Labeling the “most talented” teams in college basketball can sometimes be misleading or reductive — it doesn’t always correlate to success, nor is it representative of which programs are the best. It does, however, make a difference from the NBA’s perspective. Certain teams will be must-see for scouts and, most likely, produce multiple NBA draft picks in June.
It’s perhaps a sign of the times this season’s preseason No. 1 ranked team, the Kansas Jayhawks do not crack this list, with only one player (AJ Storr) who makes ESPN’s Big Board of the top 100 NBA draft prospects. The Jayhawks are built heavily around older transfers, a recipe for success in the current college hoops landscape, but not necessarily a major draw for NBA scouts.
By that same token, Kentucky, once a one-and-done factory, has three top-100 prospects in its first season under coach Mark Pope, with John Calipari taking much of the Wildcats’ roster and commitments with him to Arkansas.
Even with the transfer portal and NIL altering the balance of power in college basketball, there’s plenty of talent this season. And whether you’re curious about which college teams are worth a watch, or want to know the NBA draft prospects to keep tabs on, ESPN’s Jeremy Woo, Jonathan Givony and Jeff Borzello have ranked this season’s most prospect-laden schools.
To create this list, we used a simple formula attributing points based on their place in ESPN’s Big Board, weighted to account for the presence of top 50 out of the 100 ranked players.
Jump to a team:
Alabama | Arizona | Arkansas | Baylor | BYU
Duke | Illinois | Rutgers | UConn | UNC
