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

17. Tyrn Flowers

A 6’9 power forward from Waterbury, Connecticut, Flowers was recruited to UMass back in 2016 by Derrick Kellogg. When Kellogg was fired and took the head coaching job at LIU, Flowers joined the Blackbirds, sitting out as a transfer before becoming a major part of the program for the next four seasons, as he took advantage of the bonus year from the pandemic.

During that time, Flowers became a key weapon on both sides of the ball for the Sharks. He’d average 13.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in his sophomore season and would have even better numbers going forward. As a junior, he had an 8-block game against UMass Lowell and a 25-point, 27-rebound effort in overtime against Merrimack. By his fifth year, he was averaging 19.2 points per game and had gotten the Sharks back up to 3rd in the NEC.

Flowers was actually named All-NEC in all four of his seasons in the league, finally receiving the First Team nod in his fifth and final season. He actually filled the stat sheets beyond just scoring and shot blocking and was one of the best in rebounds and steals across those four seasons. While he didn’t get a shot at the Big Dance while at LIU, he was a major part of this program and the 1770 points and 900 rebounds in his career are a testament to that.