This dynasty report would be based on my current save, which I'm looking to link to my DDS:PB21 save. If this works out, I might do an extended Dynasty Report for the PB save to look back at the my drafted players.
We'll be starting on the year 2017, so that when I import my CB players to the PB save, the Seniors would have 4 years worth of stats.

For this particular save,I won't be coaching at all. Rather, I would be simulating every season after choosing one team to feature.
My criteria for choosing the teams are as follows:

• 2017 - 2020: Team at the bottom of recruitment rankings.
• 2021 onward: It'll be a 5-year cycle of choosing teams at the top (T) and at the bottom (B) of the recruitment rankings. The cycle would look like this: BBBBT / BBBBT / BBBBT

For each featured team, I would be maximizing the Current Ability (CA) of 5 players (ideally PG, SG, SF, PF, C) to match their Potential Ability (PA).
As a rule, I would be choosing players based on their scholarship status, class, GPA, and stats from previous season / recruitment ranking.

My current save runs until 2030. Here's a preview of what's to come.

• 2017: Houston
• 2018: Merrimack
• 2019: Kansas City
• 2020: Alcorn State
• 2021: Texas State
• 2022: East Carolina
• 2023: Pacific
• 2024: Appalachian State
• 2025: North Carolina
• 2026: East Carolina
• 2027: Grand Canyon
• 2028: Memphis
• 2029: Tulsa

Lastly, as I'm not exactly sure how to upload photos into my posts, I have created a blog where you can view the stories with screenshots from the game.

2017/18 Season (Houston Cougars)

The journey starts in Houston, where the Cougars were being coached by Kelvin Sampson. Despite being at the helm since 2014, he’s facing a lot of doubters this season with his team found at the bottom of the recruitment rankings. The only freshman in the team is a walk-on who’ll struggle to get minutes in the team. With such an experienced squad, can his team make some noise this season?

Training Camp
Training camp was dominated by sophomores, with the following players making a push for the starting lineup: PG Noel Best, SG Mike Shumpert, SF Juwan Hemhill, and PF Ryan Slane. Despite the lack of freshmen, their improvement would provide this program with a solid core for the next 3 years.

Elsewhere, Senior Nate Franklin appears to have locked down the remaining starting spot.

Non-Conference Play / JAG Holiday Invitational
The Cougars cruised through non-conference play, finishing with a dominant 12-1 record, winning the JAG Holiday Invitational along the way.

Senior Nate Franklin was 1 rebound shy of a double-double but his 19-point effort was enough to bring home the MVP award. It was far from a one-man show though as the Cougars bench outscored St. John’s 16-4 en route to a 71-65 win.

American Athletic Conference Season / Tournament
Against stronger conference opponents, the Cougars weren’t really expected to maintain their almost perfect record. They still managed to finish as the #2 seed in the AAC Tournament though, with a record of 11-7 (23-8 overall). The team’s strong performances during the season pretty much ensured an invite to the Big Dance as they got a ranking of #17 in the nation.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, the #5-ranked team in the nation also happened to be in their conference. The Cincinnati Bearcats dominated the AAC in conference play with a 16-2 conference record. They would continue their dominance in the AAC tournament finals by beating the Cougars.

Despite leading all scorers with 25 points, PG Noel Best didn’t get much help from the rest of the team as the team fell 61-75. Senior Nate Franklin really struggled against Burke as he fouled out of the game. For the Bearcats, Chris Boozer put up an MVP performance (22/7/2) while shutting down SG Mike Shumpert.

It was a disappointing loss for the Cougars, but especially so for Franklin (7/6/4 VS 10.8 ppg / 5.9 rpg / 2.1 apg) and Shumpert (0/4/1 VS 9.4ppg / 4.5rpg / 4.3apg) as their performances were a far cry from the those that got them named into the AAC All-Conference 2nd team.

NCAA Tournament
The Cougar’s post-season is a mirror of how their whole season. They started off really strong and played well enough to reach the Final Four. In contrast, the Bearcats were eliminated in Round 2. Houston would eventually run into the #1-ranked team and eventual champions Michigan State.

To say that the Cougars played poorly is an understatement. They were crushed. The Spartan’s Douglas and Cornell outscored Houston’s starting lineup by themselves. Senior Nate Franklin was in tears after the game, knowing that he just played his last collegiate game. He finished his last season with averages of 10.8 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 1.6 BPG.

End Of Season
Despite falling short in tournament games, it was a good season overall for the Cougars. They found a core capable of carrying the program in the next two seasons. They’ll be doing it under a new coach though, with Sampson taking over the prestigious Duke program as Coach K enjoys his retirement. (Spoiler Alert: It wasn’t a match made in heaven as the Blue Devils severely under-performed before Sampson’s own retirement.)

Former Cal State Northbridge coach Mark Gottfried would take over and go on to have a successful decade in Houston (203 wins), in spite of never going beyond the Big Dance’s 2nd round.

Franklin’s replacement in the starting five, incoming freshman Jerrance Wampler (career 7.0 ppg /3.5 rpg /0.5 bpg), won’t be able to match his level of performance and is a contributing factor to why this year’s remaining core players (Best, Shumpert, Hemhill, and Slane) never made it past the Second Round in subsequent seasons.

Fun Fact
Franklin held the school’s season record for blocks (55) before Courtney Zimmerman (Class of 2017) matched it in 2020.
Zimmerman broke the record the following year with 61 blocks. The season record is currently owned by Rod Floyd (Class of 2022), who has 70 blocks.

Blog link: https://collegehoopdreams360760184.wordpress.com/2020/12/23/2017-18-season-houston-cougars/