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

1. Dedric Lawson – Memphis / Kansas

A consensus 4-star recruit, Lawson began his collegiate career at Memphis, playing with his brother KJ at the beginning. A 6’9 forward from Memphis, he was the best player on his hometown team for the next two seasons. Lawson then transferred over to Kansas, emerging as an even more impressive team on a talented Kansas squad in 2019.

Lawson’s entire career saw him put up impressive numbers, averaging nearly a double-double in each of his three collegiate seasons. He racked up double-doubles and averaged 19.2 points and 9.9 rebounds in that second season with the Tigers. Lawson sat out the following season then became Kansas’s best player, averaging 19.4 points and 10.3 rebounds and playing in his first NCAA Tournament, though the Jayhawks were upset by Auburn.

Lawson was a Third Team All-American for that final season at Kansas. He was Newcomer of the Year in both the AAC and Big 12 while also earning First Team honors for both conferences as well. Lawson was an extremely important piece at Memphis and was one of the nation’s best rebounders throughout his career. This extremely impressive young player moved on after that single season at Kansas and has most recently played overseas in Turkey.

We have completed our run-through of the best college basketball players of the last decade from the state of Tennessee; did you agree with the order in which we included these players?