On Mar. 12, 2024, the University of Denver men’s basketball season came to a crushing end when they lost their chance at reaching the March Madness tournament by eight points against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. As the 2024-25 season quickly approaches, the team is be looking for redemption.
With an overall record of 17-17, the team was ranked 25th for their scoring offense: averaging 81 points per game and produced a total of 2,755 points during the season.
Despite the impressive offensive ranking, the team was ranked 342 out of 351 teams for their defensive plays: giving up an average of 80.5 points per game.
The Crimson and Gold team had an impressive season last year. Ranked as the seventh seed heading into the Summit League Tournament, the team battled their way into the conference finals.
With the new season, however, comes the loss of old players. The team lost seven players including two of their starters and three of their top scorers: Tommy Bruner, Touko Tainamo and Jaxon Brenchley.
Fifth-year guard Tommy Bruner was the top scorer last year, averaging 24.0 points per game and a total of 816 points during the season. He also led the NCAA Division 1 level in points during the 2023-24 season.
Filling the lost players’ shoes this year are the fifth and sixth top scorers on the team senior forward Pedro Lopez-Sanvicente and sophomore forward DeAndre Craig, respectively.
Lopez-Sanvicente started playing for the Crimson and Gold during the 2022-23 season. Since then, he has achieved a total of 258 points which is an average of 4.4 points per game.
Craig has only played one full season for Crimson and Gold, but has made quite the impact. So far in his collegiate career, Craig has 226 points averaging 6.6 points per game.
There are also many new additions to the team that could be the answer to making it to the March Madness Tournament this season.
The biggest player to be looking for this season is first-year guard Jon Mani from Los Angeles, Calif., who was a top-25, 3-star recruit in California according to 24/7 Sports, and Denver’s top-ranked recruit in the modern D-I era.
Another key player to look for this season is first-year guard, Sebastian Akins, from Concord, N. C. Akins has many highlights coming into his first year with the Crimson and Gold including being a second-team All-Conference selection in 2022, 2023 All-Hoopstate Conference, and a HoopSeen top-5 point guard in his last year of AAU.
The new dynamic will be observed when the team plays their first game at Stanford on Nov. 4, which is the first time the Crimson and Gold have played the Cardinals since 2017. Their first home matchup is versus Western Colorado on Nov. 8.
The first Summit League game is on Jan. 2 on the road against South Dakota State University. This game will be the first time Crimson and Gold plays against them since DU’s crushing defeat in the conference finals.
While the team lost valuable players this 2024-25 season, the new additions, with their athletic ability and all-star attitude, could be the missing piece for DU’s journey to their first ever March Madness.
