This is all the information you require about the South Region.
Without a doubt, NBA Draft Twitter will gravitate toward the South Region. Everywhere you look, there are exciting opportunities. It’s Jamal Shead in Houston. Solomon Washington of Texas A&M is a promising defensive back. KJ Simpson, Tristan da Silva, and Cody Williams of Colorado must avoid the First Four’s grasp, but they will draw attention.
Naturally, there are also Duke and Kentucky, which have a plethora of highly anticipated players such as Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard, Jared McCain, Kyle Filipowski, and others. Is now the moment for AJ Storr to truly establish himself as a dude? At the Big Ten Tournament, the Wisconsin wing was quite impressive. Time for Keisei Tominaga? Wade Taylor, part four? Hold on till you witness Jack Gohlke’s time. This year, the senior from Oakland has made 335 shots with the ball. There have only been eight within the 3-point line.
Will this area be marred by injuries? Three of Houston’s rotation players—Terrance Arceneaux, JoJo Tugler, and Ramon Walker—are sidelined, while the team’s fourth player—the crucial big man J’Wan Roberts—is hurting his leg and missed the second half of the Big 12 tournament championship game.
There are other groups without enough members besides Kelvin Sampson’s.
Warren Washington and Darrion Williams must return for Texas Tech, while Devan Cambridge is already out for the year. Those three frontcourt players were Grant McCasland’s top choices. The Golden Eagles have already lost backup point guard Sean Jones for the remainder of the season, while star Marquette point player Tyler Kolek is nursing a bothersome oblique issue. Colorado has been hurt all season long, Florida lost starting center Micah Handlogten to a horrific broken leg injury in Sunday’s SEC Tournament title game, and Duke is without important sixth man Caleb Foster. Who knows when it might reappear.
It’s really unfortunate.
For Houston, the move to the Big 12 was not too drastic. In their inaugural season in the league, the Cougars easily won the Big 12 regular-season championship. Houston’s defense, which is ranked second in the country, makes nothing easy. A 10-0 run qualifies as a “killshot”. It modifies video games. According to Evan Miya, Houston boasts a nation-high 37 killshots. There are 32 on no other team.
The straw that stirs the drink is point guard Jamal Shead, but Baylor transfers It was LJ Cryer’s goal to make shots when he came to Houston, and he has. Bricklayer guard Emanuel Sharp has become a respectable third scoring option. For Houston’s defense, J’Wan Roberts and Ja’Vier Francis are the mortar and screws. They accumulate a ton of steals, blocks, and deflections.
Houston may become even more acrimonious the next time around despite losing to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament.
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGER
Piranhas abound in this area. After consecutive losses to North Carolina and NC State, Duke’s sparkle has faded, although since February 1, Bart Torvik ranks them as the eighth-best college basketball team. This is one of the most skilled rosters in college basketball. Duke might have also received a lucky draw. March is all about matchups, and the South Region doesn’t have many physical, low-post players who have caused Duke problems this year.
Marquette must also be brought up in this conversation. It doesn’t matter when the Golden Eagles aren’t playing UConn since they haven’t had Tyler Kolek. The trio of Kam Jones, Ighodaro, and Kolek is outstanding. If Jones didn’t play in the backcourt with an All-American like Kolek, he would be a contender for Big East Player of the Year.
I think Shaka Smart plays his best basketball when Marquette is the underdog. Even from the 2-line, it will be the underdog early and frequently in March.
THE DARK HORSE
Since February 1, Florida is ranked 21st on Bart Torvik. Kentucky, at number 22, is right behind it. Both are legitimate dark horses in this region rife with injuries.
Kentucky, you know the story. With a dubious defense, it’s a lot of buckets. However, Kentucky’s defense does not need to play well in order to succeed. All this supernova attack needs is a couple five-minute bursts of decent quality to gain some traction. Although Kentucky has relied heavily on its diverse group of shooters, it may need to find other strategies to win games if their 3-pointers aren’t falling. That’s what it did in mid-February when traveling to Auburn. Is Kentucky able to repeat in March?
Maybe the best backcourt in college basketball consists of Antonio Reeves, Reed Sheppard, Robert Dillingham, and DJ Wagner, but if Kentucky hopes to go far, Tre Mitchell, Justin Edwards, and the team’s centers will need to keep contributing. The greatest thing about Kentucky is its ability to adjust its lineups for both important and unimportant games.
It also distinguishes Florida as a cover.
Todd Golden explored the portal and assembled a team with depth. Tyrese Samuel, Zyon Pullin, and Walter Clayton Jr. are the main players on this team, but Riley Kugel was intended to be on this squad during the preseason. These three transfers are genuine studs—essential, winning veterans. Although Micah Handlogten’s season-ending leg injury is heartbreaking, Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh have shown they are capable of handling the situation.
Florida has enormous potential. Florida is capable of tiny. Guards in Florida are playing big time. There is something in it for everyone.
The Gators are a formidable top-20 squad that is patiently waiting to break through at the No. 7 spot.