24 Players That Could Decide Championship Week

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AJ Dybantsa (BYU): The freshman forward is the only player on our list not on a team with a top-5 seed in its conference tournament because he can take over any game and lead the Cougars to a victory over anyone. Dybantsa is first in the nation at 24.7 points per game and scored 35 against Arizona, 29 against Iowa State and 28 against Houston this year.

Brayden Burries (Arizona): Burries leads the No. 2 Wildcats in scoring at 16.0 points per game and shoots nearly 50% from the field. The freshman guard adapted to college basketball almost from the start, as he’s played 24+ minutes in all but two games this season — the first and fifth games of his career.

Emanuel Sharp (Houston): In the postseason experience matters more, and in a conference full of starring freshmen, the Cougars’ senior could be the deciding factor in the title chase. The guard is second on Houston with 15.8 points per game (behind freshman Kingston Flemings’ 16.5), three more per game than he averaged in each of the past two seasons.

Jeremy Fears Jr. (Michigan State): The sophomore guard ended the regular season with three straight 21+ point efforts and led the Spartans with 15.5 points to go along with a conference-best 9.1 assists. Two of his three highest-point totals of the season came against Michigan (31) and Illinois (26).

Yaxel Lendeborg (Michigan): The Wolverines don’t have a dominant offensive performer, they have just four players averaging double-figures and Lendeborg leads the way with 14.7, but the third-ranked team in the country has seven who put in at least eight per game. The senior UAB transfer ended the regular season with a 27-point performance in a win over Michigan State, the most he scored since dropping 29 against Maryland in December.

Keaton Wagler (Illinois): Wagler finished the regular season 12th in the conference in scoring at 18.1 per night. The freshman lost some steam to end the campaign, finishing with 11 or fewer in three of five, but scored 23 (including 3-6 from three) in a loss to Michigan 11 days ago.

Labaron Philon Jr. (Alabama): He’s followed up a solid-but-inconsistent freshman campaign by more than doubling his scoring average from 10.6 to 21.5, good for third in the conference. The guard has shot 50%+ from the field in five of his last six games.

Thomas Haugh (Florida): The defending champions have won 10 straight and 15 of 16, while Haugh has scored 20+ points in three of four for the third time this season. The junior forward chips in 6.1 rebounds a game, the third-most among the conference’s top-15 scorers.

Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas): The freshman leads the SEC with 22.2 points per game on nearly 50% shooting, while also pacing the conference with 6.4 assists a contest. He scored 49 points in a double overtime loss at Alabama in mid-February, but put in just 17 in a 31.6% shooting night in a blowout loss to Florida 10 days ago. One thing to watch: Acuff Jr. missed the final game of the regular season with an ankle injury.

Cameron Boozer (Duke): The best player on the No. 1 team in the country averages 22.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. The freshman forward finished the regular season with back-to-back 26-point performances, shooting nearly 59% in a win over UNC and 80% in a blowout against NC State.

Thijs De Ridder (Virginia): The Cavaliers finished second at 15-3 in the conference in large part because of their freshman, who averaged 15.9 points on over 51% shooting from the field. The forward from Belgium added 6.3 rebounds per game, and after three early-February matchups in a row scoring nine points or fewer has put in 13+ in his las six.

Malik Reneau (Miami): Finishing the regular season averaging 19.0 points per game, good for sixth in the ACC, the Hurricanes’ senior leader needs to step up for his team to have a chance to (likely) face Duke in the ACC title game. Miami is just 1-4 against top-25 teams and didn’t face the Blue Devils in the regular season, but Reneau’s 86 career starts should come in handy in a young league.

Zuby Ejiofor (St. John’s): The Big East’s seventh-leading scorer led the Red Storm to a regular season conference championship with 16 points and 7 rebounds per game. The senior scored forward scored 21 and 23 points to end the season, and if Ejiofor faces UConn in the conference title game he’ll be looking to make up for his six-point performance in a 72-40 blowout loss.

Tarris Reed Jr. (UConn): With Huskies’ leading scorer Solo Ball fading a bit to end the season (he scored under 10 points in three of the last five), Reed Jr. has picked up the slack. The senior center notched double-doubles in four of his past five games, including the last three — increasing his average to 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.

Tyler Perkins (Villanova): Other than being completely shut down by St. John’s at the end of February (3 points on 1-5 shooting), the junior guard has been remarkably consistent over the second half of the season. Perkins scored 15+ in 13 of his past 15 games.

Dion Brown (Saint Louis): The Billikens were on fire and running away in the Atlantic 10 before going 3-3 to end the season, but the senior guard went above his regular-season scoring average in four of those six games. He’ll likely need to continue leading the offense with senior center Robbie Avila ending the year inconsistently.

Lazar Djokovic (VCU): He was second on his team and 13th in the conference with 13.8 points per game, but the junior from Serbia ended the regular season as his team’s leader on offense, scoring 11+ in eight of the final nine games, including 19 in a loss to Saint Louis.

Jaiden Glover-Toscano (Saint Joseph’s): The St. John’s transfer found at home with the Hawks, improving from 2.2 points per game last season and no starts in 22 appearances to 15.8 this year (sixth-most in the conference) and starting 29 games. The sophomore guard scored 21+ in three of the final five games to help lead his team to six straight wins to end the regular season.

Kenyon Giles (Wichita State): The senior guard finished second in the American with 19.4 points per game in his first season with the Shockers. He ended the regular season on a scoring run, putting in 22+ in six of seven with a 24.7 average during the stretch.

Wes Enis (South Florida): Enis led the Bulls to the conference’s regular season title, pacing his team in scoring in his first year of Division I college basketball. The junior went for 20+ points in five of his final six games, all victories. South Florida is on a nine-game winning streak and has won 12 of 13.

David Green (Tulsa): The senior transfer leads his team with 16.5 points per game and eight 20+ point games. Green scored a career-high 34 points in a loss to South Florida in January.

MJ Collins Jr. (Utah State): The senior guard leads the top-seeded Aggies in scoring at 17.6 points per game. He’s coming off a 27-point performance on 7-14 shooting in a win against New Mexico that guaranteed the regular season title.

Jaden Henley (Grand Canyon): The third-leading scorer in the conference put in 19.7 points per game over his last seven regular-season contests, two more than his season average. The senior guard scored 22 in a five-point loss at Utah State 10 days ago, when he was 7-11 from two but 1-6 from three-point range.

Corey Camper Jr. (Nevada): Camper Jr. scored 20 points when the Wolfpack upset Utah State in late February and followed it up with another 20 in a win over New Mexico, so he knows how to score against the Mountain West’s best. He has three 30-point games in conference play.