Cactus Division

DePaul

Tony Stubblefield is entering his third season as DePaul head coach … Prior to DePaul, Stubblefield spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Oregon, helping the Ducks to seven NCAA Tournaments … the Blue Demons are poised to welcome five impact transfers – three from power conference programs – and two incoming freshmen … incoming transfer Chico Carter last played at South Carolina, starting 25 games and averaging nearly 10 points per game last season.

Grand Canyon

In three seasons with the Antelopes, head coach Bryce Drew has guided the program to a 64-27 record (.703), including consecutive 20-win seasons, a 17-7 record in 2020-21 and its only two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2023 … Grand Canyon has won two WAC conference tournament titles and one regular season championship in the last three seasons … in its 10 all-time seasons, Grand Canyon has finished with at least a .500 overall record nine times.

San Francisco

Second year-coach Chris Gerlufsen guided the Dons to another 20-win season a year ago, the team’s sixth such campaign in the last seven years … Gerlufsen joined the program for the 2021-22 season that ended with the Dons making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998 … San Francisco is expected to welcome a quartet of high impact transfers in addition to incoming freshman Ryan Beasley, a local product that was recently named San Francisco Chronicle’s High School Player of the Year.

South Carolina

Lamont Paris enters his second season as the head coach of the program … Paris arrived in Columbia after five years at Chattanooga where he compiled an 87-72 mark, highlighted by a 27-8 record in 2021-22 that saw the Mocs win the Southern Conference regular season and tournament title … the Gamecocks boast a seven-member signing class for next season that includes four transfers and three incoming freshmen, highlighted by ESPN Top 100 recruit Collin Murray-Boyles.

Desert Division

Northern Arizona

The Lumberjacks are under the direction of fifth-year head coach Shane Burcar, who led the program to the Big Sky Tournament championship game last year after defeating the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds in the process … Northern Arizona is set to return third-leading scorer Carson Towt, who was named to the Big Sky All-Tournament team last year … Towt along with Liam Lloyd, a transfer from Grand Canyon, are Northern Arizona’s two returning starters from last year’s squad.

Purdue Fort Wayne

The Mastodons are entering their 10th year under head coach Jon Coffman and have finished with a winning record in seven of his first nine seasons … Purdue Fort Wayne is just two years removed from earning a share of the Horizon League regular season championship … the Mastodons also won a share of the 2016 Summit League Championship under Coffman … Purdue Fort Wayne will welcome seven newcomers to the squad next year – four transfers and three prep signees.

South Dakota

Eric Peterson is in his second season as head coach of South Dakota, a program that has earned a winning record in five of the last seven years … Peterson was an assistant with the Coyotes program from 2014-18, helping the team average nearly 20 wins per season during that stretch … South Dakota will bring on five transfers to the program for this season, including a trio of high major players in Utah’s Bostyn Holt, Louisiana Tech’s Kaleb Stewart and UCF’s Lahat Thioune, along with three prep signees.

VMI

Heading into the second season at the direction of head coach Andrew Wilson, VMI will turn to a pair of players – Devin Butler and Taeshaud Jackson – who thrived in reserve roles last season to take on bigger offensive responsibilities this season … both averaged better than 20 minutes per game last season, while Jackson was the team’s leading rebounder at 7.2 per game … Prior to beginning his coaching career, Wilson played collegiately at Florida State from 2000-06.