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

By Joey Loose

Nov 25, 2015; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Lehigh Mountain Hawks center Tim Kempton (32) dribbles the ball as Virginia Cavaliers center Mike Tobey (10) defends in the first half at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers won 80-54. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 25, 2015; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Lehigh Mountain Hawks center Tim Kempton (32) dribbles the ball as Virginia Cavaliers center Mike Tobey (10) defends in the first half at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers won 80-54. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Patriot League Basketball American University Eagles guard Sa’eed Nelson Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Patriot League Basketball American University Eagles guard Sa’eed Nelson Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Sa’eed Nelson

Nelson is a 6’2 point guard from Pleasantville, New Jersey who spent his entire collegiate career playing at American. Nelson would spend his entire four years in Washington DC as the Eagles’ starting point guard from 2016 until the pandemic’s genesis. Across those 118 starts, Nelson would score plenty of points and have quite the impact in the Patriot League.

Already an offensive fiend as a freshman, he was scoring 14.9 points per game, but that was just the beginning. While Nelson wasn’t known for his long-range shooting, he became a high-profile scoring and ball distributor going forward. By this junior year, he was averaging 19.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game. A career-high 41-point outburst against Lafayette actually came as a sophomore during the conference tournament and he did lead the Eagles to a 2nd place finish in the Patriot in his senior season.

Nelson’s offensive numbers were extremely impressive, and his 2116 career points is one of the best marks in Patriot League history. He was a three-time All-Patriot nominee, and was the league’s Player of the Year as a senior. He’d lead the conference in steals twice, put up great assist numbers, and helped American pull off a turnaround in that final season. Even though he fell short of reaching the Big Dance, it’s clear that he had a major impact for this program.