Around the SEC East, hoops style

Around the SEC East, hoops style

Now that we know Dominique Archie will not be on South Carolina’s roster next season, is it time to comfortably predict the SEC East race next year?

Uh, no.

Each of the other five teams in the division has major questions to be answered in the next month or so, especially Kentucky, which will see almost a complete roster turnover. In fact, the Gamecocks’ roster is the only one that basically seems settled at this point, save a potential late recruit.

That hasn’t stopped a few people – like Foxsports.com’s Jeff Goodman and The Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy – from putting teams like Florida and Kentucky in their top 25 projections for next year. Goodman also has Vanderbilt and Tennessee among teams to watch outside the top 25.

Here are the major questions for USC’s division rivals, and the potential effect on the rest of the division:

Kentucky: Ignore any talk of John Wall coming back to school. He’s as good as gone, along with DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson. Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton also seem likely to go right now, which seems flabbergasting, but to each his own.

The Wildcats still figure to be good next year. They only have one signee, wing Stacey Poole (who chose Kentucky over South Carolina, and is rated No. 27 overall by Rivals.com), but are the leaders for Brandon Knight, considered the top point guard, and perhaps the top overall recruit in the country. The Cats are also in the running for several other top recruits, like Josh Selby and C.J. Leslie.

When the smoke clears, the Wildcats figure to be a top 20 team, possibly better.

Tennessee: The big question revolves around shooter Scotty Hopson, a sophomore who will likely enter his name in the draft and evaluate his stock. Right now his projection is late first round to early second.

But the Vols already know they bring in forward Tobias Howard, a consensus top 10 recruit, and guards Jordan McRae and Trae Golden, each ranked around the top 50. And with center Brian Williams and point guard Melvin Goins back, the Vols figure to be a top 25 team if Hopson returns.

Vanderbilt: Center A.J. Ogilvy is once again a candidate to go pro, but his stock has dropped every offseason. It’s almost to the point where you wonder how much Ogilvy would be missed. The graduation of point guard Jermaine Beal might be a bigger loss.

The good news for the Commodores is there’s been no indication that forward Jeffery Taylor is going anywhere, and shooting guard John Jenkins should improve as a sophomore. They only have one top 100-rated recruit, but should have a veteran, deep roster.

Florida: If you had to pick now, the Gators are the division favorite. The only projected loss is Dan Werner, a senior this year. Recruit Patric Young, a center, is rated No. 28 overall by Rivals.com, and forward Casey Prather is No. 64.

All the Gators have to worry about is whether someone like Kenny Boynton, Alex Tyus or Vernon Macklin gets tempted to go pro.

Georgia: Forward Trey Thompkins, a sophomore, is probably thinking about entering his name in the draft. At this point, however, he’s only projected to go late first round, at best. Wing Travis Leslie has already announced that he’s coming back.

If Thompkins returns, the Bulldogs figure to start next season as the pick to finish fifth in the East, followed by South Carolina.

Read more: http://blogs.thestateonline.net/semerson/2010/04/07/around-the-sec-east-hoops-style/#ixzz0kTdVCGJ3

He forgot to mention Ray Shipman transferred. I still think UK will be the division favorite. With Knight and co. they will be loaded again. UF needs to get another good guard to sign then we might have something.