Jordan Minor (Virginia)
Many of the players on our list have only a year or two of college basketball under their belts, but Virginia’s new big man has experience and an NEC Co-Conference Player of the Year award to his name.
Jordan Minor improved in nearly every statistical category in each of his four years at Merrimack, and if not for a nonsensical rule preventing the Warriors from reaching the NCAA Tournament for four years following their transfer to Division I, would have gotten to show his game off on a national stage.
As it is, Fairleigh Dickinson, despite being beaten by Minor and his team in the NEC finals, became one of the all-time NCAA Tournament darlings when it became the second school to win a game as a 16-seed.
At Virginia, Minor will surely get a chance to right that wrong. A voracious rebounder and effective post scorer, he’s also an outstanding shot blocker. It’s easy to picture Minor terrorizing opposing big men in Tony Bennett’s stingy defensive system.
Nearly the entire Cavaliers frontcourt has graduated or transferred, leaving minutes galore for Minor to do his thing. Many expect Virginia to take a step back without the likes of Reece Beekman, Kihei Clark, Jayden Gardner, and Kadin Shedrick, but Tony Bennett has proven that he can win the ACC whether you know his players or not.
Most ACC fans don’t know Minor yet, but that will change when he helps lead the Cavaliers toward the top of the conference.