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

20. Tremont Waters

Waters joined LSU in 2017 the same time Will Wade was hired as head coach. A 5’11 point guard from New Haven, Connecticut, Waters was a Top 50 recruit who developed into a major star with the Tigers. He’d spent two years developing into an intriguing threat on both sides of the ball.

As a freshman, Waters averaged 15.9 points and 6.0 assists per game, wasting no time becoming a top-level point guard in the SEC. He had a 39-point outing against Marquette very early in his career and would lead the Tigers to the NIT to finish off the year. His sophomore season was far more successful, as he’d helm LSU to an SEC regular season title and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. He had a 36-point game late in the year at Texas A&M and had 23 points in the final game of his career, a loss to Michigan State.

Not only was Waters a top-level assists guy, he also led the SEC in steals in both collegiate seasons. As a sophomore, he earned First Team All-SEC honors and was named the league’s co-Defensive Player of the Year. Not only was he an impressive ball distributor and contender on defense, Waters also helped manufacture that quick turnaround for the Tigers program. After that second collegiate season, he was drafted late in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.