Top Players to Know from Mid-Major and 1-Bid Leagues for CBB Conference Tourneys
A lack of exposure at a mid-major program can keep some of college basketball's biggest stars from receiving the attention they deserve.
While it is often the blue-blood schools that feature the best players in the country, the only major conference player who currently ranks top 10 in the nation in points per game is Purdue center Zach Edey. Likewise, the nation's leaders in assists per game and blocks per game also reside in what will likely be a one-bid conference.
In an effort to shine some light on those underappreciated stars, we've highlighted 10 players to know from mid-major schools.
For this conversation, players from Power Five conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC), along with the AAC, Big East and perennial contender Gonzaga were all omitted from consideration.
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts
1 of 10
Conference: Summit League
Tournament Dates: March 3-7
Max Abmas is already a household name of sorts thanks to leading the nation in scoring (24.5 PPG) and carrying Oral Roberts to the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 15 seed during his sophomore season.
Now in his senior year, he is averaging 22.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 38.4 percent from beyond the arc and ranking fourth in the country with 104 made threes.
After missing the NCAA tournament last year, Oral Roberts has again been the class of the Summit League with a perfect 16-0 record in conference play and a 25-4 mark overall. That currently puts them in the "Others Receiving Votes" portion of the AP poll.
The Golden Eagles will be heavy favorites for the automatic bid when the Summit League tournament tips off.
Aziz Bandaogo, Utah Valley
2 of 10
Conference: WAC
Tournament Dates: March 6-11
Center Fardaws Aimaq led a 20-win Utah Valley team in scoring (18.9 PPG) and rebounding (13.6 RPG) last season before transferring to Texas Tech for his junior year.
That left a void in the middle for the Wolverines, and it has been effectively filled by 7'0", 225-pound sophomore Aziz Bandaogo, who made his own move in the transfer portal after averaging a modest 3.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 12.2 minutes per game last season.
His time on the court is up to 29.3 minutes per contest this year, and he has responded to the increased role with 11.4 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game while recording 14 double-doubles in 27 games.
The Wolverines have three players averaging at least 13 points per game, so they don't necessarily need to lean on Bandaogo as a go-to scoring option, but he is capable of significantly impacting the game on both sides of the court for a team that currently sits atop the WAC standings.
Emoni Bates, Eastern Michigan
3 of 10
Conference: MAC
Tournament Dates: March 9-11
A 5-star recruit and the No. 5 overall player in the 2021 recruiting class, Emoni Bates began his college career at the University of Memphis.
After averaging just 9.7 points on 38.6 percent shooting from the floor in 18 games as a freshman, the Ypsilanti, Michigan, native returned to his hometown during the offseason when he entered the transfer portal and chose mid-major Eastern Michigan.
The Eagles have struggled to a 7-21 record this season, including a 4-11 showing in conference play, but Bates has upped his production significantly with 19.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 41.0 percent shooting.
The 6'9" forward poured in 30 points against Michigan in the season opener, and he tallied a season-high 43 on 15-of-23 shooting against Toledo on Jan. 24. He will be the most physically gifted player on the floor in any MAC tournament matchup, and the conference tournament will likely be his last chance to play in front of NBA scouts before the predraft process starts.
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Yuri Collins, Saint Louis
4 of 10
Conference: A-10
Tournament Dates: March 7-12
Yuri Collins earned A-10 First Team and A-10 All-Defensive Team honors a year ago when he led the nation with 7.9 assists per game to go along with 11.1 points and 1.9 steals for a 23-win Saint Louis team that just missed the tourney field.
The 6'0" point guard has taken sharing the ball to another level this season, once again pacing the nation with an eye-popping 10.2 assists per game against just 3.5 turnovers per contest.
Since assists became an official NCAA statistic during the 1983-84 season, only four players have averaged more than 10 assists per game for an entire year, with the most recent being Ja Morant at Murray State during the 2018-19 season.
With Gibson Jimerson (14.2 PPG), Javonte Perkins (11.0 PPG) and Javon Pickett (10.0 PPG) all joining Collins (11.6 PPG) as double-digit scorers, the Billikens have plenty of options to help him continue to rack up assists.
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
5 of 10
Conference: Horizon League
Tournament Dates: Feb. 28-March 7
Antoine Davis is playing in his fifth year of eligibility at Detroit Mercy, and he has been a staple among national scoring leaders throughout his five years on campus.
2018-19: 26.1 PPG, third in NCAA
2019-20: 24.3 PPG, fourth in NCAA
2020-21: 24.0 PPG, third in NCAA
2021-22: 23.9 PPG, third in NCAA
2022-23: 27.9 PPG, first in NCAA
The 6'1" guard entered play on Thursday with 3,543 career points, putting him just 124 behind Pete Maravich for the all-time NCAA record.
