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

10. Madarious Gibbs

A 6’1 point guard from Newnan, Georgia, Gibbs made his way over to Texas and had a prosperous college career at Texas Southern. He joined the program way back in 2011 when Tony Harvey was still the head coach, but was part of Mike Davis’s early success with the Tigers. We won’t cover his first two seasons today, but it’s the back half of his career where he made all the noise.

The full-time starter finally as a junior, Gibbs averaged 9.1 points and 5.2 assists per game. He had a double-double against Alabama State and helped lead the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament, with three solid performances in the SWAC Tournament. As a senior, he had an even larger role with the program, averaging 14.2 points per game and leading Texas Southern to another trip to the Big Dance. His 15-point performance against Arizona in the 2015 NCAA Tournament was a proper send-off for his career.

For that senior season, where he helped deliver yet another conference title, Gibbs was named the SWAC Player of the Year. After putting up decent numbers earlier in his career, he’d emerge as one of the top scorers and ball distributors in the league during that final season. Gibbs played a significant role in Texas Southern’s rise to SWAC dominance in the 2010’s. His work at the point was paramount on both sides of the ball.