The Top 10 Playmakers in College Basketball in 2014-15

Playmakers, how do you define them?

Playmakers aren’t always game changers, but when you need a stop, a big bucket, an exclamation point over period, coaches put the rock in the hands of playmakers.

These guys stuff a sock in the mouths of raucous fans while on the road and also manage to get the 54-year-old season ticket holder to leap up to his feet. Playmakers can power the grid with one emphatic dunk or a deftly drained three-pointer.

Playmakers sometimes get lava-hot and can almost single handedly win a national championship. Look no farther than last year when Shabaaz Napier carried Connecticut to the final.

While there are playmakers on every team, it’s becomes a matter of degree and recognition. For the purposes of this list, we’re staying within the cushy boundaries of the Top 25.

Read on to see some of the game’s most clutch playmakers.

Stats are current as of Feb. 19. 

10. Juwan Staten,

Alonzo Adams/Associated Press

Juwan Staten just ripped off 20 points in a huge 62-61 win over No. 8 Kansas Monday night. It was all Staten who, in pure Staten fashion, “Threw Hell to the wind.”

Of course the ball was in Staten’s hands at the end of regulation draining a layup that gave West Virginia its signature win of the season.

“That is exactly how we drew it up," Staten said in an Associated Press story (h/t ESPN.com). "When I spinned, I'd seen nothing in the lane. I laid the ball up. It was a good call by coach."

Staten has averaged 14.5 points and 4.6 assists per game this season including that 20 against Kansas and 18 against No. 17 Iowa State.

Staten has been rewarded for his efforts this year by being named a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award for the nation’s best point guard.

9. Delon Wright, Utah

Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

Utah’s Delon Wright may not be a physically dominant playmaker, but it’s his awareness that allows him to pick through defenses and make plays.

While shooting 52 percent from the field, Wright averages 14.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman wrote:

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Offensively, though not overly quick or explosive, he makes up for his average athleticism with height, body control and instincts. Wright isn't a blow-by playmaker, but his ability to change speed and direction allows him to get to his spots on the floor, where he can make plays over the top of the defense. 

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As a senior who takes control of the rock, Wright is makes it all happen for Utah.

8 J.P. Tokoto, North Carolina

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

JP Tokoto isn’t the best player on his team. He’s not even the second best player, but he is their biggest playmaker. A great example was his reverse dunk against the Blue Devils on Feb. 18.

His team lost, but plays of that nature make Cameron Crazies stop waggling their fingers. Tokoto’s size and speed make him a tough defender as well. Also for a forward of his size he's especially strong at distributing the ball with 4.2 assists per game.

It’s that incredibly flat and inaccurate jump shot that keeps him from being a go-to scorer. Against Duke, Tokoto had a chance to drive baseline for a dunk or a contested layup, but instead opted for one of the more tentative jumpers of the night.

It missed.

He’s only averaging 8.8 points per game and shooting just 41 percent from the field and 35 percent from three. But he still manages to make big plays, electric plays, which makes him dangerous at individual moments in a game, not for 40 minutes.

7. Georges Niang, Iowa State

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Georges Niang, Iowa State’s 6’8” junior forward, has earned the nickname “The Closer.”

Those 13 words should be enough, but let’s elaborate. He’s scoring 14.5 points per game and 3.4 assists per game. Niang delivered a critical knockout punch against No. 22 Oklahoma State.

"He just went out and made an unbelievable individual basketball play," Hoiberg said in the Des Moines Register. "And that's what you have to have late in games, a guy that can help you close it out. He did that. Obviously you need to put the ball in the hands of a guy who can get you a basket.”

Niang, too, embraces that role.

“I take pride in doing that, and I'm just glad that my teammates trust me enough to put me in that position," Niang said in the Des Moines Register.

Niang has proven that he can take shots late and hit them, but also miss them, as he did against Baylor in January. He bounces back, his memory short, that's a closer.

6. Montrezl Harrell, Louisville

Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell is one of those rare frontcourt-playmakers. More often than not, a team’s playmaker is the one who handles the ball, drives, dishes, scores.

That above video just about proves Harrell's playmaking ability, definitely the best playmaking big man in the game.

Harrell is the type of forward whose supersonic dunks and brute-force aggression on the low block set the tone for his team. He’s his own breed of beast mode proving that he can shrug off a triple team and still bank the ball in the hoop.

Grantland’s Michael Bauman wrote:

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So Harrell’s huge, but not unprecedentedly so. It’s the way he moves, though, that makes him special. Harrell is one of the best and most persistent dunkers in college basketball without being tremendously aggressive or springy about it; he lifts his arms and ascends toward the basketball, and when he does so you come to appreciate the physics of the game, the sheer force required to lift something that big that high into the air. It’s like watching a space shuttle lift off.

