Link to Top Player on All 168 All-Time Great College Basketball Teams - Links to All-Time Conference Rankings

The next series of posts list the seeds we suggest in each of eight conferences with at least eight teams each in our All-Time Value Add Basketball Game. We added new teams, including a number of the best teams from 2022 and 2023, for a total of 168 all-time great teams.

You can also click on the top player on each team to get all their stats and updates during their career at the great College Basketball Reference website.

We include a bracket, player cards and a summary for all conferences with at least eight all-time great teams in the game, or for any other team not in one of those eight conferences click on this "Mid-Major" bracket to see where they are in that bracket. Click for the ACC, Atlantic 10, American Athletic, Big 10, Big 12, Big East (this is the story with the photo of Wilt Chamberlain below), Pac-12 or SEC, or back to this master list of all teams here or the game itself with the playing cards at our All-Time Value Add Basketball Game. 

To go straight to the player cards for the team you want, click on the alphabetic list by team and scroll to find the player cards for your team:

List A - Alabama 1977 to Georgia Tech 2004

List B - Gonzaga 2017 to Marquette 2011

List C - Marquette 2023 to San Francisco 1956

List D - Seattle 1958 to Xavier 2023 

Seed. ACC Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Duke - 2001 - Shane Battier. Champs

2. North Carolina - 2005 - Sean May. Champs

3. Virginia - 2019 - Kyle Guy. Champs

4. Duke - 2015 - Justise Winslow. Champs

5. Duke - 2010 - Jon Scheyer. Champs

6. Louisville - 2013 - Russ Smith. Champs

7. Duke - 1992 - Christian Laettner. Champs

8. North Carolina - 1982 - Michael Jordan. Champs

9. NC State - 1974 - David Thompson. Champs

10. Syracuse - 2003 - Carmelo Anthony. Champs

11. Syracuse - 1987 - Rony Seikaly. Champs

12. Duke - 1986 - Johnny Dawkins. Champs

13. North Carolina - 1957 - Lennie Rosenbluth. Champs

14. Louisville - 1980 - Darrell Griffith. Champs

15. Georgia Tech - 2004 - Jarrett Jack. Runner-up

16. North Carolina - 2022 - Armando Bacot. Runner-up

17. Wake Forest - 1996 - Tim Duncan.

18. North Carolina - 1998 - Vince Carter.

19. Duke - 2022 - Wendell Moore.

20. Pittsburgh - 2009 - DeJuan Blair.

21. Miami - 2023 - Norchad Omier.

22. Georgia Tech - 1990 - Dennis Scott.

23. Miami - 2013 - Shane Larkin.

24. Virginia - 1981 - Ralph Sampson.

25. Notre Dame - 1981 - Orlando Woolridge.

26. Notre Dame - 1970 - Austin Carr.

27. Wake Forest - 2005 - Chris Paul.

28. Miami FL - 1965 - Rick Berry.

 

Seed. Atlantic 10 Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. La Salle - 1954 - Tom Gola. Champs

2. Dayton - 1967 - Don May. Runner-up

3. Dayton - 2020 - Obi Toppin.

4. St. Joe's - 2004 - Jameer Nelson.

5. St. Bonaventure - 1970 - Bob Lanier.

6. Davidson - 2008 - Stephen Curry.

7. George Mason - 2006 - Jai Lewis.

8. VCU - 2011 - Bradford Burgess.

 

Seed. American Athletic Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Cincinnati - 1960 - Oscar Robertson.  Champs

2. Houston - 1983 - Hakeem Olajuwon. Runner-up

3. Memphis - 2008 - Derrick Rose. Runner-up

4. Houston - 1968 - Elvin Hayes.

5. Cincinnati - 2002 - Jason Maxiell.

6. Houston - 2021 - Quentin Grimes.

7. SMU - 2017 - Semi Ojeleye.

8. Wichita St. - 2013 - Fred VanVleet.

 

Seed. Big Ten Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Indiana - 1976 - Scott May. Champs

2. Ohio St. - 1960 - Jerry Lucas. Champs

3. Michigan St. - 1979 - Magic Johnson. Champs

4. Michigan St. - 2000 - Mateen Cleaves. Champs

5. Michigan - 1989 - Glen Rice. Champs

6. Indiana - 1981 - Isaiah Thomas. Champs

7. Purdue - 1969 - Rick Mount. Champs

8. Maryland - 2002 - Juan Dixon. Champs

9. Illinois - 2005 - Deron Williams. Runner-up

10. Wisconsin - 2015 - Frank Kaminsky. Runner-up

11. Michigan - 1965 - Cazzie Russell. Runner-up

12. Ohio St. - 2007 - Greg Oden. Runner-up

13. Indiana - 2002 - Jared Jeffries. Runner-up

14. Indiana St. - 1979 - Larry Bird. Runner-up

15. Purdue - 2018 - Carsen Edwards.

16. Illinois - 1989 - Nick Anderson.

17. Iowa - 2021 - Luka Garza.

18. Michigan St. - 2009 - Draymond Green.

19. Michigan - 2013 - Trey Burke.

20. Maryland - 1984 - Len Bias.

21. Minnesota - 1977 - Kevin McHale.

22. Penn St. - 2018 - Tony Carr.

23. Iowa - 2002 - Reggie Evans.

 

