The Most Important Players for Top College Basketball Teams in 2016-17
There's always one player who stands out from the rest of the pack. As much as college basketball coaches try to assemble a balanced lineup, one that's not overly reliant on a single player, most of the time someone emerges from the pack.
It's not always a team's best player, its most explosive or its most clutch. Instead, it's the one that is most important, whose play—good or bad—dictates what direction the team heads that season.
Michael Gbinije wasn't Syracuse's best player in 2015-16, but it's unlikely the Orange would have made their Final Four run without his play down the stretch.
Who is Syracuse's most important player this coming season? We've got one picked, as well as ones for 19 other of the top programs in college basketball. The teams listed aren't necessarily the 20 best in the country, but they are among the ones that tend to draw the most attention each season.
Arizona: Allonzo Trier
1 of 20
Year: Sophomore
Position: Guard
Height, weight: 6'5”, 199 lbs
Arizona might have the most impressive backcourt in the country this year thanks to some new additions, and that's even if 5-star guard Terrance Ferguson ends up playing overseas as 247Sports' Jerry Meyer reported earlier this week. Yet it will be a returning guard who holds the Wildcats' 2016-17 in his hands, including the one that was broken midway through last season.
Allonzo Trier broke a bone in his right (shooting) hand during the first of four overtimes in a January loss at USC, causing him to miss the next seven games. Arizona went 5-2 without him but missed his presence and aggressiveness on the perimeter, and when he returned, Trier's shooting just wasn't the same.
Trier, who shot 46.6 percent during the season, was only 40.3 percent from the field in his final 11 games. He was just 4-of-12 with four turnovers in Arizona's first-round NCAA tournament loss to Wichita State.
Baylor: Johnathan Motley
2 of 20
Year: Junior
Position: Forward
Height, weight: 6'9”, 230 lbs
Johnathan Motley masterfully handled his move from full-time starter in 2014-15 to sixth man last season, and then when Baylor coach Scott Drew put him back into the lineup in February, he responded with the best game of his career. Motley had 27 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in an overtime win over Iowa State, a performance that led to seven more starts in the Bears' next games.
There won't be any wavering about his role this coming season, though. Motley is entering his fourth year with the program, having redshirted in 2013-14, and he has the most experience of any returning player. He's also the only returning frontcourt player who logged any serious minutes and the guy who has to make the loss of Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince easier to handle.
Connecticut: Jalen Adams
3 of 20
Year: Sophomore
Position: Guard
Height, weight: 6'3”, 187 lbs
Even with center Amida Brimah and guard Rodney Purvis withdrawing from the NBA draft and returning to Connecticut, the Huskies' hopes in 2016-17 fall in Jalen Adams' hands.
Guard play is what has led UConn to its biggest seasons in recent memory—remember the heroics of Kemba Walker in 2011 and Shabazz Napier in 2014?—and it's what has led to disappointing performances in other seasons. Last year's leader was wing Daniel Hamilton, who shot 38.7 percent from the field and turned it over more than 15 percent of the time when the ball was in his hands.
Adams was worse in that respect, with an 18.2 percent turnover rate, and not much better shooting the ball. It wasn't the kind of freshman year the Huskies expected from the fifth-best point guard prospect in the 2015 recruiting class.
UConn signed another point guard this class, Alterique Gilbert, and that could allow Adams to play off the ball in a three-guard lineup with Purvis. For that to work, Adams will need to develop a better outside jump shot after making just 12 of his 44 three-pointers.
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Duke: Harry Giles
4 of 20
Year: Freshman
Position: Forward
Height, weight: 6'11”, 222 lbs
Duke's incoming freshman class is so loaded that at least four of the newcomers would potentially be the best player on their team if they'd all gone different places. Each is important in their own way to what the Blue Devils want to do in 2016-17, but none more so than Harry Giles.
