I hope you’re having a cozy and calm week between Christmas and New Year’s. Thanks for stopping by. Despite a lighter schedule in recent days, there was enough action across the country to validate refreshing the power rankings in the final week of 2022. On that note, if you missed it, we just published my ’22 Year in Review, wherein I ranked the 22 biggest stories in college hoops over the past 12 months. What I didn’t get to do in that story, and what I’d like to quickly do here before we get to the Hey Nineteen, is shine a light on my colleagues’ work here at CBSSports.com from this year.
If you find yourself with some spare time this weekend, I’d recommend giving these pieces a read.
From Kyle Boone …
• Bronny James is going to commit to and play for a school in 2023. In August, Boone wrote the need-to-know piece about his development and what we should expect from Bronny once he gets to the next level.
• The most tantalizing prospect since LeBron James is Frenchman Victor Wembanyama, who will be drafted in 2023. Read Boone’s definitive primer on him here.
• One of the best players to go undrafted was someone you might never heard of, but Boone did a great job profiling his rise in advance of the NBA Draft.
From David Cobb …
• Cobb’s best story from 2022 is a dive into the turnaround at Southern Miss. I give it an urgent recommendation.
• Take a look around you’ll see more and more offspring playing in the pro ranks in basketball and football. Cobb highlighted this and gave a brief history lesson on Father’s Day.
• An overlooked plot line by many (but not Cobb) of Kansas’ national title was the motivation for many Jayhawks players who were snubbed of a Final Four run in 2020.
From Gary Parrish …
• Thinking back to March, GP’s column on officiating marring the entertainment value of March Madness rang true then and will be relevant again in ’23.
• I also liked…
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