NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 34 in 2023-24 season

7. Ben Middlebrooks (NC State)

The early returns for Middlebrooks have been solid, though he hasn’t exactly been on the court a lot. He’s come off the bench as solid frontcourt depth for his first three seasons in the ACC, with the first two at Clemson before deciding to transfer. Middlebrooks landed in Raleigh this past offseason and would become part of a historic March for the Wolfpack.

Continuing that role as a presence off the bench, Middlebrooks averaged 5.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for NC State, making 53% of his interior shots while putting up decent rebounding metrics. While he wasn’t exactly a leading force for the Wolfpack, Middlebrooks played in every game this season, provided important depth in that frontcourt, and was along for the ride to an ACC Tournament title and trip to the Final Four.

He showed potential with 13 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to Ole Miss and actually earned a few starts after that, but Middlebrooks settled more into a complimentary role. He’d top that with 14 points against Wake Forest and played pretty well in the conference tournament, but his high-mark for the season came in the Big Dance. Middlebrooks dropped 21 points on Texas Tech in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and played important minutes down the stretch during that long postseason run.