NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of Alaska of last decade

2. JT Thor

Though technically born in Omaha, Thor moved to Alaska at a very young age and lived there until attending high school in West Virginia and prep school in Georgia. He chose to continue his playing career at Auburn, spending just a single season with the Tigers during the 2020-21 campaign. A talented 6’10 forward, Thor got every chance to make an impact at Auburn.

He started all 27 games of his only collegiate season, totaling 9.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Thor had a career-high 24 points in a close loss at Kentucky late in the year, while also having several games with 4 blocks. He was among the league leaders in the SEC in blocks and was one of the best rebounders on that Auburn squad.

After that first season, Thor declared for the NBA Draft and was selected in the second round by the Detroit Pistons. His career was short, and there was certainly potential for him to develop into an even better scorer and shot-blocker, but he proved that potential. He appeared in a limited role during his rookie season with the Charlotte Hornets. He was a great tool for Bruce Pearl, but had the misfortunate of playing on an Auburn team that struggled and finished under .500 on the season.