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

25. Daylen Kountz

A 6’4 combo guard from Denver, Kountz put together quite the collegiate career even by staying in his home state. He enrolled at Colorado back in 2018 and put up two uneventful seasons on the Buffaloes’ bench. During the pandemic, he transferred to Northern Colorado and would be a much more impactful player across the next three seasons with those Bears.

Kountz scored 26 points against Denver in what was just his fourth game with the Bears, all in a season where he’d take big steps forward in his game. As a senior, he averaged 21.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, helping lead the Bears to a 22-win season and 3rd place finish in the Big Sky. He had a career-high 36 points in a conference tournament win against Portland State. His numbers in his fifth college campaign were just as impressive, albeit in a rougher year for the Bears.

Only two other players in the nation scored more points than Kountz during that senior season, one where he earned First Team All-Big Sky honors. Certainly, he was an important backcourt piece at Northern Colorado in all three seasons, but the numbers really happened in that second year. He was the conference’s top scorer that season and one of the best across these last three years, certainly thriving when given more opportunities in the Big Sky.