2024-25 CBB All-American Predictions
Of course, it's way too early to make a feasible prediction. But let's have some fun here. Here are my predictions for the guys being selected for the All-American teams this upcoming season!
It’s not an NBA-related article, as most of you might expect, but let’s have the same amount of fun here!
There are over thirteen weeks left before college basketball starts, but here’s my way-too-early rankings of the consensus All-Americans. The graphic spoils the rest of the article, which contains an analysis of why I went for these picks.
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Third Team
Caleb Love, Arizona
Arizona is in a tough position. They lost Larsson and Johnson to the NBA while missing out on a top recruit in Joson Sanon, who found out about Love returning to Arizona and committed to their rival Arizona State instead. This doesn’t change the fact that Arizona is still a top team in the Big 12 debut season with Trey Townsend and K.J. Lewis as two other strong holders.
While Love isn’t the most efficient guard out there, it’s hard to take away his impact on winning basketball with his production. He’s a traditional bucket-getter who can take over at any given time. With less depth compared to previous years, that will put Love in the situation to let his scoring prowess speak for itself while continuing to be productive.
Jaxson Robinson, Kentucky
After starting his first year at BYU, Robinson came off the bench as a junior and that helped to boost his career to an NBA status. He won Sixth Man of the Year after double-digit production while being one of the top-volume shooters in the country. He follows Coach Pope to Kentucky, going from a fairly quiet campus to one of the more dynamic ones at a true blue-blood school.
Robinson is a legitimate NBA prospect who will have his draft stock depend on his production. If Kentucky wants to be successful in the first year of the post-Calipari era, Robinson will have to be a productive factor for them. He has a great advantage in knowing his coach’s system through and through, making it feasible he can adjust to the SEC quickly while putting on a great senior campaign, and collecting the accolades needed to get his name called on draft night.
Great Osobor, Washington
Washington is now a part of the Big Ten, which is traditionally been known as a big man’s conference. To fit in, naturally, they went to the portal and got one of the best players available in Osobor. The Mountain West Player of the Year has had a fantastic year at Utah State, scoring almost 18 points per game, while playing impactful defense and dominating the glass with his rebounding.
Ball movement is a crucial part of success in college, as little spacing and 30 seconds on the shot clock make it hard to find open looks. Osobor is a great passer who can serve both as a playmaker and self-creating post scorer. His All-American nomination comes from the fantastic contest of now competing against the nation’s top big men in the Big Ten, in his first power five gig as a fourth-year college senior.
Collin Murray-Boyles, South Carolina
South Carolina lost Meechie Johnson, who is now back at Ohio State, while not returning B.J. Mack and Ta’lon Cooper, who don’t have eligibility left. That puts more pressure on Collin Murray-Boyles to perform. The 6-foot-7 do-it-all forward is ready for the test and will likely take on a larger scoring load for the Gamecocks, who are out there to prove their run last season wasn’t a fluke.
We’ll likely see a one-two punch between him and Zachary Davis, who is entering his sophomore year. Coach Paris will put the ball in the hands of his best NBA prospect, giving Muray-Boyles to let his versatility on offense speak for itself. The jump from over ten points per game to a needed eighteen to twenty is asking for a lot, but not unrealistic due to the amount of senior talent declining compared to this past season.
Oumar Ballo, Indiana
It will be big shoes to fill for Ballo, with Kel’el Ware now joining the Miami Heat. But the team context will help Ballo to continue what he does best: play-finishing and dominating the rebounding column. With Reneau, Indiana has one of the top passing forwards in the Big 10. On top of that, he’s able to switch to the perimeter, making it easier for Ballo to focus on his duties as a rim protector. Indiana is used to playing with two big men and therefore forcing them to pay Ballo big money to become a Hoosier.
The advantage that can push Indiana to compete for a top-four finish in the Big 10 is the fit with Reneau. In his role, Ballo has to be set up, thus raising the importance of guard play. By adding Kanaan Carlyle, Coach Woodson gets one of the more creative guards in the country. Outlier performances don’t always have to be individual, with Indiana being a prime example. If Ballo manages to average a double-double now in back-to-back seasons and lift Indiana to the tournament, he will receive the recognition with All-American honors.
Second Team
Pop Isaacs, Creighton
Isaacs is one of the most impactful transfers in the country. Creighton needed a boost of creativity and scoring in their backcourt to compensate for losing Alexander to the NBA. Isaacs has cemented himself as one of the nation’s best self-creating scorers in his two years at Texas Tech.
The fans in Lubbock, Texas would have wanted to see much better returns from downtown than 29.3% on 7.3 attempts per game. That’s the crucial area that will determine if Isaacs will be able to carry the scoring load for a hungry Creighton squad that can win the Big East this upcoming season.
Another feasible aspect is that Isaacs is used to having the ball in his hands while positively impacting a team. He led the Big 12 in usage (29.7%) while he led Coach McCasland’s squad to be a no. 6 seed, eventually falling to NC State in the first round.
