OKC Thunder: Weekly College Basketball preview, what to watch for

Other College games for OKC Thunder fans to watch.

Okay, this portion of the article is for the true die-hard hoop heads, as we sit still a few weeks out from Thanksgiving, the slate of college basketball craters after the Championship Classic. Feast Week is when we will begin to see top-notch can’t miss tilts.

Not a ton of power programs are taking on other household names this week past the Championship Classic. Though, every top prospect is in action this week. We may not learn much from watching these future NBAers take on Eastern Northwest Southern Mississippi Tech State but it will be fun to get the first glimpse.

Gonzaga big man Chet Holmgren will get his college career underway against Dixie State with tip-off set for 8 p.m. tonight on ROOT Sports. This is the precursor to Saturday’s 9:30 tip against the Texas Longhorns who have lured one of the best coaches in the country away, Chris Bread, for his first real test in Burnt Orange.

The Tennessee Volunteers produced two NBA draft picks a year ago, Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer, and this year’s roster is loaded with talent again for Rick Barnes.

One of my favorite prospects in this class, an underrated Guard Kennedy Chandler will join Victory Bailey, Uros Plavsic, and John Fulkerson as players I have a draftable grade on. For Chandler, that grade is a Lottery one. The Vols get underway against UT-Martin on Tuesday, November 9th at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network. The Volunteers will not truly get tested until November 20th against Villanova.

Okay, are you ready for the deep cut? I will be searching high and low across the World Wide Web to try to find the Milwaukee game…No, not the Bucks, the Panthers. They have a tier-one prospect, Patrick Baldwin Jr, who takes the floor tonight as his dad’s top player. The Freshman will lead the Panthers into battle against North Dakota at 7 p.m.

Patrick Baldwin Jr will get his first true test against the Florida Gators next Thursday, on November 18th at 5 p.m.

The Texas Longhorns roster the top transfers in the country, that list includes Marcus Carr, a bucket getter from Minnesota, Massachusetts transfer Tre Mitchell, they also have a strong returner in Andrew Jones. The Longhorns get underway on Tuesday, November 9th against Houston Baptist.

Next week, we will see how these top prospects performed during their debuts. Who are your favorite college prospects for the 2022 NBA Draft? Who should the OKC Thunder be targeting in the draft? Where do you expect the OKC Thunder pick to fall?