Players Graduating: Wade Taylor IV, Zhuric Phelps, Manny Obaseki, Henry Coleman, Andersson Garcia, Jace Carter, Hayden Hefner, CJ Wilcher
Players Likely Leaving Early/Transferring: Pharrel Payne, Rob Dockery, Andre Mills, Jaelyn Lee, Solomon Washington, George Turkson Jr., Janusz Ratowski
Noteworthy Arrivals: Jasir Rencher (4-star SG), Jeremiah Green (4-star PG), Aaron Glass (3-star SG)
Both Purdue and Arizona figure to be Top 10 teams heading into next season, leaving either coach Buzz Williams’ old team or his new one as the No. 4 seed most likely to crash and burn.
And, well, it’s not much of a question, is it?
While Maryland’s entire ‘Crab Five’ (and then some) is either definitely gone or currently in the portal, Williams has already added five high-major transfers (three from Texas A&M), has a 4-star recruit (Chris Jeffrey) and has a proven ability to excel in a major conference.
A&M, on the other hand, has a coach (Bucky McMillan) with five years of collegiate experience, making the NCAA tournament just once in his half-decade at Samford.
The Aggies also have basically no roster. The only player on last year’s team who isn’t already gone or in the portal is rising sophomore Chris McDermott, who played 45 minutes and didn’t score against an opponent better than Abilene Christian. McMillan has yet to add anyone from the portal yet, either, so they could not field a starting lineup at this point.
There’s also a history of Williams leaving teams high and dry and needing some time to rebound. Marquette went 13-19 in its first year after he left. Virginia Tech went 16-16. And Texas A&M might be lucky to hit either of those marks in year No. 1 of Bucky Ball.