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

5. Ty Jerome – Virginia

A top 50 recruit back in the class of 2016, this 6’5 guard from New Rochelle made his way down to Virginia to be a valuable piece for Tony Bennett. Emerging as one of the Cavalier’s better ball handlers in recent years, Jerome’s story is one known well, as Virginia was upended in a historic upset during his sophomore season just to come back and win it all as a junior.

Jerome’s freshman campaign saw a few people ahead of him on the depth chart, but he became the Cavaliers’ starting point guard for his final two collegiate seasons. He scored a career-high 31 points over Boston College and did have 15 points in that loss to UMBC, but his junior season was where the magic happened. Jerome averaged 13.6 points and 5.5 assists, starring for the Cavaliers as they marched to their first national title, with Jerome scoring no less than 12 points in all six victories.

He really emerged as a vital piece at Virginia and was twice named All-ACC, including Second Team honors in that final year. He led the conference in steal percentage as a sophomore and assists as a junior and was a major piece on that elite defense played by the Cavaliers, ranking among the nation’s best point guards defensively. He left school after winning that national title, becoming a late first-round draft pick in 2019; Jerome has played in the NBA and G-League in the last three seasons.