Najai Hines will bring shot blocking prowess to UConn. (Seton Hall Athletics)
This week, we learned that Final Four Most Outstanding Player Elliot Cadeau plans to remain at Michigan; despite being taken 57th in the NBA draft, Narcisee Ngoy still plans to play at Auburn next season; and three of the former players who pleaded not guilty in the point shaving case plan to change their pleas. Other college basketball stories we’re tracking include…
UConn Adds Elite Shot Blocker
Two seasons ago, the Seton Hall Pirates really crashed and burned, going 7-25 for their worst season since the early ’80s. However, Seton Hall bounced back big time in 2025-26 for 21 wins and even earned its way into the top 25 at one point, its first such appearance since 2021-22, which is also the last time the program made the NCAA tourney.
More improvement this season could be a bit tougher to come by now that leading shot blocker Najai Hines used the portal to defect to Big East rival UConn.
After spending his freshman season coming off the bench at Seton Hall, he’s now projected to act as the starting centre for the Huskies. It’s a bit of a surprise (we would have thought he was added more for depth), so this will be a big test for Hines, but he flashed decent offensive ability, strong rebounding skills and tremendous shot blocking potential last season.
He’ll have to do a better job staying out of foul trouble if he wants to significantly increase his PT even as a starter, but if he can show enough improvement, perhaps he can start to garner some 2027 draft attention. Hines has a football build with the body control to rack up boards and blocks, so there’s definitely serious potential here.
This is a wide dude whose physicality makes it virtually impossible to stop him down low, at least at the college level. We’ll be keeping an eye on Hines in 2026-27 as he has sleeper potential if he can stay on the court.
Inconsistent Musketeers
Still in the Big East, the Xavier Musketeers have been all over the map in recent seasons. In 2022-23, they won 27 games, were ranked as high as No. 8 and advanced to the regional semifinals.
The following season, they plummeted to 16 wins, but bounced back to 22 in 2024-25, returning to the tournament. And then came last season when Xavier – in its first season under Rick Pitino — managed just 15 victories and endured its worst winning percentage since 1981-82.
The Musketeers were supposed to experience resurgence starting in 2022-23 when Sean Miller returned to coach the team for a second time and, while there were some good moments, it ended quickly after just three years when he bolted to Texas. And judging by Xavier’s long odds to win the national championship next season (+15000 as per FanDuel), there’s still plenty of program building to come.
Of course, the Musketeers will need to move forward without leading scorer Tre Carroll, who has graduated. The small forward transferred from Florida Atlantic for his senior season and really exploded at Xavier, parlaying a full-time starter role into a career-best campaign (nearly 18 points and six boards per game).
Carroll went undrafted, but has worked out for the Charlotte Hornets, and should bag a deal with someone soon as an UDFA. As a first team All-Big East player and someone who realistically could have gone in the second round, he’s bound to wind up with a contract somewhere.
A 6’8” Florida native, Carroll’s absolute upside is Naz Reid Lite.
RotoRob Tune of the Day
Donovan first signed with Pye Records in 1965, but by 1976 when he released his 15th album, Slow Down World, he was on Epic Records. “The Mountain” was one of two tracks from this effort that was penned by American folk musician Derroll Adams.