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30 greatest college basketball players this century

By Cody Williams

NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: J.J. Redick #4 of the Duke Blue Devils walks down the court during their Preseason NIT game against the Drexel Dragons at Madison Square Garden on November 23, 2005 in New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: J.J. Redick #4 of the Duke Blue Devils walks down the court during their Preseason NIT game against the Drexel Dragons at Madison Square Garden on November 23, 2005 in New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) /
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ST LOUIS, MO – MARCH 18: Denzel Valentine #45 of the Michigan State Spartans in action during the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament game against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Scottrade Center on March 18, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO – MARCH 18: Denzel Valentine #45 of the Michigan State Spartans in action during the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament game against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Scottrade Center on March 18, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

26. Denzel Valentine, Michigan State (2012-2016)

  • 2016 Wooden Award Finalist
  • 2016 Consensus First-Team All-American
  • 2016 Big Ten Player of the Year

Though Denzel Valentine saw the floor a good bit for his first two seasons with the Michigan State Spartans, even starting in 47 of 74 games in his freshman and sophomore season, the long guard wasn’t particularly productive for Tom Izzo’s team. To put it in the simplest terms, he was a bit of a late-bloomer as he averaged 6.5 points, 3.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game over those two years in East Lansing.

As a junior for the Spartans, though, Valentine started to bloom indeed. In the 39 games that he played that season for Michigan State, the guard posted averages of 14.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 0.9 steals per game, all while shooting 44.3 percent overall and 41.6 percent from beyond the arc. What’s more, Valentine was integral in leading the Spartans to the Final Four that season, though they lost to Duke in the semifinal.

The senior year for Valentine was him in full bloom. Playing 33 minutes per contest, Valentine averaged 19.2 points, 7.8 assists, 7.5 rebounds and one steal per game, even improving his efficiency from the previous year as he hit on 46.2 percent of his attempts and 44.4 percent of his 3-point shots.

If not for the upset loss to Middle Tennessee in the 2016 NCAA Tournament where Valentine struggled to score, he may be higher on this list. Even still, he did enough to earn a spot in the top 30.