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

9. Bentiu Panoam – North Dakota

Born in Anchorage, Panoam played the last four seasons at North Dakota in the Summit League, finding himself likely in similar conditions at times as native Alaska. Previously, he spent a single season at Northwest Kansas Tech, averaging double-digits at the junior college level. At North Dakota, he was a role player with limited minutes his first two seasons of college ball but worked his way into the rotation and was a full-time starter in his senior season this past year.

Panoam saw limited action those first two seasons, but averaged 9.4 points per game his junior year. The guard started every game for the Fighting Hawks this past season, averaging 7.4 points and 1.8 assists per game on the year. Among his best moments was an 18-point outburst in his fourth career game. During his junior year, he scored 47 combined points in back-to-back games against South Dkakota, notching the only two games of his career scoring more than 20 points.

Panoam led the Fighting Hawks in assists this past season and was clearly one of their key cogs, though the team did struggle, winning just 6 games and finishing at the bottom of the Summit League. Regardless, Panoam’s impact was felt during his time in North Dakota and he certainly took advantage of the opportunities he was given, starting the last 43 games of his career and developing into a solid guard.