2024-25 Mountain West Conference Basketball Preview
After writing an in-depth review of the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC, it's time to evaluate my favorite non-power five leagues: the Mountain West! Rankings and analysis per team are below.
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Introduction
As a fun way to prepare for this upcoming college basketball season, I’ll review the nation’s top conferences before doing deep dives on the less-heralded conferences as we move closer to the start of the season!
All of my college basketball-related content can be found here. Let the rankings begin!
Rankings
1. New Mexico
After losing Jamal Mashburn, Jr. and JT Toppin, Coach Pitino didn’t hesitate and brought in a group of high-end talent, making the Lobos the clear favorite to win the Mountain West.
Experienced scoring guard CJ Noland comes off a double-digit scoring season at North Texas. At the same time, Filip Borovicanin adds more dynamic to the offense as a 6-foot-9 ball handler and shot creator. Jovan Milicevic is one of their prized freshman recruits who will also have a role in the rotation. At the same time, Atiki Ally Atiki from BYU, and Ibrahima Sacko will provide depth for Coach Pitino’s team led by Donovan Dent.
The junior is one of the top pick-and-roll playmakers in the country. His offense vastly improved during his sophomore season, making him one of the favorites to win Mountain West Player of the Year. On top of that, the Lobos have nine starter-level players. Depth is the main reason why they are the clear favorite.
2. Boise State
Coach Rice enters his 15th coaching year at the Idaho-based Boise State. Tyson Degenhart will be one of the most productive forwards in college, with O’Mar Stanley and Alvardo Cardenas giving the Broncos a core of three of the top players in the conference.
With two promising freshmen from AZ Compass Prep, Ethan Lathan (C), and Moses Hipps (SG), Boise State adds more size with Dylan Anderson from Arizona. The seven-footer looks like one of the breakout candidates of the conference, after not having a single game with more than ten minutes for the Wildcats. Size seems to have been the emphasis, as, after Cardenas (6-foot-1), their entire roster is at or above 6-foot-4.
On top of that, their starting line-up alone makes Boise State a contender. However, in terms of depth, Degenhart, Stanley, and Cardenas all have to step up to ensure stability. The Broncos will be going dancing, looking to aim to make it to the first weekend.
3. San Diego State
Jaedon LeDee and Darrion Trammell both went pro, while other strong holders such as Micah Parrish (Ohio State), Lamont Butler, Jr. (Kentucky), and Elijah Saunders (Virginia) also left. Coach Dutcher is forced to rebuild his roster and has a strong incoming class with Pharoah Compton and Thokbor David Majak.
On top of that, Magoon Gwath and BJ Davis are two uber-talented pieces who are next in line to keep the Aztecs winning an ongoing process. To ensure stability, San Diego State added experience in Jared Coleman-Jones (Middle Tennessee) and Kimo Ferrari (Brown), while snagging away Wayne McKinney III from their inner-city rival San Diego.
This team lost its entire core but looks to rebuild quite well. However, too many new faces is always a risky acquisition. The Aztecs will be a Tournament Team regardless, but will likely not finish at the top spot.
4. UNLV
The Dedan Thomas, Jr.-led Runnin’ Rebels are always a stable factor in the Mountain West. They lost Luis Rodriguez and the Boone brothers who ran out of eligibility, and replaced them with significant impact-makers with Jeremiah Cherry being the most vital one.
After Rob Whaley, Jr., UNLV again hits the JUCO market by landing one of the top players. Cherry and Thomas, Jr. will be one of the more dynamic pick-and-roll duos of the country, with solid pieces like JalenHill and Jailen Bedford helping the Runnin’ Rebels to be an outsider to finish in the top three, while earning an NCAA Tournament ticket for the first time since 2013.
5. Utah State
Coach Calhoun has had great years at Youngstown State, earning him a move up to the Mountain West. This team lost a majority of his production while seeing last year’s Mountain West Conference Player of the Year leaving for Washington.