Seed. Big 12 Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Kansas - 2008 - Mario Chalmers. Champs

2. Baylor - 2021 - Jared Butler. Champs

3. Kansas - 2022 - Ochai Agbaji. Champs

4. Oklahoma St. - 1946 - Bob Kurland. Champs

5. Kansas - 1988 - Danny Manning. Champs

6. Kansas - 1997 - Paul Pierce. Runner-up

7. Texas Tech - 2019 - Jarrett Culver. Runner-up

8. Kansas - 1957 - Wilt Chamberlain. Runner-up

9. West Virginia - 1959 - Jerry West. Runner-up

10. Texas - 2023 - Marcus Carr.

11. Oklahoma - 1985 - Wayman Tisdale.

12. Kansas St. - 2023 - Markquis Nowell.

13. Iowa St. - 2014 - DeAndre Kane.

14. Oklahoma St. - 2004 - John Lucas.

15. Kansas St. - 2008 - Michael Beasley.

16. Oklahoma - 2016 - Buddy Hield.

17. West Virginia - 2010 - Kevin Jones.

18. Texas - 2003 - T.J. Ford.

19. TCU - 2023 - JaKobe Coles.

20. Brigham Young - 1981 - Danny Ainge.

 

Seed. Big East Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Villanova - 2018 - Mikal Bridges. Champs

2. Connecticut - 2004 - Ben Gordon. Champs

3. Connecticut - 1999 - Richard Hamilton. Champs

4. Georgetown - 1984 - Patrick Ewing. Champs

5. Marquette - 1977 - Butch Lee. Champs

6. Villanova - 1985 - Ed Pinckney. Champs

7. Butler - 2010 - Gordon Hayward. Runner-up

8. Marquette - 2011 - Jimmy Butler.

9. Connecticut - 2023 - Adama Sanogo.

10. Seton Hall - 1989 - John Morton.

11. Creighton - 2023 - Ryan Kalkbrenner.

12. Georgetown - 2007 - Roy Hibbert.

13. St. John's - 1985 - Chris Mullin.

14. Xavier - 2023 - Jack Nunge.

15. Marquette - 2003 - Dwyane Wade.

16. Marquette - 1971 - Jim Chones.

17. Seton Hall - 2020 - Myles Powell.

18. Marquette - 2023 - Tyler Kolek.

19. DePaul - 1945 - George Mikan.

20. Creighton - 2020 - Ty-Shon Alexander.

21. DePaul - 1980 - Mark Aguirre.

22. Marquette - 1955 - Terry Rand.

23. Creighton - 2014 - Doug McDermott.

24. Marquette - 1994 - Jim McIlvaine.

 

Seed. Mid-Major Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. UNLV - 1991 - Larry Johnson. Champs

2. San Francisco - 1956 - Bill Russell. Champs

3. UTEP (Texas Western) - 1966 - Bobby Joe Hill. Champs

4. Wyoming - 1943 - Ken Sailors. Champs

5. Gonzaga - 2017 - Nigel Williams-Goss. Runner-up

6. Jacksonville - 1970 - Artis Gilmore. Runner-up

7. Seattle - 1958 - Elgin Baylor. Runner-up

8. Loyola-Chicago - 1963 - Jerry Harkness.

9. Loyola Marymount - 1990 - Bo Kimble.

10. Gonzaga - 2023 - Drew Timme.

11. San Diego St. - 2023 - Jaedon LeDee.

12. Florida Atlantic - 2023 - Johnell Davis.

13. St. Mary's - 2023 - Logan Johnson.

14. San Diego St. - 2011 - Kawhi Leonard.

15. UNLV - 1987 - Armen Gilliam.

16. St. Peter's - 2022 - Doug Edert.

17. Holy Cross - 1950 - Bob Cousy.

18. Stephen f austin - 2016 - Thomas Walkup.

19. Navy - 1986 - David Robinson.

20. Murray St. - 2019 - Ja Morant.

21. Princeton - 1965 - Bill Bradley.

22. Loyola-Chicago - 2018 - Cameron Krutwig.

23. Princeton - 2023 - Tosan Evbuomwan.

24. Niagara - 1970 - Calvin Murphy.

 

