Earlier this week, CBS Sports ran a story placing every high-major basketball roster budget into tiers. By popular demand, that story’s co-author, Matt Norlander, sent a follow-up post on Twitter/X placing a few of the top mid-major programs into tiers.
Nearly every program in college basketball is spending on roster construction, but some are spending much more than others. And that’s not just for high-majors. While most mid-majors are not putting out multimillion-dollar rosters, some go well beyond that mark into high-major territory.
That starts with Grand Canyon, which Norlander speculates is spending upwards of $12 million on its roster. That’s hardly a shock to anybody who has paid attention, though. The Antelopes are stacked with talent. Dylan Darling, Tre Holloman, Dan Skillings, and Amarion Dickerson all transferred in from high-major programs. Makaih Williams, Caleb Shaw, and Efe Demirel returned to the Lopes, and then Jaden Henley announced his return in the 5-in-5 market.
GCU is spending a lot on 5-in-5 players — Hollomon, Henley, and Skillings were all added late. But even if this roster didn’t have those guys, it would still be stacked. Quinnipiac transfer Jaden Zimmerman, ETSU transfer Blake Barkley, and Tulsa transfer Tyler Behrend are all high-level players too.
The question for GCU — aside from who will be eligible — is how well this roster was put together. And does the rush on 5-in-5 players signal a vote of no confidence in the rest of the roster? The Lopes have goals of making the NCAA Tournament this year, whether as an auto-bid or an at-large. With that budget, anything else would be a disappointment.
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In the next tier, Norlander listed Saint Louis, Memphis, and VCU as spending between $8-10 million. He also said that Murray State — which he listed in the $5-8 tier initially — is spending more than his original ballpark. So we can imagine those four teams as another tier.
Saint Louis and VCU each won an NCAA Tournament game last year. Both of those programs are expected to make the tourney again with high levels of retention and emerging superstar coaches. SLU was able to hold onto Josh Schertz because of its significant investments in the face of offers from NC State and other programs. Trey Green, Ishan Sharma, Quentin Jones, Kellen Thames, and Amari McCottry are all back in Midtown. Meanwhile, VCU is prepping for year two under Phil Martelli Jr. with returns from Lazar Djokovic, Nyk Lewis, and Brandon Jennings. The Rams also added Creighton transfer Blake Harper and MTSU transfer Torey Alston.
Memphis on the other hand, had its worst season under Penny Hardaway last year, nearly missing the American Tournament with an 8-10 conference record. Hardaway said that he had to put up $2.6 million himself to get the Tigers up into this tier of spending. He says that the Tigers are spending $9 million. Memphis athletic director Ed Scott clarified, saying that Hardaway didn’t write a check; instead, he promised to raise $2.6 million by the end of the fiscal year if the University fronted him the cash. He said that he would put up his own money at the end of the year for any money that he didn’t raise.
Regardless, the Tigers have a talented roster, but it’s certainly not as talented as some of Hardaway’s best teams. Northwestern transfer Jayden Reid and Southern Miss transfer Tylik Weeks are set to be two of the team’s top players.
Finally, Murray State is lapping the field in the Missouri Valley in terms of spending. They spent big money to retain French star G/F Roman Domon, who averaged 14.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game as a 6-foot-9 freshman last season. He is expected to be a frontrunner for MVC Player of the Year. The Racers brought in a few more Europeans this offseason in Talis Soulhac and Mark Padgen, both expected to be notable contributors. Brayden Shorter is back, and Kaden Magwood comes in from Auburn. Murray also added GW transfer Christian Jones and Belmont transfer Brigham Rogers. Ryan Miller’s squad, if reading between the lines of Norlander’s follow-up, could be spending upwards of $8 million.
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The next tier includes some established, strong, mid-major programs. Utah State (Mason Falslev) and New Mexico (Jake Hall and Uriah Tenette) both retained star players. Dayton brought back big man Amael L’Etang, a contender for A-10 Player of the Year, and added a few solid pieces, including Landen Joseph. Santa Clara, San Diego State, and Saint Mary’s are excellent West Coast mid-major programs.
Then, there’s High Point.
Like Murray State, the Panthers are drastically outspending the rest of their league in the Big South. HPU has won 87 games over the last three seasons. In Flynn Clayman’s first year, he won the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game. Now, High Point is hoping to push for an at-large.
High Point has frontcourt athleticism with productive transfers Isaac Garrett, Frankquon Sherman, Filip Brankovic, and then the returning star, Cam’Ron Fletcher. There’s talent on the wing with Jason Rivera-Torres from Monmouth. The point guard spot is stacked as well. South Florida starter CJ Brown, returner Conrad Martinez, and underrated freshman Trey Pearson are all in the mix.
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Norlander’s follow-up tweet also included George Mason, George Washington, and Loyola Chicago. The A-10 is a big spender in the mid-major ranks, and should be expecting three-plus bids in the expanded NCAA Tournament.
Who else do you guys think is spending big in mid-major basketball? Who did Matt miss? Who do you think he’s wrong about?