Welcome to the first top-25 ranking of players of the decade. It's still a bit early to characterize the college basketball of the 2020s, but, if I had to hazard a guess, I would say 2s. Good 2-point scorers are found in abundance in this top 25.
Why is that, exactly? The interior space created by the new 3-point line has perhaps benefited the best scorers inside the arc but, of course, it has not lifted 2-point accuracy across Division I.
It's all a bit perplexing, really. So, yes, even after two weeks, the 2020s remain something of a mystery.
Just a reminder, these are rankings based on college performance and not a mock draft.
Here are the top 25 players of the 2020s so far.
Did you have Dayton as one of your top 15 teams in the country in the preseason? Neither did I, and that's why Toppin is the best player in the country. The Flyers are on track for a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament because of their offense (UD leads the nation in 2-point accuracy by a mile), and, with all due respect to Jalen Crutcher & Co., that sublime offense is primarily a Toppin creation.
One rule of thumb in basketball analysis is that we should be impressed whenever we see a volume dunker. (This isn't rocket science.) Toppin and Udoka Azubuike are the only players on this list averaging three dunks per game, and, to paraphrase a famous line about Ginger Rogers versus Fred Astaire, Toppin is doing it at 6-foot-9 and in the Dayton rotation. In addition, Anthony Grant's sophomore is a serviceable 3-point shooter who defends the rim and shares the ball. Toppin even recorded five steals in just 19 minutes in his most recent outing, against UMass, before rolling his ankle. Fortunately, he was able to return and score 20 against VCU in the Flyers' 14-point win at home over the Rams.
2. Myles Powell, Seton Hall Pirates
Trae Young showed the way. Major-conference coaches are now open to having their star player take fully 40% of the team's shots, and that's what we're seeing this season from both Powell and Markus Howard. What's different in Newark, New Jersey, as opposed to 2018-19's Powellapalooza, however, is that the resulting Seton Hall offense is actually good. Early in Big East play, the Pirates have been the most accurate team in the league (this is uncharted also-ran territory for Jay Wright) despite the fact Powell individually is in a 3-point slump. It turns out his excellent work inside the arc and, particularly, his efforts on defense (both in terms of takeaways and rebounds) have keyed what could be Seton Hall's best season this century. The efforts of Romaro Gill on defense haven't hurt, either.
3. Vernon Carey, Duke Blue Devils
Carey turned in what still ranks as one of the season's top individual performances when, in the ninth game of his career, he reduced the previously vaunted interior defense of Michigan State to a smoldering pile of rubble. The 6-foot-10 freshman rang up a 26-11 double-double (with three blocks) in East Lansing that evening, and it turned out that really wasn't much of an outlier. Coach Mike Krzyzewski has, in effect, put most of his chips on offense on Carey, and the result is a third consecutive Duke team exhibiting national top-10-level performance on both offense and defense.
4. Daniel Oturu, Minnesota Golden Gophers
The most underrated stat for post players might be minutes, and that's where Oturu really shines. It's all well and good that his numbers look impressive across the board, for example, but it's the fact that he can inflict that level of performance on opponents so relentlessly that makes him so valuable to Minnesota. Oturu has been on the floor for 88% of the Gophers' minutes to this point in conference play, and he's coming off a 30-point performance (on 12-of-16 shooting) against Michigan. The sophomore is possibly the most complete player in this season's unusually strong and deep Big Ten, and that's saying something.
Kansas gets out in transition leading to Devon Dotson perfectly setting up Udoka Azubuike for the and-1 layup.
5. Udoka Azubuike, Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas might yet win the national championship this season, and Azubuike is the foundation of the Jayhawks on both offense and defense. By now it's well understood that Azubuike is a dunker par excellence, often on lobs, and that this is a really effective way to score points. On the other side of the ball, one of college basketball's underrated spectating delights in 2020 is watching a hapless opposing player mount yet another doomed drive to the rim when Azubuike is on the floor. As a senior, he's mastered defending without fouling (he's been assessed a fourth foul in a game just twice this season), and the surprising loss to Baylor in Lawrence obscured what would have otherwise been a noteworthy yet emblematic seven-block performance.
