NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of New York of last decade

9. Isaiah Stewart – Washington

In 2019, Stewart was one of the top prospects in high school basketball. Clearly a 5-star prospect, Stewart is a 6’9 forward from Rochester who chose Washington over several high-profile basketball program. This impressive young recruit spent just a single season at the collegiate level, shining for a disappointing Huskies team.

During that sole collegiate season, Stewart averaged 17.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Unfortunately, the Huskies massively underperformed, finishing last place in the Pac-12 despite Stewart’s strong season. He had a 25-point, 19-rebound effort in a loss to Oregon and put up a career-high 29 points in a season-ending loss to Arizona.

Stewart’s impressive season got him named All-Pac-12 First Team despite the team’s rough campaign. He led the conference in field goals and free throws while ranking third in rebounds and blocks per game. He had a fantastic presence, even on an inferior team. He later became the 16th pick of the 2020 NBA Draft and continues to star for the Detroit Pistons two years later. We don’t know what Stewart could have done on another program with better success, but he was a force in that freshman season at Washington.