The Best Players on Bad College Basketball Teams in the 2014-15 Season

The solar system has stars all over, not just in the power-conference galaxies. Sometimes, you have to look a little farther out into the college basketball universe to find some extra bright ones.

With more than 350 teams in Division I, the spotlight can't always make it out to the far reaches, where some great players are toiling in relative anonymity. In many cases, this is because their teams aren't particularly good.

For the purposes of this article, a "bad" team is one that is currently below .500 overall and is not looking like a true contender for their conference's regular-season title. These teams are also ranked below at least 140 other teams in CBS Sports' Jerry Palm's RPI rankings.

We've found some of the best players from bad teams in 2014-15, ones whose numbers suggest they're performing far above the level of their teams. Many are among the national leaders in various statistical categories, or lead their teams in two more more stats.

While their teams aren't good, they are. This is a chance to give them some publicity for the work they've done despite it not always leading to victories.

Kahlil Felder, Oakland

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Year: Sophomore

Position: Guard

2014-15 numbers: 17.2 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 6.9 APG, 2.1 SPG

Best game vs. power-conference opponent: 23 points, four rebounds, 10 assists in 93-82 loss at Iowa State

Oakland (5-12) looks headed toward its third straight losing season, but that hasn't gotten in the way of Kahlil Felder bursting onto the scene this year.

The 5'9", 176-pound sophomore has nearly doubled his scoring from last season, and he is also the team's primary distributor. His assist average ranks seventh in Division I, though his 80 turnovers show how many plays he has to force for the Golden Grizzlies.

Felder has had plenty of opportunities to show off against power teams this year, and while Oakland is 0-6 in those games, Felder averaged 18.8 points and seven assists in them.

Kendall Gray, Delaware State

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Year: Senior

Position: Center

2014-15 numbers: 11.9 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 3.0 BPG

Best game vs. power-conference opponent: 14 points, 16 rebounds, eight blocks in 72-65 win at Wake Forest

The MEAC is one of the lowest-rated conferences in the country. It is currently ranked 32nd out of 33 Division I leagues by CBS Sports' Jerry Palm. It's a one-bid league every year, and has only produced a few NCAA tournament upsets.

If Delaware State (7-9) can somehow get through the field to earn that bid—the Hornets' lone appearance came in 2005—then one of the nation's most underrated big men could throw a monkey wrench into a power team's championship plans.

Kendall Gray has been a contributor since his freshman year, but in his senior season, he's become far more of a force in the interior. In addition to shooting 56.2 percent from the field and posting 11.9 points per game—both second on the team—the 6'10", 240-pound Gray has seen his rebounding and block numbers rise immensely. After Monday's 14-point, 18-rebound effort in a 79-76 win Monday at Howard, he ranks third nationally in rebounding and tied for 16th in total blocked shots.

Gray missed DSU's game at Oregon, but his monster performance was a big part of a win at Wake Forest.

Desharick Guidry, McNeese State

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Year: Senior

Position: Forward

2014-15 numbers: 17.4 PPG, 11.7 RPG

Best game vs. power conference opponent: 20 points, five rebounds in 66-47 win at Mississippi State

Already 0-3 in the lowly Southland Conference, McNeese State (6-8) doesn't figure to make its first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament. That's a shame, because Desharick Guidry has toiled hard for four seasons for the Cowboys without any payoff.

The 6'5", 200-pound senior is one of a handful of players in Division I who averages a double-double, but most aren't playing way out of position like he is. Guidry is regularly defending or being defended by much taller opponents, yet he's recorded 11 double-doubles in 14 games.

Ironically, he wasn't needed much on the boards in McNeese State's biggest win this season, when it won by 19 at Mississippi State. He made nine of his 15 field-goal attempts and was 2-of-3 from three-point range on that day.

Janari Joesaar, Texas-Pan American

USA TODAY Sports

Year: Sophomore

Position: Forward

2014-15 numbers: 18.8 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 39.8 3P%

Best game vs. power-conference opponent: 26 points, six rebounds, five assists in 75-69 loss at Saint Louis

As one of the many random teams that ended up in the scrapped-together Western Athletic Conference, Texas-Pan American (7-10) has had to search all over to fill out its roster as a fledgling Division I program. That includes players from Denmark, Nigeria and Rwanda, as well as Estonia…by way of Ole Miss.

