The end of October means that the regular season is right around the corner: FINALLY! We take this time to recognize the best players in college basketball from the 2026 exhibition season. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel has reviewed all the numbers and is ready to announce his picks for the 5 best performances from the past several weeks based on all-around stats for power conference/mid-majors/non-D-1 players. If you think that he has overlooked anyone then feel free to tweet us your comments.
POWER CONFERENCE
G: Tylen Riley (Cincinnati): 23 PTS/6-12 FG in win over Ohio State, 31 PTS/3-6 3PM/13 AST in 9-PT loss to Illinois
G: Jeremy Fears Jr. (Michigan State): 10 PTS/13 AST/6 STL in win over Incarnate Word, 23 PTS/12-14 FT in 8-PT loss to Connecticut
F: Pharrel Payne (Maryland): 26 PTS/10-18 FG/13 REB in 9-PT OT win over West Virginia
F: Keyshawn Hall (St. John’s): 24 PTS/10-10 FT/14 REB in 53 minutes in 5-PT 4-OT win over Rutgers, 24 PTS/8-13 FG in win over Texas
C: Michael Ruzic (LSU): 11 PTS/16 REB in 3-PT win at McNeese, 15 PTS/6-12 FG/13 REB in 4-PT win over UCF
MID-MAJOR
G: Jake Hall (New Mexico): 31 PTS/6-7 3PM in 10-PT win at Oklahoma State, 22 PTS/8-10 FG in win over Washington State
G: Cooper Noard (Samford): 30 PTS/6-12 3PM/10 REB in loss at Auburn
F: Jalik Dunkley (Robert Morris): 26 PTS/9-9 FG/2-2 3PM/10 REB/3 STL in win over Canisius
F: Matas Deniusas (Rhode Island): 20 PTS/9-12 FG/16 REB in win over Southern New Hampshire
C: Cheick Sylla (UMass): 14 PTS/18 REB in win over Rhode Island
NON-D-1
G: Isaiah Gill-Wilson (University of the Virgin Islands): 26 PTS/3-8 3PM/15 REB/3 STL in loss at North Florida
G: TJ Ford Jr. (Texas A&M-Kingsville): 22 PTS in 7-PT win at Houston Christian
F: Anthony DeJohn (Endicott): 22 PTS/4-5 3PM in loss at Bucknell
F: Jamarcus Brown (St. Leo): 20 PTS/3-5 3PM in loss at South Florida
C: Wyatt Mowery (MIT): 17 PTS in loss at Boston College