Jeremy Roach, Baylor
Baylor has a lot to make up for their underwhelming season, and they haven’t been sitting on their hands by any means. Adding one of the best floor generals in Roach while also adding impactful freshmen VJ Edgecombe and Jason Asemota, the Bears will be one of the favorites to win the Big 12.
What will help Roach’s case is playing as a one-two punch with another former ACC upperclassman Norchad Omier. Roach has had an underwhelming postseason with Duke. But purely looking at the numbers he can look back to a good year with 14 points per game, while shooting 42.9% from three on 3.6 attempts. On top of that, his turnovers went down from 2.2 to 1.4 per game; an area where Baylor ranked outside the top 200, as per ShotQuality.
Tucker DeVries, West Virginia
West Virginia is looking to be relevant again and it hired DeVries who is now able to work his magic for a power-five school. Naturally, his son Tucker followed him to West Virginia while coming off a 21.6 points-per-game scoring season for Drake. The two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year had nothing more to prove on the mid-major level.
He will likely get the majority of the ball touches in Morgantown. His junior year was the first one marking over 30% usage, which led to doubling his assists to over four per game while shooting a solid 36.3% from three on over seven attempts.
Cooper Flagg, Duke
We don’t see it often that a freshman ends up as an All-American. But the context for Flagg is simply too good. He has had a fantastic summer where he impressed with the Team USA preparations for the Olympic Games. Coach Scheyer has built around him, adding impactful transfers in Sion James, Mason Gillis, and Maliq Brown.
With Maluach playing as a true five, Flagg can rely on his defense-anchoring qualities whereas Evans and Knueppel add solid creativity and shooting value to this historical Duke recruiting class. But it’s crystal clear that Flagg will be the number one guy for the Blue Devils, opening up the room to find the production, carrying Duke to a successful campaign while earning All-American honors.
Graham Ike, Gonzaga
The Zags are legitimate contenders this season, and their big-man production is a big reason why. Ike had to medically redshirt his junior year and came back strong by starting all 35 games while playing close to 25 minutes per game, earning him All-WCC First Team honors.
He put up 16.5 points per game this past season, leading the WCC in two-point field goals attempted and scored. Gonzaga has added vital parts in Michael Ajayi and Khalif Battle, giving them much-needed firepower in the production department, lessening the pressure on Ike who can now feist off the versatility of this roster, putting him in the position to earn his first All-American selection.
First Team
Mark Sears, Alabama
The fifth-year senior enters the season as one of the top players. While earning Consensus All-Second Team rights after leading Alabama to their Final Four run, the same is expected for this year. Alabama returned most of its players and built another contender. Sears is their de facto leader, and I expect him to have another efficient 20-plus-points-scoring season.
Sears is a known commodity in terms of the NBA. While another top season won’t influence his draft stock much, Sears made the right decision to return to school rather than start his professional career.
RJ Davis, North Carolina
After scoring over 20 points per game while shooting nearly 40% from three, RJ Davis brought home the Jerry West Award while being the ACC Player of the Year and a Consensus All-First Team member as well. Despite North Carolina’s need for another center, they have added enough talent to win the ACC and enter the Big Dance as one of the more dangerous teams out there.
He’s 784 points behind Tyler Hansbrough, the current leader on North Carolina’s all-time scoring list: another factor that will be something to look forward to for college basketball fans.
Kam Jones, Marquette
After being snubbed of Big East honors, Jones announced that “he’s staying home” and gave Marquette the much-needed support after losing Kolek and Ighodaro to the NBA. Jones is one of the most efficient guards in the country who now has a clear runway to be the main guy on Coach Smart’s NBA-styled pace.
As per Anonymous Eagle, Jones can be Marquette’s second 2,000-plus point scorer and the third Golden Eagle to have at least 300 made three-pointers in a season. That on top of his efficiency, as shown in the chart below would warrant a spot among the All-Americans.
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Kalkbrenner is the best big man in college basketball, period. Creighton has lost Scheierman and Alexander to the NBA but brought back one of the transfer portal’s best players in Pop Isaacs while also bringing a versatile scoring punch in Jamiya Neal, who spent this past season at Arizona State.
The fifth-year senior has a clear path to the NBA but made the right decision in maximizing his NIL earnings while closing out his college basketball career in style as an all-time Creighton great.
For the NBA, Kalkbrenner will be a highly touted prospect who can rise to the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Johni Broome, Auburn
After losing Jaylin Williams and Aden Holloway, Broome will solidify his position as the main guy for the Tigers. Coach Pearl will put more responsibilities in a frontcourt of him and Chad Baker-Mazara while battling to win the SEC.
Broome is one of the strongest forces in college basketball, and will likely continue his two-way impact as a productive center who can anchor an interior defense with his toughness and shot-blocking.
While shooting 35.4% on 79 three-point attempts last year, that’s an area to focus on for Broome with the departure of Williams. The ability to stretch the floor while anchoring the interior will make him one of the favorites to win Defensive Player of the Year while adding value to his profile for the NBA Draft.
Honorable Mentions:
Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest
Augustas Marčiulionis, Saint Mary’s
Alex Karaban, Connecticut
J’Wan Roberts, Houston