Sportskeeda's 2023-24 All-American College Basketball Team ft. Zach Edey
With the college basketball postseason underway, it's time to honor the nation's best players.
Among many reasons why this is difficult is that college basketball is a guard-heavy sport. A group of fifth-team All-American guards would still be deserving. So we have changed things up a bit: rather than naming two guards, two forwards and a center, we're going with three guards on our hypothetical team.
Team success matters, as does individual success, so here's the best players in college basketball 2024.
Sportskeeda All-American college basketball team
First Team
Guard: Dalton Knecht, Tennessee
With 21.4 points per game, the Tennessee transfer put up better numbers in the SEC than he did in the Big Sky Conference.
Knecht not only led Tennessee in scoring, he connected on 40.5% of his 3-point attempts. He also improved his scoring to 25.5 ppg in league play and averaged 24.8 ppg in road games. Knecht elevated Tennessee's play all around.
Guard: RJ Davis, North Carolina
Speaking of scorers, the Carolina sniper ended up at 21.1 ppg. He was also second for UNC with 3.5 assists per game.
Davis hit 41.6% his 3-point tries and 88.6% of his free throws. Consistent? 21.1 ppg in ACC play, same as out-of-conference. Davis has 25 or more points nine times, including a 42 point game against Miami. He has led UNC to the top of the ACC.
Guard: Jamal Shead, Houston
Shead's 13.2 ppg (2nd on team) and 6.2 apg (1st on team) don't tell his whole story. He's at the centerpiece of the best defense on the best team in college basketball.
Second in the ACC in steals, Shead leads a defense that holds opponents to 56.9 ppg (lowest in college basketball) and 38.3% shooting (second lowest in college basketball). Nobody stops scorers like Jamal Shead.
Forward: DaRon Holmes, Dayton
He will slip under many radars, but Holmes might be the most consistent player in college basketball.
He averages 20.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game for an NCAA Tournament-bound Dayton team. In his last 11 games, Holmes has a dozen or more points and hit double-figure rebounds in seven of those games. He's versatile, dependant and brilliant.
Center: Zach Edey, Purdue
Who could overlook the seven-foot-four behemoth who was last year's college Player of the Year?
Edey has improved this year, rising from 22.3 to 24.2 points per game, and going from 60.7% to 61.9% shooting. He averages 11.7 rebounds per game and is third in the Big Ten in blocked shots.
Edey is ending the kind of four-year career that may never be seen again, and he leads a great Purdue team.
Second-team
Guard: Tyler Kolek, Marquette
Guard: Tristen Newton, UConn
Guard: Caleb Love, Arizona
Forward: Baylor Scheierman, Creighton
Center: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
Third-team
Guard: Braden Smith, Purdue
Guard: Antonio Reeves, Kentucky
Guard: Mark Sears, Alabama
Forward: Johnni Broom, Auburn
Center: Kyle Filipowski, Duke