College Basketball Players Whose Stock Has Soared in 2015 Offseason

You remember the first day of school each year.

Introductions. Getting to know each other. Talking, of course, about what you did over the summer.

College basketball players weren't exactly on vacation. Some are about to experience a campus for the first time—we'll examine some of those studs. Some other standouts took trips around the world. Some, unfortunately, found some trouble. We'll set that aside for now.

We're hear to analyze the ones whose stock has shot skyward. They played well. They did good things. They're getting noticed.

Here's a campground full of hoopsters who found good times leading up to the start of preseason camp in October—11 guys who leave us wanting s'more talk of college basketball.

Frank Jackson, (soon) Duke

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Really, you've got to hand it to BYU coach Dave Rose. He's been on Frank Jackson since the kid was in the early stages of his high school career.

Jackson went to what's annually the top basketball program in the state of Utah (Lone Peak; Highland) and has produced several Rose-coached players along the way, including recent graduate (and BYU all-time scoring leader) Tyler Haws, former defensive standout (during the Jimmer Fredette days) Jackson Emery and future top-flight recruits, Nick Emery and TJ Haws (younger brothers).

Jackson started hearing from Duke at the end of his sophomore year and quickly catapulted to a top-10 recruit in the past year. The kid can ball and sky.

He turned down Stanford, Utah and BYU to sign with the relatively late-charging Blue Devils, who certainly needed something good to go their way (tongue firmly in cheek, folks).

Jackson will follow the path of former Duke recruit Jabari Parker, who also considered BYU (both are Mormon, and BYU is the faith's flagship university), but ultimately couldn't turn down a chance to play for Mike Krzyzewski.

He will enroll at Duke for the 2016-17 season. He had previously planned on serving a mission for the LDS Church, but will now put those plans aside for at least one season, according to the Deseret News' Brandon Gurney.

"A mission is a great thing, but basketball for me right now is super important as well," the 6'3'' guard said after his media conference Sept. 1 at the high school. "Taking those two years off (to serve a mission), it's a long time, so I'm still evaluating to see what I'll decide to do in the future."

The present sure looks good, though, for him and the Devils.

Rashad Muhammad, Miami

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Going from a really bad program to a really promising situation.

That's called stock, rising.

Rashad Muhammad did that recently by opting to transfer from San Jose State to Miami. He made his choice in early August after deciding in May to leave the Bay Area.

Sure, he won't get to play in 2015-16, but will the Spartans really notice after going 2-28 last year?

The brother of former controversial UCLA one-and-done Shabazz Muhammad averaged about 14 points and three rebounds. Though he certainly has room to improve, if you consider the 6'6'' sophomore was only the fourth-biggest contributor for the Spartans last winter, despite setting the Mountain West Conference freshman record for three-pointers made in a season (75) and being the team's leading scorer.

And SJSU didn't even beat a D-I team last year.

Alas, that's not his problem anymore. And the shooting guard should find a pretty solid situation with a good coach and potentially ample playing time. Transfers have hurt the Hurricanes' anticipated depth for future seasons, and the team's top scorers—the guard line of Sheldon McClellan and Angel Rodriguez—are done after this season.

Damian Jones, Vanderbilt

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Vanderbilt—it’s not just for baseball anymore.

A lot of excitement for college hoops in Nashville stems from Damian Jones opting to keep his 7-foot talents on campus for his junior year. The first-team SEC selection (voted on by coaches) will spearhead a group which returns four of its five starters and seven of its best eight scorers, of which he led the way at 14.5 points (along with 6.5 rebounds).

Jones seems happy to mix in with the team and announced in March that he loves it at Vandy.

But he’s been able to get plenty of personal attention, especially along mock draft boards. He can be found as high as fourth.

At this summer's Nike Skills Academy, he measured a 7'2'' wingspan.

Right now he's labeled by many pundits as a project with room to grow. Hey, there are worse places to be in life. 

Denzel Valentine, Michigan State

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Here's some truth: We're going to remember Michigan State's trip to Italy in large part because of Tom Izzo playing the accordion.

But Izzo may be most fond of one of his leaders having a heck of an experience on the court.

“Denzel, the first three games was unbelievable,” Izzo said during an interview with The Drive with Jack on WQTX (via Kyle of Austin of MLive.com). “He could have been the MVP of the whole tournament.”

Valentine can put up quite a list of things he did this summer.

He competed in Italy with the Spartans, averaging 17 points against very stiff international competition.

Izzo isn't one to throw around praise, or travel the world with his team—it was his first summer foreign trip in more than two decades, when teams are allowed to journey outside the States every four years—but he got some strong leadership and play from a guy MSU will depend on this winter.

The 6'5'' senior also was part of the United States' Pan Am team that went to Canada in July.

Good luck to anyone trying to top his first-day "What I did this summer" essay.

Ron Baker, Wichita State

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The coach steered clear of Alabama and Texas, and the top two players returned.

Wichita State will certainly be a team to watch, and Ron Baker's of course a big reason why.

ESPN's Fran Fraschilla tweeted this week that he has the 6'4'' senior as a first-team preseason All-American along with Michigan State's Denzel Valentine (whom we also discuss in this slide series) and LSU freshman Ben Simmons.

