NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 31 in 2023-24 season

2. Rytis Petraitis (Air Force)

Petraitis came from Arlington, Texas to Colorado when he joined Air Force two offseasons ago. The service academies don’t regularly excel in basketball, and that’s certainly been the case with these Falcons, though Petraitis himself has been outstanding on court for this program. You will see underwhelming results from this program, with Air Force near the bottom of the league standings in the MWC, but he had quite the competitive season as an individual.

The sophomore would average 15.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, playing well after missing the first weeks of the season with a shoulder injury. Petraitis didn’t win any fancy honors and Air Force really struggled, winning just nine games the entire season. However, he was among the MWC’s leaders in points and steals and was certainly among the most important guards for the Falcons this season.

Getting back on the court in late November, Petraitis wasted no time settling in, scoring at least 18 points in four of his first five games. He dropped 22 points on the road against Colorado State and later had a triple-double (18 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists) in a road upset at UNLV. He wouldn’t top that performance and his Falcons would win just one more game (a big upset at New Mexico), though Petraitis was a solid competitor and will build on his underclassman efforts as a new piece at California.