While it’s no secret that the Big 12 Conference features some of the nation’s elite backcourt entering the 2024-25 season, a recent list from 247Sports confirmed that fact.
247Sports’ Grant Hughes ranked the top 10 backcourts in all of college basketball and listed three teams from the Big 12 among the nation’s best.
Three members of the league checked in on Hughes’ list, including Arizona, Iowa State, and Kansas.
NO. 8 – ARIZONA
“Caleb Love is back after testing NBA Draft waters,” Hughes said. “He took home Pac-12 Player of the Year honors last season after averaging a career-high 18.0 points per game and is poised for another big season in 2024-25. Jaden Bradley is the de facto starting point guard after Kylan Boswell transferred to Arizona State and should see his workload increase this fall. KJ Lewis and Campbell transfer Anthony Dell’Orso add a ton of size and versatility to the backcourt. Dell’Orso is 6-foot-6 and averaged nearly 20 points per game at the mid-major level last season.”
NO 6 – IOWA STATE
“Iowa State earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season and is poised for another strong season in 2024-25 behind a stacked backcourt,” Hughes said. “The Cyclones return their four leading scorers from last season, and three of those are guards — Tamin Lipsey, Curtis Jones, and Keshon Gilbert. They’re pretty good defenders, too. Lipsey led the Big 12 with 2.7 steals per game last season, while Gilbert (2.0) and Lipsey (1.4) also ranked among the conference leaders. On offense, they each shot better than 35.0% from the 3-point line.”
NO. 1 – KANSAS
“Kansas entered the portal looking to re-tool its roster after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign and exited with arguably the nation’s deepest and most talented roster,” Hughes said. “The Jayhawks landed a pair of top 25 transfer guards in AJ Storr and Zeke Mayo. Both averaged more than 16.0 points per game and shot better than 39.0% from behind the arc a season ago. Storr rated as the No. 2 shooting guard in the portal and Mayo rated as the No. 6 point guard. Veteran Dajaun Harris Jr. is back for a fifth season. He averaged a career-high 6.5 assists per game last season and should see that total rise playing alongside Storr and Mayo. Mississippi State combo guard Shakeel Moore was an underrated addition in the portal, giving the Jayhawks veteran depth in the backcourt.”
While Kansas, Iowa State, and Arizona will have some of the nation’s best units in the upcoming season, the Big 12 Conference as a whole is expected to take another step forward as the nation’s best college basketball league. Despite the season still being the better part of five months away, Big 12 basketball is slowly creeping up.