Seed. Pac 12 Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. UCLA - 1972 - Bill Walton. Champs

2. UCLA - 1967 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Champs

3. Arizona - 1997 - Mike Bibby. Champs

4. Utah - 1998 - Andre Miller. Runner-up

5. UCLA - 2006 - Jordan Farmar. Runner-up

6. California - 1959 - Jack Grout. Runner-up

7. Colorado - 2021 - McKinley Wright.

8. Oregon - 2017 - Dillon Brooks.

9. Arizona - 2015 - Stanley Johnson.

10. USC - 2021 - Evan Mobley.

11. UCLA - 2021 - Jaime Jaquez.

12. Arizona St. - 1980 - Byron Scott.

 

Seed. SEC Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Kentucky - 2012 - Anthony Davis. Champs

2. Kentucky - 1996 - Antoine Walker. Champs

3. Arkansas - 1994 - Corliss Williamson. Champs

4. Florida - 2006 - Joakim Noah. Champs

5. Kentucky - 1948 - Alex Groza. Champs

6. Auburn - 2019 - Chuma Okeke.

7. Alabama - 2023 - Brandon Miller.

8. LSU - 1992 - Shaquille O'Neal.

9. Tennessee - 2023 - Santiago Vescovi.

10. Missouri - 1982 - Steve Stipanovich.

11. South Carolina - 2017 - Sindarius Thornwell.

12. Arkansas - 2021 - Moses Moody.

13. Tennessee - 1977 - Bernard King.

14. LSU - 2006 - Glen Davis.

15. Alabama - 1977 - Reggie King.

16. South Carolina - 1973 - Mike Dunleavy.

17. Auburn - 1984 - Charles Barkley.

18. Kentucky - 1970 - Dan Issel.

19. Arkansas - 1978 - Sidney Moncrief.

20. Georgia - 1982 - Dominique Wilkins.

21. LSU - 1970 - Pete Maravich.

Our CBS Sports/247: Value Add Top Trio (Duke) and Top Duo (Nova) Reach Final 4

(This is the email that went out to our sports list. Email johnp@takebackaction.org if you would like to be added to that list). 

The www.valueaddbasketball.com rankings are final for the players on 342 of 358 teams. PudnerSports.com lists the schedule for the last 16 teams in the Basketball Classic, NIT and of course NCAA, as well as listing the top 2% of the 4,258 players in the www.valueaddbasketball.com rankings.

Click on the picture below or on this link for our CBS Sports/247 Story on how the top trio in basketball (yes better than Gonzaga's according to our rankings) led Duke and Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s to the Final 4, while the top duo in the country (including Collin Gillespie, pictured) led Villanova to the Final 4.  They await the winner of the two games on CBS today, with Miami leading Kansas at the half as ACC fans hope they hold on and UNC tops Saint Peter's in the finale after that game to give the ACC three of the Final 4 teams.

Scroll further down for our final National Player of the Year and All-American teams.

The Value Add Basketball National Player of the Year battle was one of our closest ever, with Iowa's Keegan Murray nudging out Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe with respective Value Adds of 12.31 to 12.13. That means both team would be expected to be 12 points worse if either of those MVPs had to miss a game - so turning a 6-point win into a 6-point loss.

Our Final 1st Team All-Americans calculate as:

• 4-PF, Keegan Murray #15, Iowa, 12.31, 6'8", 90% chance at NBA.
• 5-C, Oscar Tshiebwe #34, Kentucky, 12.13, 6'9", 80% chance at NBA. Top defensive rating in country at -4.47 points erased from opponent (edges out Auburn's Kessler and the Zags Chet Holmgren).
• 1-PG, Collin Gillespie #2, Villanova, 10.35, 6'3", 31% chance at NBA.
• 2-SG, Terrell Brown #23, Washington, 10.29, 6'3".
• 1-PG, Malachi Smith #13, Chattanooga, 9.93, 6'4.

The 2nd Team All-Americans calculate as:

• 4-PF, EJ Liddell #32, Ohio St., 9.77, 6'7", 77% chance at NBA.
• 4-PF, Tari Eason #13, LSU, 9.52, 6'8", 79% chance at NBA.
• 5-C, Armando Bacot #5, North Carolina, 9.48, 6'10", 59% chance at NBA.
• 2-SG, Santiago Vescovi #25, Tennessee, 9.36, 6'3.
• 2-SG, Nijel Pack #24, Kansas St., 9.31, 6'0.

