Angle Fantasy Basketball

College basketball is BACK! It is always refreshing to watch college basketball games as they do feature different styles of play that aren’t seen very often in the NBA. For example, the full court zone press. These games have everything we love about college sports; Players playing every game and playing their hearts out, a systemic team game not relying on isolation, energetic marching bands, cute cheerleaders, budding rivalries and of course student sections filled with inebriated 18-21 year olds screaming for their school to win. As this college season gets under way here are 6 NCAA prospects to keep a very close eye on as a potential 2024 draft pick for your dynasty squad (I wont include Isaiah Collier as we talk more about him later):

1. Justin Edwards – SF, Kentucky
2. Stephon Castle – PG/SG, UConn
3. Ja’Kobe Walter – SG, Baylor
4. Cody Williams – SF, Colorado (Brother of Jalen Williams) 
5. Donovan Clingan – C, UConn
6. DJ Wagner – PG, Kentucky

Fight On

The USC Trojans are a college basketball team I plan to keep a very close eye on. They have the #1 recruit in the nation in Isaiah Collier, who is currently predicted as the #4 overall pick in the 2024 draft per Tankathon. I am going to see Collier play in person next week! It will likely not be the only time I see Collier this season. USC has been producing great prospects lately, culminated by Evan Mobley in 2021. Prior to the last 4 years, the primary NBA players produced by USC were Nikola Vucevic, Demar Derozan, De’Anthony Melton, Taj Gibson, OJ Mayo and Nick Young. That’s only 6 full time rotation players from a basketball program that has been around since the 1940’s. All the players above besides Melton were taken in the 1st round. It is since 2020 that USC has started to produce game changing top of the draft prospects with more regularity. With Onyeka Okongwu in 2020, Evan Mobley in 2021 and now Isaiah Collier in 2024. Selfishly, I hope to see this happen more often with USC so that I can regularly watch top NBA draft prospects play down the road from me. Not only is USC producing better prospects, but they are beginning to make more noise in March Madness too. This year’s team has an excellent chance for a deep tournament run. We haven’t even discussed Bronny James yet who still needs to return from issues with his heart. We all eagerly anticipate the return of the high flying Bronny this season. There are players like Boogie Ellis (17.7ppg), D.J. Rodman (38% from 3), Joshua Morgan (Pac-12 blocks leader), and team captain Kobe Johnson (Pac-12 all defense) that will provide a steady veteran presence around the youth of Collier and Bronny. This squad is highly versatile and boasts a top tier point guard and a well above average big man. Get your USC to elite 8 or better bets in now before they start lighting up the Pac-12 in their final season in the conference.

You Hear That, Boy? Wolves!

Let’s switch to some NBA talk now. For starters, anyone that can tell me the video game that this section’s header is from will become my new favorite person. In all seriousness, I am amazed at what the Minnesota Timberwolves have been doing this season. To sum it up, they are suffocating teams with one of the league’s top defenses and letting Anthony Edwards cook on offense. It is working like a charm! The defensive resurgence of Rudy Gobert has been awesome to see. The blocks are back for Rudy and he currently leads the league in rebounds per game. Perhaps the Wolves just needed a season to work together before figuring out how they want to approach games as a team on a nightly basis. Mike Conley has also been excellent for Minnesota despite a decrease in his usage. He is still providing reliable assists, and the usage decrease has seen a rise in Conley’s shooting numbers and a decline to what was already an impressively low amount of turnovers per game. Anthony Edwards, what else can we say? Kermit is a superstar! Edwards is completely taking over close games down the stretch. We are also seeing a playmaking increase for Ant too. The entire offense is now running through him, as it should be. Despite the positivity, Karl Anthony-Towns is still performing below par. It hasn’t been egregiously bad, but for those of us accustomed to KAT being a top 20 asset it has been a tough start to the season. After many ridiculed the Wolves for their Gobert trade it now appears Gobert is more integral to their system and KAT is the odd man out. One has to wonder how much longer KAT will remain in Minnesota before being traded for a better fitting player.