Hey all, with @jazznutUVA 's blessing, going to roll out updates to the 18(!) ACC men’s basketball rosters that I’ve been thus far kind of dropping into threads as appropriate. Will maintain a comprehensive original post with everything published thus far, and also provide updates in the body of the thread as they come up.
Will try to do two at a time over the next few weeks to pace myself, also gives everyone time to digest just a couple teams at a time and maybe have a little debate/discussion over the back half of the summer. As always, if you see anything I missed, let me know.
Boston College
| Departures | PG Jaeden Zackery (Transferred to Clemson) | 36 G, 33.8 mpg, 11.3 ppg, 4.2 apg, 41% 3P% | ||
| G Claudell Harris (Transferred to Mississippi State) | 35 G, 31.5 mpg, 13.7 ppg, 2.1 apg, 37% 3P% | |||
| G/F Mason Madsen (Transferred to Utah) | 36 G, 22.8 mpg, 8.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 38% 3P% | |||
| F Prince Aligbe (Transferred to Seton Hall) | 35 G, 18.6 mpg, 4.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 15% 3P% | |||
| PF Devin McGlockton (Transferred to Vanderbilt) | 36 G, 29.9 mpg, 10.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 58% FG% | |||
| F/C Armani Mighty (Transferred to Buffalo) | 35 G, 5.6 mpg, 0.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 41% FG% | |||
| C Quinten Post (Graduated) | 35 G, 31.9 mpg, 17 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 51% FG% | |||
| Returners | PG Fred Payne (SO) | 5 G, 5 mpg, 1.6 ppg, 0.6 apg, 0% 3P% | ||
| SF Donald Hand (RS SO) | 34 G, 14.4 mpg, 5 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 34% 3P% | |||
| SF Chas Kelley (JR) | 27 G, 15.5 mpg, 3.7 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 25% 3P% | |||
| PF Elijah Strong (SO) | 19 G, 6.8 mpg, 2.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 53% FG% | |||
| Additions | PG Luka Toews (3-star FR) | |||
| G Dion Brown (SO Transfer, UMBC) | 32 G, 32.2 mpg, 19 ppg, 2.6 apg, 35% 3P% | |||
| G Nick Petronio (3-star FR) | ||||
| SG Joshua Beadle (JR Transfer, Clemson) | 32 G, 10.8 mpg, 3 ppg, 0.8 apg, 14% 3P% | |||
| G/F Roger McFarlane (SR+ Transfer, SE Louisiana) | 32 G, 35.2 mpg, 14.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 34% 3P% | |||
| F/C Jayden Hastings (3-star RS FR) | ||||
| F/C Kany Tchanda (3-star FR) | ||||
| C Chad Venning (SR+ Transfer, Saint Bonaventure) | 33 G, 24.1 mpg, 13.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 53% FG% |
No returners with 20 mpg played or more than 5 ppg scored last year, which isn’t great for a program that likely is going to need year-over-year continuity in its roster building to ascend.
Earl Grant, quietly entering his 4th year in Chestnut Hill, did get the Eagles to the NIT last year, where they scored a win over Providence and hit the 20-win mark for the first time since the 2010-11 season. But that programmatic forward momentum took a big hit when five rotation players hit the transfer portal, perhaps signaling issues behind the scenes.
In the backcourt, UMBC transfer Dion Brown likely takes the lead up top with returners Donald Hand, JR and Chas Kelley competing with inbound transfers Josh Beadle and Roger McFarlane to build out the depth chart on the wing. The front court has a ton of question marks, with St Bonaventure transfer Chad Venning the only solid-looking big man available to replace Quinten Post and Devin McGlockton. Boston College likely goes full 4-out with Donald Hand as a small-ball 4.
Hard truth is that this roster looks like a step back from last year’s semi-breakthrough. There’s a couple guys with potential, but hard to see Grant pulling it all together to even challenge for the league’s middle tier again this year.
