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College basketball All-American team 2023-24: Dick Vitale makes his preseason picks of standouts – 247Sports
College basketball preseason is in nearly full swing, with teams practicing and making international trips, giving fans their first glimpses of what their 2023-24 season could look like. And what college basketball looks like, from a 40,000-foot view, is that the sport boasts a bevy of returning talent. Long-time ESPN college basketball personality Dick Vitale picked his All-American team for the upcoming season.
Noticeably absent from his 15 picks spread over three teams is a single freshman. Some of that is because of the freshman class — it’s considered to be a weaker one, perhaps without bonafide, ready-made star players.
But another part is that a number of highly decorated players returned to college basketball, with NIL perhaps playing a role in schools’ abilities to retain (or in the case of the transfer portal, land) those players. That includes several players who have previously landed on All-American teams and the reigning National Player of the Year. That makes for pretty stiff competition.
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Here’s a look at Vitale’s predictions for All-American teams for 2023-24:
For the second consecutive season, the National Player of the Year returns to college basketball. Last year, Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe couldn’t quite produce at the same level as his Wooden and Naismith award-winning season, and with the Wildcats not enjoying as much team success through the season, he finished as a consensus second-team All-America pick.
Edey could see his counting numbers dip a bit as well, not only because they were so strong a year ago — 22.3 points, 12.9 points, 2.1 blocks per game — but also because the Boilermakers’ young guards could be ready to take on more burden. Edey will remain the focal point, and he’ll have another really big season, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see his numbers dip ever-so-slightly even while he enjoys another All-America-caliber season.
A two-time first-team All-ACC pick and a third-team All-American last year, Bacot is a pretty nice bet to take with Caleb Love moving on to Arizona and the Tar Heels surrounding Bacot (and R.J. Davis) with willing passers and creators. None of that is a knock on Love; rather it’s just to suggest that Bacot will get more shots on the 2023-24 North Carolina team. He actually took slightly fewer shots per 40 minutes last year (13.8 to 13.9) than he did in his junior season, while Love took 16.9 shots per 40. Expect Bacot to get more attempts this season, and to make the most of it. He averaged 15.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game last year.
Broome is an interesting pick with some of the other centers still on the board. That’s not to say he’s a bad one. Most players see a drop in production in their first year transferring to a new place; Broome’s “drop” from Morehead State to Auburn meant that he only averaged 14.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. So don’t be surprised if he improves on his second-team All-SEC selection from a year ago and enjoys an even bigger year in his second year on The Plains. Broome is a capable scorer and rebounder, but it’s his rim protection and defense that could push him to All-America status.
The Big East was a loaded conference at the top last year, and Kolek took home the league’s player of the year award as the Golden Eagles won the conference. He also earned some All-America mention: The Sporting News and the USBWA each named him a second-team selection. With Marquette returning the bulk of its roster from a year ago, the Golden Eagles should win a lot of games again, with Kolek getting credit as the driving force behind that success. The one-time George Mason product averaged 12.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting just shy of 40% from 3 last year.
Buie won first-team All-Big Ten honors last year with a strong season: 17.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game as Northwestern went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2016-17 season. And with Northwestern returning 57.3% of its minutes from a year ago, the Wildcats could 1) have a strong team but 2) one that relies on Buie’s production even more. His 3-point shooting took a dip last year, and it’ll be tough for him to be an efficient hub as the focus of opposing defenses, but if Buie will get every opportunity to help carry the Northwestern offense.
Dickinson will likely enter the season as a preseason first-team pick. The Michigan transfer heads to Kansas to play for a coach in Bill Self who would love nothing more than to play through him on a lion’s share of possessions. Dickinson earned second-team consensus All-America honors as a freshman, then averaged 18.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game as a sophomore and junior. He added a 3-point shot last year, making 42.1% of his outside shots, but he’ll be counted on more as an interior force who can also help run the Kansas offense as a passer out of the post.