The fun part for a new head coach is to build a new total to instill his principles. Pavle Stošić is an underrated pickup, coming over from Gonzaga, while Dexter Akanno (Oregon State) will be one of this team’s strongholders. Calhoun will be happy that Ian Martinez and Mason Falslev didn’t look to move elsewhere, as their production of last year will round out a good starting five.
The Aggies made it to the big dance five times in the last six years, and again look good enough on paper to keep their name in the conversation.
6. Nevada
Coach Alford made it to the NCAA Tournament two times in a row while finishing in the Mountain West top 5 in four of his five seasons as the Wolf Pack’s head coach. They loaded up an experienced roster, with Kobe Sanders (Cal Poly), Xavier DuSell (Fresno State), and Brandon Love (Texas State) being good transfer portal additions.
Nick Davidson and Tre Coleman have been with the program their whole collegiate career and will be the main two options for Nevada. However, I doubt the Wolf Pack fully replaced the impact that Kenan Blackshear (Oklahoma) and Jarod Lucas (graduated) had for this team last year.
This gives Nevada less flexibility and puts pressure on its margin for error. Their depth is good, but the lack of top guys could lead them to fall outside of the top five.
7. Fresno State
The Bulldogs have a nose for talent coming from the JUCO reigns. While Amar Augillard gives them a legitimate NBA prospect, Jasir Tremble and Alex Crawford are two other starter-caliber transfers who have had junior college success. Coincidentally, all three names enter their junior year at Fresno State.
Jalen Weaver is back and will likely be one of the two top starters with Augillard being the other one. Coach Walberg brings in about five years of experience before having a great career at Clovis West, a local high school.
The amount of starter-level talent they accumulated via the JUCO route, on top of a few promising freshmen in Elijah Price, Makhan Diouf, and Brian Amuneke, gives Fresno State a chance to significantly improve on their four-win season from last year.
8. Colorado State
The Rams saw their star Isaiah Stevens leave for the NBA while losing a good amount of their production from last year. Nique Clifford stayed on board and will be their number-one guy moving forward. However, the lack of depth is worrying for them.
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (Little Rock), Bown Born (Northern Iowa), and Keshawn Williams (Southern Illinois) are promising transfers, while Ethan Morton gives them winning experience, as he comes over from Purdue. But compared to their conference rivals, Colorado State is a very young team, with five incoming freshmen and two of their transfers being sophomores.
Coach Medved has accumulated lots of talent, but will likely struggle to be a consistent team in conference play.
9. San José State
After a two-win season, losing your top two guys in Tibet Görener (SMU) and Alvaro Cardenas, who joins the contending Boise State, you don’t have much of an option to hit the transfer portal hard and hope for the best.
Josh Uduje (Utah State), Will McClemdon (UCLA), Chol Marial (Oregon State), and Sadraque NgaNga (Seton Hall) are decent additions. Donovan Yap, Jr. (Fresno State) will be another productive incoming player. The Spartans are upperclassmen-heavy and not good enough to compete. That’s a worrying situation for Coach Miles, who’s entering his fourth season.
We might see them exceed last year by winning three or four games.
10. Wyoming
Coach Sundance Wicks worked as an assistant for Wyoming, and now he’s back as the head coach in his home state. He brought two assistants from his gig at Green Bay last year while keeping two other assistants on board from Wyoming’s staff of last year.
The Cowboys acquired many decent pieces like Jordan Nesbitt (Hampton), Touko Tainamo (Denver), and Dontaie Allen (Western Kentucky). This team doesn’t have a clear number one option, as Tainamo is the closest one. Their depth is decent, with an old roster filled with hungry mid-major transfers. But it’s tough to build a winning team in your first year with a new group.
11. Air Force
After losing their star in Rytis Petraitis to California, Coach Scott will put Ethan Taylor, Beau Becker, and Jeffrey Mills in the position to ascend. All three are excellent shooters who were impressive last year, regardless of how bad they were.
This team won two games last year, both on the road. Their recruiting focuses on bringing in prospects from the United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School, with a few others coming from other schools. It’s unlikely, to say the least, that we’ll see them win more than two games this season.
Finalizing Summary
To summarize the piece, here’s the list for my 2024-25 Mountain West Basketball Preview:
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