It’s offseason hype time in college basketball, that period well before the season when buzz begins to grow in the shadows ahead of a new campaign. Rosters are set, schedules are mostly final and most players have already been on campus for summer practices.
There’s nothing left for fans to do but dream about how their newcomers — be they freshmen or transfers — are going to spark championship runs in the 2025-26 season. Retention is pivotal, too, but there’s something inherently more captivating about contemplating, projecting and debating what a new star might bring to a certain team.
In this era, it’s rare to find a team that won’t rely on a fresh face (or 10 fresh faces) to reach its championship aspirations. Programs like Marquette, Iowa State, Michigan State and Purdue are once again rare examples of teams returning strong core nuclei that will merely be complemented by newcomers.
Most will have a far larger share of their success defined newcomers. For this week’s edition of the Dribble Handoff, our writers are surveying the national landscape and picking the team newcomers they’re most intrigued to watch in the 2025-26 season.
Predicting next coach to win first NCAA Tournament title: Duke’s Jon Scheyer, Kentucky’s Mark Pope among picks
David Cobb
AJ Dybantsa, BYU
Dybantsa is one of only two or three players under serious consideration to be the No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft at this point. The 6-foot-9 wing picked BYU over offers from blue blood programs like Kansas and North Carolina, in part because of a massive NIL deal that reportedly rivals, if not eclipses, anything a college basketball player has ever received.
My guess is that it’ll be money well spent.
The New England native led Peach Jam in scoring the July after his first season of high school basketball and has spent the past couple of years further solidifying his reputation as an elite prospect. Even 18 year-old phenoms with extremely high ceilings have to put it all together at the next level, but Dybantsa is the newcomer I’m most intrigued to watch this season. If he meets expectations, and the Cougars do as well, the Utah Prep graduate could end up as the focal point on the best team in BYU history. — Gary Parrish
Cameron Boozer, Duke
Cooper Flagg was the most hyped incoming freshman in Duke history — a true statement with a lot of history behind it. Somehow, he managed to exceed that hype and become arguably the best one-and-done Dookie ever (Zion Williamson has a solid case, remember). So, in comes Cam Boozer, a player who at one point was in the same high school class as Flagg. He’s a much different player than Flagg, and you know what? He won a ton more in high school than Flagg, too. Boozer is as, if not more, decorated than any high school player in the past 10-plus years — championships galore, an outrageous win/loss record no matter the team he played for. The only thing he doesn’t have? The No. 1 — or No. 2 — overall ranking in his class.
But he’s No. 3 and he should be Duke’s most important player. How does he step in and be as impactful to winning as Flagg was last season? After witnessing his dominant streak the past three years in high school, and given his family pedigree, I’ll be semi-shocked if he’s not one of the 10 best players in the sport. — Matt Norlander
No newcomer in this year’s class — whether from high school, the transfer portal or international ranks — offers the same mix of talent and seamless fit as the UAB transfer Lendeborg. He impressed at the NBA Combine this summer but ultimately opted out of the draft, despite near-consensus belief he’d be a first-round pick. That decision was a huge win for Dusty May and his staff and — as we’ll likely see soon — an even bigger win for Lendeborg’s long-term stock. He’s a stud, and he’ll be showcased as such in Ann Arbor.
Last season, Michigan turned 7-footer Danny Wolf — a big man with a big, funky game — into its primary playmaker and facilitator. That helped propel him into the late first round of the NBA Draft. Expect Lendeborg to be used in a similar way: a do-it-all, multi-trick weapon whose game — like Wolf’s — fits a system that adapts to its best players.