Giles is the guy who, assuming he is healthy after missing almost all of last season with a torn ACL, will give Duke a legitimate post presence that it sorely lacked most of last year. After Amile Jefferson injured his foot in December, Brandon Ingram was forced to play the 4 and did all he could to match up with bigger and stronger post players.
"It’s too early to say if Giles will be at full speed for the start of the season," Duke assistant coach Jon Scheyer told the News & Observer's Laura Keeley.
To this point, his workouts have been limited in order to allow his rehab to keep going.
Jefferson may end up being Duke's starter at the 4 at the outset, but eventually Giles will take over that spot. And teamed with freshman center Marques Bolden, Duke is primed to have its best paint duo in years.
Gonzaga: Nigel Williams-Goss
5 of 20
Year: Junior
Position: Guard
Height, weight: 6'3”, 185 lbs
Gonzaga's most important player for 2016-17 didn't play for it last season, but he was at each and every game soaking it in. Steeled by the experience of watching the Bulldogs rally late to win the West Coast Conference tournament and make a Sweet 16 run, Nigel Williams-Goss is ready to be a part of another push, but on the court instead of the bench.
Williams-Goss had to sit out last season after transferring from Washington, where in two seasons he averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game as the team leader in both categories as a sophomore. He's one of at least two transfers who will be part of Gonzaga's rotation, along with former Missouri forward Johnathan Williams III and California grad transfer guard Jordan Mathews, who the team is also in the mix for, per ESPN's Jeff Goodman.
It's Williams-Goss who figures to hold everything together, providing both scoring and ball-handling to a team that loses its top three scorers and had a freshman (Josh Perkins) play the point last season. Perkins improved as the year went on but will benefit greatly from having Williams-Goss at his side, as will the Bulldogs in their push for an 19th consecutive NCAA tourney appearance.
Indiana: Thomas Bryant
6 of 20
Year: Sophomore
Position: Center
Height, weight: 6'10”, 241 lbs
Indiana scored a major win earlier this spring when Thomas Bryant passed on even considering the NBA draft, thus ensuring the Hoosiers have an established defensive standout again in the paint. But for them to repeat as Big Ten champions and make it back to the Sweet 16, Bryant must become an offensive force as well.
Bryant made 70.7 percent of his two-pointers last season, fifth-best in the country, but he took only 6.6 shots per game. With Yogi Ferrell graduating and Troy Williams declaring for the draft, there will be a lot more touches available, if Bryant wants them.
“He’ll be a real leader on this team,” Indiana coach Tom Crean told the Indianapolis Star's Zach Osterman. “He’s got all the qualities to be a real leader on this team, because he’s got a tremendous personality.”
Bryant averaged 11.9 points and 5.8 rebounds, his averages at 14.7 and 5.0 in the NCAA tournament on 15-of-23 shooting. Take away his three ill-advised three-point attempts (he was 5-of-15 for the year) and he shot 80 percent in the postseason.
Iowa State: Monte Morris
7 of 20
Year: Senior
Position: Guard
Height, weight: 6'3”, 175 lbs
Iowa State isn't lacking for guards in 2016-17, with Monte Morris, Nazareth Mitrou-Long, Deonte Burton and Matt Thomas all returning while a couple transfers join the backcourt. The Cyclones aren't nearly as deep up front, and that will be a major question mark for them heading into the season.
However, it's still Morris who drives ISU and who will be tasked with bringing everyone together. One of the most careful ball-handlers in college basketball, he's got a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.48 that would obliterate the existing Division I record of 3.01. And it's not like he's done this off limited touches, having recorded 5.2 assists per game over three seasons.
Morris has improved his scoring every year, up to 13.8 per game as a junior, though he didn't need to produce that way with Georges Niang and others to dish to. This season could be when he becomes more of a scorer, like when he had 24 in wins each of the past two seasons against Texas.
