Ranking the Most Important Bench Players in College Basketball

Basketball teams cannot live on stars alone. You'll bloat up with hydrogen and burn yourself. No, instead you need a balanced diet. 

Everyone understands this to be true. Unless your best players can log 40 minutes game after game, you're going to need some depth. You're going to need guys who can come off the bench and chip in a few buckets, a clutch rebound or some sticky defense.

Some bench players even contribute more. In the case of these players, it's a lot more. These are the best players in the nation who don't consistently start for their teams. They are ranked based on individual statistics and overall team performance.

5. Brandon Parrish, Guard, TCU

Orlin Wagner/Associated Press

Brandon Parrish (left)

Key stats: 6.9 ppg, 45.7 percent 3FG shooting (leads team), 3.5 rpg 

Brandon Parrish plays a classic sixth-man role for the Horned Frogs. He comes off the bench; he hits shots. Instant offense. Vinnie Johnson incarnate.

TCU is 11-2 as conference play gets rolling, and that's due in large part to a deep rotation that sees nine players average 12 minutes per game or more. According to Mike Lopresti of NCAA.com, TCU's bench has outscored the other team's bench by a combined total of 440-195.

Parrish, whose three-point shooting percentage paces the team, is the leader of that bench mob. 

"Brandon gives us that sixth man off the bench, and it’s helping us a lot," TCU coach Jamie Dixon told the Associated Press (via the Washington Post) after a recent win over Bradley, in which Parrish hit three threes in succession. "He certainly broke it open."

4. Tony Bradley, Forward, North Carolina

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Key stats: 9.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 56.4 percent FG shooting 

It's pretty crowded in the Tar Heel front court, but that's not stopping freshman Tony Bradley from making an impression. 

Bradley will have his turn at the top if he stays in school, but with studs like Kennedy Meeks in front of him, he's got some waiting to do. But the 6'10" Floridian is still second on the team in rebounding and has an efficient offensive game. According to Daniel Wilco of NCAA.com:

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Of Power-5 players who haven’t attempted a 3-pointer and have played more than 30 minutes this season, Bradley has the seventh-highest points per minute (.5413) and rebounds per minute (.3667). He is one of just four players to be in the top 10 of both categories. The other three are UNC’s Meeks, Michigan State's Nick Ward, and Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ.

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3. Aaron Holiday, Guard, UCLA

Tim Bradbury/Getty Images

Key stats: 13.9 ppg, 4.6 apg, 51.5 percent FG shooting, 1.5 spg

Aaron Holiday may be the most prominent name on this list because of UCLA's torrid start and his own status as a former starter who took one for the team and accepted a reserve role.

It's working out pretty well so far. Holiday's points and assist averages are both up thus far over last season's averages. He's second on the team in helpers behind only Lonzo Ball and fifth in points per game.

"I didn’t look at it as disappointing," Holiday told Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Daily News. "I felt like I did all right last year, but I still have a lot to prove. I still need to get better. This is just part of that process."

A pretty mature point of view and one that is serving Bruins Nation pretty well right now.

2. Ja'Quan Newton, Guard, Miami

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Key stats: 15.3 ppg (leads team), 4.2 apg, 31.8 mpg, 1.3 spg

This situation is a bit of an outlier. After all, how can you be a true bench player when you're second on the team in minutes played per game?

It's not the only eye-popping stat for Ja'Quan Newton. He also leads the team in points per game by a full point and in points produced with 188 and assist percentage with 26.9, per Basketball-Reference.com. 

He's not perfect—take that 10-turnover game recently against Columbia for evidence. But to date the sophomore is showing up when he's needed most. He netted 21 points in an early game against ranked Iowa State (a loss) and again in a win over NC State that served as the ACC conference opener.

1. Zach LeDay, Forward, Virginia Tech

Michael Shroyer/Getty Images

Key stats: 16.5 ppg (leads team), 50 percent FG shooting, 7.5 rpg, 1.0 bpg

Zach LeDay comes off the bench and leads the team in scoring. You don't see that very often. He's also second on the team in rebounding. And there's no way the Virginia Tech Hokies upend Duke without their top senior's rugged 11 points and seven rebounds.

It has been nothing less than a basketball resurgence this year in Blacksburg, Virginia. Behind coach Buzz Williams, LeDay is the team's leading force on the court, posting a 26.4 player efficiency rating that has him eighth in the ACC in that category, per Basketball-Reference.com. 

Thanks in no small part to its steady and prolific senior, Virginia Tech is 12-1 and poised for a fun season of conference play. Given the team's 20-15 season a year ago and dismal 11-22 mark in 2014-15, if LeDay can lead the Hokies to the Big Dance or even close to it, he'll have plenty of votes for the nation's top sixth man.

All stats courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.