Young and Winning

On Monday night the Florida Gators won their first basketball national championship. What is scary about that isn't the fact that the Gators demolished the UCLA Bruins by a score of 73-57. The Gators rolled through the tournament with relative ease, beating South Alabama 76-50 in round one, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 82-60 in round two, Villanova 75-62 in the Elite 8, George Mason 73-58 in the Final Four and then UCLA in the title game. The only close game they played was against Georgetown in the Sweet 16, who they beat 57-53. But that isn't what is scary either. What is so scary is that this team has no seniors on it. None. Every single member could return next year. They don't even have that many juniors on the team (only 3 of them, 2 of which get significant playing time). Their top four scorers are all sophomores, only one of which has been talked about entering the NBA Draft. That is their star player and NCAA Tournament MVP Joakim Noah. But rumors have him saying that he wished to stay at Florida and play for a few more years.

The Gators are loaded with young talent, and with the new rules surrounding the NBA Draft (the fact that you have to go to college for a year, or simply sit out a year, eliminating high schoolers jumping straight to the league), other teams will be loaded with talent too next year. The next season in college basketball could be one of the most entertaining to watch in recent memory. You will have a Florida team with most of it's roster back from their National Championship run, a North Carolina team that started three freshmen last year, and had another play significant time off the bench. Not to mention that one of those freshmen was third-team All-American Tyler Hansbrough, who has said he will return for his sophomore season. Add onto that the fact that North Carolina landed the top recruiting class in the nation, and they will be a scary team next year. Look out for a Kansas team that started three freshmen and two sophomores last year, none of which have declared for the NBA Draft, and won a share of the Big 12 title, as well as winning the Big 12 tournament. Plus, Bill Self has always been able to recruit and has landed some top talent once again including McDonald's All-American Sherron Collins from Chicago. Ohio State loses a lot of senior talent and leadership in Big Ten player of the year Terrence Dials, and sharpshooter Je'Kel Foster, but they do get one starter back in Jamar Butler, and they are bringing in the nations second best recruiting class that has been dubbed the "Thad Five" after coach Thad Matta (rivaling Michigan's esteemed 'Fab Five' from the early '90's). That class includes 7-foot high schooler Greg Oden, the number one player in the nation. The Duke Blue Devils will also been filled with young talent next year, with Josh McRoberts, Greg Paulus, and DeMarcus Nelson all returning. Plus they also have one of the better recruiting classes coming in, with a sharpshooting phenom by the name of Jon Scheyer set to step into J.J. Redick's shoes. Throw in perennial powers UConn, and Texas, an LSU team that returns most of it's starters and a Villanova team that will get back low-post force Curtis Sumpter from injury, and you have quite a race for next year's National Championship.

Publish Date: April 4 in the Missourian.