Sun Belt Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)
By Joey Loose
15. Ruot Monyyong
A talented frontcourt weapon, Monyyong had the long route to D1 basketball success. A 6’10 center from Nashville, he spent one year apiece at Eastern Florida State and Shelton State CC before landing at Little Rock in 2019. Monyyong would spend his final two seasons of eligibility developing into a major threat for the Trojans at the back end of their offense and defense.
In his junior year, he averaged 11.9 points and 9.8 rebounds, wasting very little time settling in while at Little Rock. The Trojans won the Sun Belt regular season crown, though the pandemic cancelled the postseason. While the team itself was not quite as successful, Monyyong had a marvelous senior season, putting up 11.9 points and 11.0 rebounds a game. Among the highlights was a career-high 23-point effort against UT Arlington, followed a few weeks later with a 19-rebound game against those same Mavericks.
During that first season, which ended in regular season glory, Monyyong was named First Team All-Sun Belt and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. He was the conference’s top shot blocker as a junior and led the way in rebounding in both seasons. Monyyong also led the Sun Belt in interior field goal percentage and truly blossomed right away at the D1 level. His overall numbers were pretty great in the Sun Belt and he did average a double-double as a senior, an impressive feat.