ESPN's most improved teams

[stever20]

insider article but here's their 5-
1- Rhode Island
2- UCLA
3- Saint Mary's
4- Creighton- Greg McDermott's problem in 2015-16 came down to the fact that Creighton was a perimeter-oriented team that shot just 31.7 percent on its 3s in Big East play. That number is due for a major upgrade for the Bluejays this season, thanks to sheer gravitational pull -- the league as a whole connected 34 percent of the time from beyond the arc -- and the arrival of Kansas State transfer Marcus Foster, not necessarily in that order.
In two seasons with the Wildcats, Foster hit 37 percent of his 3s as a high-volume scorer. Now he'll team with point guard Maurice Watson Jr., one of the best 2-point shooters in the nation listed under 6-foot-0, to form one of the better backcourts in the Big East. The Blue Jays also return Cole Huff and Isaiah Zierden as starters from a team that played pretty good defense last season. Everything's in place for the Blue Jays to return to the NCAA tournament after a two-year absence.
5- Florida State

Pretty fair 5 I'd say.

[adoraz]

Well deserved by Creighton.

SJU doesn't belong on this list because I don't expect them to be nationally relevant, but I still expect them top be top 5 in terms of improvement.

Reasons why:
1. Awful, awful, awful last year. No where to go but up. 245 RPI.
2. #23 ranked class incoming
3. That doesn't include LoVett, our best recruit from the prior year's class who was ineligible last year
4. That doesn't include Bashir Ahmed, the #2 ranked JUCO transfer

Other reasons as well but those are the big ones. They could improve 100 spots and probably be top 5 in terms of RPI improvement.

[milksteak]

Well deserved by Creighton.

SJU doesn't belong on this list because I don't expect them to be nationally relevant, but I still expect them top be top 5 in terms of improvement.

Reasons why:
1. Awful, awful, awful last year. No where to go but up. 245 RPI.
2. #23 ranked class incoming
3. That doesn't include LoVett, our best recruit from the prior year's class who was ineligible last year
4. That doesn't include Bashir Ahmed, the #2 ranked JUCO transfer

Other reasons as well but those are the big ones. They could improve 100 spots and probably be top 5 in terms of RPI improvement.

Jury is definitely still out on Mullin. This year will tell us much, much more regarding his potential for longevity.

[adoraz]

I misspoke about Ahmed- the 247 system does include JUCOs

Well deserved by Creighton.

SJU doesn't belong on this list because I don't expect them to be nationally relevant, but I still expect them top be top 5 in terms of improvement.

Reasons why:
1. Awful, awful, awful last year. No where to go but up. 245 RPI.
2. #23 ranked class incoming
3. That doesn't include LoVett, our best recruit from the prior year's class who was ineligible last year
4. That doesn't include Bashir Ahmed, the #2 ranked JUCO transfer

Other reasons as well but those are the big ones. They could improve 100 spots and probably be top 5 in terms of RPI improvement.

Jury is definitely still out on Mullin. This year will tell us much, much more regarding his potential for longevity.

Of course... but just on paper they should see a substantial improvement next year.

Last year:
1. Lost all their players (aside from a few bench players)
2. #27 incoming class- mostly due to volume- 3 four stars but highest ranked players sat the entire year. LoVett (#95- 4 stars) and Williams (#10 JUCO- 4 star). So wasn't close to being the #27 class.

Last year we lost all our starters, returned a few bench players and brought in a class where 2 of the 3 top ranked players didn't play.

This year:
1. Returning most players
2. #23 incoming class- 3 four stars who are ranked higher than last year's four stars and should actually play
3. Adding two of three 4 star players from last year's class who didn't play (LoVett and Williams- see above)

I agree the pressure is on Mullin this year, but there's no reason to be pessimistic of last year's results. That was not a Big East caliber team.

[Hall2012]

I misspoke about Ahmed- the 247 system does include JUCOs

Well deserved by Creighton.

