BIG EAST TEAM PREVIEW #1 BUTLER BULLDOGS

The Thad Matta era at Butler has not gotten off to a great start. Butler has failed to make the tournament in each of his three seasons since being hired. Matta also has a record of below .500 in his tenure (47-53). Last season, the Bulldogs finished tied for 8th in the conference with a 6-14 record.

Projected Lineup:

G Jalen Jackson (IPFW transfer)

G Finley Bizjack

F Yame Butler (Drexel transfer)

F Michael Ajayi (Gonzaga transfer)

C Yohan Traore (SMU transfer)

Butler lost their top three scorers from last season in Jahmyl Telfort, Pierre Brooks, and Patrick McCaffery. They'll be heavily reliant on their transfer portal class this year. IPFW transfer Jalen Jackson was arguably their biggest offseason addition. He was one of the best scorers at the mid-major level last season, averaging 19.2 points and earning first-team all-conference honors in the Horizon League. Gonzaga transfer Michael Ajayi will also play a big role on next year's team. He had a great year at Pepperdine during the 2023-24 season, averaging 17.7 points and earning first-team all-WCC honors. He then transferred within the conference last season to Gonzaga, but had a smaller role on a stacked team. In just 18 minutes per game last year, Ajayi averaged 6.5 points and 5.4 rebounds. Thad Matta brought in SMU transfer Yohan Traore to play the five next season. He started in 16 of his 32 games last year for a pretty good SMU team, averaging 6.1 points and 3.2 rebounds.

Finley Bizjack is the biggest piece from last season's team that's back for this season. Bizjack started at the two for Butler last year in his sophomore season. He averaged 10.2 points while being one of the best shooters in the conference last season, connecting on 42.8% of his three-point attempts. Jamie Kaiser is another guy to watch next year for Butler. He's a former four-star recruit who redshirted for Butler last season after transferring in from Maryland.

Does Butler snap their 7-year NCAA tournament drought this offseason? In my opinion, probably not, there's just not enough proven scorers on this roster for next year. Jalen Jackson could have a nice year. I also think Michael Ajayi could have a bounce-back season. But there's just not enough good pieces around them for a high finish in a competitive Big East conference.

Prediction: 10th in Big East