Kansas: Frank Mason III
8 of 20
Year: Senior
Position: Guard
Height, weight: 5'11”, 185 lbs
Josh Jackson is the star freshman, the wing who will conjure up memories of Andrew Wiggins and make Kansas fans deal with the end of Perry Ellis' 20-year (not really) college career. LaGerald Vick and Carlton Bragg are the potential breakouts, sophomores who didn't get much of a chance in their first season.
And holding it all together are the Jayhawks' dual point guards, Frank Mason III and junior Devonte' Graham. That duo combined for 24.2 points and 8.3 assists last season, getting Kansas to the Elite Eight after a 12th consecutive conference regular-season title.
Those guards might seem interchangeable, and thus cancel each other out in terms of importance, but the savvy Kansas fan knows Mason is the one who matters more. It's Mason who is doing the bulk of the ball-handling in late-game situations, evidenced by his team-high 183 foul shots in 2015-16 (compared to 90 for Graham in roughly the same number of minutes).
Kentucky: Bam Adebayo
9 of 20
Year: Freshman
Position: Forward
Height, weight: 6'9”, 225 lbs
Kentucky essentially fields a new team each season thanks to head coach John Calipari's fondness for one-and-done players. That means the next crop coming in are plugging in holes left by the previous group, and his recruiting aims to get the same type of player year after year.
In theory, that is. Based on their prep rankings, Bam Adebayo is the next Skal Labissiere, but in order for the Wildcats to avoid another disappointing season, he'll need to be a much better player than Labissiere turned out to be.
The backcourt was explosive and efficient with Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe last season, that wasn't the problem. Kentucky's issue was not having anyone to rely on up front on a nightly basis, which is what Labissiere was supposed to be. Instead, he turned out to be underdeveloped and unable to handle the physical nature of the game, resulting in Kentucky getting out-rebounded in seven of its nine losses.
Adebayo is expected to fix that, using a more refined and sculpted frame that is better-suited to handle being on the block. He's also quite capable on the offensive end, willing to bang around and go to the rim instead of settling for jumpers, which was Labissiere's preference.
Louisville: Mangok Mathiang
10 of 20
Year: Senior
Position: Center
Height, weight: 6'10”, 220 lbs
A foot injury limited Mangok Mathiang to a mere 10 games last season, though Louisville had Chinanu Onuaku locked in as the starting center, and Mathiang's absence had a minimal impact. Not so much in 2016-17, with Onuaku entering the NBA draft and Mathiang in line to take over his job.
But in order for that to happen, the fifth-year player has to get—and stay—healthy. He had surgery in December to repair a fractured metatarsal, returning to the court for light workouts in February, but re-aggravated the injury this spring. Last week, coach Rick Pitino announced Mathiang was being shut down for six weeks while scare tissue is cleaned up.
Mathiang is expected to be back in time for workouts beginning in July, but it remains to be seen how the long time away from full-speed action will affect his play. He was averaging 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game before the injury, going for 17 points and 13 rebounds in a start against Saint Louis.
Maryland: Melo Trimble
11 of 20
Year: Junior
Position: Guard
Height, weight: 6'3”, 190 lbs
Really, who else could Maryland's most important player be? If it's not Melo Trimble, it would have to be someone else who scored more than 194 points last season.
Oh wait, there isn't anybody else. The Terrapins' second-through-fifth leading scorers all graduated (Jake Layman, Rasheed Sulaimon) or declared for the draft (Robert Carter, Diamond Stone), and Trimble could have easily taken that latter route. Instead, he withdrew from the NBA draft at the last minute and thus has Maryland's entire 2016-17 hopes resting in his hands.
It won't be an easy task, especially coming off an uneven year in which he shot only 41 percent overall and 31.4 percent from three-point range (down from 44.4 and 41.2 as a freshman) while turning it over 96 times. Trimble either held onto the ball too long or got rid of it too soon last season, something he'll need to fix if the Terrapins have any shot of being an NCAA tournament team.
