Deshaun Thomas News

For the "Freshman Impact" series, Insider's college basketball and recruiting experts will be teaming up to examine how 15 of the nation's best recruiting classes will fit in with their teams in the 2013-14 season.

On one end of the spectrum, you have a school like New Mexico that lost its coach to UCLA a mere days after he signed a 10-year contract, while on the other end a school like Kentucky spent the spring months finalizing the commitments from approximately 300 5-star recruits.

Nearly six years after he was the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft, unrestricted free agent center Greg Oden continues to attempt a comeback from a series of knee injuries that led to his release by the Blazers in 2012.

Deshaun Thomas or no Deshaun Thomas, the goals of the Ohio State basketball team heading into the 2013-14 season remain the same - a Big Ten regular-season championship, a Big Ten tournament title and a run to the Final Four.

The Terrapins will travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face Ohio State on Dec. 4, the conferences announced Wednesday afternoon .

Given Maryland's acrimonious departure from the ACC, there was a general line of thought the conference probably wouldn't do them any favors when it came to scheduling, including perhaps lobbying for them to get an unglamorous Big Ten-ACC matchup.

There were some teams that had dramatic roster changes this offseason - we are looking at you Kentucky - and others that basically stayed intact, like as Michigan State; but most fell somewhere in the middle.

After cracking the starting lineup in the NCAA Tournament, Mitch McGary showed why he was one of the top recruits before his freshman season and why many experts had him a potential NBA lottery pick.

The upcoming Draft continues to fluctuate seemingly every week, with prospects capable of playing multiple positions, depending on with whom you speak.

The early offseason in college basketball means a handful of things - NBA departures, last second recruiting pitches, coaching changes, transfers and way too early Top 25 polls, to name a few.

Although many programs would consider a conference tournament championship and Elite Eight appearance a successful campaign, the Ohio State basketball team fell short of its lofty goals in the 2012-13 season.