The 3rd Team All-Americans calculate as:

• 3-SF, Matt Bradley #3, San Diego St., 9.25, 6'4", 28% chance at NBA.
• 5-C, Trayce Jackson-Davis #23, Indiana, 9.23, 6'9", 78% chance at NBA.
• 1-PG, Jamaree Bouyea #1, San Francisco, 9.21, 6'2", 80% chance at NBA.
• 1-PG, Kendric Davis #3, SMU, 9.2, 6'0, 27% chance at NBA.
• 5-C, Chet Holmgren #34, Gonzaga, 9.06, 7'0, 97% chance at NBA, by far the top freshman ranking, as freshman generally make enough mistakes (bad shots, turnovers) to not rank as highly despite long-term potential to dominate.

Note, both Ochai Abdaji of Kansas and Wendell Moore of Duke are just outside the All-American list and could play themselves back into it. Abdaji rated as an All-American until having a bit of an off tournament.

For all conference teams, simply go to www.valueaddbasketball.com and then enter the conference abbreviation in the "Conf" search box.

John Pudner 404.606.3163

Top 2% of College Basketball Players This Season

The following are the best of the best college basketball players this year - those who rank in the top 2% of all players in the updated www.valueaddbasketball.com rankings. Please check on this CBS/247 Sports site for a story on the top trio and top duo in these rankings both making the NCAA Final 4. Player ratings are final, except we will update stats for these 14 games. 

Date	Games to be added to Value Add ratings	Tournament
26-Mar	Villanova 50, Houston 44	NCAA
26-Mar	Duke 78, Arkansas 69	NCAA
26-Mar	Southern Utah 77, Portland 66	Basketball Classic
27-Mar	Miami FL vs. Kansas	NCAA
27-Mar	Saint Peter's vs. North Carolina	NCAA
28-Mar	Coastal Carolina at South Alabama	Basketball Classic
28-Mar	Southern Utah at Fresno St.	Basketball Classic
29-Mar	Washington St. vs. Texas A&M	NIT
29-Mar	St. Bonaventure vs. Xavier	NIT
31-Mar	Washington St. or Tex A&M vs. Xavier or St. Bonaventure	NIT
31-Mar	Coastal Car. or S. Alabama vs. Southern Utah or Fresno St.	Basketball Classic
2-Apr	Duke vs. UNC or Saint Peter's	NCAA
2-Apr	Villanova vs. Kansas or Miami	NCAA
4-Apr	Duke, UNC or Saint Peter's vs. Villanova, Kansas or Miami	NCAA

The 17 players bolded below are in the top 2% and can still move up or down based on the results of the games above. The breakdown by conference of these elite players in the top 2% are:

12 - Big Ten and SEC

9 - ACC

7 - Big East

6 - Mountain West, Pac-12, West Coast Conference

5 - Big 12 and American

4 - Missouri Valley

3 - A10

2 - CUSA, Ohio Valley, Sun Belt

1 - AE, SC, Summit, WAC

 

