Few things are more thrilling than the final moments of a close NCAA Basketball game, especially one during March Madness. It’s in these battles that history is made, with standout performances or shots that live forever in infamy. The bottom line is that the NCAA Tournament delivers on a regular basis, and we never know who will be in position to make or attempt these shots.
It’s no doubt a dream for millions of young players around the country to be in that position, to not only play basketball collegiately but to star in the NCAA Tournament. For now, we’re continuing our ongoing series that looks at the best college basketball players from each individual state from the last decade. We’re nearly halfway through the series, going alphabetically through the states, but today we land in Massachusetts.
Basketball in New England is no joke and the state of Massachusetts has produced a number of highly-talented basketball players in recent years. Clearly, there isn’t the same depth of potential players as a bigger state like California or Texas, but you’ll find that there are still some pretty impressive names on this list today. It’s important to remember that this is not an article about the Minutemen or UMass, it’s an article about players from this state.
These are the players who got the chance to have their magical moment, with some of them remaining legends of the game for their efforts. They all came from the state of Massachusetts, which for our purposes means that their hometowns are from the state. There are actually a lot of today’s players who went to high school out of state, but it’s all about where they’re from, not where they were born or went to school before college. Knowing there are some great players ahead, let’s start running through the ten names on the list.
10. Terance Mann – Florida State
This 6’7 guard from Lowell attended high school in New Hampshire but found himself far from home during a successful college career. Mann spent four seasons at Florida State under Leonard Hamilton, arriving on campus in 2015 and departing as one of the most successful Seminoles of the last decade.
Mann was a decent piece off the bench as a freshman before developing into a starter in his final three seasons. He averaged 12.6 points per game as a junior and helped lead Florida State to the Elite Eight, with an 18-point performance in an upset win over Gonzaga. During a productive senior season, Mann’s numbers were just as impressive, and he helped the Seminoles to the Sweet Sixteen, with a 19-point effort over Vermont.
Mann was an important piece on a pair of very talented Florida State teams that had success in the Big Dance. He was on the NCAA Tournament All-Region team during that junior season and put up very solid rebounding and free throw numbers. A late second-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, he’s become an important piece on the Los Angeles Clippers across these last three seasons.
9. Marcus Zegarowski – Creighton
Next up, we look closely at a 6’2 guard who shined in the Big East. Zegarowski is a native of Hamilton who actually spent the end of high school career at the same New Hampshire school as Mann, the previous name on this list. Zegarowski arrived at Creighton in 2018, spent most of his career as a starter for the Bluejays, and left campus three years later after some marvelous contributions.
Zegarowski became a starter halfway through his freshman season and had some nice performances down the stretch, including in a pair of NIT games to end the year. He averaged 16.1 points and 5.0 assists across an impressive sophomore season that was cut short by the pandemic. In his final collegiate campaign, he helped lead Creighton to the Sweet Sixteen, including a 20-point performance in a second round in over Ohio.
Honored as All-Big East Second Team as a sophomore, his tremendous junior year saw him named to the First Team in the Big East. During that junior season, Zegarowski led the Big East in 3-point field goals and assists, asserting himself as one of the best guards in the country. He was taken late in the 2021 NBA Draft and spent much of last season with the Brooklyn Nets’ G-League squad, hoping to continue his basketball career in the future.
8. Bonzie Colson – Notre Dame
A talented 6’5 forward from New Bedford, Colson was an unheralded prospect who spent his high school days under the radar in Rhode Island. He managed to catch the attention of the Notre Dame staff, arrived on campus in 2014, and spent four pretty productive seasons with the Fighting Irish.
Colson played minimally as a freshman but did appear in each game as Notre Dame advanced to the Elite Eight in 2015. He then became a full-time starter, with a 31-point, 11-rebound effort in a win over defending champ Duke, and a number of efforts in the program’s return trip to the Elite Eight. Colson was even more productive at the tail end of his collegiate career, averaging 17.8 and 19.7 points in his junior and senior seasons respectively, all while averaging more than double-digit rebounds.
