Pac-12 Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)

13. Gary Payton II

Payton’s collegiate career began in relative obscurity at Salt Lake CC before transferring to Oregon State in 2014, joining the program his father starred at back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. A 6’3 combo guard from Las Vegas, Payton joined a Beavers program under new head coach Wayne Tinkle that greatly exceeded expectations across the next two seasons.

As a junior, he averaged 13.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 3.1 steals, filling the stat sheets and becoming quite the leader right off the bat for the Beavers. That included a triple-double against Grambling State, a feat that nobody had done for Oregon State since his father nearly three decades earlier. In his senior season, Payton continued to carry the ball, averaging 16.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists while leading Oregon State to their first NCAA Tournament in 26 years. He had 20 points and 17 rebounds in a Pac-12 Tournament loss to California before VCU ended his college career in the Big Dance.

Payton was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Pac-12 in each of those two seasons at Oregon State, establishing himself not only as an impressive scorer but as an elite defender as well. He became quite the sparkplug for a long-dormant Beavers program while leading the conference in steals in both seasons. Payton’s numbers across the board were fantastic and he helped put the program back in shape for the first time since his father was on the court; his career continues seven years later in the NBA.