The new college basketball season is coming our way this November so it’s high time to check on some of the players we should watch out for. We begin with the little floor generals AKA the point guards. Read on for our list of Top 10 basketball quarterbacks of the 2015-2015 NCAA season below.
Meanwhile, check out our list of the top 10 shooting guards and top 10 centers in college basketball this season.
[sc:MultiSportArticles ]Best College Basketball Point Guards of the 2015-16 NCAA Season
10.Cat Barber (NC State)
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]While Barber may have landed on a lot of folks’ radars because of the Wolfpack’s upset of No. 1 seed Villanova in the previous National Tournament, it can’t be denied that the he has always been a damn good player.
He’s not going to flood his stat line with assists—he averaged 3.7 assists per game in 2014-2015—but he’s a combo guard, who could inflict damage on opposing defenses by straight up scoring on them. Barber was part of NC State’s three-headed guard attack last season, but with Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner now out of the picture, NC State fans can expect the junior to improve on his 2014-2015 averages of 12.1 PPG and 3.7 APG.
9. Tyrone Wallace (California)
Wallace was a do-it-all guard last season for the Bears, whom he led in points (17.1), assists (4.0), steals (1.3), and even rebounds (7.1). In other words, he’s California’s mini-version of LeBron James in the 2015 NBA Finals. Wallace failed to propel the Bears to the National Tournament, though it wasn’t for the lack of trying, as his stat line suggests.
Wallace will be surrounded by much better talent this time around with the arrival of five-star recruits Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb, but the pressure is still on Wallace to pull this team together and finish way higher than eighth-place in the Pac-12.
8. Frank Mason III (Kansas)
The Jayhawks have a stranglehold on the Big 12, and they’re aiming for their 12th consecutive regular season title in the coming 2015-2016 campaign. And if Kansas ever pulls it off, it’ll largely be because of Mason. Mason saw his minutes more than double in his sophomore year, going from 16.2 MPG in his freshman season to 33.5 MPG. In fact, he led the entire Big 12 in minutes with 1,207 overall.
He didn’t disappoint Bill Self’s trust, as he pumped out 12.6 PPG, made 3.9 APG, and ranked sixth in the conference in win shares (4.7). A smart player, Mason should see his role grow even more in the team.
7. Tyler Ulis (Kentucky)
Someone has to inherit the place left by the Harrison Twins at the point guard position and it’ll be Ulis. Kentucky, which is +700 to win the 2016 National Tournament, has seen a number of key players leave for the NBA, but you know how it is with John Calipari: he simply replaces them with another horde of five-star recruits. And with the likes of Jamal Murray, Isaiah Briscoe and Skal Labissiere coming to town, the door is open for Ulis to be the man to run the show in Lexington. Last season, Ulis put up 5.6 PPG and made 3.6 APG in 23.8 MPG.
6. Fred VanVleet (Wichita State)
VanVleet was, to some extent, overlooked in the previous seasons due to him playing in a mid-major conference. But for those who really appreciate talent, it’s hard to ignore what the incoming senior has done in his years playing for the Shockers. Last season, VanVleet was the quarterback of a Wichita State team that reached the Big Dance for the fourth year in a row, averaging 13.6 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 1.9 SPG.
A lot will be on the shoulders of VanVleet given that the Shockers only have one more season of him playing alongside backcourt partner Ron Baker.
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5. Yogi Ferrell (Indiana)
Ferrell isn’t your typical point guard. He was fourth in the Big Ten in assists last season with 4.9 dimes a game but he’s also a talented scorer who can also get it done by driving to the hoop or pulling up for jumpers. His scoring dipped a bit last season, though, going from 17.3 PPG to 16.3, but there should be no doubt about Ferrell’s role in the Hoosiers’ offense that ranked 18th in the nation last season with 77.5 PPG.
4. Melo Trimble (Maryland)
If we’re going to talk about Big Ten guards, we have to sit down and dedicate a couple of minutes discussing Melo Trimble. The sophomore guard is a big reason why the Terps are seeded No. 1 in the nation. He led Maryland in scoring in his freshman year, generating 15.7 PPG on 44% field goal shooting.
Trimble’s got issues in taking care of the leather, as he committed 86 turnovers last season, but that’s something he can fix moving forward into what could be his last year in college.
3. Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame)
Jackson is coming off an impressive season in which he recorded 12.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.1 APG, and 1.6 SPG. On top of those, he also had a 50% field goal shooting, which just goes to show how efficient Jackson was. And if he could produce all those numbers while playing second-fiddle to Jerian Grant, then just imagine the figures he’ll put up now that Grant has gone pro.
2. Marcus Paige (North Carolina)
Despite seeing his numbers regress in his junior year, there’s little doubt that Paige can bounce back big this coming season—provided that he’s healthy. Paige was slowed down by an ankle injury last season that required surgery, which explains why he had lower numbers of 14.1 PPG and 41.3 FG% than what he had in his second year.
His health problems didn’t stop there, as he’s slated to miss the start of the season because of a hand injury. All that being said, Paige remains the best player in the best team in the nation per The Associated Press Top 25. That’s saying a lot.
1. Kris Dunn (Providence)
Dunn is probably the most talked about point guard this offseason—and for all the right reasons. For one, he’s fresh off being named as the 2015-2016 Big East Preseason Player of the Year. After getting hurt in his first two seasons in Providence, Dunn showed how destructive of a force he can be when healthy by averaging 15.6 PPG and 7.5 APG (second in the nation) in his junior year.
He’s also proven to be a defensive menace, as he swiped the ball for 2.7 times a game, fourth in the nation. Dunn also won the Big East Player of the Year honors last season. He’s yet to reach his ceiling of course, and if he could just cut down on his turnovers, he’ll become an even more terrifying guard to deal with for opponents.
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