The Titans are just 13-16 on the year and 9-9 in conference play, but they've gone 5-1 in their last six games, with Davis averaging 35.2 points per game during that stretch.
He has two more regular-season games and at least one conference tournament game to break the record, and that will be a closely monitored storyline when the Horizon League tournament begins.
Jordan Dingle, Penn
6 of 10
Conference: Ivy League
Tournament Dates: March 10-12
The Penn Quakers were a staple in the NCAA tournament throughout the 1990s and 2000s, but they have punched their ticket to March Madness just once in the last 15 years.
They currently sit atop the Ivy League standings with an 8-4 record in conference play and a 16-11 record overall, and junior Jordan Dingle is the type of player who can put the team on his shoulders and carry them through the conference tournament.
The 6'3" guard ranks second in the nation with 23.3 points per game, and he has scored in double digits in all 25 of the games he has played this season.
He was already a prolific scorer after averaging 20.9 points per game during his sophomore campaign, but he has become a more efficient all-around player this season with an uptick in his field-goal percentage (44.6 to 46.5 percent) and three-point percentage (33.5 to 36.2 percent).
Maxwell Lewis, Pepperdine
7 of 10
Conference: WCC
Tournament Dates: March 2-7
Pepperdine sophomore Maxwell Lewis is the top 2023 NBA draft prospect among mid-major players, going to the Brooklyn Nets at No. 21 overall in the latest mock draft from B/R draft expert Jonathan Wasserman.
Wasserman wrote: "Pepperdine's [9-19] record will work against Lewis, but the efficient production and eye test on his 6'7" size, self-creation flashes and shot-making versatility still say NBA scorer."
The Waves are just 2-13 in their last 15 games, including a 97-88 loss to Gonzaga on Saturday. Lewis put up 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the floor and went 2-of-6 from beyond the arc against the Bulldogs.
All told, he is averaging 17.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists and is shooting a respectable 35.2 percent from distance on 122 attempts. Make sure you tune in early during the WCC tournament, as Pepperdine looks like a prime candidate to be one-and-done based on its recent performance.
Darius McGhee, Liberty
8 of 10
Conference: A-Sun
Tournament Dates: Feb. 27-March 5
The Liberty Flames have won at least 20 games in each of the past six seasons, and they have already reached that mark this year with a 22-7 record overall and 13-3 showing in conference play that puts them atop the A-Sun standings.
Darius McGhee was a freshman role player on the 2018-19 team that pulled off a first-round upset in the NCAA tournament as a No. 12 seed, but he has developed into a lethal scorer in the years since.
The 5'9" guard averaged 24.6 points per game last season, and he is putting up 22.0 points per contest this year on a career-best 41.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc. His 132 made threes rank second in the nation, and with just 12 more makes from distance, he'll move into second on the all-time NCAA leaderboard.
McGhee is averaging 25.7 points over his last seven games, including a 43-point explosion against Kennesaw State on Feb. 16, so he could be saving the best for last for a Liberty team currently projected to be a No. 13 seed.
Jamarion Sharp, Western Kentucky
9 of 10
Conference: Conference USA
Tournament Dates: March 8-11
Jamarion Sharp is the tallest player in college basketball at 7'5", and he uses that size to wreak havoc on the defensive end of the floor.
The sophomore finished second in the nation with 148 blocks last year, and he is leading the country in blocks (112) and blocks per game (4.3) this season for a Western Kentucky team that features four former Top 100 recruits.
Sharp has a limited offensive game, averaging 7.1 points on 63.2 percent from the floor, though he has improved his free-throw shooting from 39.7 to 54.7 percent to make him less of a liability in that category.
His impact is in how he changes the opposing team's offensive strategy, and he has recorded at least one block in every game he has played this year, with five or more on 10 separate occasions.
Jordan Walker, UAB
10 of 10
Conference: Conference USA
Tournament Dates: March 8-11
Jordan Walker has taken a long, winding road to success at UAB, spending the first season of his college career at Seton Hall, followed by two years as a starter and secondary scorer at Tulane.
The 5'11" guard averaged 20.3 points and 4.9 assists last season for a UAB team that finished 27-8 and earned a No. 12 seed in the NCAA tournament, and he scored a team-high 17 points in the team's first-round loss to Houston.
This season, he is pouring in 22.7 points per contest, good for the fourth-highest total in the nation, and his 97 made threes are seventh nationally, coming at a solid 39.1 percent clip.
The Blazers are 20-9 overall and 11-6 in conference play to sit third in the Conference USA standings, but the postseason experience they gained last year will be invaluable when the conference tournament tips off.
All stats courtesy of Sports Reference and accurate through Tuesday's games.
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