Busting Brackets
Fansided

NCAA Basketball: Best mid-major players of the 21st Century

By Logan Butts

GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 18: C.J. McCollum #3 of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks reacts in the second half against the Xavier Musketeers during the third round of the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 18, 2012 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 18: C.J. McCollum #3 of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks reacts in the second half against the Xavier Musketeers during the third round of the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 18, 2012 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 16: Jon Elmore #33 of the Marshall Thundering Herd reacts after a three point basket in the second half against the Wichita State Shockers during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena on March 16, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 16: Jon Elmore #33 of the Marshall Thundering Herd reacts after a three point basket in the second half against the Wichita State Shockers during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena on March 16, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Big West

Cal Poly: Varnie Dennis

Cal State Fullerton: Josh Akognon

Cal State Northridge: Stephen Maxwell

Hawaii: Carl English (shoutout Stefan Janković)

Long Beach State: Casper Ware

UC Davis: Corey Hawkins

UC Irvine: Jerry Green

UCSB: Alan Williams (shoutout to Orlando Johnson)

Carl English forever. Also, Long Beach State had quite a three-year run.

CAA

College of Charleston: Andrew Goudelock

Delaware: Devon Saddler

Drexel: Frantz Massenat

Hofstra: Charles Jenkins (shoutout Loren Stokes)

James Madison: Ron Curry

Northeastern: J. J. Barea

Townson: Jerrelle Benimon

UNC Wilmington: Brett Blizzard

William & Mary: Marcus Thornton

Blizzard and Goudelock were about as lights out as it gets.

C-USA

UAB: Aaron Johnson

Florida Atlantic: Greg Gantt

Louisiana Tech: Speedy Smith

Marshall: Jon Elmore

MTSU: Reggie Upshaw (Shoutouts to Nick King and JaCorey Williams)

UNC Charlotte: Eddie Basden

North Texas: Tony Mitchell

Old Dominion: Alex Loughton (shoutout to Kent Bazemore)

Rice: Morris Almond

Southern Miss: Jeremy Wise

UTEP: Stefon Jackson (shoutout to Randy Culpepper)

UTSA: Devin Gibson

Western Kentucky: Courtney Lee (shoutout  to Orlando Méndez-Valdez)

MTSU has been my favorite multi-year mid-major run of the past several years.

Horizon

Cleveland State: Norris Cole

Detroit: Ray McCallum Jr.

Green Bay: Keifer Sykes

IUPUI: George Hill

Milwaukee: Ed McCants

Northern Kentucky: Drew McDonald

Oakland: Keith Benson

UIC: Cedrick Banks

Wright State: DaShaun Wood

Ditto Lillard’s lack of NCAA Tournament chances for Sykes. Also, Cole was so cool at Cleveland State.

Ivy League

Brown: Earl Hunt

Cornell: Ryan Wittman

Dartmouth: Alex Barnett

Harvard: Wesley Saunders (shoutout to Jeremy Lin)

Penn: Ibrahim Jaaber

Princeton: Ian Hummer

Yale: Justin Sears

The Ivy League produced more quality players this century than I had remembered. Solid group.

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