There’s still more than a month and a half until the NCAA Tournament brackets are announced on March 17th, and men’s college basketball takes center stage in American sports. New names will emerge as stars during those glorious three weeks, but some have already solidified their status as stars through the first three months of the season.
As we prepare for the home stretch of conference play, here are 15 (+10) players who have been the best of the best in the sport so far this season.
NCAA Men’s 2024 All-American First Team Midseason
Zach Eadie, SR, C, Purdue
Since the 1980s, no player in men’s college basketball has repeatedly won National Player of the Year, or at least won at least two of the six major national POY awards in consecutive seasons. That seems very likely to change within about six weeks.
Eady is without a doubt the most dominant force in the sport this season as well. He’s currently coming off a historic blowout in Big Ten play, averaging 23.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and shooting 63.5 percent from the field every weekend entering the season. Eadie’s 2.3 blocks per game is also a career best.
RJ Davis, SR, G, NC State
Davis, the leading candidate for ACC Player of the Year, is a major reason why North Carolina State bounced back from last season’s monster disappointment. He currently leads the ACC in scoring with 21.5 ppg, and against him he has scored 36 points. wake forest Last month was the most Tar Heels played in home games since Tyler Hansbrough.
Dalton Knecht, SR, G, TN
Statistically, from 2022 to 2023 volunteer tennessee have been one of the best defensive teams in men’s college basketball over the past 20 years. Despite this, the Volunteers were only a 4th seed in the NCAA Tournament and were eliminated in the Sweet 16 to a 9th seed. Problems for coach Rick Barnes’ team included losing point guard Zakai Zeigler to a torn ACL. There is a complete lack of dynamic offensive players.
Knecht appears.
The Northern Colorado transfer has been great for UT since day one of the season, and there’s no arguing that he’s the best pure scorer in the sport at this point. Knecht is averaging 20.1 ppg on the season, but has been on a roll lately, scoring 31.8 ppg in Tennessee’s past six contests.
Tristen Newton, Sr., G; university university
Connecticut could become the first repeat men’s national champion since Florida accomplished the feat in 2006-07. If that happens, Newton will definitely deserve a lot of credit.
Newton, who played three years at East Carolina before transferring to Storrs last season, is the only active player in Division I with 1,700 career points, 600 assists and 600 rebounds. He currently leads UConn in all three categories with 15.8 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game and 5.8 assists per game.
Kevin McCuller Jr., SR, G, Kansas State
Already firmly established as one of the best defensive players in the country, McCullough’s offensive ability exploded in his second year at Kansas. The former Texas Tech standout is averaging career bests in nearly every major offensive category, including scoring (19.8 ppg), assists (4.7 ppg), and 3-point field shooting percentage (36.8 percent). Masu.
2024 All-America Second Team Midseason Men’s
Tyler Korek, SR, G, Market
If those honors were limited to the last few weeks, Kolek would likely be first-team. The current Big East Player of the Year has looked like the best point guard in the country since mid-January.He dropped 32 points in the win villanova He also had 11 assists in three of the Golden Eagles’ past five games.
Darron Holmes, JR, F, Dayton
It turns out having a player in the national player of the year race may not be a once-in-a-decade deal for Dayton. Four years after Obi Toppin took home nearly every major individual honor in an ill-fated 2019-20 season, Daron Holmes has put the Flyers back in the “Final Four Good” discussion and brought national attention to himself. collected.
The 6’10 junior is a third-level scorer who almost single-handedly makes UD’s offense successful. He entered February averaging 19.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
Jadon Reddy, SR, F, San Diego State
After being a key role player on last season’s national runner-up team, Reedy emerged as a full-fledged star for San Diego State this season. His scoring average has jumped from 7.9 points per game last season to 20.5 points per game this year, and he’s already scored more points this season than he did all year, even though there’s still (at least) a month and a half left in the season. are doing. Before.
Kyle Filipowski, SO, F, Duke
Filipowski’s decision to return to college for another season may have been the most surprising decision of last spring. While he hasn’t been as dominant at Duke as many expected, he still averaged 17.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game and was able to stretch out opposing defenses with his improved outside shot. There is.
Mark Sears, SR, G, Alabama
Sears became a March hero a few seasons ago playing in Cinderella, Ohio. Now, he finds himself putting up even better numbers (20.1 points, 4.0 assists per game) and hopes to be more of a Goliath next month at Alabama. The 6-foot-1 guard has scored 21 points or more in seven of the Tide’s past eight games. The only time Bama didn’t hit that mark was also the only time Bama lost during that stretch.
U.S. National Third Team
Joni Bloom, JR, F, Auburn
The 6-10 big man played two years at Morehead State University before transferring to Bruce Pearl for the 2022-23 season, and has been tipped as a potential SEC Player of the Year candidate in recent weeks. ing. Bloom has scored in double figures in 12 consecutive games, averaging 16.2 points and 8.9 rebounds on 57.7 percent shooting from the floor.
Boo Buoy, SR, G, Northwestern
Bouye appears destined to finish his career as Northwestern’s all-time leading scorer. He entered the final month of the regular season averaging 18.8 points and 5.4 assists per game, both career bests. Bouye particularly performed at his best during his brightest moments this season, averaging 25.4 points, 5.2 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game in five games against ranked opponents.
Hunter Dickinson, SR, C, Kansas
Although not the front-runner for national player of the year that many expected before the season started, Dickinson is still setting career highs in scoring (18.7 points) and rebounding (11.2 points). His Michigan transfer also embraces his assigned role as college basketball’s villain, and he’s almost certain to give it his all on sports’ biggest stage next month.
Terrence Shannon Jr., SR, G, Illinois
Off the court, Shannon’s season was marred by rape charges in Kansas, resulting in a suspension from late December to late January. On the court, he played the best basketball of his five-year college career, averaging a career-high 20.1 ppg and also shooting a career-high 47.6 percent from the field.
Jonelle Davis, JR, G, Florida Atlantic
After making a surprise appearance in the Final Four a year ago, Florida Atlantic has been one of the most difficult teams to pin down in college basketball this season. One thing that has been consistently great for the Owls has been the play of Davis, who leads the team in scoring with 18.6 points and shoots 48.3 percent from 3-point range.
Honorable mention
Jamal Shihed, SR, G, Houston
Isaiah Stevens, SR, G, Colorado
Caleb Love, SR, G, Arizona
Devin Carter, JR, G, Providence
Antonio Reeves, SR, G, Kentucky
David Jones, SR, F, Memphis
LJ Cryer, SR, G, Houston
Tommy Bruner, SR, G, Denver
Wade Taylor IV, JR, G; Texas A&M
PJ Hall, SR, F, Clemson
