NCAA Basketball: Ranking top 20 players for 2023-24 Julius Erving Award

9. Justin Edwards – Kentucky Wildcats

2022-23 season stats: N/A 

Edwards is viewed as the highest-ranked small forward in the 2023 recruiting class. The 5-star forward is projected to start and even has early top-5 NBA Draft picks in various mock boards. As with the other Kentucky players on the roster, the question is how big of a role Edwards has as a true freshman this season. If he breaks out, he’ll be in the final cut down the road.

8. Mark Mitchell – Duke Blue Devils

2022-23 season stats: 9.1 ppg and 4.5 rpg

The former five-star prospect was a starter at Duke last season, having five games of at least 15 points. Normally, Mitchell would be a breakout candidate as a sophomore and still could but with everyone else coming back, he’s likely the 4th option on offense once again. Unless he’s the best 4th option in NCAA Basketball, his odds of winning won’t be great.

7. Matthew Cleveland – Miami Hurricanes

2022-23 season stats (at Florida State): 13.8 ppg and 7.4 rpg

The former five-star recruit didn’t get many wins at FSU last season but he did improve his game offensively, including nearly doubling his 3PT percentage to 35%. He’s now Miami, replacing former All-ACC forward Jordan Miller at the versatile combo forward spot. He’ll be the second option on offense and will have a ton of spacing to work with to get even more numbers as a junior.