Peak Perspective: Top 10 Basketball Players of the Mountain West Division Era

*With the Mountain West as we know it ending due to conference realignment, I thought it would be fun to go back and highlight the best players, games, and teams over the past 13 years. The prior entry was for the top 10 football players

The Mountain West had a good run with basketball. 30 teams over the past 13 years made it to the NCAA tournament, with another four making it to the play-in game, and 21 players were drafted to the NBA. Even with the transfer portal and NIL dominating the landscape, the conference still had some great players.

Like with football, I really overthought how to rank the players. Luckily it’s a little easier with basketball since more data is easily available and it’s slightly easier to compare positions. I threw together the following info to help make this list:

• Appearances on the All-Conference Team
• Any All-American Honors
• Post Season Awards (Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Tournament Player of the Year)
• Win Shares (Total and per 40 minutes)

I awarded a point total for each accomplishment, along with a slight boost based on career stat totals (points, assists, steals, blocks, rebounds). I used this in an attempt to make an unbiased ranking. I was a little surprised with what it produced, though it mostly lines up with general consensus. You’re welcome to give your thoughts in the comments. I will mention that my rankings are skewed towards accomplishments rather than raw talent or potential, so being drafted to the NBA (or other accolades outside of college) was not a factor.

I’ll do my best to include some background info on these guys, but you are welcome to add anything you might know about them.

*Note: All rankings, statistical leaders, and honors refer to the Mountain West Conference unless noted otherwise. Years listed reflect the end of the season (i.e. 2018 refers to 2017-18 season)

First off, the honorable mentions:

Marvell Harris – Fresno State (2013-2016)

Two-time All-Defensive Team, Two-Time First-Team All-Conference, 2016 Tournament MVP

Sixth in Career Steals, Ninth in Career Points, 2016 Total Assists Leader

Matt Mitchell – San Diego State (2018-2021)

2021 All-Defensive Team, Two-Time First-Team All-Conference, 2021 Tournament MVP

Caleb Martin – Nevada (2018-2019)

2019 All-Defensive Team, Two-Time First-Team All-Conference, 2018 Player of the Year

Eighth All-Time in Career Box Plus/Minus Rating, Total Points Leader in 2018 (Third in Per-Game Average)

Khem Birch – UNLV (2013-2014)

Two-Time All-Defensive Team, Second-Team All-Conference 2014, Two-Time Defensive Player of the Year, Eighth in Career Blocks, Fourth All-Time in Career Box Plus/Minus

10. Larry Nance Jr. – Wyoming (2012-2015)

You might know his dad, who had a 14-year career between Phoenix and Cleveland. He was a solid defender, and his kids definitely kept the tradition going. His daughter Casey played at Dayton, while his son Pete was at Northwestern and North Carolina. Larry Nance Jr. started out basically as Wyoming’s sixth man in the 2011-2012 year, then was a starter for the next three. One of the better, if not the best, big man in conference history, Nance finished top 10 in rebounds per game in each of his final three seasons, while finishing eighth all-time in career rebounds. His final two seasons he finished top 10 in blocks per game, while also earning a share of Defensive Player of the Year in 2015.

That 2015 year also saw Nance finish fourth in points per game (16.1), and was named to the First-Team All-Conference for the second year in a row. Wyoming managed to work their way into the AP top 25 for the first time since 1988. They capped the year with an upset win over San Diego State to claim the Mountain West Tournament, first in school history.

Nance was drafted 27th overall in 2015 by the Lakers, and has had a very long career in the NBA, currently in his 11th season.

9. Malachi Flynn – Guard, San Diego State

San Diego State was easily the best team during the divisional era. Flynn only played one season in the Mountain West, which is largely why I didn’t have him higher, Still, it was one of the better seasons. Flynn was the Washington player of the year as a high school senior, and committed to Washington State. He was there for two years and was a solid player, averaging 15.8 points a game in 2017-2018, but after two years Flynn decided to transfer. He waited a year (back when that was a requirement), and had a lot of hype when he committed to San Diego State — he was named Preseason Player of the Year.

