With March Madness right around the corner, Matt Norlander goes big and ranks the brightest stars since 2000
With March Madness right around the corner, Matt Norlander goes big and ranks the brightest stars since 2000
With March here and the NCAA Tournament a week away, it’s time to Remember Some Guys in college hoops. Given this is 2025, we’ve got one of those Big Number years that prompt even more reason to make a big deal out of such a thing.
It’s a great reason to do some rankin’.
Which players have meant the most to men’s college basketball over the past couple of generations? Looking back over the last quarter-century, the roster of candidates is outrageously good. Below, I’ve assembled the 25 biggest stars in men’s college basketball since 2000. It’s not the 25 “best” players or the 25 most statistically accomplished. It’s not all national players of the year, either. It was an excruciatingly fun list to whittle.
I’m talking pure star power. Can’t-take-your-eyes-off-them cosmetic appeal. There is no one definition for what constitutes a star; we know it when we see it. These are the players who broke through the most — and ultimately transcended college basketball.
I did have two qualifications. First, if you’re currently active in college ball, you’re not eligible. Duke freshman Cooper Flagg easily would make this list, but his ultimate placement on it will be dictated by how he plays and how far Duke goes in the NCAA Tournament. You have to be out of school in order to qualify.
The other: You had to have begun your college career in the year 2000 or later. This means that no-brainer stars such as Shane Battier, Jay Williams, Mateen Cleaves and others did not make the cut, because they started in another decade. (It gets a lot trickier if you cross the threshold into the ’90s.)
That in mind, there were so many players in contention who ultimately didn’t make it. Aaron Craft, Buddy Hield, Drew Timme, Russ Smith, Shabazz Napier, Ben Simmons, Oscar Tshiebwe, Dee Brown — I considered them and plenty more. The toughest decision was the final cut: Derrick Rose. Keep in mind, some players were more March Madness comets than big-picture stars for the majority of their careers. (Dwyane Wade is one who fits that description.) More context to the rankings: I am only including the timeline of these players’ college careers. Anything that happened the day after they left school isn’t taken into consideration (that includes their NBA Draft buzz, etc.)
You ready? I think this list is perfect. I’m sure you’ll agree. Here are the 25 biggest men’s basketball stars of the past 25 years.
Stats with an asterisk indicate the player led the NCAA that season in that category.
25. Blake Griffin, Oklahoma
College seasons: 2007-09
Accolades/stats: 2009 national player of the year , 2X All-Big 12, 22.4 ppg, *14.4 rpg as a sophomore
An athletic freak who lifted the Sooners to national prominence in his second season with the program. The Sooners were a No. 2 seed and reached the Elite Eight in 2009. He was a dunking dynamo who also was a beast on the boards; until he came along, few players in college history had the overall package of brute athleticism that Griffin embodied immediately at OU. Just a powerhouse of a power forward who was a defining figure of the 2000s. Good news, Sooners fans: Blake isn’t the only Sooner on this list.
24. Marshall Henderson, Ole Miss
College seasons: Utah 2009-10; Ole Miss 2012-14
Accolades/stats: 2X All-SEC, 2013 SEC Rookie of the Year, 2013 SEC Tournament MVP, 20.1 ppg as a sophomore
If I were to double this list and tweak the description to the 50 greatest players of the past 25 years, Henderson still wouldn’t crack that. But this is about star power, and he is easily among the most recognizable (and notorious!) college hoopers in the past quarter-century. He made Ole Miss must-see. People loved him or hated him — or hated him … then loved him. He’s also the central figure in maybe the greatest college basketball GIF ever. relevant. I’d love to have another Marshall Henderson in college hoops right now. He also carries a distinction on this: he’s the only player who was a transfer. We meet up in 25 years to do this again, I can guarantee there will be a lot more of those.
23. Michael Beasley, Kansas State
College season: 2007-08
Accolades/stats: 2008 Freshman of the Year, Big 12 POY, Consensus First Team A-A, 26.2 ppg, *12.4 rpg
The crazy thing about Beasley is, in 2007, Kevin Durant (further down the list, of course) came into college basketball and the Big 12 and dominated, putting up gaudy freshman stats on a level we’d basically never seen. The next year … Beasley’s overall numbers were even better. He made K-State relevant, bringing the program to the NCAAs for the first time in 12 years and increased the spotlight on a young Frank Martin, who was in his first year as a head coach in Beasley’s one-and-done season. Just a monster player, and I love that K-State fans got to claim him.
22. Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin
College seasons: 2011-15
Accolades/stats: 2015 national player of the year, Big Ten POY, 2X All-Big Ten, 18.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg as a senior
Frank the Tank! The personification of how much fun and unexpectedly great the four-year college basketball player can be when all the right things align. Kaminsky went from a season-high nine points as a freshman in 2010-11 to being the unanimous national player of the year as a senior, doing so while rising to stardom in the terrific college town of Madison. He danced to Taylor Swift, he was a great user of Twitter and consistently gave great quotes. UW has made one national championship game in its history: The Kaminsky/Sam Dekker team in 2015.
21. Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph’s
College seasons: 2000-04
Accolades/stats: 2004 national player of the year, 4X All-Atlantic 10, 2001 A-10 FOY, 20.6 ppg, 5.3 apg, 4.7 rpg as a senior
Though I didn’t make it a strict rule on this, one criterion I had for considering who made the list was: Was the player ever the subject of a Sports Illustrated cover story? Nelson was, and in fact he was the first Atlantic 10 athlete since the 1980s to do it. Plenty of love to Nelson’s backcourt teammate Delonte West, but it was Nelson’s two-way play while guiding Saint Joe’s to an undefeated regular season record and No. 1 seed that propels him onto the list. SJU was a controversial top seed that season for some — then went out and proved its worth by making the Elite Eight before falling to Oklahoma State. When I think of the players that make me love college basketball, I think of Nelson.
20. Lonzo Ball, UCLA
College season: 2016-17
Accolades/stats: National Freshman of the Year, Consensus First Team A-A, 2017 Pac-12 ROY, 14.6 ppg, *7.6 apg, 6.0 rpg
He was a revelation, and it wasn’t just because of his loudmouth father. Ball led the nation in assists and starred for a UCLA team that earned its best seed (a No. 3) in nine years and won 31 games. He’s on the short list of the most gifted passers in college hoops in the prior two decades. What made him interesting is how he became a star while orchestrating one of the best offenses in the country, yet he lacked any real personality while in college. College hoops is better when someone in a UCLA uniform is a bona fide star. We had it, albeit for one season, with Lonzo — who was the only one of his three brothers to ascend to that level in college.
19. John Wall, Kentucky
College season: 2009-10
Accolades/stats: 2010 Freshman of the Year, Consensus First Team A-A, SEC POY, 16.6 ppg, 6.5 apg, 4.3 rpg
A perfect storm of publicity. Wall was the fast-as-a-flash point guard on the first team John Calipari coached at Kentucky. In fact, he shared some of the spotlight with DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe, but make no mistake on this: He was the star. Kentucky was coming off the rough, short tenure of Billy Gillespie and experienced an immediate jolt of greatness in 2009-10. Wall was a blue-chip recruit who was immediately one of the best players in college hoops as soon as he put on a UK uniform. He’d be even higher on this list if not for missing out on playing on the sport’s biggest stage: No. 1 seed Kentucky (35-3) was upset in the Elite Eight by West Virginia.
18. Zach Edey, Purdue
College seasons: 2020-24
Accolades/stats: 2X POY (2023, ’24), 2X Consensus First Team A-A, 3X All-Big Ten *25.2 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.2 bpg as a senior, Purdue’s all-time leading scorer
The only player to win back-to-back NPOY awards (from multiple voting houses) is cruising onto this list, even if he didn’t have a single memorable quote in his four years with the Boilermakers. Edey’s 7-foot-4 presence on the court made him something to gawk at. I’d list him among the 25 most dominant players in the sport’s history. After infamously being on the wrong side of the No. 16 seed-over-No. 1 seed upset vs. Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023, Edey came back was even better as a senior, guiding Purdue to its first national title game in 55 years. If you have a player as great and as big as him, you should make a deep NCAA tourney run. Purdue did. Because he was an unstoppable colossus, his game was sometimes attacked, his skills downplayed. This was stupid, but it also increased his name recognition across the sports world. It took more than 40 years for college hoops to have a two-time national player of the year (Ralph Sampson was the previous one). Edey might prove to be our last for the next three-plus decades as well.
17. Greg Oden, Ohio State
College seasons: 2006-07
Accolades/stats: 2007 DPOY, Big Ten ROY and DPOY, Consensus Second Team A-A, 15.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 3.3 bpg
Like plenty of players on this list, Oden’s stardom was helped by being a long-lauded recruit whose arrival into college basketball brought elevated hype and anticipation. Even in a one-and-done season impacted by injury, Oden was still an incredible player with the Buckeyes. He was the nation’s best player and the centerpiece on an Ohio State team that made it to the national title game, which enhanced Oden’s profile in the process. He also looked like a 27-year-old NBA vet while doing this, which upped the gotta-see-him factor. Nearly two decades later, it feels a bit like Oden’s stardom in college isn’t remembered accurately for who he was at that time: a can’t-miss big-man prospect who led OSU to its first national title game in 45 years. There’s a reason he was the No. 1 pick.
