College basketball season is sneaking up on us. The Associated Press put out its preseason All-American team.
Purdue’s Carsen Edwards led the way with 63 of 65 votes. He is joined by Luke Maye (UNC), R.J. Barrett (Duke), Dedric Lawson (Kansas), Caleb Martin (Nevada), and Ethan Happ (Wisconsin).
Obviously, there are plenty of other college basketball stars to pay attention to this year.
College basketball’s leading spokesman Dick Vitale took to Twitter to name a few stars who are floating under the radar to start the year.
From Dickie V:
Junior guard Shamorie Ponds had some huge moments for the Red Storm last year, and will look to help the team take the next step forward in 2018-19.
He averaged 17.4 points per game last season, and most notably dropped 33 points in St. John’s shocking win over Duke, including a giant shot to give the Johnnies a four-point lead late in the game.
Tremont Waters was an All-SEC player as a true freshman last year. He averaged 15.9 points and six assists per game for the LSU Tigers.
Rui Hachimura is entering his third year at Gonzaga. The Japan native scored 11.6 points per game last season.
Forward Sagaba Konate was a crucial starter for West Virginia last season. He 10.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, and blocked 116 shots in 36 games.