We’ve reached that point on our preseason preview calendar where it’s time to direct the spotlight on the litany of programs, players and coaches hailing from the lower leagues. (Gonzaga is exempt, naturally, as it’s not a mid-major program. We have and will continue to highlight the Bulldogs in many of our preseason pieces — and will do so again later this week.)
Every NCAA Tournament gets uplifted by small-school players and, with that of course, the small schools themselves. Some of the honorees below will wind up factoring into how the 2023 field of 68 shakes out. I can’t promise there’s a Saint Peter’s-type run lurking among the listed, but I do believe the fabric of the college basketball season will be stitched together in significant ways by the teams, players and coaches you’ll read about here.
It’s our best-of-the-rest rundown. We’ve got less than three weeks until the season, so here’s who and what stands out from the overwhelming population of conferences and programs in men’s college hoops.
Ten mid-major players to know
1. Darius McGhee, Liberty
The 5-9 super senior ranked No. 1 nationally in usage (36.7% of possessions) and shots (40.7%) last season, per KenPom.com. His 24.6 points average was second in the sport to Bryant’s Peter Kiss, and McGhee’s 812 points were second overall to Iowa’s Keegan Murray. McGhee’s 142 3-pointers were easily the most — 26 more than No. 2 on that list, who is also No. 3 on this list. He’s a classic undersized mid-major baller who exemplifies why college basketball can be a little man’s game just as much as anyone else’s. .
2. Max Abmas, Oral Roberts
He was No. 1 on this list a season ago, when the Golden Eagles’ star guard was coming off leading the country in scoring. Last season Abmas was merely fifth in points per game (22.8). He was fourth in 3-pointers made (114) and complemented his shooting with 3.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds per night. He’s a 39.6% career 3-point shooter. The Golden Eagles will rely on Abmas’ buckets to fend off South Dakota State and others in the Summit League. Fun mid-major scheduling twist: the top two players on this last will play head-to-head in mid-December, when Abmas and ORU will play host to Liberty.
3. Jelly Walker, UAB
Walker is the guy alluded to in the McGhee capsule above. He sank 116 treys on 40% shooting last season, which helped him average 20.3 points for a UAB squad that made the NCAA Tournament. The Blazers’ 5-11 dynamo also put up 4.9 assists per game and managed 2.9 rebounds despite being the smallest guy on the floor most of the time. Walker could have transferred out, but like many others on this list, he chose loyalty and guaranteed minutes-plus-production over the road unknown.
4. Hunter Maldonado, Wyoming
The Cowboys play unlike a lot of other teams in the sport. One major aspect to that approach is having a 6-7 power wing running a lot of the offense. Maldonado put up 18.5 points, 6.3 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game last season, the only player to cross the 18/6/5 threshold. He also shot 49.5% from the floor and also averaged north of 37 minutes, something I’m expecting him to match in his final season.
The 6-7 Maldonado is one of the tallest floor generals in college hoops.
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5. Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Back in May I profiled Davis’ decision to stay at the school where he’s become a local legend. With 2,734 points, and thanks to the bonus COVID season, Davis is destined to become a top-five scorer in D-I history. Question is if he can get to No. 2, behind the late, great Pete Maravich and his 3,667 points. Davis averaged 23.9 points last season. If he averages 24 per game and plays 34 games (a reasonable projection), he’ll finish with 3,550 points — comfortably No. 2 all time, but still more than 100 points behind Maravich. Regardless, the hope here is that Detroit Mercy can have a good year in the Horizon League, as it would bring some relevance to Davis’ final season. He’s never played in the NCAA tourney and Detroit last made it there in 2012.
6. Matt Bradley, San Diego State
If Bradley had left SDSU, the Aztecs wouldn’t have a case to be a top-25 team. Fortunately for Brian Dutcher and ‘Tec fans, that’s not the case. Bradley is a sturdy do-everything guard who averaged 16.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in 32 starts. He’s grown comfortable with how to play team and on-ball defense, which has helped his case as one of the best mid-major players in the country.
7. Ace Baldwin, VCU
If you’re gonna have the nickname Ace, you might as well wear the No. 1 Baldwin does. VCU’s best player is also, potentially, a future NBA guy thanks to his elite defense and encouraging stat trends in a variety of areas. Baldwin is coming off a sophomore campaign in which he averaged 11.4 points, 5.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.5 fouls. His shooting is encouraging. Baldwin sank 41.3% of his 3-pointers in 2021-22, hitting 31 of his 75 attempts. He’ll hoist a minimum of 100 triples this season for a Rams team that could be near the at-large cutline.
8. Javonte Perkins, Saint Louis
If he’s all the way back and 100% the player he was a year ago, Perkins will prove to be too low on this list. Saint Louis’ most important player was the preseason player of the year choice in the Atlantic 10 in 2021. An ACL injury ended that. Now he’s back for a team that hopes to make the Big Dance with room to spare. When we last saw Perkins he was averaging 17.1 points for the Billikens. He’s got Yuri Collins back, and a good supporting cast, but SLU at its best means Perkins being one of the three best players in the A-10.