Rnk	Player	Team	Value	Conf	Ht	NBA%
1	Keegan Murray #15	Iowa	12.31	B10	6'8"	90
2	Oscar Tshiebwe #34	Kentucky	12.13	SEC	6'9"	80
3	Collin Gillespie #2	Villanova	10.35	BE	6'3"	31
4	Terrell Brown #23	Washington	10.29	P12	6'3"
5	Malachi Smith #13	Chattanooga	9.93	SC	6'4"
6	EJ Liddell #32	Ohio St.	9.77	B10	6'7"	77
7	Tari Eason #13	LSU	9.52	SEC	6'8"	79
8	Armando Bacot #5	North Carolina	9.48	ACC	6'10"	59
9	Santiago Vescovi #25	Tennessee	9.36	SEC	6'3"
10	Nijel Pack #24	Kansas St.	9.31	B12	6'0
11	Matt Bradley #3	San Diego St.	9.25	MWC	6'4"	28
12	Trayce Jackson-Davis #23	Indiana	9.23	B10	6'9"	78
13	Jamaree Bouyea #1	San Francisco	9.21	WCC	6'2"	80
14	Kendric Davis #3	SMU	9.20	Amer	6'0	27
15	Chet Holmgren #34	Gonzaga	9.06	WCC	7'0	97
16	David Roddy #21	Colorado St.	8.98	MWC	6'6"
17	Hunter Dickinson #1	Michigan	8.88	B10	7'1"	36
18	Justin Bean #34	Utah St.	8.87	MWC	6'7"	28
19	Ochai Agbaji #30	Kansas	8.82	B12	6'5"	90
20	Wendell Moore #0	Duke	8.76	ACC	6'5"	86
21	Hunter Maldonado #24	Wyoming	8.62	MWC	6'7"
22	Baylor Scheierman #3	South Dakota St.	8.59	Sum	6'6"
23	Walker Kessler #13	Auburn	8.53	SEC	7'1"	87
24	Izaiah Brockington #1	Iowa St.	8.44	B12	6'4"	75
26	Scotty Pippen #2	Vanderbilt	8.42	SEC	6'3"	41
25	Tylor Perry #5	North Texas	8.42	CUSA	5'11"
27	Keon Ellis #14	Alabama	8.39	SEC	6'6"	73
28	Bennedict Mathurin #0	Arizona	8.37	P12	6'6"	94
29	Alex Barcello #13	BYU	8.33	WCC	6'2"	49
30	Jabari Smith #10	Auburn	8.32	SEC	6'10"	99
31	Posh Alexander #0	St. John's	8.31	BE	6'0	37
32	Johnny Davis #1	Wisconsin	8.24	B10	6'5"	93
33	Ryan Kalkbrenner #11	Creighton	8.19	BE	7'1"
34	Garrett Sturtz #3	Drake	8.18	MVC	6'3"
35	Payton Willis #0	Minnesota	8.14	B10	6'4"
36	Vince Williams #10	VCU	8.12	A10	6'6"
37	Jacob Gilyard #0	Richmond	8.00	A10	5'9"	25
38	Iverson Molinar #1	Mississippi St.	7.98	SEC	6'3"	79
39	Tevin Brown #10	Murray St.	7.93	OVC	6'5"
40	Kennedy Chandler #1	Tennessee	7.92	SEC	6'0	82
41	Kameron McGusty #23	Miami FL	7.92	ACC	6'5"	43
43	Mark Williams #15	Duke	7.85	ACC	7'0	82
42	Norchad Omier #15	Arkansas St.	7.85	SB	6'7"
44	Kyler Edwards #11	Houston	7.81	Amer	6'4"	26
45	Jalen Williams #24	Santa Clara	7.80	WCC	6'6"	63
46	Justin Moore #5	Villanova	7.79	BE	6'4"	63
47	RJ Cole #2	Connecticut	7.78	BE	6'1"
49	Jaden Ivey #23	Purdue	7.67	B10	6'4"	98
48	Lucas Williamson #1	Loyola Chicago	7.67	MVC	6'4"
50	Teddy Allen #0	New Mexico St.	7.63	WAC	6'6"
51	Isiaih Mosley #1	Missouri St.	7.62	MVC	6'5"
52	Andrew Nembhard #3	Gonzaga	7.62	WCC	6'5"	45
53	Christian Braun #2	Kansas	7.60	B12	6'6"	65
54	Alondes Williams #31	Wake Forest	7.59	ACC	6'5"	72
55	Michael Flowers #12	Washington St.	7.58	P12	6'1"
56	Kofi Cockburn #21	Illinois	7.55	B10	7'0	60
57	KJ Williams #0	Murray St.	7.54	OVC	6'10"
58	Keve Aluma #22	Virginia Tech	7.52	ACC	6'9"	55
59	Brad Davison #34	Wisconsin	7.50	B10	6'4"
60	Orlando Robinson #10	Fresno St.	7.48	MWC	7'0	86
61	Souley Boum #0	UTEP	7.36	CUSA	6'3"
62	Paolo Banchero #5	Duke	7.34	ACC	6'10"	95
63	Jamal Shead #1	Houston	7.33	Amer	6'1"
64	Jaime Jaquez #24	UCLA	7.27	P12	6'7"	62
65	Abu Kigab #24	Boise St.	7.26	MWC	6'7"
66	Fabian White #35	Houston	7.25	Amer	6'8"
67	Zach Edey #15	Purdue	7.21	B10	7'4"	45
68	Drew Timme #2	Gonzaga	7.19	WCC	6'10"	60
69	Christian Koloko #35	Arizona	7.18	P12	7'1"	63
70	Jack Nunge #24	Xavier	7.16	BE	7'0
71	JD Notae #1	Arkansas	7.15	SEC	6'2"	77
73	Jules Bernard #1	UCLA	7.14	P12	6'7"	33
72	Trent Frazier #1	Illinois	7.14	B10	6'2"
74	Foster Loyer #0	Davidson	7.14	A10	6'0
75	Ben Shungu #24	Vermont	7.13	AE	6'2"
76	Reece Beekman #2	Virginia	7.12	ACC	6'3"
77	Javon Franklin #13	South Alabama	7.12	SB	6'7"
78	Javon Freeman-Liberty #4	DePaul	7.11	BE	6'4"
79	Tristen Newton #2	East Carolina	7.10	Amer	6'5"
80	Mark Smith #13	Kansas St.	7.06	B12	6'4"
82	Jake LaRavia #0	Wake Forest	7.04	ACC	6'8"
81	Tyrece Radford #23	Texas A&M	7.04	SEC	6'2"
83	Marcus Domask #1	Southern Illinois	7.03	MVC	6'6"
84	Darius Days #4	LSU	7.01	SEC	6'7"	49
85	Eli Brooks #55	Michigan	6.97	B10	6'1"

National and Conference MVPs and Best Players

If I had to vote today for National Player of the Year, it would be a choice between the Most Valuable Player in the Country, Iowa's Keegan Murray, and the best player in the country, Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren. 

