NCAA Basketball: Top 25 international players of 2019-20 season
By TJ Miller
International players in NCAA Basketball continue to make a huge impact. So who deserves a spot in the top 25 for the 2019-20 season?
Did you know over 600 international players have played minutes this NCAA Basketball season? Do a little mental math with me. 600 players divided by 353 teams and we get a little over 1.5. So on average, each team has one or two International players making key contributions. And while the sheer amount of players coming from outside the United States is pretty cool if you ask me, the level of quality is what is really impressive.
Last season I had some fun coming up with All-Continent Teams using only international guys. For 2019-20, I took a stab at ranking my top 25. Shaving down the list was far more tricky than coming up with worthy candidates. So before we get to the list, I’ll give a few shout outs.
First, Charles Bassey only played ten games before having a season-ending injury. But, the Nigerian native was tearing it up for Western Kentucky and hopefully, he can return to full strength. Also, South Florida’s Alexis Yetna deserves a mention. The sophomore from Paris saw his season end before it even started and it’s too bad because Yetna had a splendid 2018-19 season.
On a happier note, I’d be doing a disservice to Stephen F. Austin and all that’s good and lovely if I failed to bring up Nathan Bain’s heroic last-second layup to beat Duke at Cameron. You’ve probably seen it but it wouldn’t hurt to pay more homage to the Bahamian’s magic moment.
Finally, when in doubt I opted to include lessor known players from smaller conferences over some guys you’ve probably seen or heard of more. Also, I considered Puerto Rico to be international because, even though it’s technically an unincorporated territory of the United States, I needed to honor a couple of phenomenal Puerto Rican players. With that, let’s get to the list!