The decade of the 2010s is drawing to a close, so I’m going to look at my all-decade team for college basketball. To be eligible, the player had to have played at least one season in the decade, and that includes the 2009-10 season. I named a starting five and a coach, as well as a quick list of bench players at the bottom. Here we go!
Guard: Kemba Walker, UConn, 2008-11
Cardiac Kemba! Walker’s first two seasons with the Huskies were very good, but his junior season in 2010-11 was the stuff of legends. They finished ninth in the Big East with a 9-9 record but Walker led them to an improbable run to the Big East championship, which included an incredible step-back jumper against Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals, part of winning five games in five days and then going on to win the national championship, winning 11 straight to close the season. He averaged 23.5 PPG in his final collegiate season, and was named to the All-America first team and the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament.
Guard: Jimmer Fredette, BYU, 2007-11
Jimmer Mania was at an all-time high for his senior season in 2010-11, and he delivered. He averaged 28.9 PPG, and was named the AP National Player of the Year. He got the Cougars to as high as third in the nation in early March and got them to the Sweet 16. During the season, he became the all-time leading scorer for the Mountain West, an honor he still holds to this day.
Forward: Doug McDermott, Creighton, 2010-14
Another four-year player, McDermott remains potentially the most underrated college player of the decade. Under his father as the coach, McDermott was the best scorer in the nation for the good part of his four years, leading the country in scoring his senior year after finishing second his junior season and third in his sophomore campaign. In his career, he became one of three players in NCAA history to have 3,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, and was the first player in 29 years to be named an AP All-American three times.
Forward: Zion Williamson, Duke, 2018-19
Perhaps the most hyped-up player in recent memory for his high-powered athleticism and his highlight-reel dunks, he showed up at Duke in the fall of 2018 and became the best player in the nation, averaging 22.6 PPG and 8.9 RPG, shooting 68% from the field. He earned legend status when he broke his shoe during a game against North Carolina on February 20, even causing former President Barack Obama to take notice. He was held out of the team’s final six regular season games, coming back for the postseason and getting Duke to the Elite Eight. He won a host of awards and was drafted first overall by the New Orleans Pelicans last summer.
Center: Anthony Davis, Kentucky, 2011-12
Davis averaged a double-double in his lone season at Kentucky, with 14 points and 10.4 rebounds per contest and was one of the top defensive players in the country while he led the Wildcats to a 38-2 record and a national championship, the program’s first since 1998. He was the national player of the year, a first-team All-American, SEC Player of the Year, the NABC Defensive Player of the Year, and was selected with the first overall pick by the New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans) in 2012.
Head coach: John Calipari, Kentucky
Calipari has gained a reputation as one of the best coaches in the country and is the most talented recruiter in the country as well, embracing the notion of getting the best players and being fine with one-and-done. In the decade, starting with the 2009-10 season, his first at Kentucky, Calipari has a record of 313-74 to go along with a national championship in 2012, four Final Four’s, five SEC Tournament titles, three SEC Coach of the Year awards and one each AP and Naismith National Coach of the Year and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. He’s the best to do it this decade and will be remembered for a long time.
Bench:
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma, 2012-16
Jahlil Okafor, Duke, 2014-15
Denzel Valentine, Michigan State, 2012-16
Jalen Brunson, Villanova, 2015-18
Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin, 2011-15
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State, 2010-12
Frank Mason, Kansas, 2013-17
AJ Hoops 