Atlantic 10 Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)
By Joey Loose
2. Jacob Gilyard
A 5’9 point guard from Kansas City, Gilyard arrived on campus in 2017 expecting to contribute greatly to Richmond’s backcourt. By the time he’d leave school five years later he’d have rewritten a number of their record books, and gotten quite the finale to his collegiate career in the Big Dance as well.
Gilyard started all 154 games he played for the Spiders, becoming a major factor on both sides of the ball. He averaged 11.4 points and 4.1 assists as a freshman, knocking down 38% of his 3-pointers, tough Richmond struggled as a program. The Spiders played better basketball in Gilyard’s later years, and his contributions were just as great. He’d average at least 12 points, 5 assists, and 2.8 steals in each of his final four seasons, emerging as one of the most consistent and impactful players in the A-10. At the tail end of his career, he had 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists in an upset win over Iowa in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
It’s not just about accolades, but Gilyard got plenty of those, including A-10 Defensive Player of the Year in year three and A-10 Tournament MVP in his final season. He led the entire nation in steals in his final two seasons and his 466 career steals are now an NCAA record. Gilyard was a solid scorer, hit a lot of 3-pointers, dished a lot of assists, and certainly went down in Richmond history in a major way.