1. Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State – Everything has been coming up Cowboy the past couple of weeks thanks to freshman sensation Cade Cunningham. 17th-ranked OSU has won 5 games in a row and Cunningham has had a large hand in each victory including 40 points. 11 rebounds to go along with 2 blocks and 3 steals in a 94-90 win over then-#7 Oklahoma in overtime on February 27th. He did have 6 turnovers, but that will happen when you play 44 minutes. Cade is heading for a possible #1 pick and that prospect is just getting more likely with each game. “There’s no question in my mind he’s the best player in the country,” Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton told the Associated Press. “And there’s no question in my mind, though there’s a lot of really good players out there, whoever has the No. 1 pick–they can overthink this. This one’s not that hard.”
2. Luka Garza, Iowa – D.C.-born Luka Garza came into this season as the odds-on favorite for College Basketball’s POY and 24.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assist per game with a 55% field goal percentage, including 45.5% from 3-land has only added to his resume. Hard work in the off-season is how he got here, more specifically the 2019 offseason in Bosnia where he worked out with his cousin, Teoman and Denis Alibegovic. His father, Frank created two-a-day training sessions that pushed Garza to the limit. “If you weren’t throwing up, you weren’t working hard enough,” Frank Garza told Mark Emmert of Hawk Central. 2020-2021 season highlights include an eye-popping 34 points in 17 minutes in a 105-77 December 12th victory over Iowa State, in which he hit 13-14 from the field and 6-7 from 3. Recently he has had two down games at Michigan State and Michigan in his last 5, but put up 25.6 points per in wins over Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin, while averaging 35.7 minutes in the other 3 out of 5.
3. Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois – How is this for a February Big Ten basketball 4-game stretch: Triple-Double,15 straight points in regulation and overtime, game-clinching shot from Steph Curry range, and another Triple-Double. Chicago’s Ayo Dosunmu dropped those hits during 4 straight victories for #4-ranked Illinois. Up until his “facial injury” against Michigan State, which has kept him out of the last 3 games, Ayo is averaging 21pts/6.3rbs/5.3 and 1.1 steals this year to go along with 48.4% shooting from the field and 3.2 turnovers per game. The Big Ten Network tweeted that he was “the most Clutch player in College Basketball.” Dosunmu has his own “workout Yoda” according to Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated, in Ron (Chin) Coleman, who grew up playing sports with Ayo’s father Quam. Whatever part of the force Dosunmu and Chin are using is working right now.
4. Corey Kispert, Gonzaga – The only Zag that made the list. The newly-named WCC player of year, Corey Kispert has the smoothest game you will see, which includes shooting 43.8% from 3-land and 90% from the free throw line. He never looks out of control or like he is over-exerting energy. When the light shined the brightest against Virginia, Iowa, West Virginia, Auburn, and Kansas, Kispert averaged 22.4 points, 3.6 boards, and 1.8 assists, while shooting 61% from the field, including 50% from 3 in those 5 preseason battles. With Drew Timme and Jalen Suggs, Kispert has the most help out of anyone in this top 10. Both of those two have all sorts of athletic ability and drive, but no one does it with the ease of Corey.
5. Matthew Hurt, Duke – This former Mr. Basketball in the state of Minnesota came into the 2020-21 season with as much to prove as anybody. Hurt ended the season in Coach K’s doghouse, barely playing and going 1-8 from 3 in his final four games after going 43% in his first 19. This year he is shooting 46% from outside and averaging 18.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Outside of his only single-digit scoring output, a 7 point foul-out effort in a loss to North Carolina on February 6th, Hurt has been spectacular for the Blue Devils, including a 37 point, 7 rebound effort in an 80-73 OT victory over Louisville on February 27th, where he only missed 2 out 15 shots from inside the arc. Hurt has redeemed himself and made it out the doghouse this year and could be named ACC player of the year.
6. Charles Bassey, Western Kentucky – WKU is hiding the best player you have probably never heard of in plain sight. Lagos, Nigeria-born Charles Bassey leads the 17-5 Hilltoppers with 17.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks a game. The 6-11, 235 Bassey has come back stronger than ever from a fractured tibia last year and put up 14 double-doubles in 21 games this year including 27 and 12 in a 73-71 victory against Alabama. His size and length remind you of fellow Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon, but his offensive game is nowhere near the Dream, however it is efficient and growing. With 3.3 blocks a game, Bassey is an elite rim-protector, as he showed off with 7 blocks to go with 21 points and 14 boards in a 75-69 win over Memphis. With all that skill, Charles will not stay hidden very long.
7. Kofi Cockburn, Illinois – As the season wears on, Kofi Cockburn is becoming more irritated with all the gnats that constantly are buzzing around him in the Big Ten, like 7-1 Hunter Dickinson, 6-10 Micah Potter, and the 6-9 Lat Mayen. The 7-0, 285 Kofi handled each with 12, 19, and 24 points respectively to go with 7 rebounds per, all in victories over Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. Cockburn is a destroyer in the same mold as Shaq Diesel, including adventures at the free throw line and arm slaps a plenty much like the Big Aristotle, but he has crashed through those slaps to lead the 4th-ranked Illini to a 19-6 record. With help from Ayo Dosunmu, Cockburn is set to help Illinois make a legitimate Final Four run. He moves very well for a very large human and has soft hands and finishing skills around the rim.
8. James Bouknight, UCONN – Back where they belong in the Big East, UCONN now has their top scorer James Bouknight back from an elbow injury and are showing top flight potential. Bouknight missed a month of play and announced his return on February 16th with 18 points in a 73-61 victory over Providence. He only played 25 minutes, but managed to hammer down one of the sickest dunks of the year on a put back in the 1st half; elbow doing just fine, thank you. In 10 games this year, James has put up 20.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game including a 40 point outburst in a 76-74 loss versus Creighton on December 20th. Bouknight has insane hops and hits the boards very well for a guard. He is a basket-getter and can drive with the best in the college game.
9. Evan Mobley, USC – The freshman wall has laid out a lot of blue-chip college basketball prospects over the years and it is trying to lay out Evan Mobley currently. It will not succeed. Evan has struggled in his last two games for SC, both losses, but he has put together PAC-12 player of the year numbers this year as a 19 year-old including 8 double-doubles and 2.9 blocks a game. Mobley has done multiple PAC-12 teams dirty, including back-to-back 19 point games against Arizona and Arizona State on January 7th and 9th, both victories. He also added 11 and 13 rebounds respectively. He has unlimited athletic ability and great court vision. Look for him to land in the top 3 of whatever NBA draft he enters.
10. Max Abmas, Oral Roberts – Who is the nation’s leading scorer you ask; the answer is Oral Robert’s Max Abmas, pronounced ACE-muss, and he can score from any level, including hitting 4 3’s a game and shooting 90% from the free throw stripe. “Max can really shoot and he has such great speed in his game,” ORU coach Paul Mills told Tulsa World’s Bill Haisten. “He’s one of those guys who has a great ability to score and also a great ability to pass.” Now Abmas does play in the Summit League, but the Summit League is no push-over daisy conference. South Dakota, North Dakota State, and South Dakota State are all legitimate mid-major programs, but let’s look at Max against the non-conference schools, 18 points versus Missouri, 28 against Wichita State, 20 versus Oklahoma, 11 points, 4 assists and 3 steals against Arkansas. His arguably-best game of the season was a 33 point, 6 rebound, 7 assist breakout performance in a loss, 83-78 to in-state rival Oklahoma State. The Cowboy’s freshman sensation, Cade Cunningham had 29 points, but Abmas may have shined brighter, going 6-12 from deep.
