The same cliche gets repeated every year as Selection Sunday approaches: great guard play wins in March. It’s usually true. Since I started covering men’s college basketball for this website in 2014, nine of the 11 Most Outstanding Player winners from the NCAA tournament have been guards.
Walter Clayton Jr. turned himself into a March Madness forever hero and a first-round NBA draft pick with a nuclear shooting run that powered Florida to a national championship. The Gators are bringing back a ton of talent this year, but without Clayton, it will be on Boogie Fland (a transfer from Arkansas) and Xaivian Lee (a transfer from Princeton) to have their own breakout seasons for the program to repeat as champs.
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The 2025-26 college basketball season doesn’t start until the beginning of Nov., but it’s never too early to think about how the best guards in the country will be. Here’s our preseason top-10 list for the best guards in America.
10. Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
Anderson was ranked outside of the top-100 as a recruit entering Texas Tech, but he quickly became an indispensable piece for an Elite Eight team as a freshman. The Sweet 16 was Anderson’s national coming out party as he scored 22 points and played tough defense for 44 minutes to help the Red Raiders knock out Arkansas in overtime. This summer, Anderson starred for Germany (he was born in Atlanta, but has German citizenship through his father) at the U19 Basketball World Cup, averaging 17.3 points and 6.6 assists per game for the silver medalist. Anderson played mostly off the ball in a lower usage role (16.7 percent usage rate) as a freshman, but his starring run for Germany in more of an on-ball role should convince Texas Tech to give him plenty of opportunities for initiation. Anderson is a threat off the ball because he’s a high volume three-point shooter who knocked down 38 percent from three on 10.5 attempts per 100 possessions. He looked really slippery as a driver in FIBA play, and should be a bigger threat off the bounce as a sophomore. Anderson also competes defensively at the point of attack and likes to get into the passing lanes. He’s a bit scrawny for a 6’2 guard, but he overcomes it with a well-rounded skill set and never shying away from the moment. Texas Tech should be really good this year with star big man JT Toppin returning to campus, and if Anderson ascends the way I think he will, the Red Raiders will be a factor late in March once again.
9. Mikel Brown, Louisville
Brown was already being projected as a top-10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft even before he exploded at the U19 FIBA World Cup over the summer. His sensational performances against France (24 points, four assists) and Canada (20 points, eight assists) went viral for his ridiculous pull-up shooting, creative passing, and quickness off the dribble. Brown’s pull-up three-pointer looks like it can be a dangerous weapon after he canned 47.6 percent from three during World Cup play, but his playmaking might be even better. He’s going to be the straw that stirs the drink for a loaded Louisville team this year that should have tons of shooting and spacing around him. Brown is old for a freshman (he’ll turn 20 during Final Four weekend) which will be a knock against his draft stock, but should help him take on a big role from day one with the Cardinals. I’m curious to see how efficiently Brown can score inside the arc with his skinny frame, and if he can make any kind of defensive impact. He’s going to be one of the top freshmen to watch this season, and he’s going to be involved in a lot of big games with Louisville potentially looking like a top-10 team.
8. Milos Uzan, Houston
Uzan transferred from Oklahoma to Houston for his junior season, and grew into a starring role on the Cougars’ run to the national championship game. Uzan gave Houston a dimension it didn’t have as a big guard could run pick-and-roll and hit pull-up jumpers off the dribble. He hit 42.8 percent from three (7.4 attempts per 100 possessions) and did well to blend playmaking while avoiding turnovers. You can’t play for Kelvin Sampson if you don’t compete defensively, and Uzan was solid on that end, too. Sampson said Uzan looks better than ever in offseason workouts, and credited going through the NBA Draft process this year with helping him understand where he needs to improve. If Uzan has another leap in him, Houston will probably be the best team in the country this year.
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7. Labaron Philon, Alabama
Philon made the most surprising decision of the NBA Draft cycle by returning to Alabama for his sophomore year despite being projected as a first-round pick. He was indispensable for the Crimson Tide as a freshman with his disruptive defense, slippery ball handling, and impressive passing vision. Philon has great hands to rip the ball away defensively, and he’s excellent at pushing the pace when he gets in the open floor. Now that backcourt mate Mark Sears has graduated, Alabama is going to be Philon’s team. His floater is already a deadly weapon, and he’s a good decision maker as a passer off a live dribble. The big question for Philon is if he can improve as a shooter and at least threaten defenses a little bit with his pull-up jumper. He’s one of the most well-rounded guards in America, and it will be fascinating to see how he can grow with more on-ball responsibility.
