IUBB Preseason Player Power Rankings

5. Kanaan Carlyle

Carlyle could rationally be labeled as the most dynamic and explosive scorer on this team. The 6'3" combo guard gets to his spots well offensively and lowkey gets after it defensively. While his struggles with streakiness were apparent as a freshman, one would largely assume impending improvement is on the horizon in this area looking ahead to his sophomore year as the former Stanford Cardinal continues to acclimate himself to the NCAA landscape.

4. Oumar Ballo

When you look back through the storied history of this basketball program, it is not easy to find a big man of Oumar Ballo's make and model. The bouldering bully is dominant down low, and more than holds his own on the boards (10.1 RPG last season). The 7-footer from Mali will be a new type of physical force which the candy stripe faithful realistically has never seen unless our memory serves us incorrectly.

3. Myles Rice

Fresh off of earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors at Washington State, Myles Rice comes to B-Town brimming with serious star potential. The shifty speedster zips up and down the court like a lightning rod, and has shown the ability to completely take control of a game at the point guard position. With all due respect to our guy Gallo, this team desperately lacked a true floor general last season. Now they might have the NCAA's best one.

2. Malik Reneau

The top two spots could truly go either way between Malik Reneau or Mackenzie Mgbako, but Mgbako projects as the more dynamic of the two. Regardless, Reneau is the likelier of the two to begin the season as this team's overall focal point offensively. As a sophomore, the smooth southpaw mixed his bruising style of post play with an expanded offensive repertoire which featured an improved shooting stroke and enhanced passing abilities. After seeing the type of leap he made from year 1 to year 2, it is going to be interesting to see how things unfold with his progression in year 3.

1. Mackenzie Mgbako

If you read our articles regularly, than surely you are aware of our adoration for Mackenzie Mgbako's game. As the value on versatile wings continues to inflate at the NBA level, the chances of Mgbako hearing his name called in next season's NBA draft lottery become likelier and likelier. Obviously the chances of that likelihood coming to fruition rest in the hands of Mgbako himself, but we like his chances after seeing how far (and how confident) he came (became) as a freshman.