This double-double machine led the ACC in rebounding as a junior and was named All-ACC First Team. His senior season saw him miss major time with a foot injury or he likely would have repeated those same honors. He had a very productive career for the Fighting Irish and was part of those two runs to the Elite Eight, becoming a great weapon for Mike Brey’s squad. Undrafted after the season, Colson has spent much of the last four years playing basketball professionally, including a very brief stint with the Milwaukee Bucks.
7. Jalen Adams – Connecticut
Adams was a Top 20 prospect and this 6’3 guard from Roxbury had high expectations when he arrived on campus at Connecticut. He had starred at three different high schools, including the final one in New Hampshire, before committing to join the Huskies, playing from 2015 to 2019. He wasn’t part of any of the program’s recent success, but Adams was still a formidable basketball presence.
The highlight of his freshman season was hitting a three-quarter court shot to force a fourth overtime in an AAC Tournament win over Cincinnati. After that, he spent three seasons as a full-time starter, becoming the Huskies’ most important offensive weapon in his later seasons. As a junior, he averaged 18.1 points and 4.7 assists per game, with his career-high coming the year before in a 34-point outburst during the Maui Invitational.
Adams was an important piece for the Huskies in one of their less impressive stretches of time, with him receiving All-AAC honors three times, including First Team honors as a sophomore. He sits on many AAC leaderboards, including for points, assists, and steals, though the conference remains less than a decade old. Adams was an important piece for UConn and has spent the last three years playing professional basketball, most recently over in Israel.
6. Jermaine Samuels – Villanova
A top 50 recruit five years ago, Samuels may not have had the star power but certainly made his presence felt at the collegiate level. A 6’7 forward from Franklin, he spent the last five seasons playing basketball at Villanova under Jay Wright, winning a national championship in his freshman season before turning into a reliable starter in the Wildcats’ frontcourt.
Samuels barely played during that national title run, but was a four-year starter after that, including the bonus COVID season. He had a 29-point performance as a sophomore against Marquette and had a number of nice performances in the NCAA Tournament. Samuels helped lead the Wildcats to a pair of Big East Tournament titles and was instrumental in their Final Four run this past March. He averaged double-digit points per game in his last three seasons.
He had impressive performances for the Wildcats, and led the conference in interior shooting during his junior season. Samuels didn’t win any prestigious conference awards and he wasn’t exactly the top name during those title runs, but he was an important piece for Wright’s final Villanova squads. He was not drafted but has had some offseason run with the Indiana Pacers, hoping to continue his career professionally in the coming months.
5. Nerlens Noel – Kentucky
Our third (and not final) Massachusetts player who attended Tilton School in New Hampshire, Noel was a 6’10 forward who was expected to be a star. The top-rated prospect in the 2012 class, he was recruited by John Calipari and played his only season of collegiate ball at Kentucky, hoping to lead a Wildcats team fresh off a national championship run.
Noel averaged 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 4.4 blocks per game, putting up extremely impressive numbers, but the season was a slight disappointment. He tore his ACL in February, putting an abrupt end to a fantastic freshman campaign. Among his impressive performances was a 12-block game against Ole Miss and a 19-point, 14-rebound effort at Texas A&M. Unfortunately, without Noel, the Wildcats didn’t even make the Big Dance.
Despite missing the last nine games of the season, Noel led the SEC in blocks and was named All-SEC First Team, SEC Rookie of the Year, and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Noel was a tremendous talent with rare shot-blocking ability and was a fantastic weapon on the defensive end. Despite that injury, he was drafted with the 6th pick of the 2013 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and continues to play in the league.
4. Michael Carter-Williams – Syracuse
He didn’t spend long in the college game, but Carter-Williams made his two seasons at Syracuse count. A 6’6 guard originally from Hamilton, he was a four-star recruit, among the top 30 prospects from the class of 2011. Carter-Williams played those seasons under the great Jim Boeheim at Syracuse and helped lead the Orange to one of their memorable years in program history.
After coming off the bench as a freshman, Carter-Williams settled into the backcourt not only as a starter but a star for the Orange. During that sophomore year, he averaged 11.9 points and 7.3 assists per game and helped lead the Orange on a Final Four run. Along the way, he scored a career-high 24 points in their Sweet Sixteen win over Indiana. Earlier in the season, he had a run of double-doubles, racking up an impressive number of assists.
