NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 20 in 2023-24 season
By Joey Loose
3. Payton Sandfort (Iowa)
As a sophomore, Sandfort was named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, taking a nice step forward and becoming a critical part of success with the Hawkeyes. With changes to Iowa’s roster, he was expected to step into a more important role as junior and certainly did that, though it wasn’t exactly the most stellar season for the program itself.
Sandfort put up 16.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, knocking down 38% of his 3-pointers and 91% of his free throws. He took that expected step forward, becoming the leading scorer and rebounder for the Hawkeyes in what would become a 6th place finish in the Big Ten. Not only did he earn Third Team All-Big Ten, Sandfort would lead the conference in made 3-pointers and finish among the national leaders in free throw percentage.
Opening the season in style, Sandfort dropped 21 points against North Dakota and would keep making shots all season. He showed up with 22 points in a nice win over Seton Hall and later hit 26 points three separate times during league play. The latest of those efforts was part of a triple-double in a win over Penn State. In the NIT, he had 30 points and 12 rebounds and truly did take a step forward as a junior; will it continue next season?