He backed it up by leading the conference in assists (5.1) and steals (1.8) per game, while also finishing third in points (17.6). Flynn was an easy choice for First-Team All-Conference, as well as Defensive Player of the Year and Conference Player of the Year. Nationally, Flynn earned All-American Honors and was a semi-finalist for the Naismith award for best College Player of the Year. His win shares per 40 minutes that year were second in conference history, which is notable considering Jimmer Fredette is number one. The only negative here is that the 2020 post season was canceled due to the COVID pandemic, so we never got to see what Flynn could have done in the NCAA tournament. San Diego State finished the year sixth in the AP poll, highest since Kawhi Leonard was playing for them.

Flynn declared for the 2020 NBA draft, where the Raptors selected him 29th overall. He had a good five year career there, and is currently playing in the Turkish Basketball League

8. Derrick Marks – Guard, Boise State (2012-2015)

In his first year as a main part of the rotation (2012-2013), Marks led the conference in steals per game with 1.8, while also sixth in points per game at 16.3 and third in assists (3.9), finishing the year with him Second-Team All-Conference. He wasn’t highly recruited coming out of high school, I couldn’t find another school that seriously pursued him, but Boise obviously saw something others didn’t.

He went through a bit of a slump in 2014, but as a senior finished strong. Marks worked on his three-point shot and finished the 2015 season with the third most three-pointers made, while also leading the conference in total points. That year saw him First-Team All-Conference, along with Conference Player of the Year, while helping Boise State appear in the AP poll for the first time in school history.

Marks ended his career as one of the best players in Boise State history. At the time he left, he was the school’s all-time leader in Win Shares and is still fifth in school history for career points. He was pretty good on the defensive side too, finishing ninth on the career steals list. He’s since played professionally across Europe.

7. Jordan Caroline – Forward, Nevada

Caroline came from a family of athletes. His grandfather played a decade in the NFL, while his mom was a track star, and his dad, Simeon Rice, won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Caroline played high school ball at the prestigious Montverde Academy in Florida, where he teamed up with future NBA players Ben Simmons and D’Angelo Russell.

Caroline’s freshman year was at Southern Illinois but joined Nevada for the 2016-2017 year and immediately contributed. Nevada finished with the best record in the conference and Caroline helped them win the conference championship by earning Tournament MVP. It was Nevada’s first Mountain West title, and first conference title since winning the WAC in 2006.

All three years he finished top 10 in points per game and top five in rebounds, including being Second-Team All-Conference his first year and First-Team his final two. With Caroline, Nevada each year finished with the best record in the Mountain West, earned three straight appearances in the NCAA tournament, and end two consecutive seasons in the AP top 25. Along with Caleb Martin, he helped Nevada have arguably their best stretch since joining the Mountain West. After college, Caroline has done a world tour playing in Europe, Australia, and Asia, and is currently playing in Lithuania.

6. David Roddy – Guard, Colorado State (2020-2022)

Roddy was a great all-around athlete in high school. He had offers to play quarterback at a few schools, including Wyoming, on top of basketball offers from Big Ten schools Minnesota and Northwestern. But in the end, he decided to play basketball at Colorado State. He was listed as a guard on Sports Reference, which I don’t think is right since he was listed at 6’5”, 252 lbs — though I’ve always wanted a team to do something like that to see if opposing coaches actually pay attention. You could have had a game where Roddy was guarded by some poor 180 lb guard. Either way, his size worked to his advantage; Roddy had the fourth-highest career field goal percentage (since 2013), including a conference-best 57% in 2021-22 (on 389 attempts), which was also 22nd-best in conference history.

Colorado State had a rough stretch before Roddy joined, winning only 36% of games in the two years before he arrived. But during Roddy’s time in Fort Collins they never won fewer than 20 games in a season, including 25 his senior year, the school’s best in a decade. In his senior year, Roddy was an analytics favorite, leading the conference in player efficiency rating and box plus/minus. But computer nerds weren’t the only ones who liked him; Roddy finished fourth in points per game and sixth in rebounds, along with his second time being named First-Team All-Conference, on top of winning Conference Player of the Year.

