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

17. Garret Covington

An impressive athlete and contributor, Covington is a 6’5 combo guard from Edwardsville, Illinois who found his collegiate success at Western Illinois. Staying in his home state, Covington would start nearly every game between 2013 and 2017 for the Leathernecks and become their focal player right off the bat. Frankly, Western Illinois didn’t win a lot of games during his career, but his talent was on full display regardless.

Covington was already the leading scorer as a freshman, averaging 14.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. His numbers would continue to rise as his career went on, becoming one of the Summit’s best offensive pieces. In his junior year, Covington made 42% of his 3-pointers, while he was up to 19.9 points per game in his fourth and final campaign. That season included a number of 30-point outings, including a career-high 35 points in a loss to Fort Wayne.

He earned the rare feat of four straight All-Summit honors, getting named to the league’s Second Team in each of those campaigns. The conference’s Rookie of the Year back in 2014, Covington finished his impressive career with 1896 career points and among the league’s scoring leaders in each season. Yes, Western Illinois won just 36 games across those four years and never really competed in the conference, but Covington was a marvelous athlete who showed up on a regular basis.