This is a fun pick! Jones is a double-double machine for the Wildcats who finished as a unanimous first-team All-Big Sky selection last year. A bruising 6-foot-6. 235-pound power forward, Jones has averaged a double-double in each of the last two years, from 12.6 points and 10.6 boards as a sophomore to 16.7 points and 10.9 rebounds as a junior. Jones is a particularly lethal defensive rebounder, gobbling up double-digit rebounds on defensive boards alone last year (10.1) and leading the nation in defensive rebounding rate. A bit more efficient scoring and Jones could become more of a household name.
Dayton was a popular pick as a potential top 25 team heading into last year, and while that didn’t play out for the Flyers, they did still win 22 games and saw Holmes turn into a full-blown star, averaging 18.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. He took just 19 3-pointers, making six (31.6%), so perhaps the next step could be Holmes becoming a bit more of a consistent threat from the outside. But the biggest thing that could turn Holmes from a first-team All-Atlantic 10 pick to a second-team All-American would be Dayton finding more team success.
After battling nagging injuries in his final season at Texas Tech, Shannon transferred to Illinois and put together a first-team All-Big Ten season. He set career highs in points (17.2), rebounds (4.6), assists (2.8) and steals (1.3) per game and looked capable of even more at times, scoring 20 or more points 11 times. That included a terrific 29-point, 10-rebound showing in a win over UCLA where Shannon made 8-of-9 3-pointers. And if he knocks down his 3-pointers more consistently, he’s capable of hitting the 20 points per game mark for the whole season.
Statistics website BartTorvik.com ranks Texas A&M 10th for the upcoming season, thanks in large part to the Aggies’ returning production. That same site projects that Taylor will average 16.9 points and 4.8 assists per game, up from the 16.3 points and 3.9 assists (and 1.7 steals) per game that Taylor averaged for the Aggies as a sophomore. If Taylor continues to produce at or around that level and Texas A&M becomes a top 15-20 team, Taylor should get his due.
Many will have Filipowski higher than this, but it’s worth noting that the biggest thing working against him will be his teammates. Jeremy Roach is likely among the top 10 or so returning point guards after averaging 13.6 points and 3.1 assists per game last year, while Filipowski’s fellow sophomore Tyrese Proctor could be the team’s best prospect for the 2024 NBA Draft and could be among the nation’s best players as well. A former five-star prospect, Filipowski put up 15.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game as a freshman. And if he continues to work on his strength and polish, he could be a more efficient weapon this year after shooting 56.9% at the rim and just 28.2% from 3 last year.
Another former five-star player heading into his second year, Bona started 32 of 33 games for the Bruins, averaging 7,7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 67.5% from the floor. Bona won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors after the season, and his defensive potential is considerable: he put up at least two blocks in each of UCLA’s last nine games, and he produced his first career double-double in the Pac-12 Tournament against Colorado with 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. With the Bruins breaking in a newer roster, Bona could take a major step forward.
A first-team All-SEC pick, Smith averaged 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting 57.2% from the floor. The Bulldogs went out and landed a bit more offensive pop in the transfer portal, so Smith might not be forced to carry as much offensive burden this year. But the Bulldogs should also boast one of the nation’s best defenses, and if Smith is the star player of an SEC team that wins a number of games, he’ll have a chance to make a run at national honors on top of his conference mention.
Michigan State could have one of the nation’s best backcourts, with Walker joined by AJ Hoggard and Jaden Akins. And while Vitale picked Walker here, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see any of the three push for an All-America spot. Walker averaged 4.3 assists per game in his first year at Michigan State after transferring in from Northeastern, then took on more of a scoring role last year, averaging 14.8 points and 2.9 assists per game. He’s been a long-range marksman in East Lansing, making 43.5% of his 3-pointers as a Spartan, and that shooting will come in handy on what looks like a top 5-10 team.
Texas needed a lead guard to pair with Tyrese Hunter and all the Longhorns did was go into the portal and land one of college basketball’s elite scorers and best players over the last three seasons. Abmas, 247Sports’ No. 8 transfer nationally, led the nation in scoring as a sophomore at 24.5 points per game, and he continued to pour in high-volume, high-efficiency scoring after, averaging 22.8 points per game as a junior and 21.9 as a senior. Abmas has 2,561 career points and 420 made 3-pointers to his credit from his time at Oral Roberts, and he can also run a game for his teammates, something he’ll likely show off more often in Austin.
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