LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Watching Jae'Lyn Withers frolic to 15 points and 10 rebounds as North Carolina dispatched the University of Louisville by 16 on Wednesday was the latest reminder of the Old Friends the Louisville, Kentucky and Indiana men's basketball programs launched across America.
Today, I've assembled my top 10 list of former Cardinals, Wildcats and Hoosiers for the 2023-24 season.
Not everybody deserves a headline.
Remember point guard Devin Askew (California); forward Damion Collins (Louisiana State) and shooter C.J. Fredrick (Cincinnati)? Injuries and lack of playing time have limited the contributions of those former University of Kentucky players.
After starting his first four games for Arkansas, former U of L point guard El Ellis just endured a six-game stretch where he scored four points in 26 total minutes for the sagging Razorbacks.
Jordan Geronimo is not shooting the ball better for Maryland than he did for Indiana. He's 5-30 from the three-point line (16.7%).
Enough of the stragglers. Let's get to the top 10.
10. Archie Miller, former IU coach at Rhode Island: After a 5-7 start that included losses to Brown and New Hampshire, Miller has won three of his first four Atlantic 10 games. Miller did not have enough stretches where he won three of four Big Ten games at Indiana.
On Saturday, Miller takes his team to Dayton, where he had his greatest success. His chances of coaching in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017 remains mostly cloudy.
9. Withers, former U of L forward at North Carolina: He's scored 25 points with 16 rebounds in the Tar Heels' last two games. Better than that, he's cut his turnover rate from 25.3 to 20.6. Withers has also improved his shooting percentage on two-point shots from 44.5 to 61.5.
Withers will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his career. Book it.
8. Quinn Slazinski, former U of L forward at West Virginia: Although he lost his spot in the Mountaineers' starting lineup three games ago, Slazinski leads WVU in points scored this season, his fifth in college basketball. He scored double figures in WVU's first 10 games.
Slazinski played his first two seasons at Louisville and then two more for Rick Pitino at Iona. After committing to follow Pitino to St. John's, Slazinski left for Morgantown after Pitino added grad transfer Chris Ledlum, a small forward like Slazinski.
In an interview with the New York Post earlier this season, Slazinski said he was not asked to leave by Pitino. In fact, Pitino said that he wanted Slazinski to stay.
"He probably, for Quinn Slazinski, made the right move. ... He wants to be a professional basketball player overseas, and this is going to propel him to get that (opportunity)."
7. Sahvir Wheeler, UK point guard at Washington: Wheeler would not be in the main playing rotation if he had stayed at UK for a third season. He realized that and joined Keion Brooks in Seattle.
He has started all but two games for the Huskies, often playing more than 30 minutes. His overall offensive rating is similar to what it was for the Wildcats. But Wheeler ranks second in the Pac-12 in assists (6.3 per game). His jump shot remains an issue. Wheeler has made less than 30% of his three-point attempts.
The NCAA Tournament looks unlikely.
6. Bryce Hopkins, former UK forward at Providence: In his second season with the Friars, Hopkins was one of the best players in the Big East, averaging better than 15 points and eight rebounds per game.
Unfortunately, he tore the ACL in his left knee two weeks ago and will miss the remainder of the season.
5. Dre Davis, former U of L forward at Seton Hall: The Pirates are tied for first place with defending national champion UConn in the Big East and have a win over the Huskies on their record.
In his second season with the Pirates after two years with Louisville, Davis has been in the middle of the Seton Hall improvement. He's the team's third-leading scorer at 13.8 points per game.
Davis has also averaged five rebounds while making 15 of 42 shots from distance. His younger brother, Tae, also a Louisville recruit, transferred from Seton Hall to Notre Dame this season.
Davis is in line to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his career.
4. Tamar Bates, former IU wing at Missouri: After a pair of inconsistent seasons at Indiana, Bates jumped to Missouri, where he moved into the starting lineup Nov. 28 and has stayed here.
Over the last seven games, Bates has averaged 17.3 points but Missouri has lost six of those games. They're highly unlikely to make the NCAA Tournament.
3. Matt Cross, former U of L forward at UMass: After leaving Miami and then Louisville, Cross has certainly found a home playing for Frank Martin with the Minutemen.
He ranks in the top 10 in scoring (15.9) and rebounding (8.9) in the Atlantic 10 Conference for a UMass team that has won 11 of 17 games. He's missed the last two games with an ankle injury.
The Minutemen will likely have to win the A10 Tournament for Cross to play in his first NCAA Tournament.
2. Keion Brooks, former UK forward to Washington: Ken Pomeroy's basketball analytics formula ranks the top players in many conferences and Brooks currently sits as the No. 5 player in his evaluation of the Pac-12.
In his second season with the Huskies after three with Kentucky, Brooks ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring (20.1) and seventh in rebounding (7.1). He scored 20 or more in six of the Huskies' last eight games.
Washington is 10-7 overall, 2-4 in the Pac-12 and not projected to make the NCAA Tournament. But Brooks likely improved his shot at playing professional basketball.
1. Richard Pitino, former U of L assistant coach to New Mexico: With sincere apologies to Jim Harbaugh, who had it better than Richard Pitino in the last week?
Pitino rang up back-to-back home victories over No. 19. San Diego State and No. 16 Utah State, the teams to beat in the Mountain West Conference. Score it as the first time since 1993 New Mexico won back-to-back games against ranked opponents.
With an overall record of 15-3, Pitino is in position to push the Lobos into the Associated Press Top 25 Monday if New Mexico can win at Air Force Saturday.
Get this: New Mexico drew 15,437 fans for its win over San Diego State Saturday and then backed it up with a crowd with a crowd of 13,106 for the Utah State game. New Mexico ranks 22nd in the nation in attendance, averaging more than 12,200 fans per game.
Pitino's leading scorer is Jamal Mashburn Jr., son of the former UK star. He averages nearly 16 points per game.
Pitino is trying to make the NCAA Tournament for first time since 2019.
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