SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – APRIL 07: Milos Uzan #7 of the Houston Cougars drives the ball against Walter Clayton Jr. #1 of the Florida Gators during the first half in the National Championship of the NCAA Men\u2019s Basketball Tournament at the Alamodome on April 07, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n Uzan transferred from Oklahoma to Houston for his junior season, and grew into a starring role on the Cougars\u2019 run to the national championship game. Uzan gave Houston a dimension it didn\u2019t have as a big guard could run pick-and-roll and hit pull-up jumpers off the dribble. He hit 42.8 percent from three (7.4 attempts per 100 possessions) and did well to blend playmaking while avoiding turnovers. You can\u2019t play for Kelvin Sampson if you don\u2019t compete defensively, and Uzan was solid on that end, too. Sampson said Uzan looks better than ever in offseason workouts<\/a>, and credited going through the NBA Draft process this year with helping him understand where he needs to improve. If Uzan has another leap in him, Houston will probably be the best team in the country this year.<\/p>\n 7. Labaron Philon, Alabama<\/p>\n Philon made the most surprising decision of the NBA Draft cycle<\/a> by returning to Alabama for his sophomore year despite being projected as a first-round pick. He was indispensable for the Crimson Tide as a freshman with his disruptive defense, slippery ball handling, and impressive passing vision. Philon has great hands to rip the ball away defensively, and he\u2019s excellent at pushing the pace when he gets in the open floor. Now that backcourt mate Mark Sears has graduated, Alabama is going to be Philon\u2019s team. His floater is already a deadly weapon, and he\u2019s a good decision maker as a passer off a live dribble. The big question for Philon is if he can improve as a shooter and at least threaten defenses a little bit with his pull-up jumper. He\u2019s one of the most well-rounded guards in America, and it will be fascinating to see how he can grow with more on-ball responsibility.<\/p>\n INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MARCH 12: Bruce Thornton #2 of the Ohio State Buckeyes brings the ball up court during the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Men\u2019s Basketball Tournament first round at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 12, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n 6. Bruce Thornton, Ohio State<\/p>\n It\u2019s almost impossible for a star point guard to stay at one school all four years when that program can\u2019t even make the NCAA tournament in the NIL era, but it\u2019s happened for Thornton and Ohio State. Thornton has started every game of his career for the Buckeyes, and as he enters his senior season, he\u2019s desperate to showcase his game on the sport\u2019s biggest stages. Ohio State\u2019s failures the last few years haven\u2019t been about Thornton, who is one of the most reliable players in the country. There\u2019s so much to love about his game: he\u2019s one of the deadliest mid-range scorers in America, he morphed into a 42 percent three-point shooter last year, he almost never turns the ball over (posting sub-10 percent turnover rates the last two years), and he can bully smaller guards with his strong frame. Thornton can barely dunk and just isn\u2019t an NBA level athlete, but he\u2019s the type of college guard every team would love to have. His bid for his first-ever NCAA tournament appearance will a story to monitor all season.<\/p>\n Dent might be the fastest player in college basketball with the ball in his hands, and he\u2019s about to get a national spotlight after transferring from New Mexico to UCLA for the upcoming season. Dent was sensational with the Lobos, leading the program to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances (and helping upset Marquette in the first round in 2025) and winning 2025 Mountain West Player of the Year honors. UCLA has never ranked higher than No. 235 in tempo under Mick Cronin, but it would make sense to try to play a \u2018Showtime\u2019 style with Dent at the controls if the rest of the team can keep up. As he makes the jump from the Mountain West to Big Ten, it will be interesting to see if Dent can cut down the turnovers (16.5 percent turnover rate last season), up his three-point volume (41 percent from three but only two attempts per game), and develop some kind of mid-range game.