Lock Mamba

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Contributor to Pickswise for College Basketball. Former Illinois basketball manager. Top ranked Bracketologist

  • The Two-Big Lineup Works

    In an era where traditional big men are becoming increasingly rare, the two-big lineup made a comeback this season. Houston, Auburn, Florida, and Duke (if you count Cooper Flagg) all reached the Final Four while using lineups featuring two bigs. According to Evan Miya, all four of those teams ranked in the top 20 nationally in effective margin when using a two big lineup.

    A consistent theme among these Final Four teams was dominance on the offensive glass. Per KenPom, Houston and Florida both ranked in the top 11 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, while Auburn and Duke weren’t far behind, ranking within the top 54. Winning the rebounding battle not only leads to extra scoring chances but also gives your team a crucial edge in total possessions over the opponent. This has become increasingly crucial factor in the college game, even more so than winning the turnover battle.

    Florida and Duke also finished in the top 24 in total offensive possessions this season, demonstrating how maximizing possessions played to their advantage. Houston wasn’t far off either, ranking #38.

    While it’s clear that guard play wins in March, this year has raised an important point that having multiple reliable big men might be just as vital. Going forward, we may see more teams prioritizing having two or even three bigs capable of making a real impact on both ends of the floor.

  • Michigan’s Unlimited NIL

    Dusty May wasted no time this offseason replacing his two All-Big Ten Second Team frontcourt players. Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf are out of eligibility, but their success together last season may have positioned Michigan as a top destination for big men.

    The Wolverines made a massive splash in this year’s transfer portal by landing three extremely talented bigs. The No. 1 overall transfer according to 247 Sports, Yaxel Lendenborg, is headed to Ann Arbor—assuming he doesn’t stay in the NBA Draft. They also picked up No. 23-ranked Morez Johnson Jr. and No. 43-ranked Aday Mara, giving Michigan one of the most stacked frontcourts in the country.

    Rumor has it that Morez Johnson Jr. received close to $1.8 million, and it’s expected that Lendenborg will demand over $3 million if he returns to college basketball. That’s a hefty price tag when you add those two to Mara and former North Carolina guard Elliot Cadeau.

    Evan Miya recently tweeted estimates of what schools have spent on incoming transfers, and Michigan tops the list at a projected $8.8 million—over a million more than any other team in college basketball.

    So, where did all this Michigan money come from? Dusty May turning down the Indiana job gave him leverage to secure enough NIL funding to build an elite roster. He signed a contract extension to stay in Ann Arbor through 2030, which significantly boosted the program’s NIL budget starting this offseason. Indiana may have been the biggest spender in the Big Ten last year, but it looks like Dusty May won’t let his alma mater outspend him again.

  • Time for Illinois to Pay Up

    Illinois has done a great job retaining players this offseason as Kylan Boswell, Tomislav Ivisic, Jake Davis and potentially Ben Humrichous are all back. #TheRetention has been on full display (besides Morez Johnson Jr.), but the Illini still need to land a big fish to make it a successful offseason.

    Josh Dix considered Illinois as an option but ultimately chose Creighton to stay close to home. Dix is ranked #18 in the current 247 Sports transfer portal rankings and would have been an instant starter on this team. Ian Jackson, who is a former 5-star recruit and is ranked #7 on 247 Sports, had a zoom call with the Illini staff but seems to be out of their price range. Jackson is the type of player that I would pay big money for, but the staff must see differently.

    Has Illinois spent even close to their budget? I don’t think so. Zvonimir Ivisic and David Mirkovic cost money of course but nowhere near the amount Josh Dix was requesting. It is rumored that Kylan Boswell is being brought back for less than 1.3 million dollars (steal) and both euro bigs most likely combined to cost less than Morez would have needed as well. There seems to still be money left to be spent on a star…

    It is time for Illinois to pay whatever it takes to get Dame Sarr. 2-3 millon dollars is worth it to get your star guard. Sarr is on FC Barcelona and just played for Team World in the Nike Hoop Summit. He finished with 17 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the field and 6 of 6 from the charity stripe. The Italian native proved that he belonged and is one of the best international prospects out there.

    At 6’6, Sarr can fill right in at the shooting guard position and be a playmaking type player like what we saw in Kasparas Jakucionis last season. Jakucionis and Sarr share the same agent, and KJ was in attendance on Saturday night to watch his former teammate play. It makes too much sense for the staff to get this done, no matter what the cost is.

  • Cooper Flagg’s Legacy

    Cooper Flagg lived up to the hype. That might be an understatement for the best Freshman to play college hoops since another Duke legend, Zion Williamson. Flagg is just the fourth Freshman ever to win the Wooden award and joins a list of NBA All-Stars that have done it. Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and Zion Williamson are the only other Freshman to ever do it.

    The soon to be #1 overall pick led the Blue Devils in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. The only problem is that Flagg did not finish the job and win the NCAA Tournament like Anthony Davis did in 2011 and Carmelo Anthony did in 2003. His team finished with a 35-4 overall record and will go down as one of the best teams of all time to never win the title. A Freshman leading his University to the Final 4 is a great accomplishment, but not winning the big one will be a debate for years to come.

    It will be impossible to rank Cooper Flagg over Carmelo Anthony and Anthony Davis in my all-time Freshman ranking, simply due to the result of the NCAA Tournament. Both Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony were All-Americans that led their team to a championship as a Freshman. It will not surprise me one bit if Flagg has an NBA career like those two players though.

    Flagg will go down as one of the best Freshman to ever play college basketball. He brought the excitement back to fans for an American born NBA prospect, after two straight years of foreign #1 overall picks.

  • A Champaign Homecoming

    I am choosing to believe the rumors on Adam Miller coming back to Champaign to play his final season in Orange and Blue. Highly connected Trilly Donovan on Twitter and Derek Piper both reported that there is serious buzz about Miller entering the transfer portal and returning to Illinois. Surely enough, he entered the transfer portal this morning.

    There has been no new news since Miller entered the portal, but Illini Nation seems like they would be willing to welcome him back with open arms. The Peoria native played for the 2020-21 Illinois team that won the Big 10 Tournament and earned a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. His experience in college basketball alone, makes a homecoming worth it.

    Miller’s numbers over the past four seasons do not jump off the page but his experience and scoring ability off the bench would be valuable. He is 23 years old and will turn 24 in January, which gives Illinois an experienced guard they desperately needed last year. He shot a career best 42.9 percent from three-point land with an average of 1.9 makes per game last season on Arizona State.

    The way I see Adam Miller excelling during his second stint in Champaign is being a backup guard and a scorer off the bench. He has potential to be a Big 10 6th man of the year type player, but he would have to be willing to accept that role.

  • Lock Mamba Update

    🚨 BIG NEWS! 🚨

    I’m thrilled to officially launch my very first college basketball blog!

    I’m a contributor to Pickswise covering College Basketball, and I compete in the Bracket Project with my very own Bracketology.

    This blog is all about building community and sharing the game we love. My goal is to grow this platform and connect with as many college hoops fans as possible.

    Expect content about everything college hoops. Plus, as a proud University of Illinois graduate and former Illinois basketball manager, I’ll be writing about my Fighting Illini as well!

    If you love college hoops, you’re in the right place. Please subscribe if you want these posts sent directly to your inbox.

    Links to my Twitter and Tik Tok pages are shared on the site. Message me anytime if you want to talk college basketball. I’m always game.

    Let’s tip this thing off! 🏀