Rush The Court

Depending on how you judge such things, the Big 12 either had a great year in sending seven teams to the NCAA Tournament and finishing first in all the relevant computer rankings, or a miserable one, propelling just two teams to the Sweet Sixteen and missing out on the Elite Eight and beyond entirely for the third straight season. As we’ve said for some time now, it’s silly to let NCAA Tournament results determine your assessment, but the hive mind will continue to pick at the conference’s March shortcomings until the Big 12 breaks through. The good news for the league, though, is that the top teams appear to be retaining most of their best players, and Kansas, Iowa State, Texas and Baylor are still in the running for some of the nation’s top prep talents as well as a handful of graduate transfers who could step in and make immediate impacts. Add it all up and the league should be poised to take a step forward in 2015-16. Here’s how we see things shaking out next season.

1. Kansas

• Key Departures: Kelly Oubre, Cliff Alexander
• Key Returnees: Perry Ellis, Wayne Selden, Frank Mason, Devonte’ Graham, Landen Lucas, Brannen Greene, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk
• New Arrivals: Carlton Bragg
• Summer Storyline: The Jayhawks in a down year still won the Big 12, but last year illuminated how vulnerable they are when they don’t have an elite rim-protector inside. To that end, Kansas could really use the services of 6’10” Charlotte transfer Mike Thorne, a physical, productive post threat on both ends of the floor. Bill Self’s program also remains in the running for highly-touted recruits Cheick Diallo, Malik Newman and Jaylen Brown.

2. Iowa State

• Key Departures: Bryce Dejean-Jones, Dustin Hogue
• Key Returnees: Georges Niang, Monte’ Morris, Naz Long, Jameel McKay, Abdel Nader
• New Arrivals: Hallice Cooke, Deonte Burton (transfer)
• Summer Storyline: Between the annual rumors of Fred Hoiberg leaving for the NBA and Iowa State’s presence on the transfer market, the summer is always a busy time but this offseason has already been more dramatic than usual. St. John’s poaching of top Iowa State assistant Matt Abdelmassih could hurt the Cyclones more than many seem to be noticing. He already flipped former JuCo signee Darien Williams to the Red Storm, and Iowa State’s chances of landing Cheick Diallo, for whom Abdelmassih was the lead recruiter, also took a serious hit. Despite those recruiting challenges, the Cyclones will return most of their offensively gifted core, but questions will remain on defense.

3. Oklahoma

• Key Departures: TaShawn Thomas, DJ Bennett, Frank Booker (transfer)
• Key Returnees: Buddy Hield, Ryan Spangler, Jordan Woodard, Isaiah Cousins, Khadeem Lattin
• New Arrivals: Christian James, Rashard Odomes, Dante Buford (failed to qualify academically in 2014-15), Akolda Manyang (JuCo transfer)
• Summer Storyline: Like Iowa State, the Sooners will largely go to bat with the same team, which is great news after Oklahoma went step-for-step with Kansas in net efficiency this season. Oklahoma will miss Thomas’ defensive presence and production on close shots (70.1% FG at the rim last season), but the seven-foot Manyang and 6’10” sophomore Jamuni McNeace will help fill the defensive gap. Add them to returning veterans like Hield and Spangler and Oklahoma will remain a threat in 2015-16.

4. Texas

• Key Departures: Myles Turner, Jonathan Holmes
• Key Returnees: Cameron Ridley, Isaiah Taylor, Connor Lammert, Javan Felix, Demarcus Holland, Prince Ibeh, Jordan Barnett
• New Arrivals: Kerwin Roach, Eric Davis, Shaquille Cleare (transfer)
• Summer Storyline: Shaka Smart is hitting the recruiting trail hard, already connecting with a number of top-flight prospects around the country since taking over as the Longhorns’ head coach. Next year’s roster doesn’t look particularly well-suited to his trademark “HAVOC” defensive style, but there’s still a lot to like about this squad if it can find some better luck in close games next season.

