Phenom Hoops College Basketball Coverage
From Phenom to Prime Time: Alums Making Noise in the ACC
The impact of the Phenom Hoops platform continues to be felt at the highest levels of college basketball, and this season the ACC has become another proving ground for our alumni. Several former Phenom standouts are now thriving in major roles, translating their grassroots development into real production on one of college basketball’s biggest stages. From consistent scoring to lockdown defense...
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Positives/ Concerns/ What to Watch for with North Carolina
Heading into the 2025-26 campaign, North Carolina carries both promise and question marks, and their final tune-up before the regular season — an exhibition against Winston-Salem State — spotlighted both a little bit more. After watching their game against BYU and WSSU, these are the factors that I will have my eye on this season, including some of the positives from their game, what to keep an...
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Duke’s Countdown to Craziness: Evans, Foster, and Company Shine in Early Preview
The atmosphere was electric inside Cameron Indoor Stadium for Duke’s Countdown to Craziness, as fans packed the gym to get their first glimpse of the Blue Devils in action. The annual event once again served as the perfect preseason showcase, giving players the stage to display their growth, chemistry, and readiness for the upcoming season. From returning stars stepping into bigger roles to...
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Does Eli Ellis have a chance to start at South Carolina?
College basketball will be here before you know it, and Phenom Hoops is diving into some of the topics to look at around the country. This time, we head down to the SEC to look at the Gamecocks of South Carolina, as they look to rebuild after a tough season last year. Though the record may not show it, there was still talent on the roster that included a future NBA first-round pick in Collin...
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SMU’s Rise: Can the Mustangs Push for ACC Supremacy?
College Basketball will be here before you know it, but Phenom Hoops can’t wait until then to talk about it as we are diving into teams and rosters that are grabbing our attention. One program that made a statement last year in the ACC was SMU, finishing 13-7 in the conference and 24-11 in its first year. Certainly coming out strong, was SMU’s season just an outlier, or was it the start of...
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Florida State’s 2026 Recruiting Class Tops the Nation After a Huge Summer
The Florida State program has had a great start to the fall season, both on the football field and on the basketball court. FSU looks to be back in the national spotlight with a huge Week 1 win vs. Alabama, but we are here to talk about the wins FSU has been racking up in the recruiting world for basketball. In the latest news, FSU landed two more Top 100 prospects in Collin Paul and Brandon...
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Rookies Who Could Outperform Draft Position (First Round)
#6- Tre Johnson (Washington Wizards) It’s probably a little overzealous to say that a top-six draft pick could outperform his draft position, as they’re already expected to be quite useful. However, Johnson looks like a steal for the Wizards. During two games of summer league, he more than solidified his status as an elite all-around shooting threat, and the numbers back this sentiment. He’ll...
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Could Duke’s Title Hopes Be in the Hands of Two Players'
College Basketball will be here before you know it, so we are looking at different topics around the country to talk about and when diving into the roster for Duke, there is plenty of talent to go around as they have a chance to compete for a national championship. However, when you fully dive into this roster, could those title hopes be strung to the play of two key players? We dive in a bit....
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The Five Worst Contracts in the NBA
Considering August is one of the only periods of the year when basketball isn’t being played, there’s no better time to look at a different collection of topics…like NBA contracts. The salary cap is one of the biggest separators between collegiate and professional basketball, but it’s unclear if the general masses truly comprehend contract value. People see Karl-Anthony Towns making $53 million...
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The Five Best Contracts in the NBA
Considering August is one of the only periods of the year when basketball isn’t being played, there’s no better time to look at a different collection of topics…like NBA contracts. The salary cap is one of the biggest separators between collegiate and professional basketball, but it’s unclear if the general masses truly comprehend contract value. People see Karl-Anthony Towns making 53 million...
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Can Wake Forest’s Juke Harris Take the Next Step in Leading the Demon Deacons'
Wake Forest has been an interesting team over the years, building strong seasons but coming up short in making the NCAA Tournament as of late. Coach Forbes and the rest of the roster would love nothing more than to end that with yet another successful season after going 21-11 last year. After losing some strong talent from last year’s team, Wake Forest will be looking for others to step up and...
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Friday Five: Most Intriguing Things Entering the NBA Season
Now that we’ve reached August, high school basketball will slow down for a brief period before the start of next season. During this time featuring fewer events, we will start looking at other topics worth discussing (typically in the basketball space) during this “Friday Five” series. Whether it’s players capturing headlines, stories in the media, or something completely unrelated, we will...
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Winners from NBA Free Agency
Denver Nuggets Arguably, the biggest winners of the entire draft or free agency period, Denver really maximized their opportunity to improve along the margins. Flipping Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick into Cam Johnson is a major win. Make no mistake, Porter Jr. is a lethal shooter with legit size. Although Porter has made considerable strides since entering the...
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Could NC State’s Paul McNeil Jr. be a sophomore to break out in the ACC'
The freshman year for Paul McNeil Jr. at NC State brought a mixture of growth, adjustment, and flashes of the scoring talent that a very interesting prospect to watch this upcoming season. Certainly, being a familiar face around the state of North Carolina, he will have plenty of fans supporting him and are excited to see what he can show. With a year of college basketball under his belt, the...
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NBA Draft 2025: Second Round Thoughts
Although one could argue that the talent level in this draft drops drastically after the first handful of picks, there was still some value in the second round. Obviously, it’s more likely that these guys don’t crack NBA rotations, but some will inevitably work their way into meaningful minutes. This is typically somewhat of a crapshoot, but let’s see some guys who could carve out roles for...
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