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

3. Keifer Sykes

Sykes is a 6’0 guard out of Chicago who really endeared himself to the faithful in Green Bay. He was a major early recruit for Brian Wardle and would be a masterful backcourt weapon across four weapons with the Phoenix. He arrived back in 2011 and was already a talented playmaker as an underclassman, though his last two seasons were even greater.

In his junior season, Sykes led Green Bay to the Horizon League regular season title while averaging 20.3 points and 4.9 assists per game. He had a 32 points early in the year in a close loss at Wisconsin and proved himself as a great offensive player. He’d put up 18.6 points per game as a senior, taking Green Bay to a 24-win season and another trip to the NIT.

Not only did Sykes develop into a top-level scorer in the conference, but he was named Horizon League Player of the Year in both his junior and senior seasons. He topped 2000 career points and played a major role in a ton of wins for the Phoenix late in his career. His assist and steals numbers were also exceptional as Sykes did a bit of everything in his time in Green Bay. The only thing he failed to do was to play in the Big Dance.