Four U of L Players Ranked In Top 50 in Preseason Poll

CBS sports released a poll of the top 100 players in college basketball for the upcoming season. Louisville got 4 players ranked in the top 50 with the following…

22. Gorgui Dieng
29. Chane Behanan
34. Peyton Siva
47. Wayne Blackshear

Ohio State and Michigan’s point guards , Aaron Craft and Trey Burke, were both ranked above Peyton Siva. This comes after Siva was selected as a pre season All-American and Craft wasn’t anywhere to be found on that list.

According to the poll, Gorgui is our best player heading into the season. There is no doubt that his shot blocking skills and his ability to affect people’s shots is unparalleled. Some may believe that Siva should be ahead of any Louisville player on the list, but remember, the leader of the team isn’t always the best player on the team. I dont see anyone arguing that Siva isnt our most important player, but I think that Gorgui leading this list is the right thing.

There has been an outcry on social networking sites between Louisville and Kentucky fans about how Dieng was ranked 22nd and freshman Nerlens Noel got put in the 5th spot. While Kentucky’s Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin got ranked 32nd and 33rd while Siva came in at 34th. I personally have a hard time believing that these freshman are better than our proven starters who made a Final Four run last season but only time will tell.

Cody Zeller topped the list, followed by Creighton’s Doug McDermott, and UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad.