38 in NBA Playoffs Also On All-Time Great College Team

 Only 1% of Division I college players make the NBA, so just sitting on an NBA bench in the playoffs is a huge accomplishment. The following are the 38 players who were on one of the all-time great college teams featured in our Value Add Basketball Game AND were on the floor for one of the last few NBA games as one of the 16 teams still alive. 

The earliest team represented is the 2006 Florida Gators with Al Horford still playing for the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics. Two of the all-time greats from 2007 teams in our game put up amazing numbers 17 years later with Kevin Durant of Texas putting up 25 points and Mike Conley of Ohio State having 15 points and seven assists for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Obviously it is more likely a more recent team will still have players in the NBA, and the 2018 and 2019 NCAA champs from Villanova and Virginia are the only two all-time great college teams with three players alive in the NBA playoffs. The best of those is Nova's Jalen Brunson who just put up 39 points and 13 assists.

The other great teams in our game with two players still alive in the NBA playoffs are UCLA 2008 (Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook still under the big lights 16 years later), Marquette 2011 (Jae Crowder and Jimmy Butler), Iowa State 2014 (Monte Morris and Georges Niang) and finally UConn 2023 (already Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson since most stayed around for the 2024 title run).

Some players just got on the court (0 points), others did not get in the game either because they were injured (Jimmy Butler) or just didn't get on the rotation, but all of these are in the elite group that is coming out to warm up as one of the remaining 16 NBA Playoff teams and a member of an all-time great college team in our game.

The first 230 All-time great teams have already played at least one games, leaving only our 25th greatest player of all time John Stockton with his 1984 Gonzaga against the 2024 Grand Canyon team with Danny Wolf, and our 48th greatest player of all time Gary Payton leading his 1990 Oregon State team against the Yale 2024 team and Tyon Grant-Foster. 

While this is not as issue for the players alive in the playoffs below since they all played witha. College 3-point line, you will notice we include 3-point shots even for players who played before the line was there. This was estimated in various ways such as later mapping of Pistol Pete Maravich's shots to see which would have been 3-pointers to Stockton's card above based on him hitting more than 40 percent if his 3-pointers in 7 NBA seasons from the deeper line.

Team in Game	Year	Player	NBA Playoff Team	Last Playoff Game
Florida	2006	Al Horford	Boston Celtics	9 pts, 6 reb, +15
Ohio State	2007	Mike Conley	Minnesota Timberwolves	15 pts, 4 reb, 7 ast
Texas	2007	Kevin Durant	Phoenix Suns	25 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast
Stanford	2008	Brook Lopez	Milwaukee Bucks	14 pts, 4 reb
UCLA	2008	Kevin Love	Miami Heat	2 reb
UCLA	2008	Russell Westbrook	Los Angeles Clippers	1 pt, 3 reb
Arizona State	2009	James Harden	Los Angeles Clippers	21 pts, 5 ast
Butler	2010	Gordon Hayward	Oklahoma City Thunder	4 reb
Weber State	2010	Damian Lillard	Milwaukee Bucks	28 pts, 8 ast
Duke	2010	Mason Plumlee	Los Angeles Clippers	7 pts
Marquette	2011	Jimmy Butler	Miami Heat	did not play
Marquette	2011	Jae Crowder	Milwaukee Bucks	0 pts
San Diego State	2011	Kawhi Leonard	Los Angeles Clippers	7 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
Kentucky	2012	Anthony Davis	Los Angeles Lakers	33 pts, 15 reb
Creighton	2014	Doug McDermott	Indiana Pacers	did not play
Iowa State	2014	Monté Morris	Minnesota Timberwolves	2 pts
Iowa State	2014	Georges Niang	Cleveland Cavaliers	2 pts
Oklahoma	2016	Buddy Hield	Philadelphia 76ers	0 pts
SMU	2017	Shake Milton	New York Knicks	did not play
Oregon	2017	Payton Pritchard	Boston Celtics	7 pts, 3 reb
Villanova	2018	Jalen Brunson	New York Knicks	39 pts, 13 ast
Villanova	2018	Donte DiVincenzo	New York Knicks	5 reb, 4 pts
Villanova	2018	Collin  Gillespie	Denver Nuggets	0 pts
Virginia	2019	Mamadi Diakite	New York Knicks	did not play
Virginia	2019	Jay  Huff	Denver Nuggets	0 pts
Virginia	2019	Braxton Key	Denver Nuggets	0 pts
Auburn	2019	Chuma Okeke	Orlando Magic	3 pts
Dayton	2020	Obi Toppin	Indiana Pacers	15 pts, 6 reb
Iowa	2021	Luka Garza	Minnesota Timberwolves	0 pts
UCLA	2021	Jaime Jaquez	Miami Heat	12 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
USC	2021	Evan Mobley	Cleveland Cavaliers	14 pts, 9 reb
Duke	2022	Paolo Banchero	Orlando Magic	9 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast
Kansas	2022	Christian Braun	Denver Nuggets	5 pts, 2 reb
Duke	2022	Wendell Moore	Minnesota Timberwolves	0 pts
Connecticut	2023	Jordan Hawkins	New Orleans Pelicans	1 reb
Connecticut	2023	Andre Jackson	Milwaukee Bucks	2 pts, 3 reb
Michigan	2023	Caris LeVert	Cleveland Cavaliers	5 pts, 1 reb
Gonzaga	2023	Julian Strawther	Denver Nuggets	did not play

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"

Best Point Guards in College Basketball This Year

Note: While www.kenpom.com and www.valueaddbasketball.com analytics flagging Chattanooga's Malachi Smith as the 2nd best small forward in the country, we have been informed that in fact he plays point guard - where he would also rank as the 2nd best player at the country barely behind Villanova's Collin Gillespie. We will update for his next post, but we would still consider Smith a 2nd Team All-American at this point - just at a different position. (The analytics are thrown off because he grabs so many defensive rebounds that he appears to be a small forward rather than a point guard statistically).

In Value Add Basketball we consider the team's "point guard" the player who typically has the most  assists, and typically is the shortest player on the floor and with fewer defensive rebounds, blocked shots and less height. A point guard has the toughest job because he is the player who needs to handle it all the way down the court and create his own shots or create shots for others by working the ball inside to a center or power forward, who will thus typically have even better raw numbers than a great point guard. (for a summary of the top players at each position, click here).

Because www.valueaddbasketball.com calculates how many points per game a player improves his team compared to if a typical replacement player took his place, the raw value add is adjusted by position since the replacement player would be at the same position. Therefore, once the formulas are run, and power guard's raw value add is increased by multiplying it by 1.05 to get the result you see below and at www.valueaddbasketball.com.

In general, freshmen guards in particular make so many mistakes (turnovers, bad shots etc.) the first half of the season that they do not rank nearly as high as more experienced guards. Nowhere is this more true than at point guard.

However, they tend to improve more at the end of the season, so we watch for breakout freshmen first when looking at brackets. Therefore we start with the 10 most valuable freshmen pointing guards in college basketball, and perhaps the most incredible finding in these systems is that the top two freshman point guard in all of college basketball both play for Tennessee. Zakai Zeigler plays the point whenever he is in the game based on analytics - and when he sits Kennedy Chandler moves from shooting guard to point guard and is even better. 

Chandler was unbelievable in the recent double digit win against Kentucky, scoring 17 points despite taking only 9 shots, and dishing out 6 assists without a single turnover. Zeigler has four steals in that game, and scored 14 points only taking eight shots. With the importance of guards able to handle the ball in March Madness, this duo could be scary good in the tournament.

Rnk	Top 10 Freshman PG	Team	VA5	Conf	HtText	Cl
23	Kennedy Chandler #1	Tennessee	6.08	SEC	6'0	Fr
52	Zakai Zeigler #5	Tennessee	4.92	SEC	5'9"	Fr
58	Malachi Smith #11	Dayton	4.71	A10	6'0	Fr
60	Jalen Cook #3	Tulane	4.54	Amer	6'0	Fr
66	Jao Ituka #10	Marist	4.22	MAAC	6'1"	Fr
94	Kino Lilly #10	Brown	3.57	Ivy	6'0	Fr
113	Kerr Kriisa #25	Arizona	3.19	P12	6'3"	Fr
116	Ajay Mitchell #13	UC Santa Barbara	3.14	BW	6'4"	Fr
134	Jeremiah Williams #25	Temple	2.81	Amer	6'5"	Fr
136	Walter Clayton #13	Iona	2.77	MAAC	6'2"	Fr

If anyone had any doubts about Collin Gillespie being the top point guard in the country, they should watch how he has brought Villanova surging back into the top 10 - and the difference it made last year when he was injured for March Madness. It is a very close battle for 2nd Team All-American Point Guard between Mississippi State's Iverson Molinar and SMU's Kendric Davis. 

It may look strange to have Wyoming's super star Hunter Maldonado listed at point guard despite standing 6-foot-7, but he is in the top half percent of all players in assist rate - dishing and making everyone else score for a team that appears to be heading to March Madness.

 

Rnk	Top Point Guards (1)	Team	VA5	Conf	HtText	Cl
1	Collin Gillespie #2	Villanova	9.33	BE	6'3"	Sr
2	Iverson Molinar #1	Mississippi St.	8.68	SEC	6'3"	Jr
3	Kendric Davis #3	SMU	8.54	Amer	6'0	Sr
4	Hunter Maldonado #24	Wyoming	8.08	MWC	6'7"	Sr
5	Jamaree Bouyea #1	San Francisco	8.06	WCC	6'2"	Sr
6	Payton Willis #0	Minnesota	7.92	B10	6'4"	Sr
7	Tylor Perry #5	North Texas	7.77	CUSA	5'11"	Jr
8	Trent Frazier #1	Illinois	7.77	B10	6'2"	Sr
9	Baylor Scheierman #3	South Dakota St.	7.45	Sum	6'6"	So
10	Will Richardson #0	Oregon	7.44	P12	6'5"	Sr
11	RJ Cole #2	Connecticut	7.35	BE	6'1"	Sr
12	Mark Sears #1	Ohio	6.99	MAC	6'1"	So
13	Tyger Campbell #10	UCLA	6.92	P12	5'11"	Jr
14	Jacob Gilyard #0	Richmond	6.71	A10	5'9"	Sr
15	Isaiah Stevens #4	Colorado St.	6.69	MWC	6'0	Jr
16	Jalen Williams #24	Santa Clara	6.59	WCC	6'6"	Jr
17	Foster Loyer #0	Davidson	6.55	A10	6'0	Jr
18	Jamari Wheeler #55	Ohio St.	6.53	B10	6'1"	Sr
19	Andrew Nembhard #3	Gonzaga	6.49	WCC	6'5"	Sr
20	Michael Flowers #12	Washington St.	6.41	P12	6'1"	Sr
21	Sincere Carry #3	Kent St.	6.3	MAC	6'1"	Jr
22	Jordan Goldwire #0	Oklahoma	6.19	B12	6'3"	Sr
23	Kennedy Chandler #1	Tennessee	6.08	SEC	6'0	Fr
24	Jovan Blacksher #10	Grand Canyon	6.07	WAC	5'11"	Jr
25	Javon Freeman-Liberty #4	DePaul	6.06	BE	6'4"	Sr
26	RJ Davis #4	North Carolina	5.93	ACC	6'0	So
27	Wendell Green #1	Auburn	5.83	SEC	5'11"	So
28	Scotty Pippen #2	Vanderbilt	5.74	SEC	6'3"	Jr
29	Ben Shungu #24	Vermont	5.74	AE	6'2"	Sr
30	Michael Devoe #0	Georgia Tech	5.65	ACC	6'5"	Sr
31	Markquis Nowell #1	Kansas St.	5.61	B12	5'8"	Jr
32	Jordan Walker #10	UAB	5.57	CUSA	5'11"	Jr
33	Kevion Nolan #3	Jacksonville	5.55	ASun	6'2"	Jr
34	Darius McGhee #2	Liberty	5.5	ASun	5'9"	Sr
35	Souley Boum #0	UTEP	5.49	CUSA	6'3"	Jr
36	Jamal Shead #1	Houston	5.41	Amer	6'1"	So
37	James Akinjo #11	Baylor	5.41	B12	6'1"	Sr
38	Marcus Domask #1	Southern Illinois	5.38	MVC	6'6"	Jr
39	Tristen Newton #2	East Carolina	5.27	Amer	6'5"	So
40	Marcus Shaver #10	Boise St.	5.2	MWC	6'2"	Sr
41	Justice Hill #14	Murray St.	5.18	OVC	6'0	So
42	Bryce Aiken #1	Seton Hall	5.12	BE	6'0	Sr
43	Max Abmas #3	Oral Roberts	5.09	Sum	6'0	Jr
44	Jared Bynum #4	Providence	5.06	BE	5'10"	Jr
45	Darrion Trammell #2	Seattle	5.05	WAC	5'10"	So
46	Noah Kirkwood #10	Harvard	5.01	Ivy	6'7"	Sr
47	Braden Norris #4	Loyola Chicago	4.99	MVC	6'0	Jr
48	AJ Green #4	Northern Iowa	4.98	MVC	6'4"	Jr
49	KD Johnson #0	Auburn	4.97	SEC	6'0	So
50	Jahmir Young #1	Charlotte	4.96	CUSA	6'1"	Jr

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.