Roddy was drafted 23rd overall by the Grizzlies (well, technically the 76ers, but then he was traded to Memphis. I’m still confused at who gets credit here by draft-day trades). He also has my favorite nickname I’ve found so far of Mountain West alumni – Big Body Roddy. I have no idea if anyone actually calls him that, NBA reference tends to be pretty liberal with nicknames. Like, I don’t remember anyone calling Isaiah Thomas “Pizza Guy”. Anyway, here’s Big Body Roddy highlights from his days at Fort Collins:

5. Josh Adams – Guard, Wyoming

I’m just realized that in 2016 Wyoming had elite players named Josh in both football and basketball. I’m sure there’s a meme about that, but I won’t make one since it’d be 10 years late.

Earlier I mentioned how Larry Nance helped Wyoming to one of their best years in school history, and Adams was the other reason, but it took a while to get there. His first year came largely off the bench, only getting 6.6 points per game, but showed some promise by reaching double figures in points in three of their final four games. The next two seasons, as a starter he was a solid, but still inconsistent, scoring option, averaging 12 points per game. But his senior year was fantastic.

He scored 740 points that 2015-16 season, fifth most in conference history, and his average of 24 per game was fourth nationally among qualified players. The main reason for the scoring surge was his shooting; Adams made a conference best 96 threes (one of 20 players to have hit that mark), average to 3.3 a game – 17th best in the country. Along with winning the conference that year, Adams was First-Team All-Conference, won Tournament MVP and Player of the Year. Some outlets even included him in their Honorable Mention for All-American.

For his career, Adams is 14th all time in points and 18th in assists for the conference. He’s since done a world tour of professional ball, playing in eight different countries.

4. Tyson Degenhart – Boise State

Degenhart played high school ball 13 miles north of basketball powerhouse Gonzaga, but from what I can tell, he was never on their radar. Oh well; you can’t find them all. But Degenhart did commit to play for longtime Gonzaga assistant and current Boise State head coach, Leon Rice.

Degenhart got significant playing time as a freshman, starting 29 of 35 games, and averaged a decent 10 points per game, helping Boise appear in the AP poll and NCAA tournament for the first time in seven years. After that, he was named First-Team All-Conference for three consecutive years. In each of those three years, he finished top 10 in total points, and his final two years he led the conference in offensive rating (points per 100 possessions). In conference history, Degenhart is eighth all-time in total points, second only to Jimmer in career win shares, while also first in career offensive rating, at 129 points per 100 possessions.

That last point is why Degenhart is arguably the best basketball player in Boise’s history; he really drove the offense. The team won 99 games in his four years, which was the best in school history. Boise won the regular season title in 2022, along with their first conference tournament championship since 2008. Going back to 2013, Degenhart finished in the top 10 in the conference for points, rebounds, and box plus/minus, and was one of two players to be name First-Team All-Conference three or more times. After college he signed a contract with the Toronto Raptors, playing with their G-league affiliate.

3. Isaiah Stevens – Colorado State

The COVID year allowed players an extra season of eligibility, which a number of players took advantage of. Prior to that, only one conference player had appeared in at least 146 games, now there are nine. Stevens was one of those. About Stevens, Brian Hamilton wrote:

“He’s the sort of guard who decides the opponent is his mortal enemy and takes defensive game plans as a personal affront”

Stevens was originally from Texas and wasn’t too highly recruited, likely due to being listed at 5’11”, 160 lbs. He had an offer to play 20 miles from his high school at SMU, but decided to go to Colorado State instead. He immediately started at guard and made an impact. He won Freshman of the Year while also being named Third-Team All-Conference, the first of his record five appearances on an All-Conference team.

After his fourth year, Stevens considered entering the draft, and would have left Fort Collins as an all-time great had he done. At the time he had the second-most career assists in conference history and was second in school history for points. But I think Colorado State was happy to have him back. His final two seasons he led the conference in assists while also finishing both years top six in points. Stevens now has a John Stockton-like hold on the career assists record, 206 more than anyone else. For that to be broken, someone would have to play 144 games (which only one player has done outside of the extra COVID year) and average 5.8 assists a game. As a reference, Stevens is the only player in conference history to average 5.8+ assists a game in multiple seasons. For his career, Stevens averaged 5.8 assists a game, a conference record, while second place is 4.7.