Michigan State: Miles Bridges
12 of 20
Year: Freshman
Position: Forward
Height, weight: 6'8”, 230 lbs
Michigan State is dealing with massive turnover this offseason, losing three players to graduation, two to transfer and one to the NBA draft. What remains isn't much in terms of experience with the Spartans, which puts an added emphasis on the contributions of newcomers.
Enter one of MSU's best recruiting classes ever, a group that would have ranked higher than fourth had Josh Jackson picked East Lansing instead of Kansas, but it is still quite strong. Two or three of those freshmen could start, though only Miles Bridges is a lock since his position on the wing will pull the team together.
The No. 12 prospect from the 2016 class, Bridges might be coach Tom Izzo's most athletic player ever. He's big enough to play in the post, but at the 3 position, he'll give defenders fits. And as he becomes more comfortable with the system, so much will run through him.
North Carolina: Joel Berry II
13 of 20
Year: Junior
Position: Guard
Height, weight: 6'0”, 195 lbs
There are some strong similarities between the freshman-to-sophomore booms that North Carolina got recently from both Marcus Paige and Joel Berry II. The Tar Heels are just hoping Berry is able to avoid the same fate as Paige, who could never match that production again and thus regressed over his final two seasons.
Berry averaged 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists last season, more than tripling his scoring and increasing his assist number by 126 percent. Going from 13.2 to 30.7 minutes per game helped, but so too did improved confidence in his shot and a willingness to take the game in his own hands.
Much of that came as a result of starting in place of Paige when Paige missed the first six games of 2015-16 with a hand injury. When Paige returned, Berry stayed in that point guard spot and allowed Paige to play off the ball. The result was UNC's first ACC regular-season title since 2012, its first tourney crown since 2008 and its first Final Four since 2009.
With Paige graduating, the Tar Heels may look to Berry to be more like Paige was two years ago as a scorer and ball-handler. If he can continue to progress, then another Final Four is very possible.
Oregon: Dillon Brooks
14 of 20
Year: Junior
Position: Forward
Height, weight: 6'7”, 215 lbs
Oregon hit the NBA draft jackpot by getting back all three potential departees in Dillon Brooks, Chris Boucher and Tyler Dorsey. The Ducks could have gotten by if Boucher, Dorsey or both had opted to turn pro, but Brooks was the one they had to get back in order to effectively defend their Pac-12 titles.
One of only eight non-seniors in the country to average 16 points, five rebounds and three assists in 2015-16, per Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller, Brooks impacts the game in every way. If he can't get it going, the Ducks need at least two other players to step up while Brooks has the ability to fill in for anyone else.
"The Ducks are a collection of interchangeable parts, with Brooks being the chief cog," Bleacher Report's Jake Curtis wrote.
Purdue: Vince Edwards
15 of 20
Year: Junior
Position: Forward
Height, weight: 6'7”, 220 lbs
Purdue's inability to settle on a reliable point guard last season meant the ball was seemingly being brought up the court by a different player each possession. Five players averaged at least two assists per game, but none managed more than three, the closest being Vince Edwards at 2.9 per game.
And that was on top of being the Boilermakers' most prolific three-point shooter, one of their best free-throw shooters and a solid rebounder.
Edwards' decision to back out of the NBA draft means Purdue gets that glue guy again in 2016-17 while also keeping intact a strong front line along with Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan. He might have to play the 4 a little more than a year ago, but he's also as likely to be on the perimeter either as a shooter or facilitator.
Syracuse: Tyler Lydon
16 of 20
Year: Sophomore
Position: Forward
Height, weight: 6'9”, 205 lbs
Unless you're playing under the basket, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim expects you to be able to make perimeter shots. He'd also like you to be able to grab the missed ones, but for a team that plays exclusively in the zone on defense, his 2015-16 team wasn't very good at rebounding.