SJU doesn't belong on this list because I don't expect them to be nationally relevant, but I still expect them top be top 5 in terms of improvement.

Reasons why:
1. Awful, awful, awful last year. No where to go but up. 245 RPI.
2. #23 ranked class incoming
3. That doesn't include LoVett, our best recruit from the prior year's class who was ineligible last year
4. That doesn't include Bashir Ahmed, the #2 ranked JUCO transfer

Other reasons as well but those are the big ones. They could improve 100 spots and probably be top 5 in terms of RPI improvement.

Jury is definitely still out on Mullin. This year will tell us much, much more regarding his potential for longevity.

Of course... but just on paper they should see a substantial improvement next year.

Last year:
1. Lost all their players (aside from a few bench players)
2. #27 incoming class- mostly due to volume- 3 four stars but highest ranked players sat the entire year. LoVett (#95- 4 stars) and Williams (#10 JUCO- 4 star). So wasn't close to being the #27 class.

Last year we lost all our starters, returned a few bench players and brought in a class where 2 of the 3 top ranked players didn't play.

This year:
1. Returning most players
2. #23 incoming class- 3 four stars who are ranked higher than last year's four stars and should actually play
3. Adding two of three 4 star players from last year's class who didn't play (LoVett and Williams- see above)

I agree the pressure is on Mullin this year, but there's no reason to be pessimistic of last year's results. That was not a Big East caliber team.

I think Mullen deservedly gets a pass on last year's results. Honestly, I was impressed with what I saw. Not necessarily in terms of in game tactics, but to be fair, your tactics look a lot better when your players execute them correctly. The most impressive thing I saw from Mullen last year was despite the losses piling up, he never lost his players. They battled hard for him every game. Sure, there were some lopsided losses- it's gonna happen to such a young team in the Big East. But they also played competitively with some of the league's top teams- notably taking Seton Hall to the wire. They'll definitely win some more games this year and I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish as high as 6th.

[GoldenWarrior11]

My only concern with Mullen was the situation with Slice Rohrssen. Never a good sign when your top assistant leaves/dismissed/part ways after just one season.

[ChelseaFriar]

URI is a talented team this year.

They get EC Matthews back after he missed all of last season with an injury. He averaged just under 17 PPG as a sophomore. They add him to 3 returners who averaged double figures last season (Jared Terrell, Jarvis Garrett, Hassan Martin) along with Kuran Iverson who averaged 9.8.

[ChelseaFriar]

Agree on not judging Mullin yet. Cooley was 15-17/4-14 his first season at PC. The following season he made the NIT quarterfinals. Then 3 straight NCAA appearances.

[stever20]

Agree on not judging Mullin yet. Cooley was 15-17/4-14 his first season at PC. The following season he made the NIT quarterfinals. Then 3 straight NCAA appearances.

Only difference is Cooley was an established college coach when he got to PC. Not only as a head coach, but also as an assistant coach.

The lack of coaching experience is a big question mark for Mullin. We've seen a lot of guys who were great players who weren't good coaches. The jury is still out on Mullin. This year a big year for him. It's not a make or break situation- this year. But if they have a poor year- the pressure would be turned up on Mullin next season big time.

[NJRedman]

My only concern with Mullen was the situation with Slice Rohrssen. Never a good sign when your top assistant leaves/dismissed/part ways after just one season.

Yeah but sometimes their is addition by subtraction. Two top recruiters together isn't always a plus. One vision won out and the other left for a job that will allow them to be the main guy. Matt A has done a tremendous job on the recruiting trail, all the kids we signed he got us. We didn't sign any of the kids Slice was going after. Also he wanted a bigger role with the X's and O's and that wasn't happening with Greg St. Jean on the bench. It's fine for us since Mitch Richmond is now officially an assistant coach. I think these kids are fully invested in being at St. John's and the coaching staff now is happy where they are. Lets see what kind of improvement the kids show this year.