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

16. Mike Smith

A 5’11 point guard from Burr Ridge, Illinois, Smith took his talents to the Ivy League and starred at the point at Columbia. He joined the Lions back in 2016 and was a significant part of the program for the next four seasons. Smith missed most of his junior year after tearing his meniscus and would transfer out of the program during the pandemic.

Smith averaged 13.6 points and 3.5 assists in his first season, already claiming Columbia’s starting point guard role as a freshman. His offensive numbers would only improve, though that leg injury came at an unfortunate time, just a few days after a 31-point outing against Delaware. While Columbia as a program didn’t win a ton of games, Smith was very significant in his redshirt junior season, averaging 22.8 points and 4.5 assists a game in that campaign, including multiple 30-point efforts in the final month of the season.

Smith was named Second Team All-Ivy in his second and fourth seasons at Columbia, obviously missing most of year three with that injury. He was the league leader in assists as a sophomore and points as a redshirt junior. Smith’s 684 points in that final year at Columbia was the 10th-highest mark in the nation. He’d transfer to Michigan for his final season and play a big role leading the Wolverines, though his scoring numbers were significantly lower than in the Ivy League.