California
| Departures | PG Jalen Cone (Graduated) | 32 G, 35.6 mpg, 13.4 ppg, 2.3 apg, 32% 3P% | ||
| PG Devin Askew (Transferred to Long Beach State) | 6 G, 24.3 mpg, 6.2 ppg, 2.5 apg, 14% 3P% | |||
| SF Keonte Kennedy (Graduated) | 25 G, 31.3 mpg, 9.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 31% 3P% | |||
| SF Rodney Brown (Transferred to Virginia Tech) | 32 G, 14.2 mpg, 3.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 40% 3P% | |||
| F Jaylon Tyson (Turned Pro) | 31 G, 34.3 mpg, 19.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 36% 3P% | |||
| F Jalen Celestine (Transferred to Baylor) | 27 G, 26.9 mpg, 8.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 44% 3P% | |||
| F Monty Bowser (Transferred to Northern Arizona) | 10 G, 11.2 mpg, 0.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 17% 3P% | |||
| PF Grant Newell (Transferred to North Texas) | 32 G, 21.3 mpg, 5.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 41% FG% | |||
| F/C ND Okafor (Transferred to Washington State) | 9 G, 7.8 mpg, 1.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 39% FG% | |||
| C Fardaws Aimaq (Graduated) | 32 G, 32.1 mpg, 14.5 ppg, 11 rpg, 46% FG% | |||
| Returners | G Vladimir Pavlovic (SO) | 7 G, 6.1 mpg, 0.9 ppg, 0.3 apg, 0% 3P% | ||
| F/C Gus Larson (RS JR) | 28 G, 7 mpg, 1.4 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 44% FG% | |||
| C Devin Curtis (SO) | 16 G, 5.4 mpg, 0.4 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 50% FG% | |||
| Additions | PG Jovan Blacksher (SR+ Transfer, Grand Canyon) | 26 G, 15.3 mpg, 4.8 ppg, 1.5 apg, 42% 3P% | ||
| PG Christian Tucker (SR Transfer, UTSA) | 32 G, 33.5 mpg, 11.3 ppg, 5.4 apg, 30% 3P% | |||
| G Jeremiah Wilkinson (3-star FR) | ||||
| SG DJ Campbell (JR Transfer, Western Carolina) | 32 G, 29.5 mpg, 11.6 ppg, 1.5 apg, 41% 3P% | |||
| F Rytis Petraitis (JR Transfer, Air Force) | 24 G, 32.9 mpg, 15.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 35% 3P% | |||
| F Andrej Stojakovic (SO Transfer, Stanford) | 32 G, 22.3 mpg, 7.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 33% 3P% | |||
| F Joshua Ola-Joseph (JR Transfer, Minnesota) | 29 G, 15.7 mpg, 7.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 41% 3P% | |||
| F B.J. Omot (JR Transfer, North Dakota) | 32 G, 35.2 mpg, 16.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 28% 3P% | |||
| PF Spencer Mahoney (3-star RS FR) | ||||
| F/C Mady Sissoko (SR+ Transfer, Michigan State) | 35 G, 15.2 mpg, 3.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 57% FG% | |||
| C Lee Dort (RS SO Transfer, Vanderbilt) | 1 G, 7 mpg, 1 ppg, 2 rpg, 0% FG% |
California joins the ACC on the heels of a rough 7-year stretch as a general afterthought in the Pac-12. Since Cuonzo Martin left after the 2016-17 season, the Bears haven’t had a single winning season, either overall or in-conference, bottoming out with a 3-29 performance in 2022-23 that got Mark Fox fired. Mark Madsen took the helm last summer after a quick but successful four year stint at Utah Valley where he won WAC Coach of the Year and took the Wolverines to the NIT Semifinals at MSG in 2023. In his first season at Cal, the Bears posted their best conference record in 7 years, so the early returns were positive.
That said, few Power Conference rosters will have as much roster turnover as Cal this offseason with every key rotation player gone. Madsen is bringing in nine transfers to do the heavy lifting for this upcoming season.
UTSA transfer Christian Tucker will likely run the point for his final collegiate season after finishing 2nd in the AAC last year in assists. Volume scorers Jovan Blacksher from Grand Canyon and DJ Campbell from Western Carolina will round out the guard spots. None were regarded as top-tier transfer prospects, all three ranked outside EvanMiya’s Top 350. Madsen will have to hope that their veteran presence provides value on both ends. Blacksher could at least be intriguing as last season at GCU he was working back from a torn ACL and this year will have the benefit of a full offseason.
It’s at the forward spots where Cal’s transfer haul starts getting intriguing. Rytis Petraitis was an all-MWC (3rd Team) performer at Air Force. Andrej Stojakovic was a Top 50 recruit a year and held his own as a true freshman in the Pac-12. Joshua Ola-Joseph was a highly efficient bench piece on a mid-tier B1G team. BJ Omot was first team all-Summit League as a 2nd year. These four are highly interchangeable 3/4 scorers and defenders and will provide Cal with a lot of versatlity.
At the center spot, Cal will look to get a 5th year jump out of Michigan State backup big man Mady Sissoko, a former Top 50 prospect, with backup contributions from another former 4-star in Lee Dort who had his two years at Vanderbilt largely derailed by stress facture problems. Returner Gus Larsen will likely factor into the 5-spot rotation as well.
Cal did enough this offseason to at least make things interesting. It’s doubtful they’ll be a top tier team in the league, but there’s enough talent and depth to hang with most of the league on any given night, especially if east coast teams struggle with jet lag on their west coast swings. Madsen showed well enough in his first season with the Bears after a strong run at Utah Valley, so I’d go out on a limb here and say the Bears end up surprising the old ACC a bit and end up a mid-tier team in the conference. An NCAA Tournament bid is maybe a questionable proposition, but there’s the potential to make a Bubble run if all the new faces gel quickly, especially if they show well in their respectable non-conference against the likes of USC, Mizzou, and San Diego State.