John Clay’s college basketball Top 25: All hail North Carolina’s Tar Heels

John Clay’s Top 25:

1. North Carolina

Last season, the Tar Heels figured it out just in time to reach the NCAA title game. This year, Hubert Davis has a new contract and four starters returning from the 2021-22 edition. Hard to argue against the experience of Armando Bacot, Caleb Love, RJ Davis and Leaky Black, plus transfer Pete Nance.

2. Gonzaga

Last year’s No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament returns six of its top eight players, including All-American Drew Timme. In other words, Mark Few is loaded again for a shot at the Zags’ first national title.

3. Houston

You know Kelvin Sampson’s team is going to play in-your-grill defense. This year, the Cougars have Jamal Shead, Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mack back for a run at a second Final Four appearance in the last three years.

4. Tennessee

Rick Barnes’ Volunteers return four of the top five scorers from last year’s SEC Tournament champions. Five-star guard Julian Phillips should make an immediate impact.

5. Arkansas

Eric Musselman has taken the Razorbacks to the Elite Eight each of the past two seasons. This time out, Coach Muss has three five-star freshmen to go with his usual haul of transfers. Nick Smith and Trevon Brazile were standouts on the team’s summer trip to Spain and Italy.

6. Baylor

LJ Cryer and Adam Flagler return for the Bears, who added five-star Keyonte George. West Virginia transfer Jalen Bridges and BYU transfer Caleb Lohner join the roster for Scott Drew, who has a history of making good use of transfers.

7. Kentucky

Having unanimous National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe back is a plus, but John Calipari has a lot of questions to answer before the Wildcats are ready for a run at the Final Four. The Cats could rise or fall on if Jacob Toppin is really ready for a marquee role.

8. Creighton

Greg McDermott’s Blue Jays are the preseason favorite to win the Big East, thanks to returning five of their top seven scorers. The Jays also won the transfer derby for Baylor Scheierman, who averaged 16.2 points per game at South Dakota State last season.

9. Duke

Jon Scheyer obviously has some huge shoes to fill, succeeding Mike Krzyzewski. He’ll do so with a ton of youth as the Blue Devils signed three of the four best prospects for 2022 in Dereck Lively, Dariq Whitehead and Kyle Filipowski.

10. Indiana

Give Mike Woodson credit. The former Hoosier has made the current Hoosiers relevant again, thanks to the likes of Tracye Jackson-Davis,who averaged 18.3 points per gamer a year ago and is a prime candidate for Big Ten Player of the Year.

11. Kansas

The defending NCAA Tournament champions will be without the suspended Bill Self for the first four games of the season. The Jayhawks shouldn’t be quite as strong as last year, but Self does have another top-five recruiting class to develop.

12. UCLA

Five-star recruits Amari Bailey and Nigerian standout Adem Bona signed up to play for Mick Cronin, who has taken the Bruins to the Final Four (2021) and the Sweet 16 (2022) in the last two seasons. Italian Abramo Canka averaged 10.9 points per game in the Russian Superleague. The return of Jaime Jaquez boosted the Bruins’ chances.

13. Texas

Chris Beard has made Texas basketball a factor again. Five-star prospects Dillon Mitchell and Arterio Morris join Iowa State transfer Tyrese Hunter. Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr lead the Longhorns’ holdovers from last season.

14. Texas A&M

A strong SEC Tournament run nearly earned the Aggies a ticket to the Big Dance last season. Buzz Williams’ team has enough talent on hand it shouldn’t have to worry about the bubble this season.

15. Arizona

Tommy Lloyd has holdovers from last season’s No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed, plus coveted transfers and five-star freshman Kyland Boswell. Texas transfer Courtney Ramey could be the key for Lloyd in the Wildcats’ backcourt.

16. Auburn

Bruce Pearl lost some top-flight talent from last year in Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler, but the Auburn coach knows how to reload. Freshman Yohan Traore will have a major impact for the Tigers, who also return point guard Wendell Green.

17. TCU

Jamie Dixon has his top six scorers back from last year’s team. Mike Miles may be the best player you don’t know for 2022-23. He averaged 15.4 points a game, including a combined 41 points in TCU’s two NCAA Tournament games last season as a sophomore.

18. Michigan

Big man Hunter Dickinson is back for Juwan Howard’s Wolverines, who play Kentucky in London in December. That might be the perfect spot to highlight Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn and top prospect Jett Howard. Michigan should be better than its 19-15 record of a year ago.

19. Virginia

After winning the 2020 national title, the Cavaliers have slipped back into the pack. Now Tony Bennett returns his top seven scorers, including Jayden Gardner and Armaan Franklin. Having point guard Kihei Clark helps, as well.

20. San Diego State

The Mountain West Conference favorite returns four of its top five starters. Matt Bradley leads the way. Seattle transfer Darrion Trammell should help the Aztecs’ inconsistent offense. Trammell averaged 20.5 points per game last season.

21. Oregon

Junior college All-American Tyrone Williams and Colorado transfer Keeshawn Barthelemy should help Dana Altman rebound from a subpar season last year. Future NBA first-round selection Kel’el Ware has the star power the Ducks need.

22. Alabama

Nate Oats’ squad took a step backward last season, but the Crimson Tide welcomes a top-five recruiting class for this season. Ohio transfer Mark Sears should help, as well.

23. Villanova

It’s a brand new ‘Nova with Kyle Neptune replacing the retired Jay Wright as head coach. The return of Brandon Slater and Caleb Daniels should help smooth the transition. Freshman guard Cameron Whitmore will be counted on to shine early.

24. Dayton

Anthony Grant’s young team just missed the NCAA Tournament last season. Led by sophomores DaRon Holmes, Malachi Smith and Kobe Elvis, that shouldn’t be the case this season.

25. Illinois

Incoming freshman and former Kentucky commit Skyy Clark is coming off a torn ACL but could be the key for Brad Underwood’s team in 2022-23.