Three Man Weave Season Preview

[Marcus92]

Xavier at #15? The same Xavier that went 1-9 against teams ranked in the KenPom Top 50 last season? Yes, they return a lot of talent. I expect they'll be better. But this feels like a big stretch.

https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/xavier-preview-2020

[brewcity77]

You should see their fanbase right now. They seem convinced these kind of predictions are where they are at. After their European trip, it seemed like they were at the Big East title or bust level.

[Marcus92]

Guess it's good to see respect for the Big East. Six teams in the Top 40 and four in the Top 25 (assuming Nova is in).

[Herman Cain]

You should see their fanbase right now. They seem convinced these kind of predictions are where they are at. After their European trip, it seemed like they were at the Big East title or bust level.

Xavier looked very solid to me at the Big East tournament. There is a lot to like there.  4 solid starters returning (with Quentin Gooden now healthy which wasnt the case for most of last year). Two key grad transfers were able to work their way in during the foreign trip.  A very nice 5 man recruiting class that doesn't have to be rushed in too early .  The coaching staff has momentum.  All that said, I think the expectations surrounding them are going to be challenging given the very tough competition the Big East will provide this year.  So many quality teams in the league.

[Marcus92]

Villanova just misses the Top 10, coming in at #11:

https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/villanova-preview-2020

[Marcus92]

This could be one of the youngest, least experienced Villanova teams Jay Wright has ever coached. The projected rotation for the Wildcats includes no seniors and just 3 juniors. Then again, the same was true of the team that won the 2017-18 national title.

The frontcourt boasts a lot of talent, size and depth. Returning forwards 6-7/220 Jermaine Samuels (20.0 DR%) and 6-9/226 Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (19.1%) are strong defensive rebounders but have been largely roleplayers until now. Samuels and 6-8/220 Saddiq Bey fit more of a stretch forward role -- shooting 34.7% (33-95) and 37.4% (49-131) from beyond the arc, respectively.

Five-star 6-9/235 F Jeremiah Robinson-Earl looks like a total stud -- fast, strong, athletic, a good ballhandler and passer, at his best in transition, but doesn't show much of an outside game.

Where will freshman 6-7/275 F Eric Dixon fit in? He's a powerful presence on the blocks, incredibly strong and a relentless worker on the offensive boards. Throw in sophomores 6-10/210 Cole Swider and 6-7/205 Brandon Slater and Jay Wright will have plenty to work with inside.

The backcourt is the biggest question mark. Specifically, who's going to run the offense? 6-3 G Collin Gillespie had a strong freshman season, but didn't show signs of being a big distributor (18.9% ARate).

Could five-star 6-5/170 G Bryan Antoine take the lead? He's a dynamic scorer with all the athleticism and talent in the world. However, the fact that he's coming off shoulder surgery and may not be ready until the start of conference play could hinder how well he meshes with the offense -- at least early on.

With so little backcourt depth, top 75 recruit 6-4 G Justin Moore should see plenty of opportunities for playing time.

[Herman Cain]

This could be one of the youngest, least experienced Villanova teams Jay Wright has ever coached. The projected rotation for the Wildcats includes no seniors and just 3 juniors. Then again, the same was true of the team that won the 2017-18 national title.

The frontcourt boasts a lot of talent, size and depth. Returning forwards 6-7/220 Jermaine Samuels (20.0 DR%) and 6-9/226 Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (19.1%) are strong defensive rebounders but have been largely roleplayers until now. Samuels and 6-8/220 Saddiq Bey fit more of a stretch forward role -- shooting 34.7% (33-95) and 37.4% (49-131) from beyond the arc, respectively.

Five-star 6-9/235 F Jeremiah Robinson-Earl looks like a total stud -- fast, strong, athletic, a good ballhandler and passer, at his best in transition, but doesn't show much of an outside game.

Where will freshman 6-7/275 F Eric Dixon fit in? He's a powerful presence on the blocks, incredibly strong and a relentless worker on the offensive boards. Throw in sophomores 6-10/210 Cole Swider and 6-7/205 Brandon Slater and Jay Wright will have plenty to work with inside.

The backcourt is the biggest question mark. Specifically, who's going to run the offense? 6-3 G Collin Gillespie had a strong freshman season, but didn't show signs of being a big distributor (18.9% ARate).

Could five-star 6-5/170 G Bryan Antoine take the lead? He's a dynamic scorer with all the athleticism and talent in the world. However, the fact that he's coming off shoulder surgery and may not be ready until the start of conference play could hinder how well he meshes with the offense -- at least early on.

With so little backcourt depth, top 75 recruit 6-4 G Justin Moore should see plenty of opportunities for playing time.

Villanova will be very strong this year.  Ed Cooley got a good feel for a couple of their key  players  while coaching them at Pan Am games:
https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=58989.msg1150739#msg1150739

[Its DJOver]

https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/top-100-players-2020

No such thing as a perfect list, but there seem to be a lot of holes in this one, and not just the usual over-ranking of the top incoming Freshman.

[Its DJOver]

https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/big-east-preview-2020

I continue to think that they over-rank both CU, X, and now BU.  Under-rank SH and Gtown.  SH should be T1, and BU should be T3.  AE gets a nice shout out in DePaul's preview, and both DP and StJ are going to be bad.  Nothing earth shattering in the 4 new previews.