Top 5 Big Ten returning players that look scary in 2024-25 college basketball season
The 2024-25 college basketball season got underway on Monday and 14 of the Big Ten's 18 teams were in action, with each program starting their season with a win. The conference had four teams—the No. 14-ranked Purdue Boilermakers, No. 17-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, No. 22-ranked UCLA Bruins and No. 25-ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights—ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll.
As the season gets underway, take a look at five returning Big Ten players who poised to have a big year.
Top 5 Big Ten returning players that look scary in 2024-25 college basketball season
#1: Braden Smith
Braden Smith joined the Purdue Boilermakers as a three-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class. He averaged 12.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.1% from the field, 43.1% from three-point range and 79.5% from the free-throw line last season.
Smith was named AP Honorable Mention All-American. He started the season strong as he had 12 points, eight rebounds, 15 assists and two steals while shooting 3-6 from the field, 1-3 from three-point range and 5-6 from the free-throw line.
#2: Ace Baldwin Jr.
Ace Baldwin Jr. initially joined the VCU Rams as a three-star prospect in the 2020 recruiting class. He spent three seasons with the program before joining the Penn State Nittany Lions via the transfer portal ahead of last season. Baldwin Jr. averaged 14.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 6.0 apg, 2.7 spg and 0.3 bpg while shooting 38.9% from the field, 32.9% from three-point range and 82.6% from the free-throw line.
He was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year last season after earning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year the previous season. Baldwin Jr. finished with 15 points, four assists and three steals while shooting 5-8 from the field, 4-5 from three-point range and 1-1 from the free-throw line.
#3: Dawson Garcia
Dawson Garcia initially joined the Marquette Golden Eagles as a four-star prospect in the 2020 recruiting class. He spent one season with the program before joining the North Carolina Tar Heels via the transfer portal. After just one year, he joined the Minnesota Golden Gophers via the transfer portal ahead of the 2022–23 season.
Garcia averaged 17.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.8 spg and 1.0 bpg per game while shooting 48.6% from the field, 31.9% from three-point range and 80.2% from the free-throw line last season.
#4: Payton Sandfort
Payton Sandfort joined the Iowa Hawkeyes as a three-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class. He averaged 16.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.7 apg, 0.7 spg and 0.4 bpg while shooting 44.6% from the field, 37.9% from three-point range and 91.1% from the free-throw line last season.
He played great in his season debut, finishing with 20 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, one steal and three blocks while shooting 7-14 from the field, 4-9 from three-point range and 2-2 from the free-throw line.
#5: Bruce Thornton
Bruce Thornton joined the Ohio State Buckeyes as a four-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class. He averaged 15.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 4.8 apg and 1.2 spg while shooting 42.7% from the field, 33.3% from three-point range and 85.0% from the free-throw line. Thornton had a great game in his season debut as he finished with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists while shooting 7-10 from the field, 3-4 from three-point range and 3-3 from the free-throw line.