Tyler Lydon was that rare player who excelled in both areas. A 40.5 percent three-point shooter, Lydon averaged 6.3 rebounds with his 10.1 points per game, leading the team with 166 defensive rebounds.
With Malachi Richardson moving to the NBA after one season, Lydon becomes even more important for the Orange. He'll take Richardson's starting spot and, depending on the situation, will either be crashing the boards or launching from deep.
UCLA: Lonzo Ball
17 of 20
Year: Freshman
Position: Guard
Height, weight: 6'4”, 162 lbs
Who was UCLA's most important player last season when it went 15-17 and had one of its worst-ever records in Pac-12 play? Depends on who you asked, or what game it was, because sometimes it was Bryce Alford and other times it was Isaac Hamilton or Aaron Holiday.
But just as often, it was none of them, since that group couldn't manage to pool their talents in a way that would lead to success. Hence the poor overall effort, and why the Bruins' hopes for 2016-17 rests on how Lonzo Ball assimilates himself into the lineup.
Make no mistake, he's going to want to step in and be the man—but in a way that will make others look better instead of make them feel left out.
"Right now they don't really have that leader on the floor," Ball told Bleacher Report in March. "They have all the pieces you need, but at the end of the day they need that point guard, and I feel like I can fill that spot."
UCLA will need him to do that, and right away, to avoid another down year.
Villanova: Josh Hart
18 of 20
Year: Senior
Position: Guard
Height, weight: 6'6”, 204 lbs
Kris Jenkins made the shot that will go down in Villanova history. Josh Hart is the reason the Wildcats were in a position to win their national title, having been the most important piece of the puzzle all season.
Nothing about that changes for the title defense, as he remains the heart and soul of Jay Wright's team. The leading scorer, at 15.5 points per game, he was also second in rebounding at 6.8 per game, and his 12.8 percent rebound rate was better than Michigan State's Denzel Valentine.
Villanova needs its guards to clean up on the glass, and Hart responded with eight double-doubles. That's the same number as starting big man Daniel Ochefu had last season. And with Ochefu gone, it makes Hart even more integral to the Wildcats.
Virginia: London Perrantes
19 of 20
Year: Senior
Position: Guard
Height, weight: 6'2”, 189 lbs
Virginia adds one of the most impact transfers in the country in former Memphis forward Austin Nichols and brings in arguably its best recruiting class ever. Yet the straw that stirs the Cavaliers' drink is London Perrantes, a player who has shown steady improvement throughout his career but has to make another big leap as a senior.
A starter from the outset, Perrantes was almost exclusively a passer and facilitator as a freshman. He began to show a willingness to take shots during his sophomore year and kept that going last season, when his 280 attempts were the equivalent of more than 80 percent of his shots from the first two years.
With this increase in production came quite a lethal three-point stroke, hitting on 48.8 percent of his shots in 2015-16. All the while, Perrantes has averaged 4.2 assists per game and enters his final season with a stellar 2.96-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Wisconsin: Ethan Happ
20 of 20
Year: Sophomore
Position: Forward
Height, weight: 6'8”, 200 lbs
Wisconsin managed to get to the Sweet 16 despite woefully poor shooting numbers from leading scorers Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig. Ethan Happ's emergence as a redshirt freshman helped make up for that inefficiency, and if he can continue on a path similar to other Badgers who have been brought along slowly, a deep NCAA tournament run won't be a surprise this time around.
Happ wasn't needed the year before because Wisconsin had Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker. He's not a three-point shooter like those big men, but with a 53.8 overall shooting percentage, he knows where he's most effective. That would usually be near the basket, where Happ can also collect rebounds at a team-best rate of 17 percent.
With Hayes moving further and further from the paint as his career has progressed, that has opened the door for Happ to make his impact inside. The Badgers will be the favorite to win the Big Ten if they have strong play in the frontcourt, which starts with Happ.
All statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information from 247Sports, unless otherwise noted.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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