bodes well for the Blue Demons as they could work their way further into the mix.
Arizona, Creighton, Michigan State and Texas are the most viable landing spots for Bowen. Give DePaul about a 10-percent chance of landing him. However, the Big East program can offer more minutes and shots early on, something that Bowen would love to have afforded to him.