He wasn’t just a great facilitator, he is also second all-time in career points, trailing only Jimmer, and Sports-Reference credits him with producing a record 2,250 points. His junior year was when he had his “worst” shooting year, making 46% of his shots, which was still ninth best that season. He twice led the conference in free throw rate. During his career, Colorado State made the NCAA tournament three times, including being a sixth seed in 2022, and helped the team get ranked as high as No. 13 in 2024 – highest in school history.

2. Neemias Queta – Utah State

I mentioned at the beginning I tried using a simple formula accounting for career awards, titles and such, to avoid bias, and to account for players I wasn’t as familiar with (somehow I forgot Larry Nance Jr went to Wyoming). Queta came in second the first time I ranked them, but since I went to Utah State the same time as him, I felt like I may have subconsciously skewed it in his favor. I redid the math, and Queta came out second again, but with an even larger margin. So I can say I honestly tried to be fair!

Queta is originally from Portugal and joined fellow Portuguese native Diogo Brito. Utah State was going through an unusual rough patch, coming of back-to-back years without a winning record, which hadn’t happened since the George H.W. Bush was in office. Queta immediately established himself as one of the best defensive players in conference history. His 84 blocks was 32 more than anyone else. Had he left the school right then, that alone would have had him with the seventh most career blocks in school history. That season, the analytics really liked him; sports reference credited him with allowing 88 points per 100 possessions, best in the conference, and gave him the fourth best overall player efficiency rating. He won his first of two Defensive Player of the Year awards and was Second-Team All-Conference. That year brought a lot of excitement back to campus, and the students had fun with it:

I wish I had a better camera, because it was hilarious with him there every free throw.

Queta considered declaring for the draft after his freshman season, but ended up playing two more years. His junior year, Queta led the conference in rebounds and was first in Division I with 97 blocks. By many advanced metrics, he was the best defensive player in the country, finishing first in defensive rating and defensive box plus/minus. His 80 points allowed per 100 possessions is a conference record, and seventh best in division I since 2010. For his career, Utah State only allowed 85 points per 100 possessions with Queta on the court, second only to Wyoming’s Leonard Washington.

Offensively, Queta was limited, but that didn’t stop him from making 100% of his three-point shots in 2020, going 1 for 1. OK, so his offense was limited, but sports reference still rated him the most overall efficient player in the conference in the 2021 season. After that, Queta was drafted by the Sacramento Kings. He later joined the Boston Celtics and was part of their championship run in 2024.

1. Sam Merrill – Utah State

Again, I did my best to be unbiased, but it worked out with Utah State having the top two spots. That said, it’s hard to argue against how good Merrill was. His first two years were the down years for Utah State, but after Craig Smith joined for the 2019 season, Utah State was back to being a solid program. They finished with the best record in 2019 and second-best in 2020, on top of winning the conference tournament both years. Those years also saw him named First-Team All-Conference, including Player of the Year in 2019. Both years Merrill stepped up his game for the conference tournament, averaging 25 points across those six games, earning him tournament MVP both years, including the game-winning shot to upset No. 6 San Diego State in 2020.

Over his career, Merrill was a great shooter, finishing with the third-most three-pointers made in conference history, despite being only fifth in career attempts. He never finished lower than sixth in a season for three-pointers made, and in 2017-18 his 46% three point percentage is the second-best for a player with at least 200 attempts in a single season. Only four players in conference history have shot better than Merrill’s 47% from beyond the arc, but all four did it on fewer attempts (in fact, Merrill had 153 more career three-point attempts than any of those four). In 2020, Merrill was one of five players nationally to make 46% or more of his total shots while also attempting 200 more three-pointers.

Merrill finished with the third most points in conference history, behind Stevens and Jimmer. He’s one of five players to score 600 points in consecutive seasons, and his 1,360 points from 2019-2020 is second only to Jimmer in points scored over two seasons. His 89% career free throw rate is a conference record, and 18th all-time in Division 1. His career offensive rating is second only to Tyson Degenhart in conference history.

Merrill was selected as the final pick in the 2020 draft, and after bouncing around a few teams, but has become a key part of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Conclusion

As with all top 10 lists, these are subjective. Feel free to comment on anyone you think was snubbed or should be ranked higher

Next: top 10 football teams