Kyle Collinsworth is the Most Underrated Player in the NCAA

Under any other circumstances, BYU Cougars guard Kyle Collinsworth would be getting a whole lot more ink for the kind of season he is turning in.

Maybe the reason he is not getting the national respect for the season he is putting in is because he is playing in the West Coast Conference and the Cougars are 9-4 on the season.

Regardless of the reasoning, we need to take the time to recognize one of the best all-around players in college basketball and the numbers that he is turning in on a game-to-game basis.

Through 13 games this season, Kyle Collinsworth has averaged 14.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.4 assists, per contest.

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Those numbers can be put up against some of the nations most recognizable names.

For example, Michigan State Spartans Guard Denzel Valentine is averaging a few more points at 18.5 points per contest, but his 8.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists are numbers that Collinsworth can relate to.

Providence Friars point guard Kris Dunn is averaging 16.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.3 assists. Those numbers are also pretty comparable to what Collinsworth is getting done in Provo.

The difference between Dunn, Valentine, and Collinsworth, is that Dunn and Valentine are being considered for National Player of the Year while Kyle Collinsworth is not in any kind of talks for those accolades.

Maybe if BYU had a better record he would be getting that kind of ink, or better yet, if Collinsworth was shooting the three-pointer at a better clip than 17.6%, then maybe we would be hearing his name a little bit more.

His contribution is not going to go unnoticed though. It is kind of hard not to notice when a guard has accumulated five double-doubles and one triple-double this early in the season including coming off of contributing 12 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists against Northern Iowa in a 84-76 Cougars win.

Collinsworth has had 10 or more assists four times this season as well, which tells you that the Cougars offense depends a lot on his ability to create for his teammates.

But it also helps that despite Collinworth’s flaws shooting from beyond the arc, he is still shooting a very respectable 45.4% from the field meaning his penetration and mid-range game is working.

Kyle Collinsworth has come a long way from his ACL injury in 2014. He has since set the NCAA record for triple-doubles and continues to build on it.

It is going to be interesting to see if all of the hard work is going to get him a shot at playing in the NBA next season. Though he is not projected to be drafted in the 2016 NBA Draft you can bet that he is going to get an invite to play on some franchises’ Summer League team and possibly get some run during the preseason.

He has the size at 6-foot-6, 210 pounds to be an effective player. It is just a matter of his foot speed and athleticism being up to par so he can compete on the NBA level.

The fact of the matter is that if we are going on sheer numbers and effort, Kyle Collinsworth is one of the best players in the country. The only thing is that he is really not getting the recognition that he deserves this season which is not his fault at all.

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That is why Kyle Collinsworth has to be the most underrated player in college basketball this season.

His numbers are comparable to some of this season’s elite college basketball players. That is simply the truth.

BYU Cougars: Kyle Collinsworth is the Most Underrated Player in College Basketball

By James Fitzgerald | Dec 28, 2015

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