5. Baylor

• Key Departures: Kenny Chery, Royce O’Neale
• Key Returnees: Taurean Prince, Rico Gathers, Johnathan Motley, Lester Medford, Al Freeman, Deng Deng
• New Arrivals: King McClure, Wendell Mitchell, Jake Lindsey, Joseph Acuil (JuCo transfer)
• Summer Storyline: Generating offense out of the half-court was a major struggle for Baylor this season, and it will now have to replace a solid point guard (Chery) with an experienced but turnover-prone successor (Medford). It’s a good thing, then, that Scott Drew is doing his best to surround Medford with scorers like McClure and Mitchell to go along with Prince. Baylor is also involved with another shooting guard in Kobe Eubanks, so no matter what happens this summer, the Bears should have options. Still, Baylor’s fortunes next season will likely hinge on point guard play more than anything else.

6. West Virginia

• Key Departures: Juwan Staten, Gary Browne
• Key Returnees: Devin Williams, Jevon Carter, Daxter Miles, Jonathan Holton, Jaysean Paige, Elijah Macon, Tarik Phillip
• New Arrivals: Esa Ahmad, James Bolden
• Summer Storyline: Like Baylor, the Mountaineers struggled mightily to score in their half-court offense this season, relying on a persistent full-court press to generate easy transition opportunities. Without its best scorer (Staten) and an excellent three-point shooter (Browne) returning, though, West Virginia will need a few other players to step up their shooting in order to get back to the NCAA Tournament.

7. Oklahoma State

• Key Departures: Le’Bryan Nash, Anthony Hickey, Michael Cobbins
• Key Returnees: Phil Forte, Jeff Carroll, Jeff Newberry, Mitchell Solomon, Anthony Allen, Tavarius Shine
• New Arrivals: Jawun Evans, Igor Ibaka (JuCo transfer),
• Summer Storyline: Replacing three productive starters is going to be a tall order for the Cowboys, a team which doesn’t have much coming to Stillwater in the way of quality reinforcements. With his buyout finally becoming palatable, Travis Ford’s seat in Gallagher-Iba will be hot from day one.

  Without a good run, Travis Ford might be out of Stillwater pretty soon. (Getty)

8. TCU

• Key Departures: Kyan Anderson, Trey Zeigler, Amric Fields
• Key Returnees: Kenrich Williams, Chris Washburn, Karviar Shepherd, Brandon Parrish
• New Arrivals: Jalon Miller, Malique Trent (JuCo transfer), Lyrik Shreiner
• Summer Storyline: The Horned Frogs were a nice story this season, pounding a weak slate of non-conference opponents and playing more competitively in Big 12 action than they had in their first two years of Big 12 membership. They could get some love next preseason as a sleeper pick to make the NCAA Tournament, but living up to such expectations is going to be awfully tough considering their personnel losses.

9. Kansas State

• Key Departures: Thomas Gipson, Nino Williams, Marcus Foster, Jevon Thomas, Nigel Johnson, Tre Harris
• Key Returnees: Stephen Hurt, D.J. Johnson, Wesley Iwundu, Brandon Bolden
• New Arrivals: Dante Williams, Eric Cobb, Dean Wade, Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes
• Summer Storyline: Bruce Weber sent a message with Marcus Foster and company that he wasn’t going to let his players control the locker room, but with so little talent left over, such a stance may not result in a case of addition by subtraction. If the few remaining pieces don’t show quick promise, it’s going to be a long year in Manhattan.

10. Texas Tech

• Key Departures: Robert Turner
• Key Returnees: Devaugntah Williams, Norense Odiase, Keenan Evans, Toddrick Gotcher
• New Arrivals: Devon Thomas, Jordan Jackson, C.J. Williamson
• Summer Storyline: The Red Raiders should have a better go of it in 2015-16 since they will return most of their roster, but the outlook is still bleak in Lubbock. Williams and Odiase are nice pieces, but there’s just not enough around them to foresee an escape from the cellar.