ACC Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)

3. Malcolm Brogdon

Though he wasn’t around for the national title in 2019, Brogdon helped usher in the recent era of success at Virginia. A 6’5 guard from Atlanta, he was a fringe Top 100 prospect who got to Charlottesville back in 2011. We won’t talk about his freshman season, a season where he came off the bench or missing the next season due to injury; we’ll instead focus on how he became Tony Bennett’s most talented Cavalier.

Brogdon was a talented shooter and great scorer, with his numbers increasing with each subsequent season. He led the Cavaliers to an ACC Tournament title and a Sweet Sixteen appearance as a sophomore, scoring 23 in the conference title win over Duke. Brogdon was even more excellent as an upperclassman, averaging 18.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in his senior season, one that would end with Virginia in the Elite Eight.

Not only did Brogdon lead Virginia on two deep Tourney runs, but he was a two-time All-American, was ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year as a senior, and also won a few national awards for both his offensive and defensive contributions. He was an efficient scorer and led the ACC in free throw shooting, making shots from all over the court for the Cavaliers. Bennett would have a slew of talented players in the years to come, but it’s hard to match up to the sheer numbers and impact that Brogdon had a few years earlier.