2024-2025 College Basketball Preview: Iowa Hawkeyes
Mike Randle
Check out our entire college basketball season preview!
The college basketball season is less than two weeks away, and here at FTN Fantasy we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. We will be previewing each team from all of the major conferences along with some mid-majors as well. We will recap betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season and talk about any key players for that program.
The SEC is known as the best conference in football, but don’t be fooled, they’re loaded with talent when it comes to basketball as well. The SEC has added the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns, which will make things even more difficult in conference play for each program.
In this preview, I’m going to talk about a team that analytics loves, the Auburn Tigers.
2024-25 College Basketball Season Preview: Auburn Tigers
Conference: SEC
Head Coach: Bruce Pearl (11th season)
2023-2024 Record: 27-8
ATS: 21-14
O/U: 15-20
Projected Starters: G JP Pegues, G Denver Jones, GF Chad Baker-Mazara, F Chaney Johnson, C Johni Broome
Bruce Pearl has his fair share of fans and critics, but regardless of how you feel about him, he deserves your respect as a coach. The Tigers won the SEC tournament last year and have now been to the Big Dance in three straight seasons.
They did lose Jaylin Williams (graduation), Aden Holloway (transfer), KD Johnson (transfer) and Tre Donaldson (transfer), which represents a combined 33.5 PPG to replace. In the past this may be a rebuilding year as a program works to replace part of their core, but Pearl did a masterful job in the transfer portal and there won’t be a dropoff of any kind for the team.
JP Pegues (18.4 PPG at Furman) was one of the most important additions from the offseason, and he will be given the keys as the primary initiator of the offense immediately. Miles Kelly (13.9 PPG at Georgia Tech) gives the team much-needed scoring off the bench. Ja’Heim Hudson (5.4 PPG at SMU) was a nice depth piece that can step in when the starting front court has foul trouble. There were also two top-100 freshmen added in Tahaad Pettiford (No. 33) and Jahki Howard (60). Pettiford is one to watch because he was widely considered to be one of the best point guards in the class, but Pearl has been adamant that they’re going to utilize him at multiple spots and that he will be an important piece to the puzzle, even as a freshman.
Even with the new additions, the Tigers have plenty of returners and have some of the best continuity in the conference. Johni Broome, Chad Baker-Mazara, Denver Jones, Dylan Cardwell, Chaney Johnson and Chris Moore are all back.
Key Players: Johni Broome & Chad Baker-Mazara
Furman transfer JP Pegues will be extremely important as the likely top guard on the team now but the ultimate fate of this squad is squarely in the hands of Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara. Broome is one of the most dangerous frontcourt players in the country. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 16.5 PPG, 8.5 RPG and 2.2 APG. He also knocked down 35% of his triples and finished the year third on KenPoms POY rankings. His role will be even bigger this year as his longtime sidekick Jaylin Williams is gone.
Chad Baker-Mazara will be a leader on this team and will need to atone for what happened in the NCAA Tournament last year when he was thrown out of their upset loss to Yale early on for throwing an elbow. Those types of meltdowns simply can’t happen, and we can be sure that Baker-Mazara will be much more of a positive influence to the rest of his teammates. The versatile “combo-wing” can defend multiple positions and thrives with his ability to get to the foul line while also being a sneaky-good three-point shooter, having made 42% of his attempts in 23-24.
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