SEC basketball a big winner this week, and another prediction on Olivier Sarr’s status
The various lists of “winners and losers” that came out in the 24 hours following the deadline for college players to withdraw from this year’s NBA Draft carried a common theme.
There were several Southeastern Conference programs represented in the winners’ sections.
The flurry of announcements Monday — and in the days leading up to the draft deadline — featured a number of high-profile players from SEC schools saying they’d be back for another year. Assuming college basketball is actually played this season, the league should be in good shape, boasting not only another impressive group of incoming recruits but also some players who are already familiar to fans.
Rivals.com national analyst Corey Evans seemed to imply in his mailbag column Tuesday morning that he thinks the SEC could send five or six schools to the second weekend of the 2021 NCAA Tournament — when the competition is narrowed down to 16 teams.
“I mean, it could be even more,” Evans told the Herald-Leader later Tuesday.
Kentucky and Florida were already expected to contend for the SEC title and make a run in March.
The Wildcats boast arguably the nation’s most-talented roster, a group led by another No. 1 recruiting class, returning forward Keion Brooks, and possibly 7-footer Olivier Sarr (more on him later).
The Gators were already set to return former top-10 recruit Scottie Lewis alongside Keyontae Johnson, a First Team All-SEC player this past season, as well as former McDonald’s All-American Tre Mann and some talented transfers.
Then came the wave of additional returnees.
Louisiana State got three starters back on deadline day, including Trendon Watford. Tennessee returned SEC Defensive Player of the Year Yves Pons. Alabama’s John Petty said he’d be back for another season. Arkansas star Isaiah Joe said the same over the weekend. A few days earlier, South Carolina’s AJ Lawson said he, too, would return.
Evans listed Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida and LSU as the SEC’s top-tier programs for 2020-21.
“And then you throw in Arkansas and Alabama, five and six,” he said. “And South Carolina is one team that a lot of coaches in the league are talking about behind closed doors as a team that kind of compares to the Final Four team they had a couple of years ago. And having a much more experienced roster that’s finally healthy — I think that’s a team that could definitely make a run and scare some people.”
Evans pointed to LSU as the deadline day’s biggest winner, returning Watford along with Javonte Smart and Darius Days to a team that will also include standout freshman Cam Thomas and some intriguing transfers. “They brought back three important guys. That was definitely a giant, giant win.”
But it was Pons’ return to Knoxville that added the exclamation point to what could be the league’s best team.
“I think Tennessee is one of the five or six teams (most likely) to win the whole thing. I think it’s Tennessee above everyone else,” Evans said, adding that he would have the Vols at No. 1 in the SEC regardless of what the NCAA decides on Sarr’s transfer waiver.
In addition to Pons, the Vols will return second-team all-league player John Fulkerson, former five-star recruit Josiah-Jordan James, midseason enrollee Santiago Vescovi and others to an incoming group that includes Sacred Heart transfer E.J. Anosike and one of the nation’s best recruiting classes.
“So you throw all those guys together — they got eight, nine guys, and that rotation is as good as anyone in America,” Evans said. “There’s no drop-off. … I think they can win it all.”
That recruiting class features McDonald’s All-American Jaden Springer, five-star shooting guard Keon Johnson and top-75 forward Corey Walker. Johnson might end up being the best of the bunch, and he could be among the top players in the league this season.
“I just don’t know how you keep him out of the starting five in the long run,” Evans said. “Keon is just a different guy. He brings a different dynamic to the table with his two-way abilities, and of course, as you know, his athleticism is the elite of the elite. And now he’s a capable shot-maker. I think he’s really a game-changer for Tennessee.”
Olivier Sarr and Kentucky
Evans isn’t discounting Kentucky’s talent or underestimating the Wildcats’ chances to make a run in the 2021 tournament. He just thinks the Vols are better equipped and more well-rounded to live up to such expectations.
While Tennessee’s roster will be a blend of talented, proven veterans and high-upside newcomers, the UK roster is almost entirely new faces. That will make team chemistry tougher to achieve, especially in the early going. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its effect on preseason workouts won’t make it any easier for all those new players to get on the same page.
The biggest key to Kentucky’s season right now is obviously the status of Olivier Sarr, who transferred from Wake Forest and will be UK’s starting center if the NCAA approves his request for immediate eligibility.
It’s been more than two months since UK submitted that request, and the school is still waiting for an answer. Elsewhere, announcements keep coming in that transfers have been granted eligibility at their new schools as the NCAA seemingly takes a more lenient approach to such players. Will Sarr also get a favorable ruling?
“My guess is yes,” Evans said. “Just seeing what’s happened with everyone else — I haven’t heard, publicly, of a waiver being denied yet. Olivier has a case that would work in his favor, in my mind. I’d be rather surprised if he does not (get the waiver).”
Without Sarr, most national projections have Kentucky ranked around No. 15 in the country. If Sarr gets the waiver, Evans said he would put the Cats in the No. 8-10 range nationally. They’d have a ton of talent, for sure, but Keion Brooks would be the only returning scholarship player with any experience playing for UK, and even Sarr — with three seasons in the ACC — would be a new face in a new place with new responsibilities. Like everyone else in Lexington.
“I don’t know if I would put them with Gonzaga and Baylor and Villanova and some others, but I’d probably say 8-9-10 range. There are still going to be questions. I know Olivier was playing at Wake Forest and in the ACC last year, but there’s a difference between being the guy at Wake, and … when you’re at Kentucky you have the ‘X’ on your back. That’s a big step up.”
