NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 35 in 2023-24 season

1. Branden Carlson (Utah)

Believe it or not, Carlson was actually a Top 100 prospect from the Class of 2017. Before his collegiate career even began, the Utah native served an LDS mission overseas. He got on court two years later at Utah and has spent the last five seasons with the Utes. This 7-foot center has been the focal point in the middle for Utah throughout the last half-decade and has seen his production rise with each passing season.

This year was no different as Carlson averaged 17.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in a brilliant final season. He remained a brilliant interior scorer, finishing the season 4th in the Pac-12 in total points. This was also his fifth straight year finishing Top 5 in the conference in blocked shots while earning First Team All-Pac-12 honors once again. A complete frontcourt weapon, Carlson helped take Utah to 22 wins and a deep NIT run after missing out on the Big Dance.

An early highlight came with a 31-point, 5-block game against Wake Forest in mid-November. Carlson later topped that with 34 points in an early conference win at Washington. He played well with 27 points and 15 rebounds in a tough overtime loss to Arizona and just couldn’t win enough league games with the Utes to get back to the NCAA Tournament. However, that did include a 40-point effort against Oregon State in early March and a series of nice efforts in a run to the NIT semifinals.