Mid-Major Basketball

Austin Ball and Jackson Holt are two of the most underrated returners in the UAC and I think both those guys are gonna lead this team well. They are also surrounded by a lot of great pieces including two high level JUCO transfers, those being Justin McCarter and Drae Vasser. Vasser averaged 17, 6, and 5 for Vincennes last season! West Florida transfer Aric Demings and Amarr Knox join the team as well just adding to their fantastic guard play. Knox redshirted last season but in 2024-25 averaged 14.5 PPG and roughly 2 steals a night for Alabama State. Big man depth is there as well with the return of Yvens Paul, Louisville transfer Mouhamed Camara, and Long Island University transfer, Shadrak Lasu who I think has tons of breakout potential. Overall, I think a down season last year will give them a lot of strive this year and in a fresh new conference.

Idaho is ranks 2nd in the Big Sky in 4 categories heading into the season on Torvik. Those being Defensive Efficiency, Projected Effective Talent, Projected Production from Transfers, and Projected Effective Experience. Kristian Gonzales is back from injury after appearing in just one game last season, but we all know what he's capable of and he should lead this team well. Seth Joba is another returning piece who I think will be really important to this team. Two strong JUCO transfers join the mix as well in Brady Kennison and Mo Diao. Diao is a rim protecting machine despite being only 6'9" and Kennison is a great scorer and playmaker. Should be two of the best newcomers in the Big Sky along with breakout candidate, Kase Wynott.

On paper, Hofstra doesn't seem that intriguing to me, but there's actually a lot of potential here that could finish even higher in the CAA. For one, they're first in the conference by a landslide in defensive efficiency projected by Torvik to go along with what will be an elite rebounding team with the addition of guys like Spence Wewe and Riley Dunn. Two Loyola Chicago transfers in Justin Moore and Deywilk Tavares are the highlights of these team who were two of the Ramblers main guys last year and on an A 10 team, so that's really promising to add those guys. Tanner Thomas also joins the mix as well. Gotta remember, they're also coming off a conference championship and are returning their coach from that team.

I really like this group for Iona, much more than the past few seasons even with all that they've been active, these offseason additions intrigue me the most. Kevon Vanderhorst and Martin Kheil are two solid mid-major transfer guards surround a major returning senior Kosy Akametu. I want to talk about VCU transfer Keyshawn Mitchell though, who I think will immediately be a top big in the conference. The 6'11" product actually had 2 double doubles last season in 10.6 minutes a game for the Round of 32 Rams. He will be absolutely explosive for the Gaels. St. John's transfer senior, Sadiku Ibine Ayo also joins this team and he'll have a good chance to light the Metro up on both ends. Holy Cross transfer Aiden Disu and returners Luke Jungers and Alliou Fall make their front court depth elite as well.

The central part of Elon this year is the return of to double digit scorers in Randall Pettus II and Bryson Cokley. Going deeper than that though, I think the Phoenix have 3 really under the radar transfers, those being Isaiah Mbeng, Raul Villar,  and Josh Dalton. All 3 have tons upside in the CAA. Dalton had a 14 and 7 game for LMU vs Santa Clara last season. Their big man depth goes even deeper too with the addition of double double machine Marko Sarenac over from the D2 ranks, freshman Caleb Zhu and more. Pennsylvania transfer Cam Thrower is also a name to watch. Breakout candidate for sure. 

Detroit Mercy returns more minutes than anyone in the Horizon. This is particularly big I think because they are coming off a conference championship appearance. Overall, I think they could have done a little more in the portal in terms of helping their depth, but I like some of the additions they got such as Jordan Briggs and Elias Palsson from the D2 ranks. They have great size all round the team as well. It'd be great story to go from winning one game the whole season just a couple of years ago to being a top 70 mid-major in the country, so I'm going for it.