NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of New Mexico of last decade
By Joey Loose
7. Johnny McCants – New Mexico State
It wasn’t a long journey for McCants, a 6’7 forward from Las Cruces who settled in nicely for a collegiate career at nearby New Mexico State. McCants arrived on campus alongside new head coach Chris Jans in 2017 and spent the next five years with him, taking advantage of that bonus year from the pandemic. McCants saw his minutes and importance on this roster grow as his career progressed.
McCants had limited chances in his first two seasons, up until scoring 16 points in an NCAA Tournament game loss to Auburn in 2019. As a junior, he became a starter and was an important part of New Mexico State’s season-ending 19-game winning streak. After the pandemic, he averaged 10.0 points and 6.1 rebounds a game as a senior before returning for his bonus fifth season. In that season, he set career-highs with 20 points and 6 blocks against Stephen F. Austin and was also part of the Aggies’ first-round upset win over UConn. McCants then had 16 points and 12 rebounds in their second-round loss to Arkansas.
He had an epic buzzer-beater against Grand Canyon as a sophomore, played a role in three NCAA Tournament appearances, and was named All-WAC Second Team and All-Defense in that final season. He led the conference in 2-point field goal percentage multiple times and put up impressive rebounding and block numbers, ranking as one of the conference’s best all-time rebounders. Above all, McCants was an important interior piece during an impressive run of success for the Aggies.