By Zack Cziryak
The existing nucleus is perhaps the most important component for Seton Hall’s season in 2022-2023, as roster continuity is going to be the name of the game for successful college basketball programs, perhaps more than ever in this new age of player movement and earning potential. Rothstein points to the most recent tournaments as evidence, noting that 17 of 20 starters on last year’s Final Four teams and 33 out of 40 over the last two years were with their respective program the prior year.
"I've said this consistently, everybody wants to talk about should we recruit high school players? Should we recruit transfers?' ... The most important thing when the season ends in March or April is going to be re-recruiting your own players because it's proven right now that the programs that are able to keep their own rosters intact are the ones that are going to be successful,” Rothstein said.
Roster continuity is the chief reason Rothstein is projecting a successful season for the Creighton Bluejays, who bring back a core of Ryan Nembhard, Ryan Hawkins, Trey Alexander, and Arthur Kaluma while adding Baylor Scheierman, arguably the most sought after transfer out of South Dakota State.
"The door is open, in my opinion, for Creighton to have a tremendous, tremendous season and maybe even their best season ever under Greg McDermott,” notes Rothstein, who believes the Bluejays have a realistic chance to top the #3 seed in the NCAA tournament they earned when National Player of the Year Doug McDermott was donning the Blue and White.
"I just think that the entire nation is sleeping on Ryan Nembhard. I don't think people realize how good this kid was as a freshman," Rothstein said, noting that he didn’t play after a wrist injury suffered on Feb. 23.
Looking east Jay Wright’s retirement ends an era in Southeastern Pennsylvania for Villanova and the current iteration of the Big East, the stability of the assistant coaching staff to support Kyle Neptune and developments at other programs has Rothstein intrigued by the conference’s depth and competitiveness.
"I firmly believe this ... I think when you look at the Big East with Thad Matta going to Butler, with Sean Miller going to Xavier. And you look at the fact that Georgetown has improved its roster exponentially compared to last season and ... let's face it, I think you have an expectation that DePaul's going to be competitive when they play you. I think you can make the case that the Big East is in position to be as competitive one through 10, maybe one through 11, as it’s been since realignment.”
