13 College Basketball Players You Have to Watch This Season

We, as in the media, are guilty of throwing around the term star way too often. Especially in college where the Big Man on Campus located in some out of the way town 1,000 percent earns the title if his highlights are good enough to make it on SportsCenter once or twice.

But there are also legit stars in the college ranks, the kind that are already earmarked for the lottery of next year's NBA Draft or the ones that will wreck havoc when it's (fingers crossed) time for the NCAA Tournament in March. So with the NBA not returning until December 22, in order to keep our sanity and bide our time between NFL games, we're going to be paying attention to a lot of college basketball and decided to showcase a baker's dozen of the most noteworthy "amateurs" before the pros earn most of our attention.

If you're a NBA Draft junkie and already have the 2021 first-round mock memorized, then almost all of these names will be familiar. We didn't name every single impact player in the country for obvious reasons because this list could easily go 50 deep—or even 100. But if you're really a NBA fan tuning into the college game just to whet your basketball appetite, these are (for the most part) future first-round selections, with a few other college stars mixed in for good measure, that deserve your attention.

Remy Martin might ultimatley be the best player on the Sun Devils since he's a legit Pac-12 Player of the Year candidate. But the highly-touted Christopher already has a fan in James Harden and is garnering big buzz after his first week of college ball. Christopher had one of the best performances of this early college basketabll season when he poured in 28 points against No. 3 Villanova. He quickly followed that by hitting 8-of-11 shots in 22 minutes against Houston Baptist. Clearly Christopher can light it up, kind of like Harden, and there's little doubt that he's going to be just the second Sun Devil selected in the draft since The Beard went third overall in 2009.

The silky smooth sophomore from Brooklyn is easily the best player to rep UConn since Shabazz Napier led the Huskies to the 2014 national title. And Bouknight's one of the biggest reasons why UConn, back where it belongs in the Big East after a six-season detour, should return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016. Bouknight glides in transition, has explosive athleticism, is a sneaky good rebounder, and looks the part of a future lottery selection. He needs to improve his outside shooting and defense, but the slasher and emphatic finisher—did you see that alley-oop against ECU last year?—is undoubtedly one of the best players in the Big East and someone who should be playing in the NBA this time next year.

Zegarowski might not wow you athletically like some other players on this list, but don't get it twisted: the Big East Preseason Player of the Year is a baller who can light it up like few others around the nation. The junior entered the season as the Big East’s top returning scorer and he’s hit 42.5 percent of his threes over his first two seasons. Also an elite distributor, Creighton has big expectations this season and Zegarowski will be the biggest reason why the Blue Jays advance deep in the NCAA Tournament.

No photos of Johnson exits on our wire services—which is pretty damn egregious considering Johnson is the most hyped Duke freshman and appears destined to be a high lottery pick in next year's draft. While he didn't have a great performance against Michigan State, Johnson's college debut was ridiculous—19 points, 19 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks against Coppin State. He's the one to look for when you're hate-watching the Blue Devils.

Among the best two-way players in the SEC, you might not see Johnson on many mock drafts right now, but that could easily change. He actually pulled his name out of the 2020 NBA Draft to return to Gainesville and while we can debate who has the better NBA future between Johnson and his teammates Scottie Lewis, Johnson's the better college player who could play his way into the draft with a big junior season. Are there deficiencies in his game? Sure. But if he shows improvement with his outside shot, NBA teams are going to appreciate his defense and the high percentage he shoots from the field (54.4 percent last season).

Success in the college game will almost always be predicated on guard play and there’s a bunch of really good ones this year. Suggs, a freshman who is the highest-ranked recruit ever to set foot on the tiny Gonzaga campus in Spokane, Washington, might be the best of the bunch. Hailing from Minnesota, he was ranked fifth in ESPN’s Top 100 Class of 2020 list and he isn’t expected to be a Bulldog for long. Some mock drafts have him going first, others somewhere in the top 10, but if Suggs lives up to the hype—he’s so athletically gifted that he was also recruited out of high school to play quarterback by dozens of programs and became the first athlete to win the Mr. Football and Mr. Basketball awards in Minnesota the same year—he just might go higher than Gonzaga legend Adam Morrison who was the third selection in the 2006 NBA Draft.

