NCAA Men’s Basketball is one of the nation’s favorite sports, and culminates in one of the nation’s favorite sporting sagas of the year, March Madness. Undoubtedly, March Madness will have a few teams that spring up as the “cinderellas” of that year’s tourney. In recent years, teams like the Dayton Flyers (not to brag but I predicted that one), Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (I am honestly not bragging, but I called that one as well), and 15th seed Middle Tennessee (okay, I am not a psychic, I did not see that one coming at all), and countless more teams become, albeit for a short time, the hot team in March. However, when it comes down to the Final Four, it is generally full of familiar faces. Teams like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Villanova, Syracuse and North Carolina are mainstays in the last few games. However, that doesn’t mean a cinderella team can’t have a meaningful run. Sometimes that meaning is all in simply getting into the tournament. But, I am getting ahead of myself. I’m talking about a team that hasn’t been to the tournament since 1996, and hasn’t been to the Final Four since 1952. What team is that, you ask? Well, I am referring to the 13-11 Santa Clara Broncos. Why would an 13-11 team be in the same breath as March Madness? They wouldn’t. The team I am talking about has not even been fully assembled. I am referring to the Santa Clara Broncos of years to come.
Taking a look at Santa Clara’s current roster, one thing jumps out immediately. Senior guard Jared Brownridge is putting up eye popping numbers, scoring 18.5 points per game and shooting nearly 39% from long range. However, the graduating guard could be leaving more of a negative impact than first meets the eye. Despite his strong shooting numbers, and huge scoring outbursts, Brownridge is shooting barely over 40% from the field. He attempts 14.4 shots per game, a large distance from second place Sophomore KJ Feagin with 11.7 (Feagin has only played twelve games on the season, so I give him a pass on his lower FG%). In addition, Brownridge is providing virtually nothing in other statistical categories for a playmaker in his position (3 rebounds and 2.7 assists), aside from the occasional steal. Free Hand Basketball writer Justin Hodges (@justin_hodges22 on Twitter) compared the situation to last year’s North Carolina State Wolfpack team, led by Cat Barber. Barber was an elite scorer, putting up 23.5 points per game on 43.4% from the field. Despite Barber’s amazing numbers, his team often appeared disjointed as he attempted nearly 200 more shots than anyone on the team. With his graduation to the NBA D-League, Barber was replaced with recruit Dennis Smith Jr., who has continued to put up big numbers (18.9 points per game), but his ball distribution and team play has led NC State to a much more successful season thus far. When Brownridge graduates, he will be replaced by a few very nice young players. The previously mentioned KJ Feagin, a sharpshooting guard with room to grow, as he will only be a Junior next season, will be a very nice addition to the regular rotation. Sophomores Henrik Jadersten, a Swedish stretch big man, and Emmanuel Ndumanya (who has shown flashes of being a reliable main big against opponents such as Gonzaga), a shot-blocker from Nigeria, will also be rising into greater roles. In fact, Santa Clara has even shown they can play well without Brownridge, as they held a strong position for the first eight or so minutes against Gonzaga without Brownridge scoring a single point (I understand the senior Kratch scored in that span, but he is nothing that can not be replaced, and allowed some Przemek Karnowski buckets on his poor help defense). However, the real treat with this Santa Clara team is their recruits for the next few years.
Three players have signed letters of intent to play at Santa Clara next season, according to verbalcommits.com. The first of those being Matt Turner, a three star (rivals.com) 6’4” guard who attends Blair Academy in Blairstown, NJ. I can personally attest to Matt Turner’s talents. He has an insane work ethic, was incredibly well-coached, and was bred by his coaches to be a leader and floor general. His jump shot is very consistent, even when off balance, and he has excellent athleticism and agility when handling the ball. Trust me when I tell you, he is a serious winner. In addition, the game Turner plays is not a traditional high school game. The pace and extreme physicality of Turner’s opponents and system has primed him for the Division I college game. His coach, Joe Mantegna, is one of the best in the game, and has coached the likes of Luol Deng, Charlie Villanueva, Royal Ivey, Mike Tobey, Marial Shayok, Julius Coles, Justin Robinson, and countless more. If you do not believe me when I preach about Turner, watch this video:
Next on the list is 6’6” guard/forward Shaquille Walters, a two star recruit from London, England. I do not understand why Walters is only a two star recruit, because he really convinced me of his talents the very first time I saw film of him. He has a long body, is a very good leaper (even in traffic), appears to possess superior vision when passing on the move, and has the kind of range you want to see in someone with his body type. If I were to compare him to another player, I would roughly compare him to a Malcolm Brogdon-type player. He has a nice handle, but will probably thrive off the ball at the next level. He was the #6 ranked player at the Luol Deng Top 50 Camp in London, which is one of the biggest honors for a U19 player to receive. He has the physical and mental skills to be a factor as soon as he steps onto a court at Santa Clara. If you want, here is a nice tape of Walters to look at:
Third on the list is two star forward Josip Vrankic, a 6’9” recruit from Canada. I honestly do not have much to go on with Vrankic, but from what I can look at (which is basically a minute and a half long mixtape and a thirty six second video of him hitting one buzzer-beater), he seems like a smaller Andrea Bargnani-style player with a “high IQ”. Everywhere I’ve seen this kid, they praise his high court IQ, so that is obviously a plus. If he fills out, he could be a very nice stretch four with some solid shot blocking ability. By the way, here is the mixtape I mentioned earlier:
Another exciting thing about this Santa Clara team is the recruits they might get in 2018. Elijah Hardy, a three to four star southpaw point guard with transfixing ball handling and passing ability, and Riley Battin, a 6’9” four star big man who set countless records in Ventura County, California, have both shown a medium level interest in committing to Santa Clara (verbalcommits.com). Hardy has also received interest from USC and Cal, among other places, while Battin has received interest from colleges such as Utah (check out some highlights of these two). However, if Santa Clara could land even one of these two recruits, it would be the icing on a beautiful cake for the Broncos. The future looks very bright for this team, so watch out, they might just come from nowhere and surprise you.