9. Emoni Bates, Eastern Michigan
If Bates puts it all together, he’ll easily rank in the top half of this list. If not, this ranking will wind up looking too optimistic. After recently having gun-possession charges against him dropped, Bates has been cleared to return to the team. The Ypsilanti, Michigan, native (where EMU is also based) had a rocky freshman season at Memphis. Now he’s hoping his sophomore try goes a lot better than another former five-star prospect who chose the mid-major route. A season ago, Patrick Baldwin Jr. played for his father at Milwaukee. He had an injury-affected, forgotten season … but still managed to be drafted in the first round by the Golden State Warriors. Bates currently rates as a toss-up NBA pick. EMU doesn’t project as a top-end MAC team. There’s a lot Bates can do to change the conversation in the next five months. Maybe this will be for the best.
10. Jamarion Sharp, Western Kentucky
The tallest player in college basketball plays for the Hilltoppers. At 7-5, Sharp naturally led the nation in blocks (4.6) and had the most in a season since Anthony Davis (4.7) in 2011-12. Sharp seems a shoo-in to lead the country in swattage again, and if he does that, he’ll be the first player since Mississippi State’s Jarvis Varnado did it in 2007-08 and 2008-09. If he crosses 5.0 blocks per game, he’ll be the first player since Hassan Whiteside in 2009-10 to do it. Whiteside averaged an absurd 5.4 that season at Marshall. Expect Sharp (8.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg) to average a double-double.
Mid-major coaches on the climb
I’ll dodge having repeat names from a year ago, so the following guys aren’t eligible this time around: Ritchie McKay, Liberty; Casey Alexander, Belmont; Brian Dutcher, SDSU; Joe Golding, UTEP; Russell Turner, UC Irvine; Darian DeVries, Drake. (Note: All of those coaches are still at those schools.) This year’s mid-major coaches who qualify all have done at least two of the three: won at least one regular-season title in the past two seasons, made at least one of the past two NCAA Tournaments and have a projected top-two team in their conference.
Jared Grasso, Bryant
John Becker’s Vermont program has been king of the America East for most of the past decade. This season, if that’s to end, it’ll be AE newcomer Bryant that most likely dethrones the Catamounts. Grasso has a 62-54 record since getting the job in 2018. He’s coming off guiding the Bulldogs to their first NCAA tourney appearance; Bryant won the Northeast Conference in its final season in that league.
Robert Jones, Norfolk State
Jones has to rank among the most underrated mid- or low-major coaches in the country. He has coached the Spartans for a decade and won the MEAC the past two seasons. Jones owns a 166-126 mark — and has won 75% of his games in MEAC play. NSU won its First Four game over App State in March, continuing a strong trajectory at a school that once upset No. 2 seed Missouri. With Jones working the whiteboard, NSU should be the best in its conference again.
Matt Langel has taken Colgate to three NCAA Tournaments in the past four years.
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Matt Langel, Colgate
The Raiders have developed a reputation for having an erudite offense under Langel, who’s 44 and more than a decade into his Colgate tenure. This has been the premier Patriot League program five years running, and I’m not seeing that come to an end over the next six months. One more Big Dance appearance and Langel (176-165) will be lured away by a bigger program — that’s a fact.
Jeff Linder, Wyoming
I briefly profiled Wyoming under Linder back in late February, when the Cowboys were on their way to earning their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2015. The Pokes figure to be in the running for the Mountain West again, thanks to the reasons you’ll see depicted in UW’s capsule further down in this story. It’s fun to see Wyoming good, because that’s irregular. Linder is 119-70 dating back to the start of his head coaching career in 2016 at Northern Colorado.
Grant McCasland, North Texas
Make no mistake: McCasland has had suitors in the past two years. But thanks to how much support he’s received from UNT athletic director Wren Baker, it’s going to take a top 50-level kind of job to pry him away from the Mean Green. UNT upset Purdue in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, then won the Conference USA regular-season title USA last season (16-2) before falling to Louisiana Tech in the conference tournament. The Mean Green wound up 57th at KenPom, their highest finish ever. McCasland has a 179-82 career record.
Led by forward Daron Holmes II, Dayton figures to be in the NCAA Tournament mix.
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Top 15 mid-major teams for ’22-23
Projected mid- and low-major league champions
America EastVermont CatamountsAtlantic 10Dayton FlyersASUNLiberty FlamesBig SkyMontana GrizzliesBig SouthLongwood LancersBig WestLong Beach State 49ersCAATowson TigersConference USAUAB BlazersHorizonWright State RaidersIvy LeagueYale BulldogsMACToledo RocketsMAACIona GaelsMEACNorfolk State SpartansMVCDrake BulldogsMountain WestSDSU AztecsNECWagner SeahawksOVCTennessee State TigersPatriotColgate RaidersSoConFurman PaladinsSouthlandNicholls State ColonelsSummit LeagueOral Roberts Golden EaglesSun BeltMarshall Thundering HerdSWACSouthern JaguarsWACGrand Canyon AntelopesWCCGonzaga Bulldogs
