Dribble Handoff: New Year’s resolutions for Kentucky, Kansas and more contenders

When the calendar turned from 2024 to 2025, none of the teams that ultimately played in the national championship game were ranked in the top five of the AP Top 25 poll. Florida started the new year at number 6, and Houston started the new year at number 14.

That they were among the final two teams in the Alamodome on April 7 shows that the saying “new year, new me” can apply to college basketball teams. As 2026 arrives, so does the heart of conference play and a line in the sand.

Did you not achieve what you wanted in November and December? January and February offer a chance for redemption. Houston started slow a year ago before ramping up the intensity with the start of Big 12 play and going 19-1. It’s almost as if the Cougars have once again decided to be the dirtiest, roughest team in college basketball.

With that backdrop, we’d like to make New Year’s resolutions on behalf of some college basketball prospects for the 2025-2026 period for this week’s Dribble Handoff.

I hope Peterson plays Saturday for the first time in three weeks; I understand that’s the plan. Regardless, my hope is that everyone can find a way to remain reasonable even if the five-star freshman misses what would be his tenth game of the season at UCF, because as I’ve said many times in recent episodes of the Eye On College Basketball Podcastsome of the hysteria associated with Peterson’s absence seemed a bit overblown, at least from my perspective.

Has it been frustrating for KU fans? Certainly. Has it been frustrating for KU coach Bill Self? How could it not? But here’s the truth: Basketball players missing multiple weeks or even several months with injuries and problems like the ones Peterson reportedly dealt with are not that uncommon in the N.B.Anor does a player, or his family/advisers, have a say in any plan for a return to the field. From that perspective, this has all been more normal than it seems to some. But yeah, it would be great if it was a big college basketball story that quickly becomes an old college basketball story, because we only get Peterson in the Big 12 for one year, and it would be a shame if the memories of it were mostly tied to the possible No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 NBA draft sitting on a bench in street clothes watching a season without him. –Gary Parrish

Tennessee: Greenlight Nate Ament full-time

While this 2025-2026 freshman class has grown into perhaps the strongest in the history of the sport, one top-10 prospect has faded somewhat into the background. Nate Ament has been productive (15.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg) but hasn’t been part of that conversation at the highest level with the likes of Cam Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Darius Acuff Jr., Mikel Brown Jr. and even Kingston Flemings.

I think Ament could have a stronger second half of the season compared to what we saw in November and December. His shooting needs to improve, and while Ja’Kobi Gillespie leading the charge will be UT’s key factor in its push to the top of the SEC, showcasing his range of offensive skills will be almost as necessary if the Vols are to be a 4-seed or better for a fifth straight season. I think this is the SEC team with the largest gap between ceiling and floor. The 10-3 Volunteers open league play in Arkansas this weekend, a tough test to get January started. Rick Barnes’ team has two high-quality wins (vs. Houston in Las Vegas in November, at home vs. Louisville in December), with losses to Kansas, Syracuse and Illinois also on the docket. Ament wasn’t his best against the best teams.

Time for him to reach the next level, and time for Barnes to identify his best talent, as we’ll see the same elsewhere in that league at schools like Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama and Auburn. — Matt Norlander

Florida: Stay in the gym until shooting improves

One of the most baffling developments early in the season has been the inability of national champion Florida’s defense to even shoot at a Division I average from 3-point range. It shoots 6.8% below the Division I average on three-pointers made above the break according to CBB Analytics data, which was one of its many strengths last season. And the three-point shooting percentage from a 9-4 start is 28.2%. That ranks 340th out of 344 teams. That’s terrible for a Gators team that ranked third in the preseason and was fifth nationally in scoring per game a season ago.

The Gators have a roster worth millions of dollars and the staff focused on players who had done well before – including Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee – but the numbers so far have been ugly. Fland is shooting 22.2% on three-pointers and Lee is at 25.3%. And even returning players who previously shot well from distance, such as Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh, are below their percentages from last season.

It’s been ugly everywhere. Florida needs to make a decision as a team to keep a gym open and lock the doors until this improves. There are more and more reasons why it might not have been better: the guard play was inconsistent, turnovers were an issue, and depth (or lack thereof) is an issue. But it’s almost inexplicable that this team is not only the worst of all SEC teams in three-point percentage, but also the worst of all SEC teams. all major conference teams in 3-point percentage. That needs to improve, and dramatically, before Florida can even start daydreaming about a repeat. –Kyle Boone

Kentucky: Shoot fewer three-pointers

Kentucky is 2-1 against high-major opponents when shooting 16 or fewer 3-pointers and 0-3 against high-major opponents when shooting 30 or more 3-pointers. For this British team, less is more when it comes to outside shooting. In theory, Kam Williams, Jasper Johnson, Collin Chandler and Trent Noah were supposed to form a solid core of perimeter shooters. In practice, they are role players who have struggled mightily to find anything resembling a rhythm against good opponents. Great Britain is at its best when it plays in transition, attacking the basket and crashing the glass.

Second-year coach Mark Pope is tactically brilliant and may prefer an artsy style built around some 40% 3-point shooting. But he has to recognize that this Kentucky team won’t win any offensive beauty pageant this season. The Wildcats should decide to shoot less from beyond the arc and attack more for the remainder of the 2025-2026 season. –David Cobb

Providence: A renewed commitment to doing the hard things

It’s a soul-searching season for a 7-6 Providence club that has been one of the big spenders in free agency. Providence can’t go anywhere in the Big East without finding the guts to settle down and play defense, box out, and stop playing the “after me, you come first” offense. This defense needs an intervention. The Friars have allowed 1.23 points per possession in six games against top-100 teams, per Hoop Scout. That ranks 347th (!) nationally. Whenever big man Oswin Erhunmwunse checks out, Providence’s defense ranks 365th nationally against top-100 teams. That’s the last one in America.

As usual, everything in basketball is connected, and it’s hard to watch Providence and not feel like this group is playing disconnected, selfish basketball. The defensive effort is uninspiring at best and atrocious at worst. The lack of ball movement offensively and the number of quick trigger jacks also means this transition defense consistently ends up in bad spots.

This team is undoubtedly talented, but something needs to be done quickly. Jason Edwards’ heaters are unstoppable. When he’s done, freshman Stefan Oftens will be a net shredder. Jaylin Sellers is a freak show in transition. If rims could talk, they’d be terrified of Sellers’ lefty drives. Jamier Jones looks like a senior linebacker trapped in a freshman’s body. There’s a good team here somewhere, but it’s getting early and late.

We’ll learn a lot over the next six days about the Friars’ mental strength and whether they want to make something of this season. Providence travels to St. John’s on Saturday before hosting No. 4 UConn in a huge tilt on Wednesday. — Isaac Trotter