Ranking the Best Bench Players in College Basketball in 2014-15

If bench players weren’t important, then there’d be only five roster spots on basketball teams.

In many instances, bench players determine the outcome of college basketball games. Look no further than Louisville’s Luke Hancock, who during the Cardinals’ title run became the only reserve to be the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

The mindset of the bench player is different than the starter. Like pinch hitters in baseball, the bench player is thrown onto a moving train full of its own context.

When the horn sounds from the sideline, these young men hop up for relief and sometimes inspiration. 

Of the dozens and dozens of Division I teams, which bench players are the best in college basketball? Among Top 25 teams or squads in the orbit of the Top 25, the following 10 rise to the top, based on their production and the impact they have on the game in their relatively limited roles. 

10. Isaiah Hicks, F, North Carolina

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Though Isaiah Hicks needs some work, he has the potential to be a solid player off the bench for North Carolina.

Now that the Tar Heels find themselves 1-1 in ACC play after an upsetting one-point loss to Notre Dame at home, the sophomore forward needs to begin making more of an impact. He’s averaging 6.6 points per game and 3.3 rebounds in limited play as a reserve.

Victoria Addison of FanSided wrote, “All Hicks needs is a little confidence and some more playing time so he can really start to show off the freakish athleticism that Heels fans have been waiting to see.”

Hicks has three double-digit scoring games off the bench, with his best effort against No. 22 UCLA back on Nov. 27. In that UCLA game, Hicks scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in just 17 minutes.

9. Evan Smotrycz, F, Maryland

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Maryland senior Evan Smotrycz has seen limited action so far this year since suffering a fractured foot. In his time back, he has scored 4.9 points and grabbed 4.4 boards per game.

He'd be a starter on the Chrisley Knows Best All-Star Lookalike Team, but for now, he comes off the bench for the surprising 14-2 Terps.

“I think his foot is fine. No pain there. I think he’s still getting his shape. Getting his rhythm down is where we really are. It gets a little bit better every game. I think he’s played well. I thought he really helped us in the Michigan State game,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon told Roman Stubb of The Washington Post.

Smotrycz scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds in Maryland’s surprise double-overtime win over Michigan State in East Lansing on Dec. 30.

8. Duje Dukan, F, Wisconsin

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Wisconsin has the benefit of experience, and no one is more experienced under Bo Ryan than fifth-year senior Duje Dukan.

He had breakout games against Oklahoma (13 points, six rebounds) and Northwestern (14 points, four rebounds) for the 15-1 Badgers.

"He's playing with a lot of confidence because he feels he can contribute, and he is contributing," Ryan told Jesse Temple of Fox Sports Wisconsin. "Each time he does something positive, he can't wait to do something to add to that. And he doesn't get down if things do not go well."

The Badgers look to be like a Final Four team, and they will need a deep bench to help take some pressure off Sam Dekker and Player of the Year candidate Frank Kaminsky.

"It's a great feeling," Dukan said, via Temple. "Obviously coming such a long way where I'm battling for minutes, trying to get six or seven minutes out of a game and having coach trust me to be out there for 33, it's a huge confidence booster moving forward now that he can count on me. I look forward to what's to come."

7. Matt Thomas, G, Iowa State

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Matt Thomas’ modus operandi at Iowa State is three-pointers. Take his performance in the Cyclones' win against Oklahoma State, when he came off the bench to score 10 points while shooting 2-of-3 from three.

"It's a great luxury to have a guy like Matt Thomas who can step up and carry the team for awhile," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg told Tommy Birch of The Des Moines Register following the win against Oklahoma State. "I thought those two threes he hit before half were a huge momentum lift for us."

The 6’4” sophomore averages 6.4 points and 2.7 rebounds a game for the Cyclones.

6. Jevon Carter, G, West Virginia

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Jevon Carter is a 6’2” freshman who provides a spark off the bench that coach Bob Huggins loves to see.

Matt Hauswirth of West Virginia Illustrated wrote:

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Huggins noted during his preseason press conferences that Carter was a player that stood out to him on the AAU circuit simply because of his defensive awareness. He seemed to always have a hand in the passing lanes, tipping balls left and right, while creating turnovers in the process.

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Carter is averaging 8.1 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Against VMI, he scored a career-high 28 points in the 103-72 win on Nov. 26.