16. Trae Young, Oklahoma
College season: 2017-18
Accolades/stats: 2018 Freshman of the Year, Consensus First Team A-A, Big 12 FOY, *27.4 ppg, *8.7 apg, 3.9 rpg
The only player in NCAA history to lead the sport in points and assists in the same season — as a freshman, no less — is a no-brainer. The combo guard was a revelation in the first half of that season, when Oklahoma got out to a 14-2 start. More losses piled up in the second half, but the Sooner still made the NCAA Tournament and Young continued to rack up big numbers. Young’s production got so voluminous, ESPN would put his stats on the screen, or do live cut-ins to his games. There was some backlash at the time over this, but it spoke to his star power. If you want to remember what Young was like before he became an NBA All-Star, I wrote the first profile on him less than a month into his time at OU.
15. Jalen Brunson, Villanova
College seasons: 2015-18
Accolades/stats: 2018 NPOY, 2X national 🏆, 2X All-Big East, 18.9 ppg, 4.6 apg as a junior
Jay Wright programmed his players to be robots — you can’t remember a single thing Brunson said as a player at Villanova — but when you’re the national player of the year as a junior on a title-winning team and you do this two years removed from being a key role player on ANOTHER national championship roster, you play your way into stardom. Brunson was a bona fide star by the time Villanova entered the 2018 NCAA Tournament as a top seed. Winning the national championship cemented his all-time status (though Donte DiVincenzo won the Final Four MOP). Doing it for a Big East program, in a city that loves its college basketball, made him an even bigger deal. Villanova has claim to blue-blood status in no small part because of Brunson.
14. Doug McDermott, Creighton
College seasons: 2010-14
Accolades/stats: 2014 NPOY, 3X Consensus First Team A-A, 2X MVC POY, 2014 Big East POY, *26.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg as a senior, 7th all-time scorer in NCAA history
Putting McDermott this high is a necessary reminder to those who may have forgotten just how much of a bucket this guy was for four years. If anything, his ranking on this list might be held back by the fact he played his first three seasons in the Missouri Valley. Even in spite of that, McDermott was making All-America teams as he scored his way into the record books. He finished with 3,150 points and is one of only three players with at least 3K points and 1,000 rebounds. His SI cover that harkened back to Larry Bird was awesome, too. The one glaring thing missing on his college résumé: Creighton went to three NCAAs with McDermott but never made the Sweet 16.
13. Emeka Okafor, UConn
College seasons: 2001-04
Accolades/stats: 2004 NCAA 🏆 + F4 MOP + NABC POY, 2x DPOY, 17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 4.1 bpg as a junior, *4.7 bpg as sophomore
The player that solidified UConn’s stature as a program that could remain a major program on the national stage as we moved into the new century. Okafor was an NCAA Academic All-American in addition to being an All-American on the floor, a rare feat. He was a defensive menace. The 2004 Huskies won the national title for a variety of reasons, but Okafor’s presence as a multifaceted big who was an eraser on defense was a huge factor. His stats tell a lot of the story, but he was also a super-charming player whose profile was increased by how charismatic he was. If you think he’s too high on this list, chances are you weren’t around to see how dominant Okafor was.
12. Grayson Allen, Duke
College seasons: 2014-18
Accolades/stats: 2015 NCAA 🏆, 2016 Second Team A-A, 2X All-ACC, 21.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 41.7 3-pt% as a sophomore
The most recent True Villain in college basketball. Allen burst to stardom when he came off the bench in the 2015 national title game and scored 16 points in 21 minutes on what was ultimately Mike Krzyzewski’s final national title team. Allen — who was a terrific player as a sophomore, then dipped from that level in his final two seasons in Durham, North Carolina — became notorious for a number of tripping incidents that stained his name. He’s absolutely among the most famous players in the past 25 years because of this. Duke was a top-four seed every season Allen was on the roster and remained consistently relevant, all the more when a couple of his incidents led some in the media to call for him to serve a lengthy suspension.
11. Anthony Davis, Kentucky
College season: 2011-12
Accolades/stats: 2012 NCAA 🏆 + F4 MOP, National POY +FOY + DPOY, 14.2 ppg, 10.4 rpg, *4.7 bpg
What a college player. Only three freshmen have ever won national player of the year (Flagg may well become the fourth this season), and Davis is the first of the three on this list. He was a star in his own right, to be sure, but even to John Calipari’s admission: he was held back offensively a bit (Davis never scored 20 points in a postseason game in college). Still: Calipari’s only national title happened because he got Anthony Davis to Kentucky. The Unibrow was the best defender in the country in his one season in Lexington and his style of play made him must-watch. Davis began as a point guard, then grew into a power forward/center, which made his role on offense round out Kentucky’s power. The Wildcats went 38-2 and Davis was the best player in that year’s Final Four.
