Freshman team
George - 6-3, 180 - 3* on rivals, unranked on 247 and On3. Apparently initially reclassified from the 2023 class to the 2024 class to try and gain more attention, then reclassified back. According to 247 had an offer to Sam Houston State, and according to a rivals article was setting up a visit to Seattle.
Nichols? 6-6 215- walk on.
Sacko 6-6 225, - unrated by both 247 and rivals. 3* on On3. rivals has offers from Oregon and BYU. 247 shows Xavier as well.
Souare 6-9, 214 - unranked by 247. 3* by on3. Couldn't find a rivals profile. Rivals has Oregon and Niagara as offers.
Ndongo - 6-9, 214 - 4* by On3, 3& by rivals and 247 (4* on 247 composite). Numerous P5 offers including Michigan, Nebraska, ASU, Cal, Rutgers, PSU.
Upperclassman team
Sturdivant - 6-3, 195
Kelly -6-6 180
Coleman - 6-6 210
Claude - 6-7 226
Dowuona 6-11 230
There is also Reeves - 6-7 202 and Terry - 6-3, 198 as well.
Realistically the freshmen would get handled pretty easily imo. The back court mismatch is insanely one sided. Sturdivant as a 5th year senior who averaged 8.6 points and a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio and Kelly who averaged 14.4 vs a guy who had to reclassify to get noticed and a walk on is a big advantage. Coleman has the bulk to not be bullied by Sacko at the 3, and he's averaged 9.5 last year on okay but not great shooting and as a freshman he shot 41% from the 3 when playing mostly at the 3. Inside Souare has potential but I doubt he is ready for P5 play. Ndongo is the best prospect but he isn't the level of prospect that makes him a sure thing right away, and with Souare likely not being ready then having both Claude and Dowuona in there should make it harder for Ndongo to get going inside, especially since the back court likely won't be effective in getting him the ball in a good position or taking pressure off him. The upperclassmen also have the option of sliding Coleman to the 4 with Terry in there and just punishing the freshmen from 3 as it's unlikely that Nichols/Sacko/Souare would be able to really prevent good looks from three against Terry/Kelly/Coleman. And it's unlikely Souare or Sacko are developed enough offensively to really punish the weakness of that look. Ndongo would probably have an easier time but I doubt it would offset the increased 3 point opportunities.
It's more interesting if you include the sophomores Abram, Gapare, and Forrest (who is scheduled to join the team in december/january. Gapare likely doesn't change things too much. He wasn't very effective at UMass last year, and while probably better than Souare at the moment, I don't believe it'd be enough to really change the dynamics. Now Abram certainly changes the dynamics in the back court. Personally I give a slight edge to Sturdivant based on experience (both individually and with who he is playing with) and how Kyle finished out last year, but either way a much more competitive matchup and likely about even. Forrest is certainly an upgrade over whoever would be at the 2, and he put up good numbers as a freshman for a very bad presbyterian team. How that translates to ACC play is yet to be seen but it gives a more competitive back court although there is still likely a very sizeable advantage for either Kelly or Sturdivant. I think it's still a comfortable win for the upperclassmen but more interesting at least.