6. Markus Howard, Marquette Golden Eagles
The nation's leading scorer at 26.8 points, Howard could conceivably threaten Buddy Hield's major-conference record for 3s in a season (147). Deep runs in both the Big East and NCAA tournaments would certainly help there, but, make no mistake, the senior's combination of volume (four made 3s per game) and accuracy (44%) doesn't come along every day. Howard is also drawing more fouls than ever before and shooting 86% at the line. All of the above plus 43 assists and counting is more than enough to offset the star's inefficient production on 2-point attempts.
7. Jordan Nwora, Louisville Cardinals
Nwora has been on something of a tear since his one bad game (2-of-10 from the field) in the Cardinals' overtime loss to Kentucky. In subsequent outings against Florida State (also a loss), Miami and Notre Dame, he's averaged 23 points and posted two double-doubles. The Cards' offense revolves for the most part around Nwora and Steven Enoch, and the veteran duo is shooting a combined 53% on its high-volume 2-point attempts. NBA scouts reportedly harbor questions regarding the 6-foot-7 junior's defensive potential, but in the present tense coach Chris Mack is reaping high returns. Nwora's production on offense hasn't prevented Louisville from limiting ACC opponents to 43% shooting on their 2s.
Say what you will about the new 3-point line -- it was introduced coincident with (and might yet enrich and extend) a veritable golden age of efficient scoring inside the arc. Zion Williamson set the standard there, of course, and now a good many would-be epigones are following in his wake, including several names already set forth in these rankings. Among all those great interior scorers, however, it's Garza who tops the major-conference list nationally with 7.8 made 2s per game. His two games against Michigan and Penn State in particular are surely fit for inclusion in a 2-point hall of fame: 78 combined points on 45 shots, with just one made 3.
9. Payton Pritchard, Oregon Ducks
Pritchard's metamorphosis from the pass-always role player we saw deferring without exception to Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey in the 2017 Final Four to today's paragon of heroball really makes one wonder what the future might hold for current never-shoot freshmen. It was in this current Iversonian role that the senior memorably sealed Oregon's victory at Michigan, but the highest compliment to be paid to Pritchard might be that both he and his team can now thrive even when his shots aren't falling. A woeful 6-of-21 evening against Arizona, for example, still netted out to 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in a game the Ducks won in overtime.
Cassius Winston scores a career-high 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting as he leads the Spartans to an 87-69 win over the Wolverines.
10. Cassius Winston, Michigan State Spartans
We are here to heap praise upon the most important player on a team that just suffered its worst loss in three years. No, wait, come back! Hear me out. Michigan State's dependence on Winston is indeed aberrant for a Final Four-level team. In fact, we haven't seen a number for possession usage this high on a national champion since Kemba Walker himself. Maybe this fact makes the Spartans unusually susceptible to meltdown on offense -- it certainly looked that way when MSU lost by 29 at Purdue. But the player who carries that load for a group still in first place in the Big Ten clearly merits inclusion here. Winston makes wise basketball decisions and then executes them at breakneck speed.
11. Kamar Baldwin, Butler Bulldogs
Butler has recorded one of the most dramatic and startling season-to-season improvements on defense in memory. Still, Virginia is one of the few teams in the country that's even better on D than the Bulldogs, yet the Cavaliers are foundering on offense and, thus, overall because they don't have someone like Baldwin. The scary part for the rest of the Big East is that LaVall Jordan's team can and will improve on offense when it follows Baldwin's example. The Bulldogs have opened Big East play undefeated, yes, but also with a disastrous turnover rate (24%). When the rest of the team follows its star's low-turnover ways, watch out.
12. Freddie Gillespie, Baylor Bears
It's high time rankings like these made equal time for role players. "Featured scorer" is just a role, too, and teams can't live by leading scorers alone. Well, meet one nominee for national role player of the year: Gillespie has been heroic as the tallest regular for a team that thought it would be getting big minutes from Tristan Clark but hasn't. Baylor won its first two Big 12 games despite numerous turnovers and atrocious shooting thanks not only to excellent defense but also due to superb offensive rebounding supplied by Gillespie and his kindred spirit, Mark Vital. The senior has been invaluable for coach Scott Drew.
