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

15. D. J. Covington

Covington is a talented 6’9 center originally from Virginia Beach. Staying in-state, he was another player who rose to remarkable stats playing under Duggar Baucom at VMI. He’s also another player whose career began more than a decade ago. Covington started for the Keydets back in 2010 but this is another example of only needing that senior season to show how valuable he was to this program.

Covington was the leading scorer on the nation’s top offense, averaging 20.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game for the Keydets. He also averaged 3.0 blocks a game and was a menace on the defensive end. Clearly a top-level scorer, Covington had a number of impressive games, including a pair of 33-point games late in conference play and a 41-point outburst during VMI’s CIT run to end off his college career. He actually averaged 31 points a game during their four games in that final postseason and really ended on a high note.

No one in the Big South scored more points than Covington that season, nor did anyone shoot the ball better, or accumulate more blocks and rebounds. He was First Team All-Big South and the Defensive Player of the Year in the conference. The metrics loved his play all season long, especially in that final stretch, and he was clearly one of the best offensive and defensive threats in mid-major basketball. Covington was decent early in his career but really put it all together to finish things off nearly a decade ago.