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

By Joey Loose | Jul 19, 2023

Mar 19, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; North Texas Mean Green guard James Reese (0) celebrates with guard Mardrez McBride (1) and guard Javion Hamlet (3) during overtime against the Purdue Boilermakers in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

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CUSA Basketball Marshall Thundering Herd guard Taevion Kinsey Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /

17. Taevion Kinsey

A 6’5 guard from Columbus, Ohio, it’s been quite the adventure at Kinsey, spending the last five seasons at Marshall. Even though he took advantage of that bonus season from the pandemic, Kinsey never played in the Big Dance but was still a major part of basketball success for the Thundering Herd. However, as Marshall left for the Sun Belt in 2022, we’ll just be covering his first four seasons.

He averaged 10.5 points a game as a freshman and would be above 16 a game moving forward. He helped lead Marshall to a 23-win season that year, mostly coming in off the bench, but got major minutes for his last four seasons. He averaged at least 19 points a game in each of his final seasons and was a decent shooter from all over the court, even though Marshall struggled during his fourth season.

Kinsey earned conference honors in all four seasons, including First Team All-CUSA in a stellar junior season. He neared 2000 points in just those four years in the CUSA and was an impressive scorer and ball distributor for the Thundering Herd. With the exception of his final season, Marshall had some great success during his career and his work in the backcourt is certainly a reason for that.