MVP and POY are not the same thing. A freshman heading into March Madness on the way to the NBA Draft is often the best player in time for the tournament. However, the most valuable player over the course of the season is rarely a freshmen - but an upper classman who does not take all the bad shots or force turnovers trying to wedge between two defenders like even the greatest freshman do for much of the season.

That is why Murray has improved Iowa by 12.49 points per game at www.valueaddbasketball.com to make him the most valuable player in the season, while Holmgren is the top freshman at 11th (9.89).

The following is the list of the Most Valuable Player and Best Freshman in each conference, with a link to the 25 MVPs and top freshmen in each conference at www.valueaddbasketball.com, the a list of the best in the nation.

6 Top Rated Conferences (alphabetical order)

• Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Armando Bacot (North Carolina), Freshman: Paolo Banchero (Duke)
• Big 12 Conference (B12) Ochai Agbaji (Kansas), Freshman: Kendall Brown (Baylor)
• Big East Conference (BE) Collin Gillespie (Villanova), Freshman: Justin Lewis (Marquette)
• Big Ten Conference (B10) Keegan Murray (Iowa), Freshman: Malaki Branham (Ohio St.)
• Pac 12 Conference (P12) Terrell Brown (Washington), Freshman: Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona)
• Southeastern Conference (SEC) Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky), Freshman: Jabari Smith (Auburn)

 Other 22 Conferences (alphabetical order)

• America East Conference (AE) Ben Shungu (Vermont), Freshman: Justin Neely (Albany)
• American Athletic Conference (Amer) Kendric Davis (SMU), Freshman: Ricky Council (Wichita St.)
• ASUN Conference (ASun) Darius McGhee (Liberty), Freshman: Will Pruitt (Lipscomb)
• Atlantic 10 Conference (A10) Osun Osunniyi (St. Bonaventure), Freshman: Gibson Jimerson (Saint Louis)
• Big Sky Conference (BSky) Daylen Kountz (Northern Colorado), Freshman: Steele Venters (Eastern Washington)
• Big South Conference (BSth) Ricky Clemons (Campbell), Freshman: Jordan Gainey (USC Upstate)
• Big West Conference (BW) Collin Welp (UC Irvine), Freshman: Jadon Jones (Long Beach St.)
• Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Aaron Estrada (Hofstra), Freshman: Reyne Smith (Charleston)
• Conference USA (CUSA) Tylor Perry (North Texas), Freshman: Kenneth Lofton (Louisiana Tech)
• Horizon League (Horz) Tanner Holden (Wright St.), Freshman: Trey Townsend (Oakland)
• Ivy League (Ivy) Ethan Wright (Princeton), Freshman: Kino Lilly (Brown)
• Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) George Papas (Monmouth), Freshman: Jao Ituka (Marist)
• Mid American Conference (MAC) Sincere Carry (Kent St.), Freshman: Ra'Heim Moss (Toledo)
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Joe Bryant (Norfolk St.), Freshman: Nendah Tarke (Coppin St.)
• Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Lucas Williamson (Loyola Chicago), Freshman: Tucker DeVries (Drake)
• Mountain West Conference (MWC) Justin Bean (Utah St.), Freshman: Tyson Degenhart (Boise St.)
• Northeast Conference (NEC) Alex Morales (Wagner), Freshman: Zaire Williams (Wagner)
• Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Tevin Brown (Murray St.), Freshman: Johni Broome (Morehead St.)
• Patriot League (Pat) Sukhmail Mathon (Boston University), Freshman: CJ Fulton (Lafayette)
• Southern Conference (SC) Malachi Smith (Chattanooga), Freshman: Jason Roche (The Citadel)
• Southland Conference (Slnd) Isaac Mushila (Texas A&M Corpus Chris), Freshman: Kendal Coleman (Northwestern St.)
• Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Jayveous McKinnis (Jackson St.), Freshman: Keondre Montgomery (Alcorn St.)
• Summit League (Sum) Baylor Scheierman (South Dakota St.), Freshman: Zeke Mayo (South Dakota St.)
• Sun Belt Conference (SB) Norchad Omier (Arkansas St.), only conference where freshman is MVP
• West Coast Conference (WCC) Alex Barcello (BYU), Freshman: Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga)
• Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Teddy Allen (New Mexico St.), Freshman: Kobe Williamson (Seattle)

And here is the list of the top players and freshman in the country in the same form you will see for each conference listed above.