Janari Joesaar only saw action in 12 games last season for the Rebels, averaging 2.3 points and 1.5 minutes in just over four minutes per game. He decided a change of scenery was needed, and that has paid off for him and the Broncs.

The 6'6", 208-pound swingman has nine 20-point games this year, including a 29-point effort against Lamar in which he scored more points than he did during his entire freshman season. Joesaar, who played his high school ball in Kansas, is also a member of the Estonian national team.

Damion Lee, Drexel

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Year: Junior

Position: Guard

2014-15 numbers: 20.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.7 SPG, 38.8 3P%

Best game vs. power-conference opponent: 32 points, six rebounds in 72-70 loss vs. USC (in Puerto Rico)

Drexel (3-12) hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 1996, and with losses this year that include one to Division II University of the Sciences, that drought isn't going to end anytime soon. But Damion Lee isn't playing like someone on a losing team.

Instead, he's just glad to be back on the court after missing most of last season.

Lee suffered a knee injury in the Dragons' fifth game in 2013-14, but despite the time away, he's playing the best ball of his career. His scoring average ranks eighth in Division I, and the 6'6" guard is scoring from all over the court.

Though it ended in defeat, Lee's 32-point effort at USC was a display in scoring diversity. He was 10-of-16 from the field, making eight of his 11 three-point attempts and all four of his free throws.

Chavaughn Lewis, Marist

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Year: Senior

Position: Forward

2014-15 numbers: 19.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.1 APG, 2.2 SPG

Best game vs. power-conference opponent: 28 points in 79-61 loss at Boston College

It's been a tumultuous past few seasons for Marist, a MAAC program that hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 1987 and is on its third coach in as many years. The upheaval has impacted the overall on-court performance, as the Red Foxes (1-15) have already lost six conference games and are on an 11-game losing streak, but Chavaughn Lewis keeps on playing through it.

The 6'5" wing is in the top 30 nationally in scoring, and at 1,772 career points, he's third on the school's all-time scoring list. With at least 14 games remaining, his scoring average puts him on pace to challenge Steve Smith's school career mark of 2,077 points while passing Rik Smits (1,945) along the way.

Lewis played only three minutes during a four-game span because of an ankle injury in early December, but he's averaged 20.7 points per game since coming back to full strength.

Evan Payne, Loyola Marymount

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Year: Sophomore

Position: Guard

2014-15 numbers: 20.0 PPG, 47.5 FG%, 35.7 3P%

Best game vs. power-conference opponent: 24 points in 72-69 win vs. DePaul (in Honolulu)

It's been a long time since the days of Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble and Paul Westhead's run-and-gun offense at Loyola Marymount. Nowadays, the Lions (4-13) are regularly near the bottom of the West Coast Conference, and they're already 0-5 in league play this season. If there's a turnaround in sight, it will be on the back of sophomore guard Evan Payne.

The 6'1" Payne came to LMU from the Cleveland area, and after averaging 15.5 points per game as a freshman, he's upped those numbers despite playing fewer minutes. He missed the Lions' last game Saturday against BYU because of a "coach's decision," which affected their performance in the 85-72 defeat.

Payne has averaged 25 points in LMU's victories, including its lone win in three contests in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii against Big East co-leader DePaul.

Shevon Thompson, George Mason

Ricardo Arduengo/Associated Press

Year: Junior

Position: Center

2014-15 numbers: 12.9 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 53.8 FG%

Best game vs. power-conference opponent: 21 points, 19 rebounds in 69-58 loss vs. New Mexico (in Puerto Rico)

It's only been nine years since George Mason made its magical run to the Final Four under coach Jim Larranaga, but the Patriots (6-9) have fallen on hard times over the last few seasons. Shevon Thompson could be the key to a resurgence, though, since he's only 15 games into his career at George Mason and already producing at a high level.

The 6'11", 232-pound Jamaica-born center is fifth in the country in rebounding and has seven double-doubles. The big man has been impressive on both ends of the court and has managed to avoid the kind of foul trouble that typically plagues centers.

Thompson was a junior college standout at Harcum College in Pennsylvania in 2013-14, and he's translated that success to the Division I level.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.