NCAA Basketball: Top 50 players returning to same team for 2024-25 season

Tier 5: The Do It All Specialists

32. Des Watson - Loyola Chicago
The quintessential Loyola player type that Porter Moser and now Drew Valentine have valued, Watson led the Ramblers in scoring despite doing most of his damage off the ball as a cutter and their most reliable catch and shoot player. Watson is also the second best defender on the A-10's best unit, and the lone key player at Loyola who has limited his turnovers in the past few seasons.

31. Andersson Garcia - Texas A&M
Texas A&M's electric backcourt gets most of the shine, but Andersson brought a critical grit to the Aggies (and even hit the biggest shot of the season). A&M put together a top thirty offense per Kenpom, despite putrid shooting numbers, thanks to a low turnover rate and being the nation's best offensive rebounding team, fully powered by Garcia. Doesn't hurt that he was also SEC All-Defense.

30. Caden Pierce - Princeton
One of just three conference Player of the Year winners set to return, Pierce may been dead last out of the fifty players on this list in terms of flashiness, but he's the best all-around player on the Ivy League's best team. Pierce is an elite finisher inside the arc (61.3%!!), who is still an outside threat (34.6%) and one of the nation's elite secondary playmakers. Yet none of that is as critical as his rebounding, where he finished second in the conference as a 6'7" forward.

29. Ace Baldwin Jr - Penn State
Ace Baldwin is the last player you want to be staring at while trying the dribble the ball up. He was the key driver behind the two statistical categories Penn State was elite at, forcing turnovers and opponent three point percentage, en route to taking home Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. All the while, Baldwin had a whopping 47.7% of the Nittany Lions' total assists and was second on the team in scoring.

28. Dajuan Harris Jr - Kansas
After a season where Kansas really felt shorthanded, Bill Self went out and got high quality depth all over the floor, except at point guard. That spot belongs to Harris, who could very well remain around last year's 35.7 mpg. He was top twenty nationally in assists last season and was the Jayhawks lone quality shooter. The shot volume will likely remain low, but the impact will be massive for Harris.