The 2023-2024 NCAA basketball season is officially underway, and there is a lot to talk about.
Starting with the women, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark opened up as the unanimous No. 1 in ESPN’s 2023-2024 top-25 player rankings. Clark is a returning senior who is the reigning consensus USBWA National Player of the Year.
Another big name is Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley. Like Clark, Kitley is a two-time conference player of the year who took her team to the Final Four last season, and she finds herself in the top 10 for player rankings.
Other big players include UConn’s Paige Bueckers, who is back after missing last season with a knee injury. Angel Reese, a senior at LSU, is also expected to have another huge season, even though the Tigers started their season with a surprising loss.
“I cannot wait to see what Angel Reese will do this season,” said Denise Fajardo, a junior exercise science major. “She was phenomenal last year and is my favorite player to watch on the court.”
To round out the women, Stanford’s Cameron Brink was a part of their national championship team as a freshman and now is their centerpiece as a senior. She is an equal force on offense and defense, finishing second in the nation last season in blocked shots per game.
Moving on to the men, Purdue’s Zach Edey is the unanimous No. 1 player going into this season. He is the reigning CBS Sports National Player of the Year, a statistical monster and the centerpiece of a Purdue team that is currently ranked second in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
“Edey is an absolute beast, and I can see him taking Purdue all the way in March,” said Christian Davies, a junior management information systems, or MIS, major. “Purdue has a really solid team surrounding Edey, so it is hard to imagine them not being really good this year.”
North Carolina’s Armando Bacot is in the top three of CBS’s top-player list for the second year in a row. After leading his team to the 2022 national championship, Bacot’s points per game, rebounds per game and shooting percentage all took a drop-off last season, but he and his program are both due for a bounce-back season.
Duke’s Kyle Filipowski was an elite freshman last year and was the only non-senior to be named a CBS Sports Preseason First Team All-American. Filipowski averaged 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds last year during Jon Scheyer’s first season as head coach.
“I think Filipowski is exactly what Duke needs to get back to a championship-contending team,” said Bradley Butcher, a junior finance major. “He is a seven-foot beast who could very well be in the NBA right now, and I think he will dominate this season.”
Another big name is Kansas’s Hunter Dickinson, who entered the transfer portal after three great seasons at Michigan and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2021. After averaging 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds last season, Dickinson is the main reason the Jayhawks are ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll.
There is still a long time until March Madness, so it will be a blast to see who does and does not live up to the hype.
