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 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers center Charles Bassey Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Charles Bassey

A five-star recruit, Bassey was a major recruiting pullback in 2018 for Rick Stansbury at Western Kentucky. Considered by some sites as a Top 10 recruit, he was a major pull for the CUSA as a whole. He’d stay for three seasons with the Hilltoppers and was responsible for a host of success for the program.

Bassey already averaged a double-double as a freshman, leading the Hilltoppers to a 20-win campaign. A knee injury knocked him out just ten games into year two, but he came back with a vengeance as a junior. During his final collegiate season, Bassey averaged 17.6 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game, guiding the Hilltoppers to a regular season title and trip to the NIT. He had six different 15-rebound efforts, including in the final game of his career against Louisiana Tech.

He never played in the NCAA Tournament, but Bassey lived up to the hype when he was healthy. He was CUSA Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-CUSA as both a freshman and junior and was also the league’s Player of the Year in that final season. He led the conference in rebounding and field goal percentage and finished 4th in the nation with his 87 blocks. Bassey was certainly one of the most talented bigs that the CUSA has ever seen.