Ranking the 10 Most Tenacious Defenders in College Basketball

Anthony Davis notwithstanding, being a superstar as a defensive player in college basketball is rarely a glamour job. The best defenders can change the course of a game or a season, but their biggest plays don’t even necessarily show up in the box score.

Michigan State freshman Gary Harris gets most of his accolades for his deadeye three-point shooting, but he’s also one of the toughest defenders in the stacked Big Ten. Harris can force an opposing shooter out of his rhythm as well as any guard in the country with his physical playing style and unstinting hustle on the defensive end.

With or without eye-popping stats, Harris and the rest of the players on this list are matchups no offensive player ever wants to see. Read on to see who makes the most big plays, who can stick to his man the tightest and who does the best job of putting it all together to earn the top spot.

Honorable Mention: Nerlens Noel

Although his season ended sadly and prematurely, Nerlens Noel accomplished more than enough to earn a place in any discussion of top-tier collegiate defenders.

The Kentucky freshman made more impact plays than any defender in the country, even if he took more chances doing it than coach John Calipari might’ve preferred.

Before a torn ACL ended his season in mid-February, Noel had taken over the national lead in blocks (4.4 per game) while also racking up a steal total (2.1 a night) that any point guard would be proud of.

With his long arms, high motor and peerless instincts, Noel dragged the Wildcats into the national rankings almost single-handedly before his year ended.

10. Rodney McGruder, Kansas State

Kansas State’s offense has been revamped by new coach Bruce Weber, but the Wildcats’ defense is very much a product of predecessor Frank Martin.

K-State’s physical perimeter corps specializes in contesting every shot, none better than senior star Rodney McGruder.

At 6’4”, 205 lbs, McGruder is well equipped to body up on most opposing guards, and he can chase an opponent off screens with the best of them.

Few players in the country play tougher defense for fewer rewards in the box score than McGruder, who averages just 1.3 steals and 0.2 blocks per game.

9. Anthony Hickey, LSU

Not many 5’11” guards can put a scare into opponents as readily as Anthony Hickey. The LSU sophomore leads the nation with 3.2 steals a game.

Hickey headlines new coach Johnny Jones’ aggressive defensive approach, which has raised the Tigers from 110th in the nation in steals a year ago to a tie for 12th this season.

Hickey is also one of the few players on this list who’s a safe bet to be back on campus in 2013-14, meaning that he could get even tougher as a defender before his career is through.

8. Roosevelt Jones, Butler

Brad Stevens’ Butler squads have thrived on team defense, but it never hurts to have an individual stopper in the mix. Roosevelt Jones’ blend of size (6’4”, 227 lbs) and agility gives him more matchup versatility than any other Bulldog.

Jones is also a classic energy guy who makes most of his plays by outhustling everyone else on the floor.

The defining play of his season, a sensational buzzer-beater to knock off Gonzaga, started with an improbable steal that Jones could only have gotten because he was in the right position and ready to react to a Zags miscue.

7. Gary Harris, Michigan State

A close call over teammate Branden Dawson, Gary Harris gets the nod as the most instinctive of the Spartans’ many terrific defenders. Not that Harris is any slouch as an athlete, either—his 6’4”, 205-pound frame is tailor-made for the bruising Big Ten.

Even as a true freshman, Harris has shown an exceptional ability to judge how much contact he can get away with as he fights through screens and bumps his man on the outside.

His zero foul-outs are just one testament to how reliable he’s been as a lockdown defensive option for Tom Izzo.

6. Russ Smith, Louisville

As a star sixth man a year ago, Russ Smith brought so much energy off the bench that he averaged 2.2 steals in just 21.5 minutes per game.

The big question for Smith as a starter was whether he could maintain that intensity over a full game, and the answer turns out to be a resounding affirmative.

The 6’1” Smith hounds opposing ball-handlers relentlessly, and even if his raw numbers of steals are down a hair (to 2.1 thefts per contest), he’s making even more plays for this year’s Cardinals.

Smith’s extraordinary quickness also allows him to take chances in the passing lanes without putting himself completely out of position if he can’t come up with the turnover.

5. Victor Oladipo, Indiana

One of the running themes of Victor Oladipo’s breakout season is that the versatile swingman’s value doesn’t necessarily show up in his stats.

One obvious exception, though, is the 6’5” junior’s defense, where he leads the Big Ten with 2.3 steals per game.

Oladipo’s scrambling, breakneck style lets him make plays all over the court, yet he’s rarely caught out of position.

He also has the uncommon virtue of not letting his offensive struggles affect his defense—witness the potentially game-saving block he made on Illinois’ D.J. Richardson seconds after committing a devastating turnover at the end of the Illini upset of the Hoosiers.

4. Jeff Withey, Kansas

This spot would more traditionally go to Jeff Withey’s teammate and classmate Travis Releford, but Withey is an unusual defensive center.

Although he’s an elite shot-blocker—No. 3 nationally at 4.0 rejections per game—he’s also a first-class on-ball defender.

Withey gets nearly as many blocks against his own man as he does while coming from the help side as most block specialists do.

Withey also deserves credit for playing a more physical game than many seven-footers, making it tougher for smaller-but-heavier foes to push him around on the low block.

3. Briante Weber, Virginia Commonwealth

No team depends more on constant, frenetic defensive pressure than VCU. Of all the Rams’ quick-handed, playmaking guards, none has been as devastating a pure defender as Briante Weber.

Weber, who had averaged 2.1 steals in a mere 18.7 minutes per game as a freshman, has managed the near-impossible feat of increasing his steal frequency this season.

He’s up to 2.9 thefts a night (in 21.2 minutes), and his length (at 6’3”) and limitless energy have every opposing ball-handler looking over both shoulders whenever Weber is on the floor.

2. Otto Porter Jr., Georgetown

If you were building the ideal defender in a laboratory, he’d probably look a lot like Otto Porter Jr. Georgetown’s long-armed, mobile 6’8” star can guard any position at the college level, and it sometimes seems like he’s able to guard all five of them at once.

As big and physical as he is, Porter—who does change a lot of shots—doesn't get many blocks.

On the other hand, his 2.0 steals per game are a remarkable total for a player his size, not to mention a testament to how active he is whenever the opposing team has the ball.

1. Aaron Craft, Ohio State

As impressive as the other ball-hawking guards on this list are, no one combines fundamentals with playmaking defense like Aaron Craft.

The Buckeyes’ junior floor leader is averaging a respectable 2.0 steals per game, but that number reflects only a fraction of the impact he has on opposing offenses.

With Craft draped over his opposite number and keeping the other team from getting into an offensive rhythm, Ohio State’s defense has overcome a sputtering offense to keep the Buckeyes at No. 14 in the national rankings.

It’s worth noting that many of Ohio State’s key victories have featured Craft going head-to-head with some of the most explosive offensive point guards in college hoops—a group that includes Minnesota’s Andre Hollins, Michigan State’s Keith Appling and Michigan’s Trey Burke.