13. Precious Achiuwa, Memphis Tigers
Achiuwa is by no means automatic at the line (nor, for that matter, is the player listed earlier at No. 5), and he's not not the last word in terms of generating assists. Still, with those two exceptions, there's not a lot that takes place on a basketball court that the freshman can't deliver for you. In the absence of James Wiseman, Achiuwa has donned the mantle of featured scorer for Memphis and excelled: Achiuwa has connected on 16 of 20 attempts inside the arc just over the past two games. The 6-foot-9 freshman is also a monster of defensive rebounding who alters shots and stays out of foul trouble. The NBA is correct to be keenly interested.
14. Devon Dotson, Kansas Jayhawks
If the hip pointer that has sidelined Dotson this week doesn't slow him down going forward, he's likely to put together a season worthy of comparison to those of KU's most illustrious Bill Self-era point guards. In fact, he might be the fastest player of all in that particular line of succession. The sophomore places a high degree of stress on opposing defenses by accelerating the ball down the center of the floor in transition skillfully and relentlessly. Additionally, Dotson and Marcus Garrett are the most frequent generators of all those lobs Azubuike keeps hammering home for two points. Dotson regularly plays 35-plus minutes, yet he hasn't committed more than three turnovers in a game in over six weeks.
Tre Jones brings the ball up and pulls up for a 3-point bucket to pad Duke's lead over Wake Forest.
15. Tre Jones, Duke Blue Devils
People made kind of a big deal out of Jones last season, which raises the question of what we should do now that the sophomore has, if anything, sharpened his already excellent defense while quite clearly taking a great leap forward on offense. That sounds like kind of a big deal! Jones was faulted for not being able to make 3s last season, and he is now connecting 36% of the time from behind a line that's tougher than it was a year ago (albeit at a low volume). He's more or less the co-second option on offense behind Carey along with Matthew Hurt, an arrangement that, so far, is working quite well for the Blue Devils on both sides of the ball.
16. Zeke Nnaji, Arizona Wildcats
Relative to his average-sized workload in the Arizona offense, Nnaji draws a surprisingly high number of fouls and shoots 80% at the line. That's been a wind in the sails of the Wildcats' attack all season, and, naturally, you already know about the freshman's exceptionally accurate shooting inside the arc. Indeed, "forcing" Nnaji into a 2-point jumper might not be the best strategy, not in light of the fact he's connected 57% of the time on those attempts this season. On an evening when his teammates went 13-of-39 from the floor and Arizona lost by 17 at Oregon State, Nnaji was his usual self, scoring 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
17. Malachi Flynn, San Diego State Aztecs
The intriguing thing about Flynn's featured role with an undefeated team this season is that his individual stats are surprisingly similar to what he did two years ago as a sophomore with (a far from undefeated) Washington State. Then as now, the 6-foot-1 point guard took care of the ball, dished out assists, harassed opposing ball handlers and hit his free throws. The difference in 2020 is that Flynn is doing all of the above while also connecting 42% of the time from beyond the arc. SDSU is due for a slight correction on defense (the Mountain West won't continue to shoot 26% on its 3s against the Aztecs), but, as long as Flynn is at the controls, Brian Dutcher's team is the real thing.
18. Nick Richards, Kentucky Wildcats
Richards might be on the cusp of big things, or, alternately, maybe he's enjoying a hot streak against so-so competition. In the past 11 days, he's scored 51 points on 63% shooting inside the arc against Missouri, Georgia and Alabama. During that same span, the 6-foot-11 junior also blocked nine shots while having his way on the offensive glass. Is this the surge Kentucky fans have long been expecting from the No. 17 player nationally in the recruiting class of 2017? Possibly, and those fans will be even happier if Richards can capture all of the above gains while reducing his foul rate.
Taz Sherman throws the no-look pass to Oscar Tshiebwe for the monster two-handed jam.
