Jay Bilas Names College Basketball Team With the 'Most Talented' Roster in the Country

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Cole Sullivan | Last updated Nov 19, 2024 12:27 PM ET

The 2024-25 season of college basketball is shaping up to deliver thrilling action, and as always, March is expected to bring plenty of excitement. This season, a blend of impactful transfer portal additions, standout freshman classes, and returning stars has set the stage for high-level competition across the nation.

Several top teams have bolstered their rosters, and brought back key returners including the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks with Hunter Dickinson, No. 10 North Carolina Tar Heels with RJ Davis, and No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide with Mark Sears.

But despite all the talent, you can't overlook the back-to-back national champions, the No. 2 UConn Huskies, led by Dan Hurley and a roster full of players who are looking to prove themselves following major roster turnover after last season.

However, after two weeks of the season, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas shared his pick for the team he believes potentially boasts the most talented roster in the country: the No. 10 Duke Blue Devils. Bilas feels the team isn't close to reaching its full potential yet.

"Duke has looked like a really good team. It's a freshman-led team in a lot of ways." Bilas said. "A lot of Duke's success is going to be determined by how their guards perform throughout the year. Foster and Proctor are real keys to the team. But their best players are Cooper Flagg and Ken Knueppel. I think it’s going to take a little while for that team, which has a lot of new pieces, to become a finished product, but that roster is as good as any, maybe the most talented roster in the country."

Duke is a freshman led team that will go through growing pains as the season goes on, but they have maybe the most talented roster in the country… pic.twitter.com/Y6OTSLAtwD
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) November 19, 2024

Just days ago, after leading for a majority of the game, the Blue Devils struggled to finish and suffered a down-to-the-wire defeat to the No. 9 Kentucky Wildcats , who are entering a new era under head coach Mark Pope, who replaced John Calipari.

Nonetheless, the Blue Devils have the roster and the talent, led by Cooper Flagg, the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. However, they need to put it all together.

Duke has consistently had top recruiting classes and some of the best freshmen in the nation, but they have struggled to connect the pieces in March and April when it matters most. Still, with National Title aspirations, they certainly have the roster to accomplish those goals.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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