Kentucky Star Tops Updated Hoops Top 25 Players

Not just Kentucky hype - Oscar Tshiebewe is BY FAR the most valuable player in college basketball after the Wildcats destroyed Kansas this weekend. Below this tweet is the email that went to almost all Athletic Departments the morning of January 31 outlining the numbers and then listing the rest of the top 25. Another piece on the www.valueaddbasketball.com ratings appeared on this CBS site.

We ran the updated calculations for college basketball players prior to the 1st kick-off of the two incredible Conference playoff games resulting in a Rams-Bengals Super Bowl.

(Note, if you want updates on John Pudner's non-sports organization simply click on www.takebackaction.org to sign up.)

You can click on the image below or www.valueaddbasketball.com to pull up the ratings for all 4,281 Division 1 college players, or simply sort by conference, team or player as shown in the image.

Click here for our posts on all 32 all-conference teams, or on this CBS/247 site for more information.

You can look up the following numbers for all players, but we will use the top-rated player for the explanation of what each number means.

Oscar Tshiebwe's 17 point, 14 rebound, 4 steal performance in Kentucky's dominant win at Kansas followed his 21,22,3 performance in the same categories against Mississippi State to move into the clear lead in the Value Add Basketball Player of the Year calculations.

The system calculates a players points above replacement in the same way www.kenpom.com calculates the offensive and defensive and overall ratings for college basketball teams.

Tshiebwe improves Kentucky by +6.94 on offense (same as a 106.94 team rating at www.kenpom.com) and takes -4.33 away from the Wildcats opponents on defense (same as a 95.67 for teams in www.kenpom.com as 4.33 less than 100).

The offense of 6.94 and defense of -4.33 adds up to a total 11.27 Value Add, the same as a +11.27 overall team rating for www.kenpom.com.

The Notes field includes information on the most common position played, and the weighting on that position to make the measurement a true measure of points above replacement at his position.

For example, Tshiebwe actually calculates with an even higher points above average replacement, but because most centers calculate higher than players at other possessions, his 11.27 rating was lowered from the non-position specific calculation.

Top 25 Value Add Basketball Players & Top 15 in Each Conference

The rankings for 4,000+ college Most Valuable Players in college basketball are updated at www.valueaddbasketball.com based on stats as of January 17, 2022. Value Add Basketball ranks players in a method similar to how www.kenpom.com ranks teams. The offensive rating (AdjO) minus the defensive rating (AdjD, negative is good because the player is taking points away from the other team) to calculated the overall "Value" of each player above a replacement player.

This blog links to three options to review the rankings:

1. The 25 most valuable players in the country are listed on the table below.

2. You can also go to www.valueaddbasketball.com to sort all 4000+ players by team, conference, class, etc.

3. The picture above is from this CBS 247 story on the updated rankings.

4. Finally, the links below the table take you to your choice of the 32 college basketball conferences for the notes specific to that conference and their top 15 players in the ratings.

Rnk	Top 25 All-Americans	Team	Value	Ht	Cl	AdjO	AdjD	Gm/St	Conf
1	Keegan Murray #15	Iowa	11.08	6'8"	So	8.97	-2.12	16, 16	B10
2	Justin Bean #34	Utah St.	10.58	6'7"	Sr	8.38	-2.20	16, 16	MWC
3	Oscar Tshiebwe #34	Kentucky	10.51	6'9"	Jr	6.86	-3.65	17, 17	SEC
4	Trayce Jackson-Davis #23	Indiana	10.12	6'9"	So	7.21	-2.91	16, 16	B10
5	Alex Barcello #13	BYU	10.12	6'2"	Sr	8.87	-1.25	17, 17	WCC
6	Collin Gillespie #2	Villanova	9.94	6'3"	Sr	8.30	-1.64	17, 17	BE
7	Kendric Davis #3	SMU	9.71	6'0	Sr	9.12	-0.59	17, 17	Amer
8	Armando Bacot #5	North Carolina	9.43	6'10"	Jr	6.85	-2.58	16, 16	ACC
9	Terrell Brown #23	Washington	9.30	6'3"	Sr	7.45	-1.84	15, 15	P12
10	Ochai Agbaji #30	Kansas	9.27	6'5"	Sr	8.33	-0.93	16, 16	B12
11	Tylor Perry #5	North Texas	9.22	5'11"	Jr	7.92	-1.30	13, 0	CUSA
12	Malachi Smith #13	Chattanooga	9.21	6'4"	So	8.62	-0.60	16, 16	SC
13	Posh Alexander #0	St. John's	9.21	6'0	So	5.36	-3.85	14, 13	BE
14	Orlando Robinson #10	Fresno St.	9.12	7'0	Jr	6.79	-2.34	15, 15	MWC
15	EJ Liddell #32	Ohio St.	8.93	6'7"	Jr	6.86	-2.07	15, 15	B10
16	Justin Moore #5	Villanova	8.56	6'4"	Jr	6.14	-2.42	17, 17	BE
17	Santiago Vescovi #25	Tennessee	8.52	6'3"	Jr	6.00	-2.51	16, 16	SEC
18	Jamaree Bouyea #1	San Francisco	8.43	6'2"	Sr	6.46	-1.97	17, 17	WCC
19	Christian Braun #2	Kansas	8.32	6'6"	Jr	6.20	-2.12	16, 16	B12
20	Iverson Molinar #1	Mississippi St.	8.29	6'3"	Jr	8.00	-0.30	16, 16	SEC
21	Tevin Brown #10	Murray St.	8.25	6'5"	Jr	6.33	-1.91	13, 13	OVC
22	Trent Frazier #1	Illinois	8.23	6'2"	Sr	4.61	-3.62	14, 13	B10
23	Alondes Williams #31	Wake Forest	8.21	6'5"	Sr	6.89	-1.32	18, 18	ACC
24	Tari Eason #13	LSU	8.08	6'8"	So	5.16	-2.92	16, 0	SEC
25	Hunter Dickinson #1	Michigan	7.95	7'1"	So	6.17	-1.78	13, 13	B10

Below are the links to each conference review and top 15 players, with the Player of the Year listed.

Abbr, Conference, Player of Year so far, Team

AE, America East Conference, Ryan Davis #35, Vermont

Amer, American Athletic Conference, Kendric Davis #3, SMU

ASun, ASUN Conference, Darius McGhee #2, Liberty

A10, Atlantic 10 Conference, Michael Jones #13, Davidson

ACC, Atlantic Coast Conference, Armando Bacot #5, North Carolina

B12, Big 12 Conference, Ochai Agbaji #30, Kansas

BE, Big East Conference, Collin Gillespie #2, Villanova

BSky, Big Sky Conference, Dillon Jones #2, Weber St.

BSth, Big South Conference, Ricky Clemons #1, Campbell

B10, Big Ten Conference, Keegan Murray #15, Iowa

BW, Big West Conference, Collin Welp #40, UC Irvine

CAA, Colonial Athletic Association, Cam Holden #55, Towson

CUSA, Conference USA, Tylor Perry #5, North Texas

Horz, Horizon League, Jamal Cain #1, Oakland

Ivy, Ivy League, Kino Lilly #10, Brown

MAAC, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, George Papas #5, Monmouth

MAC, Mid American Conference, JT Shumate #32, Toledo

MEAC, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Kris Bankston #30, Norfolk St.

MVC, Missouri Valley Conference, Garrett Sturtz #3, Drake

MWC, Mountain West Conference, Justin Bean #34, Utah St.

NEC, Northeast Conference, Alex Morales #2, Wagner

OVC, Ohio Valley Conference, Tevin Brown #10, Murray St.

P12, Pac 12 Conference, Terrell Brown #23, Washington

Pat, Patriot League, Cam Spencer #12, Loyola MD

SEC, Southeastern Conference, Oscar Tshiebwe #34, Kentucky

SC, Southern Conference, Malachi Smith #13, Chattanooga

Slnd, Southland Conference, Isaac Mushila #10, Texas A&M CC

SWAC, Southwestern Athletic Conference, Jayveous McKinnis #11, Jackson St.

Sum, Summit League, Baylor Scheierman #3, South Dakota St.

SB, Sun Belt Conference, Javon Franklin #13, South Alabama

WCC, West Coast Conference, Alex Barcello #13, BYU

WAC, Western Athletic Conference, Jovan Blacksher #10, Grand Canyon

Note: I added the words "Most Valuable Player" above after initially posting this because our rankings measure how valuable a player is to a team while other votes may measure the "Player of the Year." In most cases I'd say the two are similar, but when writing the Big 12 summary below it occurred to me Baylor was a perfect example of when MVP and POY can be different. James Akinjo and Kendall Brown should be considered for Player of the Year in the rugged Big 12, but I don't believe either of the are in the running for Most Valuable Player because Baylor is so deep that if either of them could not play, Baylor still has seven players on the court that can dominate. I don't believe Kansas could contend nationally if Ochai Agbaji or Christian Braun were out - if those two were out and the two Baylor players above were out for the same game, I believe Baylor would beat Kansas handily..Baylor's incredible depth actually means each player is slightly less valuable because the replacement player stepping in for them is so good.