Evaluating the 5 Biggest College Basketball Offseason Decisions from the Past Week

As the College Basketball Offseason goes on and on, more and more critical decisions regarding the 2023 season are being made. Those decisions intensified on Wednesday afternoon at midnight, as the early NBA Draft Deadline for next season came and gone. Here are the five most influential decisions made over this past week!

Drew Timme Returns to Gonzaga

There wasn’t a bigger winner on Draft Deadline Day, than Mark Few and his Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Zag’s received word that not only Timme would be returning, but also Rashir Bolton and Julian Strawther. All three players were key contributors to Gonzaga’s 2022 season, which ended in a 28-4 record, but also a disappointing Sweet 16 loss to Arkansas. Having a player like Timme return to school has not been a normal development in the sport of College Basketball over recent years. However, with NIL becoming a legitimate factor in some of the top players’ decisions, more familiar faces are deciding to return to school like Timme compared to recent years, which is a huge victory for the sport. Timme has played in 97 games throughout his college career, scoring over 1500 points and having over 600 career rebounds. Timme shinned in a massive way this past season, averaging 18.4 points, and 6.8 rebounds per game.

One of the primary reasons why Timme returned to school last season was a disappointing National Championship Game loss to Baylor, where he really struggled and could never get into a rhythm in the game. After many questioned if Timme was built for the NCAA Tournament, it was evident in Gonzaga’s Round of 32 victory over Memphis, that Timme would not let them loose. The big man finished with 25 points on 10/15 shooting from the field, to help Gonzaga recover from a 10-point halftime deficit in route for the victory. Timme also did a lot of his damage against future NBA lottery pick Jalen Duren, which is an encouraging sign. Although Mark Few’s program has had some disappointing losses in recent years chasing their first National Championship, no program in College Basketball has made the second weekend in each of the last 7 NCAA Tournaments that is not Gonzaga. With Timme and key contributors like Bolton, Strawther, Nolan Hickman and Hunter Sallis back alongside some stud transfers, the Zags will be right back as one of the favorites to cut down the nets in 2023.

Matthew Mayer Transfers to Illinois

One year ago at this time, Mayer was fresh off contributing at a significant level to the 2021 National Champion Baylor Bears and looked like a sure fire future pro. Unfortunately the 2022 season at Baylor didn’t go as planned, as he averaged 9.8 points per game while shooting only 32.4% from three. Mayer averaged 8.1 points per game while shooting 39.5% from three in 2021, in only 15.1 minutes per game compared to 22.8 minutes per game.

Despite coming off of their first Big Ten Regular Season Title since 2005, the Illini lost a majority of their squad from last season and was looking for some impact players. Mayer wasn’t the only highly touted Big 12 Transfer heading to Champagne as they also brought in Terrance Shannon Jr. from Texas Tech. Similarly, to Mayer, Shannon at one point in his college career looked like a sure fire future pro, but had a disappointing 2022 season, battling through injuries while playing for a new Head Coach in Mark Adams. With both guys coming in, alongside Baylor Transfer Dain Dainja, top recruit Skyy Clark and returners in RJ Melendez, Coleman Hawkins and Luke Goode, there is no reason why Illinois shouldn’t be back competing at the top of the Big Ten.

Brad Underwood has gotten his fair share of criticism over the last 2 postseasons after his Illini have had some disappointing efforts. With that being said both Round of 32 losses could be attributed to very unlucky draws, with both Loyola Chicago (2021) and Houston (2022) both being rated in the KenPom Top 10. This should be the year for Underwood and the Illini to break through in the postseason, gaining multiple players with legitimate postseason experience.

Tyrese Hunter Transfers To Texas

At the conclusion of the 2022 season, there were realistic expectations that Hunter would not only be a contender for Big 12 Player of the Year, but also a likely future pro. While both of those outcomes are still likely to happen, Hunter left Iowa State and will be suiting up for Texas, joining his former conference foe. Hunter thrived given a golden opportunity in 2022, starting all 35 of Iowa State’s games running the point, and averaging 11.0 points and 4.9 assists per game. Since the announcement of Hunter coming to Texas, Longhorns Head Coach Chris Beard has made it clear what he intends to do with the dynamic backcourt of Hunter and Marcus Carr.

