March Madness: 25 best players remaining in the NCAA Tournament
By Logan Butts
Daxter Miles – West Virginia
Between Carter and Miles, the Mountaineers have the second best combination of experience and talent in their backcourt. When both are ramping up the defensive pressure and turning it into offensive buckets, West Virginia is hard to defeat.
Svi Mykhailiuk – Kansas
The second piece of the best backcourt duo in terms of experience and talent in the tournament. Svi is deadly from deep and a game-changer when he’s hot.
Zach Norvell, Jr. – Gonzaga
I almost gave this spot to Killian Tillie, but Norvell has brought his A+ game for the tournament. Norvell was one of the stars of the first week, and the Zags will need him to continue to play that way in order to make it back to the title game.
Marcquise Reed – Clemson
Of all the players on the list, it feels as if Reed has been talked about the least. But, he certainly belongs as the best overall player on a quietly strong Clemson squad.
Dean Wade – Kansas State
A last-minute addition to the list as reports was surfacing that Wade might play in the Battle of the Wildcats. If Wade does play, Kansas State to its first Elite Eight since the days of Jacob Pullen.
Moritz Wagner – Michigan
After last year’s coming out party in Michigan’s run to the Sweet 16, Wagner and the Wolverines find themselves back. And Wagner is even better.
Jonathan Williams – Gonzaga
Another year, another Gonzaga run in the tournament led by a transfer named Williams. Jonathan Williams is not quite as good as Nigel Williams-Goss, but he has been stellar for the Bulldogs.
Next: The Top 100 Players of the Tournament
There were several tough cuts from this list. The last 10ish spots were splitting hairs. I would like to give a special shoutout to the top performer of the first week, Rob Gray, who will sadly be sitting at home this weekend.