Dick Vitale has unveiled his way-too-early No. 1 team in the country heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.
The legendary ESPN analyst has Kansas in the top spot, followed by Alabama, UConn, Houston, and Iowa State. He’s a big fan of this Kansas team, especially with Hunter Dickinson returning, and thinks the program is in a great state to go on a deep run.
“After four second-round exits in five NCAA tournaments, it looks like Bill Self has assembled a lineup that can make a deep run again. The addition of perimeter shooting should help in an area that was lacking last season,” Vitale wrote.
Outside of Dickinson returning, the Jayhawks also have K.J. Adams Jr. and Dajuan Harris Jr. returning. They added some top transfers in Wisconsin’s AJ Storr, Alabama’s Rylan Griffen, and a few others.
In terms of high school recruiting, they have two ESPN top 50 recruits on the way in Flory Bidunga and Rakease Passmore.
The Jayhawks finished the 2023-24 season with a 23-11 record and a loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
The Jayhawks are two years removed from winning a national title against the North Carolina Tar Heels.