Jaye Nash (3) led Jacksonville State in assists last season. (Jacksonville State University Athletics)
This week, Michigan AD Warde Manuel – who is coming under fire – stressed that he’s part of the program’s success; Brown head coach Mike Martin has left his position after 14 years to take an assistant coaching gig at Michigan; and stars Cade Tyson — who we just discussed last month — and Brock Wisne are among the 11 Division I athletes that are suing the NCAA over its new eligibility rules. Other college basketball stories we’re tracking include…
Jaye Nash Parlays Big Season Into a Shot at UConn
Although the Jacksonville State Gamecocks are still without an NCAA tourney appearance for four years, the program made great progress in 2024-25. In their second season after switching to Conference USA, Jacksonville State won a whopping 23 games.
However, last season, they slumped to 15 wins, and things may not be any easier next season now that leading distributor Jaye Nash has transferred to UConn, where he’ll be a reserve.
After spending his freshman season at Tulsa, he joined the Gamecocks, and took a nice step forward in his one campaign with the school. Nash got much more of a chance to start at Jacksonville State while improving his shooting, although that’s still not his strong suit. He also shattered personal bests in points, boards and dimes.
For what it’s worth, Nash will don No. 7, a number that has very little history for the Huskies. Maybe he can change that while helping UConn back to the title game for the fourth time in the last five years.
At any rate, Nash brings good ball handling skills to his new school, and is also known for his intensity. The 6’3” point guard is not considered an NBA draft prospect, but he does have some time to change that perception.
A native of Memphis, Nash is very much a pass-first guard (see video below for his work at a Nike Showcase), but he’ll need to continue to improve his shooting touch to have a shot of becoming a pro, whether here in North America or abroad.
DePaul Digs Its Way Out of a Big Hole
Just three years ago, it looked like the DePaul Blue Demons basketball program was pretty much dead after the team struggled through the worst season (3-29) in a program history that dates back to the early 1920s.
However, DePaul has quickly worked its way back to respectability, winning 14 games in 2024-25 and finishing .500 last season. The Blue Demons have still gone 22 straight seasons – including all 21 since they moved to the Big East – without making the NCAA tourney, so there remains plenty of work to do. However, with odds of +25000 to win the National Championship next season as per FanDuel, we guess you’re saying there’s a chance.
And while DePaul has lost some key pieces like leading scorer CJ Gunn, its top distributor and steal man Layden Blocker will be back for his senior season.
As a 6’2” point guard, Blocker doesn’t exactly live up to his name, but he’s gotten better each season, and in 2025-26 he got more touches, allowing him to become a double-digit scorer for the first time, despite shooting worse than ever.
And while his rebounding dipped a bit in his second season with the Demons (he spent his freshman campaign at Arkansas), he had career bests in assists and steals (pacing the club in both cats).
Blocker is athletic and can simply fly when given space, but given his lack of size, he’ll need to be better from distance to have a shot. Once projected to be a top 20 pick in the NBA draft, he now looks like he’ll have to sign as an UDFA. Blocker has been compared to Jaylen Hands, a 2019 second round pick by the Clippers who never played an NBA game. So that doesn’t offer much hope, but you never know, right?
RotoRob Tune of the Day
American female R&B group Sister Sledge formed in 1965 and remained active until 2000. In 1979, they released their third album, We Are Family, and the lead single was the disco classic “He’s the Greatest Dancer,” a tune which Billboard ranked No. 66 on the “100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.”