Anonymous college basketball coaches poll: Gonzaga among best teams in 2024-25

Some Division-I coaches believe the Bulldogs will be the best team in the sport next season, according to a poll from CBS Sports

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Throughout the college basketball offseason, rankings and polls from humans and computers alike have thought highly of the Gonzaga men’s basketball program heading into the 2024-25 season.

In fact, according to some Division-I head coaches, the Bulldogs should be considered the best team next season.

As CBS Sports rolls out its annual Candid Coaches series over the next few weeks, Matt Norlander and Garry Parrish asked 100 anonymous coaches who they think will be the No. 1 team this upcoming season. The Zags, who sit at No. 8 in Parrish’s Top 25 and 1 rankings, were among the nine teams who received multiple votes.

Kansas, which returned Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris, received a majority of the coaches’ votes as the No. 1 team (35.6%). The Jayhawks added Wisconsin’s AJ Storr, Alabama’s Rylan Griffen and South Dakota State’s Zeke Mayo to an already experienced squad that should be near the top of the first AP Top 25 poll this fall. 

Alabama checked in at No. 2 (27.9%) after it returned an All-American of its own in point guard Mark Sears. Nate Oats also welcomes back 6-foot-11 forward Grant Nelson and brought in Aden Holloway from Auburn and Clifford Omoruyi from Rutgers to solidify the frontcourt. Expect the Crimson Tide to be near the top of the pack in offensive efficiency.

Houston, which like Gonzaga returned most of its corp, had the third-most votes at 13.5%. The Cougars lost Jamal Shead but still returned guards L.J. Cryer and Emmanuel Sharp, along with 6-foot-7 wing J’Wan Roberts. With 77.0% of the minutes played from last season back, Kelvin Sampson and company are the No. 1 team on Bart Torvik’s 2024-25 projections.

Duke received 9.6% of the votes, followed by UConn at 7.7%. The back-to-back champions look much different without four of their five starters from last season. Dan Hurley added two-time All-WCC guard Aidan Mahaney from Saint Mary’s and top-10 recruit Liam McNeely to the mix.

Arizona, Baylor and North Carolina also received votes along with Gonzaga. The Bulldogs will reportedly see the Bears at some point during the opening week of the season. Depending on how the bracket for the Battle 4 Atlantis works out, there’s a chance Mark Few and Tommy Lloyd go head-to-head in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving break (Nov. 27-29). 

The Bulldogs returned seven of their top eight scorers from last season’s 27-8 squad, including four of their five starters, while adding a handful of talented players via the transfer portal. Michael Ajayi, a 6-foot-7 wing and All-WCC player last season at Pepperdine, brings a lot of versatility at the wing spot; Khalif Battle, a 6-foot-5 grad transfer from Arkansas, can fill up the scoring column. Emmanuel Innocenti, a 6-foot-5 transfer from Tarleton State, is a defensive specialist with the versatility to play multiple positions.