NCAA Basketball: 6 mid-major players who should be on 2021-22 radar
The quality of the depth of NCAA Basketball is hitting a new high point in the 2021-22 season. The gap between traditional power conferences and mid-major conferences continues to shrink, leaving us with increasingly more potential Cinderella teams every season.
Mid-major basketball is highlighted every March as the upsets flow in, but it consistently delivers throughout the college basketball season. Some of the most talented and entertaining players in the country do their work at the mid-major level, often receiving far-too-little notice for their frequently spectacular performances.
This is not an exhaustive list but rather one intended to recognize and appreciate several deserving players and teams before they make a Cinderella run in March.
Darius McGhee, Liberty
In an era of basketball often characterized by high-level guard play and 3-point shooting, Darius McGhee’s skillset makes him a must-watch for college basketball fans.
The senior point guard ranks third in Division I in scoring at 23.0 points per game, but what truly jumps off the page is his efficiency in putting up those numbers. McGhee shoots more than 10 threes a game—the most in the country—yet he manages to hit over 40% of those shots. He also ranks first in the nation in “percentage of shots taken” per KenPom, meaning that he takes a higher percentage of his team’s total shots than any other player in the country. Despite being such a volume shooter, he has an eFG% of 71.4%, a top-five mark in the Atlantic Sun.
There are two players with multiple 40-point games this season: McGhee and Isiaih Mosley of Missouri State. McGhee also has nine games with 5+ 3-pointers made, the most in the country.
At just 5’9”, McGhee warrants flashbacks of Campbell’s Chris Clemons, who also stood at 5’9″ yet finished his career (2015-19) with the third-most points and fifth-most made 3-pointers in the history of Division I men’s college basketball. McGhee’s ability to put up points in bunches and stretch the defense to absurd lengths with his shooting is exceedingly reminiscent of Clemons’ legendary career for the Fighting Camels.
Liberty has made each of the last two NCAA Tournaments and looks like the favorite in the Atlantic Sun once again this season. It’s also worth mentioning that they were 30-4 and had already won the ASUN Tournament in 2020 before the season was cut short by COVID-19.
The Flames pulled off an upset in the 2019 NCAA Tournament and are capable of repeating that this season, powered by the explosive offensive potential of their soon-to-be repeat ASUN Player of the Year in Darius McGhee.