Carter-Williams was All-Big East Second Team and the conference’s Most Improved Player for that fantastic sophomore season. He led the entire nation in both assists and steals, putting together an extremely impressive season on both ends of the court. The talented point guard declared for the draft and was taken with the 11th pick by the Philadelphia 76ers. His last nine years have been spent in the NBA as a serviceable point guard on a number of teams.
3. Georges Niang – Iowa State
The Tilton School’s fourth stud of the last decade, Niang is a 6’8 forward who was a top 100 recruit way back in the class of 2012. He was wooed to the Midwest by Fran Hoiberg, playing four seasons at Iowa State in the Big 12. His work with the Cyclones was impressive and he helped this program put together some of their finest seasons in recent memory.
Niang was an impressive performer for the Cyclones, working his way into the starting lineup midway through his freshman season and never looking back. He had a 19-point performance in an NCAA Tournament win over Notre Dame and helped lead two separate Big 12 Tournament championships. By his senior season, he was averaging 20.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, including three impressive performances during Iowa State’s Sweet Sixteen run in 2016.
Numerous awards cemented Niang’s legacy, including Second Team All-American and the Karl Malone Award as a senior. He took home a pair of All-Big 12 First Team honors and was the Big 12 Tournament MVP during his junior year. He sits among the all-time conference leaders in points and rebounds and led the conference in field goals as a sophomore. Niang was a late draft pick in 2016 but has spent much of the last six seasons playing in the NBA, most recently for the Philadelphia 76ers.
2. Kellan Grady – Davidson / Kentucky
One of the best A-10 basketball players in recent memory came from Boston but he certainly didn’t play at UMass. Grady is a 6’5 guard who was a top 100 recruit in the class of 2017, opting to play for Bob McKillop and Davidson. He starred for the Wildcats across four successful seasons before transferring to Kentucky to play his final season, his bonus year granted from the pandemic.
A full-time starting guard, he averaged at least 17 points per game in each of his four seasons at Davidson, putting up impressive numbers the whole time. He had 16 points in his sole NCAA Tournament game at Davidson, ironically against Kentucky, while putting together a 39-point outing against St. Bonaventure that same season. He averaged 11.4 points a game in that final year with Kentucky, including a 25-point effort in a win over Alabama late in the year.
The 2018 A-10 Rookie of the Year was honored as All-A-10 in each of those four years, including a pair of season on the conference’s First Team. He’s among the all-time points leaders in the long history of the A-10. He was a gadget shooter with the Wildcats who led the SEC in 3-point shooting percentage, concluding an impressive career with nearly 2400 career points. He was not drafted, but is currently with the Denver Nuggets, hoping to become an impact shooter at the next level as well.
1. Shabazz Napier – Connecticut
By the time Napier’s college career was over, he had accomplished something that very few had in the history of the sport. A 6’1 guard from Roxbury, he was another top 100 recruit wooed to nearby Connecticut by Jim Calhoun and his coaching staff. Napier played a dynamic role in multiple national championships for the Huskies and developed into quite the star by the end of his college days.
Off the bench, he had a solid freshman season, playing in all 41 games as the Huskies brought him the national championship. He became a starter in year two and was an important fixture in the offense, averaging at least 17 points and 4.5 assists per game in his final two seasons. Senior year was certainly his legendary season, which included a career-high 34 points in a win against Memphis. He also had a run of great performances as the Huskies won another national championship, including 22 points in the title game over Kentucky.
Napier was the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, AAC Player of the Year, and a First Team All-American, while also winning the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s best point guard. Having already won a first national title and starring in the Big East, he helped the Huskies make a big splash in their first year in the AAC and stood out as one of the best guards in the nation. A late first-round draft pick in 2014, Napier spent parts of six seasons playing in the NBA and has most recently played overseas.
We have finished our deeper look at the best college basketball players from the state of Massachusetts from the last ten seasons; how do you think we did with the list?