NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 5 in 2023-24 season

10. Darrion Williams (Texas Tech)

As a freshman, Williams emerged as a strong force at Nevada, eventually winning MWC Rookie of the Year honors. That would be his only season in Reno, as he opted to transfer and found quite the landing spot, joining new coach Grant McCasland and company at Texas Tech. Not only did his career take a nice step forward in his second collegiate season, he also helped lead a pretty strong season from the Red Raiders.

This strong sophomore season saw Williams average 11.4 points and 7.5 rebounds as a starting forward for the Red Raiders. He made 46% of his 3-pointers, albeit with limited opportunities, and improved virtually every part of his game. Williams earned Third Team All-Big 12 honors and was one of his league’s top rebounders. Despite playing for a first-year head coach, Williams and company led Texas Tech to a 3rd place finish in the Big 12.

Though the Red Raiders weren’t exactly challenged in nonconference, Williams had a few double-doubles and found his role on this team. He really came to attention in February, including a 30-point effort in a win over Kansas and several other nice performances. He suffered an unfortunate injury in March that caused him to miss part of the conference tournament, but still played decently in the team’s NCAA Tournament loss to end the season. No matter how you slice it, his stock was way up by season’s end.