Lendeborg can do it all: defend as a small-ball big, create turnovers, facilitate and score. At UAB, he ranked top-10 nationally in win shares, player efficiency rating and box plus/minus, all while averaging a double-double. Whether he can post the same gaudy numbers in the Big Ten remains to be seen, but his underlying metrics suggest a star is on the rise in Ann Arbor. I can’t wait to see how his game translates. — Kyle Boone
Tennessee’s highest-rated signee of the 247Sports era will determine the Volunteers’ ceiling as they replace top scorer Chaz Lanier and culture carriers Zakai Zeigler and Jamai Mashack. The 6-foot-10 wing will almost assuredly be the 10th NBA Draft pick of Barnes’ Tennessee tenure next June after ranking as the No. 4 overall prospect in the Class of 2025. But will he be Barnes’ first lottery pick with the Volunteers? Or will he fall in the 21-40 range like prior Tennessee one-and-dones such as Keon Johnson (No. 21, 2021), Jaden Springer (No. 28, 2021), Julian Phillips (No. 35, 2023) and Kennedy Chandler (No. 38, 2022)?
Those four were all fine players, but none of them had the juice needed to get Tennessee over the hump and into its first Final Four. Ament might, but it will depend on the sort of offensive role he is able to play as a lanky 19 year old competing in the nation’s best conference.
The Vols earned the No. 2 seed in the past two NCAA Tournaments thanks to leadership from old transfers who were elite shooters (Lanier in 2024 and Dalton Knecht in 2023). While Maryland transfer Ja’Kobi Gillespie is a critical addition capable of carrying a chunk of the offensive load, he’s not an otherworldly scorer like those two. The Vols will need Ament to shoulder some of that load if they are going to maintain their top-flight trajectory. The degree to which he’s ready to thrive in a showcase role will be a prime SEC storyline and determining factor in how far the Vols can go. — David Cobb
Darryn Peterson, Kansas
Peterson profiles as one of the best guard prospects of the modern era. The No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 class is a top candidate to be the top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Bill Self anointed him as the best freshman the program has landed since he became head coach at Kansas.
Since winning the 2022 national title, the Jayhawks haven’t made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament — including a first-round loss to Arkansas this past spring. Peterson is the kind of player who can shift the direction of the program. He’s a true combo guard who can score at will and has the tools to finish as one of the top scorers in the country.
In all my years watching and covering college basketball, I don’t think I’ve been more excited to see a freshman guard take the floor. — Cameron Salerno
The defending champs lurked in the shadows this spring, observing numerous rivals uncork big swings early in free agency.
Patience proved to be a virtue for the Gators. Arkansas transfer Boogie Fland — once considered a shoo-in to stay in the 2025 NBA Draft — exited the pre-draft process on May 13 and committed to Florida a week later.
Florida returns the its dominant frontcourt quartet of Alex Condon, Tommy Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten, but the Gators’ quest to go back-to-back will hinge on how quickly Fland gets up to speed. Todd Golden does not need Fland to be another iteration of Walter Clayton Jr., but being a lead guard in this system is a privilege.
Clayton reaped those rewards. So did Zyon Pullin, and you can’t forget about the dynamic Jamaree Bouyea, who starred for Golden back in San Francisco. There’s a pattern here, and Fland is primed to be the next lead guard to hit the jetpack joy ride.
Whew boy, is he talented. Even though Fland dealt with a thumb injury on his shooting hand amid a turbulent Arkansas ecosystem, he showed glimpses of brilliance. The 6-2 guard notched a 3.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, drained 46% of his catch-and-shoot treys and put smart defensive possessions on tape.
Fland’s shot creation is exactly what Florida looks for in its portal guards, but the Gators’ situation should help Fland out, too. Florida’s bigs executed the Gortat Screen as well as any team in America to open up an unobstructed path to the rim. It helped Florida’s top three guards (Clayton, Alijah Martin and Will Richard) all shoot over 60% at the rim last season. Fland was abysmal at the rim, shooting a meager 38% on layups. The quality of shot he should be able to muster at Florida should be so much higher. If he’s making 3s, getting to his nifty floater, showing his pull-up prowess and becoming more of a threat to finish amongst the trees, Fland has a pathway to put up massive counting stats while staying efficient.
He won’t be the best newcomer in college basketball next year — my money is on Boozer — but Fland’s rate of assimilation to his new club could make or break Florida’s title outlook. It makes the Florida-Fland portal marriage mesmerizing. — Isaac Trotter