19. Oscar Tshiebwe, West Virginia Mountaineers
To say Tshiebwe is a player of extremes is putting it mildly. On one hand, he committed four fouls in eight minutes and scored zero points against Ohio State. On the other, the 6-foot-9 freshman snagged 17 rebounds in just 25 minutes to go along with four blocks in West Virginia's 12-point victory at home over Texas Tech last weekend. With both Tshiebwe and Derek Culver, it's telling to ponder what each player's rebound percentages might look like alongside a more normal teammate. The Mountaineers are going to be a handful for any Big 12 opponent, and no sentient basketball fan will want to miss Tshiebwe and Culver taking on Gillespie and Vital when WVU and Baylor collide next month.
20. Filip Petrusev, Gonzaga Bulldogs
In a season where Gonzaga said farewell to four starters from an Elite Eight team, Mark Few has handed the bulk of this offense's possessions (though not minutes) to Petrusev. The 6-foot-11 sophomore has responded by scoring at a high volume in the paint and doing the bulk of the work on the defensive glass for the Bulldogs. Petrusev will spend the next few weeks marauding through the West Coast Conference to pleasing statistical effect, but his 22-15 double-double in a hard-fought overtime win against Oregon in November additionally suggests he'll be ready to face whatever the NCAA tournament bracket throws at the Zags.
21. Tyrese Haliburton, Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State certainly didn't envision losing seven of its first 14 games (including a still-incomprehensible defeat at home to Florida A&M), but at least Haliburton has performed to expectations. The sophomore entered the season with all the buzz of a projected first-round NBA draft pick, and he has made those evaluators look wise. His assists, shot selection and defense have all met or exceeded what was anticipated from the point guard, even in an uneven season for the Cyclones. In a characteristic outing, Haliburton put up 15 points to go along with eight assists and three steals in Iowa State's 81-68 victory over Oklahoma in Ames last weekend.
22. Tres Tinkle, Oregon State Beavers
If there were an award for multiseason consistency, you could do far worse than Oregon State's star. Since he returned from an injury-shortened sophomore year, Tinkle has been a model of both stability and versatility. Now, as a 6-foot-7 senior, he is once again the Beavers' leading scorer, their best defensive rebounder and, along with Ethan Thompson, their best creator of assists. Pac-12 opponents have connected on 40% of their 3s against the Beavers, but, if that luck should eventually turn, Tinkle and his teammates plainly have the ability to win games with their production on offense.
23. Austin Wiley, Auburn Tigers
Wiley is averaging a mere 20 minutes, but he certainly does get his money's worth from those fleeting appearances. The 6-foot-11 senior is possibly the best all-around rebounder in Division I, and he's an outstanding shot-blocker as well. Whether he could maintain his robust rate stats over longer periods of time is an open question: Wiley has logged more than 25 minutes just three times in 66 career games. Nor is foul trouble customarily the culprit. Instead, coach Bruce Pearl simply prefers to run Wiley for 18 to 22 minutes, and, truth be known, Pearl is undefeated. Maybe he and Wiley are on to something.
24. Onyeka Okongwu, USC Trojans
At a listed height of 6-foot-9, Okongwu is putting up the kind of numbers for blocks and rebounds more commonly associated players who are three or four inches taller. His 27-12 double-double at Washington State earlier this month required just 14 shot attempts and included three blocks. Okongwu is currently showing up as a borderline first-round pick for 2020, and, should he return by some chance for the Trojans next season, he will quite rightly be a popular choice for preseason honors both in the Pac-12 and nationally.
25. Nathan Knight, William & Mary Tribe
In November, Knight went off for 30 points on 13-of-18 shooting in a true road game at Oklahoma. He has always been able to score in the paint, and now the 6-foot-11 senior has developed an adequate 3-point stroke. Which is all well and good, but will Knight be able to get the Tribe into the NCAA tournament? They've been playing hoops in Williamsburg, Virginia, for more than a century, yet William & Mary has never once heard its name (or names) called on Selection Sunday. Perhaps this will be the year (Charleston and Hofstra will have something to say about that). At a minimum, Dane Fischer's team has a shot.