<\/p>\n Stirtz went from DII star at Northwest Missouri State to college basketball\u2019s best mid-major player at Drake to a potential NBA first-round pick as he transfers into Iowa. Stirtz has played for head coach Ben McCollum at every stop of his career, and both are getting a national showcase in Stirtz\u2019s senior season. The 6\u20194 guard is a skilled driver and rim finisher offensively, converting 72 percent at the rim last year while creating 75 percent of those opportunities himself. He has also showed major improvement as a three-point shooter, knocking down 39.6 percent from deep last year on a heavy diet of pull-ups, with only 36 percent of those makes coming off an assist, per Bart<\/a>. As a ball handler, Stirtz does a good job of finding his teammates (34 percent assist rate) while avoiding turnovers (13 percent turnover rate). Defensively, he does a nice job forcing turnovers (3.3 percent steal rate) and getting his team out in transition. Facing Big Ten defenses every night will be the ultimate test for Stirtz, but his production has been so impressive at every stop that I\u2019m buying his translation at the highest levels of the game.<\/p>\n Photo by Andy Lyons\/Getty Images<\/p>\n 3. Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn<\/p>\n Pettiford came off the bench for Auburn all season, but he might have been the second most important player on a Final Four team after All-American Johni Broome. Pettiford will be the star of the show this year, and it\u2019s going to be so much fun to watch how his ridiculous blend of quickness and shot-making scales up to a bigger role. Pettiford can heat up in a hurry with deep range on his pull-up jumper (36.6 percent from three last year on five attempts per game) and he can create space against almost anyone with a sharp handle and great burst. I saw Pettiford throw down a ridiculous dunk at the NBA Draft Combine scrimmages this year, and thought he looked like the best player on the floor in that setting. Getting him back is a godsend for Auburn. As he enters his sophomore season, Pettiford feels like one of the country\u2019s most dangerous scorers.<\/p>\n 2. Darryn Peterson, Kansas<\/p>\n It feels like Peterson could push Anthony Edwards and Markelle Fultz as the best guard prospect to enter the NBA over the last decade as he arrives at Kansas for his freshman season. Bill Self said Peterson could be the best player he\u2019s ever coached, and while Peterson probably would have been more of a shooting guard a decade ago, these days a star guard needs to play on the ball. At 6\u20195 with a 6\u201910 wingspan and a strong frame, Peterson is nightmare to deal with going downhill as a scorer. He\u2019s a phenomenal finisher and a skilled mid-range scorer, but his three-point shooting volume (and accuracy) will something to monitor this season. What\u2019s so great about Peterson is that he can shine as a high-usage primary initiator on offense while still bringing tons of defensive value. He flies around the court for blocks and steals that help get his team out in transition, and he feels too strong and too athletic for other guards to match up against. If the shooting comes around, Peterson\u2019s combination of explosive plays attacking the basket, rare ability to create offense for himself out of thin air, and defensive playmaking gives him a real shot to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n Smith is the ultimate college hoops underdog story, a small guard overlooked in the recruiting rankings who got noticed by an in-state powerhouse that believed he could be a winning player in the Big Ten. Smith has started every game at Purdue since entering the program, and he\u2019s endured just about every high and low possible along the way. As a freshman, Smith was on the court as the Boilermakers were somehow upset by No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson to start the NCAA tournament. As a sophomore, Smith was Zach Edey\u2019s best teammate on a team that went to the national championship game. Last season with Edey off to the NBA, Smith emerged as the best guard in the country, and now he has bypassed bigger NIL offers to finish his career at Purdue. He\u2019s the type of guard who has complete mastery of the game: he\u2019s so low to the ground as a sub-6-foot guard, but he can get anywhere he wants on the floor and always makes the right play. Smith\u2019s facilitating is what originally got him noticed, but he\u2019s become a deadly scorer too. Last season, he made 38 percent from three on six attempts per game, led the country in assists at 8.7 per game, and proved he could self-create and convert layups off the bounce. What Smith lacks in size he more than makes up for with his skill level, toughness, and composure. If you think he\u2019s the best player in the country entering the year, not just the best guard, I won\u2019t argue with you.<\/p>\n PJ Haggerty, Kansas State<\/p>\n Anthony Robinson II, Missouri<\/p>\n Ja\u2019Kobi Gilespie, Tennessee<\/p>\n Kentucky\u2019s Otega Oweh would have been on this list, but he\u2019s more of a wing than a guard to me.<\/p>\n![\"SAN](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/gettyimages-2209094116.jpg\"\/)
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