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

1. Denzel Valentine – Michigan State

If there was anyone who was going to be above Winston, it had to be Valentine who came just before him. A 6’5 guard from Lansing, Valentine was a fringe top 100 prospect who didn’t go far for his collegiate days. He played at Michigan State from 2012 to 2016 and had a simply monumental impact for this program.

Valentine wasn’t a big scorer at the beginning of his collegiate career but developed into quite the star for the Spartans. As a sophomore, he and Michigan State headed to the Elite Eight, and the following year helped lead the program to the Final Four. Valentine even scored 22 points in their Final Four loss to Duke and was a bona fide star by this point. As a senior, he was the nation’s best player, averaging 19.2 points and 7.8 assists per game, though his season was cut short by an unfortunate NCAA Tournament first-round upset.

That senior season saw him fill up his trophy case, winning AP Player of the Year, Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Tournament MVP, and the Julius Erving Award. He had an incredible season on the court and played a major role in the Spartans’ success in those final seasons. He was drafted in 2016 by the Chicago Bulls and has spent much of the last six years playing in the NBA and the G-League.

Our deep dive into the best college basketball players from Michigan across the last decade is now complete; do you agree with the players included and how we ranked them?