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Sure, Harrell was removed as the team’s captain back on Jan. 21 for no known reason, but his tornado-like fury near the basket is enough to lead his team.

5. Nic Moore, SMU

Jim Cowsert/Associated Press

SMU’s Nic Moore, all 5’9” of him, comes pre-packaged with the ability to make plays for the Mustangs.

He averages nearly 15 points per game has over five assists per game as well. With the ball his hands he accounts for about a third of SMU’s offense.

His scoring output can, at times, be a bit erratic. Most times when he scores well below his average in points, his assists make up for it. Against Central Florida he scored just eight points but made up for that with a season-high 10 assists.

Take what EJ Holland of The Dallas Morning News had to say about Moore after SMU’s recent win over Temple:

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Trailing 39-32, Moore knocked down a key jump shot and notched a steal just seconds later to pull SMU within three. Moore gave SMU its first lead of the game with 8:35 remaining when he knocked down his second three-pointer of the half. The junior continued to make big plays and led the Ponies with 18 points and four assists.

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That’s a playmaker.

4. Stanley Johnson, Arizona

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Stanley Johnson, the standout Arizona freshman, is the type of playmaker who makes it happen on both ends of the floor.

Rare is the game he goes without several steals. He’s one of the most obdurate forces on the defensive end. He had five steals in his team’s three-point loss to Arizona State, a game where Johnson also had 16 points.

Bleacher Report’s Daniel O’Brien wrote:

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Once he gets to the Association, fans will be treated to a multidimensional performer. Johnson will likely serve as the third scoring option in his lineup, but he will influence every facet of the offense and be indispensable. Meanwhile, his defense will stymie the opposing squad's top scorer.

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Johnson is a lottery pick, for sure, but while he’s here in the college sphere, he has proven to be as dynamic a playmaker as there is the game.

3. D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

Ohio State freshman D’Angelo Russell makes things happen for the Buckeyes. He’s like a supersized Moore.

Russell is 6’5”, can score and distribute the ball. He has scored 30 points on two occasions this year and has earned two double-doubles in points and assists. As if that wasn’t enough, he has tallied as many as 14 rebounds in a game two different times.

Even when he doesn’t quite have the touch, as he did against Penn State in a 75-55 win, Ohio State coach Thad Matta said on ElevenWarriors.com, “"I think that’s the sign of a great basketball player," he said. "He had a little bit of an off night, but still did so many things well in terms of helping us win the basketball game."

Looking at Russell’s game log, it’s amazing he hasn’t garnered more attention as one of the country’s premier talents, let alone a freshman talent. He has scored over 20 points 11 times while also managing to get the ball into his teammates hands.

Ohio State needs Russell to be on top of his game if its plans on advancing into the Sweet 16. With wins against No. 23 Indiana and No. 16 Maryland, there’s no reason to think the Buckeyes can’t get there on there.

2. Jerian Grant, Notre Dame

Joe Raymond/Associated Press

Notre Dame’s success this season can point to many things, but foremost on that list must be Jerian Grant.

On top of his athleticism, Grant is also an efficient scorer. His two-point scoring percentage is .623, fourth on the list behind Jahlil Okafor, Montrezl Harrell and Sam Dekker (Wright is fifth).

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman wrote, “Grant's playmaking, along with the wins he's helped the Irish rack up, has been the driving force behind his rise in stock… Between the threat he poses off the dribble and his vision, Grant has worked the pick-and-roll and drive-and-kick game like a pro.”

 The Irish have been one of the surprise teams in all of college basketball. Ever since Grant’s return to the lineup after being academically ineligible, the Irish have proven to be to a team that can compete and beat teams in the Top 25.

1. Tyus Jones, Duke

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Duke’s Tyus Jones is one of those rare talents that grows stronger in the spotlight. On three separate occasions against highly ranked teams, Jones was the best player on the floor.

Early in the season against then-No. 2 Wisconsin—Duke’s and Jones’ first real test of the year—Jones went for 22 points. Against No. 2 Virginia, Jones drained a big three late in the game and scored 17 while handing Virginia its only loss so far this season.

Then in the instant classic that was Duke v. North Carolina Round 88, Jones put his team on his back scoring nine straight points slashing to the hoop again and again. He scored 22 and had eight dimes.

"It's not like we drew up anything," Mike Krzyzewski said in an Associated Press story (h/t ESPN.com). "When they came back, that was on them. We just said, 'Play, man. Follow your instincts and play.' And they did."

Because of Jahlil Okafor’s presence in the paint, Jones is able to get free and beat defenders. Jones is also a master distributor making plays for other players on the floor.

If Duke reaches the Final Four and beyond, much of that will have to do with Jones’ amazing playmaking for him and others.