The Post’s Zach Braziller makes five bold predictions for the 2025-06 college basketball season
A change in Chapel Hill
For the second time in three years, North Carolina fails to go dancing, costing Hubert Davis his job.
Advertisement
The Tar Heels were fortunate to receive an NCAA Tournament bid last March and they have only one starter back in Seth Trimble.
Davis has plenty of talent — he brought in five-star high school wing Caleb Wilson and Arizona forward Henri Veesaar, among other potential difference-makers — but talent really hasn’t been the issue for North Carolina in recent years. It’s been defense and consistency.
Lacking continuity won’t help.
North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis directs the team against Winston-Salem State AP
Kentucky cuts down the nets
The Wildcats have depth and shotmakers, they have scorers and defenders, they have guard play and size.
Kentucky’s roster reportedly cost more than $20 million, and it’s easy to see why with the talent second-year coach Mark Pope has accumulated.
Advertisement
Pope brought back multiple key contributors, highlighted by SEC preseason player of the year Otega Oweh. He added elite defenders Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama) and Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State) and an experienced floor general in Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh) in the transfer portal and also brought in top-30 freshmen Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno.
Kentucky, having stitched up its weakness from a year ago on the defensive end, is my pick to win it all.
Otega Oweh #00 of the Kentucky Wildcats dribbles the ball against the Purdue Boilermakers during an exhibition game at Rupp Arena on October 24, 2025 in Lexington, Kentucky. Getty Images
A freshman stands above the rest
Two seniors, Purdue point guard Braden Smith and Texas Tech forward JT Toppin, are popular preseason picks to win national player of the year honors, and they will be in the mix.
Advertisement
The same can be said for freshmen Cameron Boozer of Duke and AJ Dybantsa of BYU. There is immense star power in college basketball.
But nobody will shine brighter than Kansas freshman guard Darryn Peterson.
Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson is a star. Getty Images
Expectations are lower than usual for the Jayhawks, at least on the outside. Peterson will change that.
The 6-foot-6 guard from Canton, Ohio, makes an early statement by leading Bill Self’s team to the Players Era Festival title in Las Vegas in November and takes them all the way to the Final Four in Indianapolis as a four seed.
He joins Cooper Flagg, Zion Williamson, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis as freshmen to be the consensus national player of the year.
Advertisement
One-and-done Gators
Reigning national champion Florida is a preseason top-five team in the Associated Press poll and returns a loaded frontcourt. The Gators are looking to make it consecutive back-to-back championships, following Connecticut in 2023-24.
But they lack depth and the new backcourt of transfers Boogie Fland (Arkansas) and Xaivian Lee (Princeton) is a drop-off from Walter Clayton Jr., Denzel Aberdeen, Will Richard and Alijah Martin.
Florida gets picked off in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament after an up-and-down regular season that results in a five seed.
Virginia is back
There are new coaches at several high-profile schools, from Auburn (Steven Pearl) to Villanova (Kevin Willard), Texas (Sean Miller) to Maryland (Buzz Williams) and Indiana (Darian DeVries) to N.C. State (Will Wade).
Advertisement
The newcomer who does the best job is Ryan Odom at Virginia, guiding the Cavaliers back to the NCAA Tournament after a third-place finish in the improved ACC.
In nine years as a Division I coach, Odom-led teams have won 20 games six times, and at least 24 in three consecutive seasons.
The Post’s All-American First Team
Fr. F Cameron Boozer (Duke)
The son of Carlos Boozer showed his unlimited potential in the preseason, averaging 28.5 points, 17.5 rebounds and five assists in a pair of exhibition games against UCF and Tennessee.
He’s not Cooper Flagg, the one-and-done superstar who led Duke to the Final Four last season, but the 6-foot-9 forward is special in his own right. Boozer is also a winner — he led Christopher Columbus High School in Miami to four state championships.
Duke forward Cameron Boozer (12) goes for a shot as he is defended by Tennessee forwards Dewayne Brown II (6) and Nate Ament (10) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. AP
Sr. F Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan (17.7 PPG, 11.4 RPG)
A two-way dynamo transfer from UAB, the 6-9 Lendeborg has developed a perimeter game to match his robust play in the paint. He’s a mismatch nightmare with his size and shotmaking, but his defensive versatility is what has turned the former junior college standout into one of the sport’s premier forwards.
Advertisement
Fr. G Darryn Peterson, Kansas
Our preseason pick to win national player of the year honors can do it all. He has good size for a guard at 6-6 and is a three-level scorer. Peterson won the 2025 Naismith High School Player of the Year award after posting absurd averages of 30.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.2 steals at Prolific Prep in California.
Braden Smith leads a strong Purdue team. AP
Sr. G Braden Smith, Purdue (15.8 PPG, 8.7 APG)
The 6-foot Smith is an anomaly in college basketball today — a four-year starter at one school. He could break Bobby Hurley’s all-time Division I assists record of 1,076, needing 319 to set the mark. Smith is already the only player in Big Ten history with 1,300 points, 700 assists and 500 rebounds.
Advertisement
Jr. F JT Toppin, Texas Tech (18.2 PPG, 9.4 RPG)
The 6-9 forward is a double-double machine who improved as a playmaker last season and could take an even bigger leap this season as a complete player. Toppin was the only player in the Big 12 who was top three in scoring and rebounding a year ago.
All-American Second Team
Sr. G Donovan Dent, UCLA (20.4 PPG, 6.4 APG)
Fr. G AJ Dybantsa, BYU (no stats)
Jr. G P.J. Haggerty, Kansas State (21.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG)
Sr. G Otega Oweh, Kentucky (16.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG)
Soph. G Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn (11.6 PPG, 3.0 APG)