5. Cliff Alexander, F, Kansas

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You’ve heard of a bull in a china shop. Kansas freshman Cliff Alexander is Pamplona in a china shop.

Alexander has an NBA body with 240 pounds hanging off that 6’8” frame. This freshman averages just eight points per game, but when he gets in, the McDonald's All-American and likely NBA lottery pick can dominate.

“Some guys it takes a little bit longer and they learn through repetition,” Kansas coach Bill Self told Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star back in early December. “They learn through being visual … Cliff is one of those guys that’s going to learn through repetition. Once he gets enough reps, he’s going to be fabulous.”

He scored 12 points and pulled down 10 boards off the bench against a defensively solid Florida team on Dec. 5, and registered 10 and five against UNLV on Jan. 4, with four of those boards on the offensive glass.

Alexander has the talent and drive to be a starter, and he earned his first career start in late December. But no matter when he comes into the game, he almost always finishes them. 

4. Tyler Ulis, G, Kentucky

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By virtue of the platoon system that Kentucky head coach John Calipari has deployed, it would be easy to dedicate five spots here solely to his squad's second line.

Instead, we point to the Wildcats’ 5’9” spark plug, freshman Tyler Ulis. He was a key—if not the key—in Kentucky’s big win over then-unbeaten Louisville on Dec. 27.

Following the game, NBC Sports' Rob Dauster sang Ulis' praises:

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The point guard looked anything but a freshman, finishing 14 points and two assists without a turnover against Louisville intense pressure. He also hit a trio of huge jumpers as Kentucky pulled away in the second half. All that happened despite the fact that an elbow early in the first half gave him a cut on the corner of his eye that didn’t stop bleeding the entire game.

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Ulis’ strength lies in his ability to distribute the ball, as he's averaging 4.0 assists per game off the bench. He’s expected to either keep the momentum of the first line going or ignite it if they fail.

3. V.J. Beachem, F, Notre Dame

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With high-scoring players like Pat Connaughton, Demetrius Jackson and Jerian Grant entrenched in its lineup, it's a huge luxury for Notre Dame to bring a player like V.J. Beachem off the bench.

Beachem, who's averaging 7.6 points on 55.8 percent shooting in 15.1 minutes per game this year, went for 19 against Coppin State on Nov. 19. Following that game, Tom Nole of ND Insider wrote: "Working in the sixth-man role he cemented during a productive foreign tour of Italy in August, Beachem connected on 7-of-9 shots in 18 minutes. Almost all of those came without hesitation, something that would stifle some of his scoring opportunities last season."

In Notre Dame’s huge one-point win at No. 18 North Carolina on Jan. 5, Beachem scored nine points in 17 minutes on 3-of-4 shooting from three.

2. Josh Hart, G, Villanova

Laurence Kesterson/Associated Press

Josh Hart has the numbers of a starter but does his work off the bench.

This season, Hart is averaging 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in 27.5 minutes per game. He put up 21 and 20 in back-to-back games against Syracuse and Temple earlier this year. That kind of production off the bench gives Villanova a fresh scorer who can wear down defenders.

Before the season started, Stephen Curley of iSportsWeb.com dubbed him Villanova's player to watch:

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He is an athletic guard that has the ability to score in multiple ways. He can drive to the basket and has an above average jump shot from the perimeter. He can also rebound exceptionally well for a guard. Hart does not only have success on the offensive side, he is a shut down defender as well. 

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Most bench players produce half the numbers Hart provides, making him one of the nation's best reserves.

1. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, F, Arizona

How’s this for a bench player? Having a reserve who can dunk over a 7’6” behemoth swells a team with confidence. One can only assume Arizona coach Sean Miller likes the sight of that.

Before the season, Evan Rosenfeld of The Daily Wildcat prophetically wrote, “While Hollis-Jefferson is versatile and provides elite defense and versatility, similarly to last year, the team may find him to be a more valuable asset coming off the bench and providing the squad with that extra burst of energy and pizazz when it most needs it.”

Hollis-Jefferson, who's averaging averaging 11.5 points per game and 6.6 rebounds this season, already has 10 double-digit scoring games under his belt. One of his worst games came against one of the nation's best teams, then-No. 9 Gonzaga, in a 66-63 win in overtime. Hollis-Jefferson scored just eight points in 37 minutes on 2-of-5 shooting.

The sensational sophomore, despite being the sixth man, is one of the key cogs for the Wildcats, and he'll be a major part of the Wildcats' postseason.