With the addition of Hunter, Beard expects to put Marcus Carr in a much more favorable position off the ball, giving him more freedom and the ability to create on the offensive end. Hunter is also a perfect fit in the defense of Beard, with his top-notch athleticism and ability to get into the passing lanes. The issue with Texas last season was having a ton of talented, although new faces to the program, that didn’t necessarily mix well. With Hunter, Carr, and other former heralded transfers Timmy Allen and Christian Bishop back alongside the #5 ranked recruiting class in College Basketball, headlined by likely future NBA Lottery Pick Dillon Mitchell. The overall level of talent will be raised compared to last season, but the question is can a team that had clear chemistry issues last year, get things fixed playing together for another season, but also adding a handful of other really talented players?

Despite getting to the NCAA Tournament in Year 1, which shouldn’t be taken lightly, 2022 did feel like somewhat of a disappointment for Texas. With that being said, Chris Beard has everything in his disposal to get this team back to the top of the Big 12.

Marcus Sasser Returns to Houston

Just two years ago Sasser led the Cougars to their first Final 4 appearance since 1984, and returned to school looking to be in route for another big season. The 6’2” lead Guard from Dallas, played in the Cougars first 12 games of Houston’s 2022 season, averaging 17.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. While watching Houston it was clear that in most cases, Sasser was the best player on the floor and someone that Kelvin Sampson could always trust with the ball in his hands. Sasser dropped 25 points in Tuscaloosa, against an Alabama team that at the time, looked like one of the 5 best teams in College Basketball. Sasser’s versatile skill set of being able to shoot, handle the ball, pass and defend, made him a very intriguing future NBA Draft Prospect. With that being said, things took a major halt in late December, when Sasser suffered a season ending toe injury. At the time this injury looked to be devastating for Houston, as they now lost both primary backcourt members from the team that got all the way to the 2021 Final 4. Instead, they went 21-4 in the games without Sasser, en route to their 3rd second weekend in the last three NCAA Tournaments. Sasser isn’t the only Cougar set to return after a devastating season ending injury, as Tramon Mark is set to return for the Cougars as well. Mark broke out onto the scene in 2021, making the clutch and 1 basket to get Houston past Rutgers in a tightly contested Round of 32 game in 2021. In addition, Houston is set to return Jamal Shead, Reggie Chaney and J’Wan Roberts alongside McDonald’s All American Jarrace Walker. There are very few coaches in College Basketball better than Kelvin Sampson right now, and his team has the talent to get back to their second Final 4 in three seasons.

Moussa Diabate and Caleb Houstan leave Michigan for NBA Draft

No other team has hit harder on Draft Deadline Day than Michigan, who lost two key contributors that many thought could be back. Both Diabate and Houstan were Top 20 recruits entering the College game, and had some very good moments throughout the 2022 season. Diabate seemed to be the one that looked much more NBA ready, as he flashed elite athleticism, while providing legitimate rim protection. The loss of Houstan wasn’t as expected, especially considering he really went through some ups and downs as a Freshman. Houstan averaged 10.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 35.5% from three on the season. Michigan’s early season struggles correlated to the shot making of Houstan, as both the player and the team really started to get into a groove around mid-February when Houstan started to really turn it on. 

Michigan did thankfully get the news earlier this offseason that big man Hunter Dickinson would be returning to Ann Arbor for his Junior season. However, after losing both Diabate and Houstan early, alongside Eli Brooks and DeVante Jones, Juwan Howard has some work cut out for him. Around Dickerson, Michigan does bring in a very good Freshman class headlined by Juwan’s son Jett, alongside highly touted big man Tarris Read. It is in the backcourt, where there might be some concern following the loss of all three starters. Juwan has proven to be one of the best coaches in College Basketball at both getting players and, in the X’s, and O’s. Michigan has already added Princeton Transfer Jaelin Llewellyn from the portal, to run the Point, taking the place of former Top 100 recruit Frankie Collins who also left this offseason. Michigan fans should have some optimism about this move though, as the last time they went to the Ivy League ranks for a Grad transfer Point Guard, it couldn’t have worked out any better with Mike Smith.