NBCSports.com's Rob Dauster pointed out in late July that Baker was Team USA's best college-level player at the Pan-Am Games.

(Jamal Murray, headed to Kentucky via Canada, may get the nod as most impressive product, according to Dauster.)

“If he’s not first- or second-team All-American, I don’t know basketball,” ESPN commentator Fran Fraschilla told Kansas.com about Baker's play. “He was impressive. The competition level is higher than the NCAA. It’s a very physical brand of basketball. That Brazil team would have beaten our NCAA champion by 30 points.”

Of course, Wichita State won't be outmanned very often this year.

And it won't just be the Koch brothers making news in Wichita. Though, politically speaking, Baker could be mayor of two towns.

Wichita and his hometown will get plenty of praise. If you haven't heard of Scott City, get ready this winter.

Monte Morris, Iowa State

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It wasn't all incredible news for Iowa State in its summer tour to Spain.

The Cyclones blew a 20-2 lead against Venezuela. Jameel McKay had some tweets that were...interesting.

Monte Morris didn't make the Team USA representation for the Pan American Games. However, coming off last season—11.9 points a game—he will be a key figure for the Cyclones along with Georges Niang.

What's most amazing about Morris is his assist-to-turnover ratio, basically at 5-to-1.

He had no turnovers in a three-game Big 12 tournament title run. That seemed to get played up more this summer, even after the Cyclones' hasty exit from the NCAA tournament.

Iowa State cancelled the final game of its Europe tour after a few eligible players came down with a stomach bug. It only had nine players eligible to compete, including just six scholarship players. It went 2-1.

Morris played well, which made sense based upon his previous words. He obviously felt snubbed, and motivated, by the national-team cut. He was competing with Maryland's Melo Trimble and Wichita State's Fred VanVleet, among others.

He told the student newspaper's Garrett Kroeger that ISU has what it takes to make it to the Final Four in Houston.

Mike Gbinije, Syracuse

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Summertime can be about doing things for others.

Like, perhaps, making your country relevant at basketball.

That's what the Syracuse senior Mike Gbinije did in late August. He had five points and three rebounds in 15 minutes of the AfroBasket 15 tournament's championship game, Africa's biannual basketball tournament.

The 74-65 win for Nigeria against Angola—you may remember the classic Charles Barkley "Dream Team" comment about that nation in 1992—means Nigeria will participate in its first basketball Olympics games next summer in Brazil.

Gbinije averaged 7.3, 2.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

He was eligible to participate for Nigeria because his father, Frank Gbinije, is a native of Nigeria. The 6'7'' forward saw a step up in competition, considering he scored in double digits 22 times in 2014-15 (averaging nearly 13 points).

Syracuse has recently hit some hard times with NCAA issues. But coach Jim Boeheim's presence with the U.S. National Team and Gbinije's efforts in August are good publicity and a couple of refresher courses moving forward for the Orange.

Mark Hollis, Michigan State

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We like to keep it light around here, especially in the summer.

And of course Mark Hollis doesn't play basketball for Michigan State. He's the athletic director.

But his opening up to Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press is perhaps even more inspiring than Sparty's surprising run to the Final Four last March. It is a story of depression, humility and triumph (through a regular struggle).

If you're in the mood to be inspired, check it out. 

Jalen Brunson, Villanova

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He wasn't supposed to be the American star of the U19 FIBA World Championship's stars-and-stripes representatives.

Jalen Brunson just forced his way into that role with his play. Being with Oklahoma State's Juwan Evans and Arizona's Allonzo Trier brought out the best in the Villanova recruit.

He helped the U.S. survive an overtime title game against Croatia, scoring a team-high 14 points to go with seven assists. He played more than 40 minutes. Impressive. He didn't have a turnover. Amazing.

M-V-P.

And his lightning-quick game of getting to the rim, stopping on a dime for jumpers or driving and dishing should play well into coach Jay Wright's options, as Brunson will be teamed up with Ryan Arcidiacono and junior Josh Hart, who in the past has thrived off the bench.

LSU's Ben Simmons will have some company for most-talked-about freshman.

And forgive us for this one. But it being back-to-school time, we're just going to go ahead and call him the "Brunson burner."

JaQuan Lyle, Ohio State

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We like good comeback stories from injury, too.

JaQuan Lyle, who's headed to Ohio State, has one.

According to the Evansville Courier & Press' Gordon Engelhardt's report, Lyle should be in good shape to make an impact with the Buckeyes.

The 6'5'' Indiana native will be part of an OSU group that has to find a way (or ways) to replace D’Angelo Russell. It's good to hear that rehab has gone well. Lyle told Engelhardt, since tearing a meniscus and requiring surgery:

“I’m definitely 100 percent,” he said. “I’m able to run and jump and do everything. (Russell) had the same exact injury (in high school).”

Baylor's King McClure had an even bigger scare, as Bleacher Report's Jason King wrote about a few weeks ago.

In June, McClure was told that his college basketball career was over before it started, because of a heart condition.

But he's expected to be part of a very talented, experienced Baylor team which has a lot to prove. No doubt McClure will bring gratitude to the party.