10. Kemba Walker, UConn
College seasons: 2008-11
Accolades/stats: 2011 NCAA 🏆 + F4 MOP + Consensus First Team A-A, 2X All-Big East, 23.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4.5 apg as a junior
The Huskies had Walker for three seasons, but it was his junior year that sent him to the pantheon of all-time Big East greats. With Walker as the head of the snake, UConn went undefeated in bracket play that season, winning the Maui Invitational, the Big East Tournament and the NCAA Tournament — giving UConn its third national championship in 13 seasons. Walker’s step-back winner on Pitt’s Gary McGhee in the Big East quarterfinals was so devastating it was felt up and down the Eastern Seaboard. He had the ball in his hands for the biggest moments, he played for a prominent powerhouse and delivered against big-time teams. An absolute stud.
9. Jimmer Fredette, BYU
College seasons: 2007-11
Accolades/stats: 2011 NPOY, 2010 Third Team A-A, 3X All-Mountain West, *28.9 ppg, 4.3 apg as a senior, 44.0 3-pt% as a junior, BYU/Mountain West’s all-time leading scorer
There are some players on this list who you know are all-timers because they only need to go by their first name. Jimmer is right near the top of the list. The best player in BYU history went from cult hero to national superstar in his senior season, when he led the nation in scoring, won national player of the year and lifted BYU to a 3-seed and Sweet 16 appearance. Dude dropped 52 in a Mountain West Tournament game. He made the Mountain West appointment TV. I remember watching him drop 43 at home against San Diego State; it was ELECTRIC. AJ Dybantsa will be a star from Day 1 next season in Provo, Utah, but he’ll have to be a supernova to surpass Jimmer’s impact at BYU.
8. Stephen Curry, Davidson
College seasons: 2006-09
Accolades/stats: 2009 Consensus 1st Team A-A, 2008 Consensus 2nd Team A-A, 2X SoCon POY, *28.6 ppg, 5.6 apg, 2.5 spg as a junior, Davidson’s/SoCon’s all-time leading scorer
Curry was inevitable to make this list, but it’s because he came back the season AFTER Davidson’s magical Elite Eight run that he is in the top 10 of the biggest stars of the past 25 years. Ironically, Davidson didn’t make the Big Dance in Curry’s final season (the Wildcats went 27-8), but even in spite of that, Curry’s games and nightly shooting performances were must-watch. He was an All-American and the nation’s leading scorer. March Madness turned him into a household name and he ran it back at the mid-major level after becoming the biggest story in sports for three weeks. Because of the reality of the transfer portal, we may never see something like that again.
7. Joakim Noah, Florida
College seasons: 2004-07
Accolades/stats: 2X NCAA 🏆🏆 + 2006 F4 MOP, 2007 Consensus 2nd Team A-A, 2X All-SEC, 12.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.3 apg as a junior
The only two-time champ on this list — and anything but a shrinking violet, both on the court and in front of a reporter’s microphone. Noah might have the most humble stats of anyone in my top 25 but he was a massive personality. A blue-collar player on a loaded team that did things never done before at Florida, Noah was the Gators’ spirit animal. Winning the 2006 national championship was one thing. Noah won the MOP that year, and had that been it, he might’ve been in the 20s on this list. But in coming back with all of his teammates, he again was an All-SEC player and elevated to true legend status by being the fixture on one of only three teams to win two straight national titles in the past 50-plus years. Ladies and gentlemen, Joakim Noah!
6. Kevin Durant, Texas
College season: 2006-07
Accolades/stats: 2007 NPOY + FOY + Big 12 POY, Consensus 1st Team A-A, 25.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 40.4 3-pt%
Look at all 25 players on this list and think back on when you watched them play college hoops. I think there are only six or seven, tops, who you can truly harken back to watching them and remember saying, “I’ve never seen anyone like this at this level.” Durant is such a player. The first to win national player of the year as a freshman, Durant had seven games of 37 points at Texas and completely altered the dynamic of what was possible in the one-and-done era. The irony: For as great as Durant was, his Longhorns failed to reach the Sweet 16, losing by 19 as a No. 4 seed in the second round to USC. Still, to see a guy at 6-10 be as gifted a shooter and passer at the age of 18, it was magnetizing. He wasn’t nearly as outspoken then as he became in the NBA, but Durant’s play was more than enough to launch him to superstar status.
5. Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse
College season: 2002-03
Accolades/stats: 2003 NCAA 🏆 + F4 MOP, Consensus Second Team A-A, 22.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.2 apg
The first one-and-done player to win a national title. That 2002-03 Syracuse team had another guy on its roster who became a huge star in his own right (Gerry McNamara), but Anthony was a star from his first game in an Orange uni. Syracuse lost to Memphis at MSG, but the hype train caught speed immediately and never slowed. It was just that Anthony was a star for a school that has broadcast media alumni across the sports landscape (though that doesn’t hurt), he also had a signature look: cornrows under an orange headband and a not-too-tight, not-too-baggy Cuse get-up. He was a Vibe. Hakim Warrick’s block vs. Kansas clinched Syracuse’s only national title, but Anthony (who wasn’t even a First Team All-American that season, exposing a flaw in regular-season award voting) became the face of Syracuse greatness.
4. Adam Morrison, Gonzaga
College seasons: 2003-06
Accolades/stats: 2006 NPOY, 2X All-WCC, *28.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 42.8 3-pt% as a junior
The all-time-great 2005-06 NPOY race with the next guy on the list is what vaults Morrison into the top five, but that’s not all. Consider he was an increasingly prominent player at a program that received a top-three NCAA seed in all his seasons in Spokane. The Morrison years represented the crucial jump for Gonzaga from mid-major school to power-conference program in a mid-major league. Gonzaga isn’t where it is today if not for Morrison enrolling. The scoring, the ‘stache, the epic ending to UCLA in the 2006 tournament, all of it builds a legend. Morrison was among the purest scorers we’ve ever seen at this level. A revelation in the Pacific Northwest. We’ve never really seen a player like him since. He’d be worth millions in NIL today.
3. JJ Redick, Duke
College seasons: 2002-06
Accolades/stats: 2006 NPOY, 2X Consensus A-A, 2X ACC POY, 4X All-ACC, 26.8 ppg, 41.1 3-pt% as a senior, career 91.2 FT%, Duke’s all-time leading scorer
If you’re reading this and you’re 25 or younger, I just want to let you know that the coach of the Lakers was a vicious sniper in college. Redick was the best shooter in Duke history. He was cocky at times, and that confidence fueled him on the way to being one of the five greatest players to ever play for Mike Krzyzewski. He mastered the art of the catch-and-shoot off a screen, often followed by a quick-trigger 3-pointer that would hit the opposing team like a knife to the stomach. Redick faced brutal behavior from many opposing fan bases in the ACC, which seemed to increase his recognizability. In being hated by many, that only enhanced his fame.
2. Tyler Hansbrough, UNC
College seasons: 2005-09
Accolades/stats: 2009 NCAA 🏆, 2008 NPOY, 2006 FOY, 4X All-ACC, 3X Consensus 1st Team A-A, 22.6 ppg, 10.2 rpg as a junior, UNC and ACC’s all-time leading scorer
There aren’t many players who had a better overall college career AND ending than the guy nicknamed Psycho T. He won his POY award (over Michael Beasley) the year before winning the title for UNC in 2008-09 on what was one of the five or six best college teams of the past 25 years. Hansbrough didn’t have a huge personality off the court, but he played like a man possessed on it. Doing this at North Carolina — and never losing at Duke — made him exceptionally famous. As many players were going one-and-done, Hansbrough was logging huge minutes and compiling stats at a level few other players can match. He played on three No. 1 seeds and a No. 3, was in two Final Fours and an Elite Eight. The guy was a fixture in college basketball for four years, making him one of the best players in the sport’s history.
1. Zion Williamson, Duke
College season: 2018-19
Accolades/stats: 2019 NPOY + FOY + ACC POY/FOY, 22.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 2.1 spg, 1.8 bpg, single-season PER record (40.8)
No player’s star this century has shined brighter in college than Williamson, who was such a revelation that he didn’t even need to make a Final Four to help his cause at No. 1. Doing it for Duke in the social media era absolutely played a major factor in Zion’s unique rise to the top of American sports culture. He was so great so fast, even missing five games in the regular season to injury didn’t hold back his prominence. He got Barack Obama courtside for one of his games. Zion’s combination of power, athleticism, leaping ability and charisma made him the perfect player at the perfect time in college basketball. His presence was a reminder for college basketball, and sports fans, that this is what the sport can still do for players making their way to the NBA. By some metrics he was the most valuable single-season statistical player in the sport in the past 25 years. A supernova, and the biggest bona fide star, in the truest sense of the word, the sport has seen this century.
Discover more from World Byte News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.