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 /

23 of 26

North Texas Mean Green guard Javion Hamlet Albert Cesare/IndyStar via USA TODAY Sports /

4. Javion Hamlet

A 6’4 point guard from Memphis, it wasn’t a straightforward journey to stardom for Hamlet. He began his college career in 2016 at Motlow State CC before sitting out a year and transferring to Northwest Florida State. After staring at the junior college level, he arrived in the CUSA at North Texas in 2019. From there, he became a major weapon in Grant McCasland’s program.

During a junior season that eventually ended early by the pandemic, Hamlet averaged 14.6 points and 4.7 assists per game, leading North Texas to the CUSA regular season title. He’d have a second standout season with the Mean Green, with slightly better numbers and an even better season for the program as a whole. Hamlet led North Texas to the CUSA Tournament title, with 20 points in the title game, and then had 24 points and 12 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament upset win over Purdue.

First Team All-CUSA in both of his seasons, Hamlet led North Texas to some of their finest success in recent memory and earned CUSA Player of the Year and Tournament MVP honors as a senior. He led the conference in free throw shooting, assists, and a number of offensive metrics, and helped the Mean Green become one of the early stories of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. An underrated point guard who bounced between junior colleges really hit his stride on college basketball’s greatest stage.