Myron Medcalf Oct 20, 2026, 07:40 AM ET

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Covers college basketball

Joined ESPN.com in 2011

Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato

Every year, our goal is to give both men's college basketball diehards and casuals a taste of what's to come in the sport. It's usually a fairly straightforward exercise.

But that was all before what we're dubbing "FifthGate."

After the NCAA implemented a rule that grants all athletes a fifth year of eligibility -- while excluding players from the 2022 class -- lawyers got involved, and chaos ensued. The uncertainty around star players who had thought their college careers were over means that, as of mid-October, there are dozens of teams in college basketball that could add or lose program-altering talents.

To avoid any confusion, we've mostly avoided those names from the conversation about preseason player of the year in each league (with a few exceptions). That does not mean we believe Missouri's Mark Mitchell Jr. , St.…