Welcome to Glass Slipper! Jalen Green, my Asian hero; please enjoy the show.

- Jacob Rhee

**NOTICE: Since the College Football Playoff doesn’t start until next week, there will be no Glass Slipper on Saturday. See you Sunday morning!

Here are my 10 biggest takeaways through five weeks of the men’s college basketball season.

1. 180 degrees.

Remember when Auburn forced a pilot to turn the plane around because of a mid-flight brawl? Here we are a month later, and the Tigers look like lifelong best friends somehow.

Before you buy into the optics, I’ll just remind you about the 2022-23 Warriors. Draymond Green threw a haymaker at Jordan Poole in training camp; even after an apology, the incident poisoned the environment all year. Golden State was the defending champion and had improved in the offseason, yet wound up getting bounced in Round 2 because the chemistry was nonexistent.

If March Madness began right now, Auburn would be an extremely popular pick to win it all. I’m just warning you to keep your eye on the vibes over there. I suspect that things aren’t as healed as they may seem.

2. Welcome to the lottery.

Here are the last four games for Illinois point guard Kasparas Jakucionis.

• Nov. 25: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 asssists, 3 steals, 5-9 FG, 3-4 3P, 8-8 FT

• Nov. 28: 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 7-13 FG, 2-5 3P, 7-8 FT

• Dec. 6: 20 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 7-16 FG, 6-10 3P

• Dec. 10: 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 8-15 FG, 4-8 3P, 4-4 FT

He was born in 2006, by the way. Let’s see how many times the NBA folks mispronounce his name.

3. Oklahoma remains unblemished.

I don’t know what Jalon Moore was up to in the summer of 2023, but the numbers lead me to believe that he locked himself in the gym until he had hit a billion threes in a row. The dude went 4-35 from distance in his final year at Georgia Tech, and he’s up over 40% after arriving in Norman. There are professional players who spend a decade enlisting the help of various shot doctors, and don’t ever see significant progress. Moore made that leap in a few months, and he’s probably playing his way into an NBA deal right now. He and true freshman Jeremiah Fears have been the best duo in a loaded SEC.

Because the Thunder are so good, Oklahoma folks haven’t even noticed that the Sooners are 9-0 yet. Something tells me that Porter Moser enjoys being overlooked.

4. Why aren’t Marquette and Wisconsin real rivals?

It’s a question that has stumped me for years, and I thought of it again when the sides clashed on Saturday. Two of the 25 best programs in the sport, and they’re 80 miles apart. You guys… don’t mind each other?

I saw a few people on Twitter trying to stir the pot, which I appreciated. But this thing should be so much more heated. Xavier-Cincinnati is the best rivalry in the sport, followed by Louisville-Kentucky and Duke-UNC. There’s plenty more room in that top tier.

5. Kam Jones’s career path.

Meet the 2029 NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Dig through your inbox to find this when I’m proven correct. Kam was placed on Earth to be an elite instant-offense reserve at the next level. I adore his game, but I love how great of a teammate he is even more.

If he’s not a first-round pick, it’ll be further evidence that pro scouts are just throwing darts at the wall instead of performing actual evaluations.

6. An early Cinderella application.

If you’re looking for a low seed with a Final Four ceiling, it’s St. John’s. The whole squad is ice-cold from beyond the arc, and yet I still kind of like what I’m seeing. This is Rick Pitino’s best roster since 2016-17.

7. Cooper Flagg, I still need more.

Every time I watch him, I become less certain. He’s incredible for a 17-year-old, but I’m not convinced that we’re looking at a truly generational prospect. The offensive skillset is more raw than I was anticipating, and I just wish he was 10% smoother on those little rumbles to the rim. If I was on the clock at this moment, I’d strongly consider Dylan Harper.

8. Give Zakai Zeigler his flowers.

He’s a winner. He wins. He’s the Curt Cignetti of collegiate point guards. Google him. Tennessee was 35-23 in the two seasons prior to Zeigler’s arrival. 88-28 since. That is not a coincidence.

I don’t think our friend Zakai will ever play a single minute of NBA basketball; he’s shorter than me, and isn’t exactly a sniper. We need to enjoy him while he’s still on our screens.

9. AJ Dybantsa to BYU.

The highlight videos have been everywhere since he was literally in middle school, and now it’s real. The national stage will be all yours in November, young man.

This is a program-altering recruiting win for the Cougars. If Dybantsa plays his senior year at Utah Prep, goes to BYU, and the Jazz magically wind up with the No. 1 pick in 2026, I might have to give some consideration to the arguments about the league being rigged.

10. My current National Player of the Year ladder.

1) Kam Jones, Marquette

2) Johni Broome, Auburn

3) Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State

4) Dylan Harper, Rutgers

5) John Tonje, Wisconsin

6) Tre Johnson, Texas

7) Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton

8) Braden Smith, Purdue

9) Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois

10) Eric Dixon, Villanova

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