The Illini are Final Four material and Dosunmu, who could work his way into being a first-round selection next year after he opted out of the 2020 NBA Draft, should be one of the top scorers in the Big Ten and the nation. Dosunmu's teammate, the big man Kofi Cockburn, probably deserves some mention since that combo will be one of the most potent in the nation. But it's Dosunmu that has the potential to be a force throughout the regular-season and come tournament time. He's also a player that could be fun to watch rise up the mock drafts if he lights it up.

It’s kind of crazy that last year’s Big Ten Player of the Year and a finalist for Naismith Player of the Year is nowhere to be found on many mock drafts. But when you’re a slow-footed center, your talents do not naturally translate to the modern NBA. Putting aside whether Garza will ever crack a lineup in the Association, just appreciate how dominant the 21-year-old senior has been and will be in his final season as he tries to lead the Hawkeyes to the program’s first Final Four in 40 years. And let the record show we'll be very surprised if Garza doesn't get at least a run or two with an NBA team.

Kentucky coach John Calipari always recruits studs and Boston (also known as BJ) is the best of the new bunch. Expect the five-star recruit, who we already know can finish at the rim, to be another one-and-done lottery pick after Calipari plucked him from Sierra Canyon High in LA—the same school where Bronny James currently balls. Boston actually relocated to Los Angeles from his native Atlanta to better prepare for his one year at Kentucky and a future in the NBA. Boston's favorite former Kentucky player is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Boston would be wise to model himself after the Thunder point guard.

If you want to be inspired and dazzled at the same time, make sure you check out what Preston is doing at Ohio. The junior didn’t think he was going to play college ball after high school, but despite being a skinny 6’ guard relegated to prep ball, he finally got a scholarship offer from Ohio and Longwood after the two schools saw the highlights he posted of himself on Twitter. Three years later, Preston’s put on a bunch of pounds, added four inches, and is averaging over 20 a game after shooting 40.7 percent from three and pouring in 16.8 points per game as a sophomore. While you won’t see him on every mock NBA Draft, don’t be surprised if he ends up being a late second-round selection. For now, just enjoy how he's defying the odds.

Chances are you’re familiar with Cunningham even if you haven’t watched a second of college ball this season. If you missed his debut, Cunningham poured in 21 points, adding 10 boards and 3 assists against Texas-Arlington a few days before Thanksgiving. The Cowboys point guard, who is listed at a monstrous 6’8” and 218 pounds, will be in the running for the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft. He also could become the next face of college basketball, kind of like we saw with Zion Williamson during the 2018-19 campaign, since Cunningham has that kind of game and was named to the 2021 Wooden Award watch list, one of seven freshman.

Another Sierra Canyon kid who will likely spend just one season at Stanford. Everyone that follows college basketball closely talks up the kid as a future star—he was, after all, the highest-rated prospect to choose Stanford in the program's history. He's 6'8", extremely athletic, definitely has room to fill out a thin frame, and is already projected to be a lottery pick. His college debut—19 points against Alabama—was better than the Cardinal's second game against North Carolina that saw him in foul trouble, but it doesn't take long to be impressed by Williams when you're watching him.

One more name you’ll find near the top of many mock drafts, and potentially in the mix for the No. 1 pick, Mobley’s got a pretty impressive offensive arsenal for a freshman that stands 7’. It usually takes a guy his size a little longer to put it all together on offense, but there’s a fluidity to his game and impressive touch around the basket you don’t always see with a freshman center. Expect him to block a bunch of shots, score plenty of points, and follow in the footsteps of Onyeka Okongwu who went to the Hawks with the No. 6 pick in the draft last month.