2024 NCAA Tournament: Ranking the top 20 Players from the West Region

16. Braeden Smith (Colgate)

Not to be confused with the star at Purdue, Smith is a point guard from Seattle who has become an absolute beast in two seasons across the country at Colgate. Smith is still just a sophomore and is already playing in his second NCAA Tournament with the Raiders. Despite being an underclassman, he’s already established himself as a high-level guard, winning Patriot League Player of the Year this past season.

He didn’t just win those awards based on another great season from the Raiders, as Smith was phenomenal with 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game on the year. He led his conference in both assists and steals and many other metrics. Smith nearly had a triple-double early in the season against Syracuse and recently dropped 21 points on Bucknell as his Raiders won yet another Patriot League Tournament title. Smith is one of the very best young point guards in the entire nation.

15. Tyon Grant-Foster (Grand Canyon)

It’s been a wild ride to this point for Grant-Foster, who went from community college to Kansas to DePaul, where he collapsed on the court in his first game and would be out of basketball for nearly a year and a half. He caught on at Grand Canyon this past offseason and has developed into an absolute star for the Antelopes, helming them to another WAC Tournament title, the program’s third in four years.

Clearly Grant-Foster wasn’t around for those earlier titles, but he was a big presence as he averaged 19.8 points and 6.0 rebounds for the Antelopes this year. He was named WAC Player of the Year and has showed no signs of slowing down, dropping 28 points against Seattle and 22 against UT Arlington as Grand Canyon won that tournament title. He’s unquestionably a name to watch and almost single-handedly makes the Antelopes a trendy upset pick.