6. Bruce Thornton, Ohio State
It’s almost impossible for a star point guard to stay at one school all four years when that program can’t even make the NCAA tournament in the NIL era, but it’s happened for Thornton and Ohio State. Thornton has started every game of his career for the Buckeyes, and as he enters his senior season, he’s desperate to showcase his game on the sport’s biggest stages. Ohio State’s failures the last few years haven’t been about Thornton, who is one of the most reliable players in the country. There’s so much to love about his game: he’s one of the deadliest mid-range scorers in America, he morphed into a 42 percent three-point shooter last year, he almost never turns the ball over (posting sub-10 percent turnover rates the last two years), and he can bully smaller guards with his strong frame. Thornton can barely dunk and just isn’t an NBA level athlete, but he’s the type of college guard every team would love to have. His bid for his first-ever NCAA tournament appearance will a story to monitor all season.
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5. Donovan Dent, UCLA
Dent might be the fastest player in college basketball with the ball in his hands, and he’s about to get a national spotlight after transferring from New Mexico to UCLA for the upcoming season. Dent was sensational with the Lobos, leading the program to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances (and helping upset Marquette in the first round in 2025) and winning 2025 Mountain West Player of the Year honors. UCLA has never ranked higher than No. 235 in tempo under Mick Cronin, but it would make sense to try to play a ‘Showtime’ style with Dent at the controls if the rest of the team can keep up. As he makes the jump from the Mountain West to Big Ten, it will be interesting to see if Dent can cut down the turnovers (16.5 percent turnover rate last season), up his three-point volume (41 percent from three but only two attempts per game), and develop some kind of mid-range game.
4. Bennett Stirtz, Iowa
Stirtz went from DII star at Northwest Missouri State to college basketball’s best mid-major player at Drake to a potential NBA first-round pick as he transfers into Iowa. Stirtz has played for head coach Ben McCollum at every stop of his career, and both are getting a national showcase in Stirtz’s senior season. The 6’4 guard is a skilled driver and rim finisher offensively, converting 72 percent at the rim last year while creating 75 percent of those opportunities himself. He has also showed major improvement as a three-point shooter, knocking down 39.6 percent from deep last year on a heavy diet of pull-ups, with only 36 percent of those makes coming off an assist, per Bart. As a ball handler, Stirtz does a good job of finding his teammates (34 percent assist rate) while avoiding turnovers (13 percent turnover rate). Defensively, he does a nice job forcing turnovers (3.3 percent steal rate) and getting his team out in transition. Facing Big Ten defenses every night will be the ultimate test for Stirtz, but his production has been so impressive at every stop that I’m buying his translation at the highest levels of the game.
3. Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn
Pettiford came off the bench for Auburn all season, but he might have been the second most important player on a Final Four team after All-American Johni Broome. Pettiford will be the star of the show this year, and it’s going to be so much fun to watch how his ridiculous blend of quickness and shot-making scales up to a bigger role. Pettiford can heat up in a hurry with deep range on his pull-up jumper (36.6 percent from three last year on five attempts per game) and he can create space against almost anyone with a sharp handle and great burst. I saw Pettiford throw down a ridiculous dunk at the NBA Draft Combine scrimmages this year, and thought he looked like the best player on the floor in that setting. Getting him back is a godsend for Auburn. As he enters his sophomore season, Pettiford feels like one of the country’s most dangerous scorers.
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2. Darryn Peterson, Kansas
It feels like Peterson could push Anthony Edwards and Markelle Fultz as the best guard prospect to enter the NBA over the last decade as he arrives at Kansas for his freshman season. Bill Self said Peterson could be the best player he’s ever coached, and while Peterson probably would have been more of a shooting guard a decade ago, these days a star guard needs to play on the ball. At 6’5 with a 6’10 wingspan and a strong frame, Peterson is nightmare to deal with going downhill as a scorer. He’s a phenomenal finisher and a skilled mid-range scorer, but his three-point shooting volume (and accuracy) will something to monitor this season. What’s so great about Peterson is that he can shine as a high-usage primary initiator on offense while still bringing tons of defensive value. He flies around the court for blocks and steals that help get his team out in transition, and he feels too strong and too athletic for other guards to match up against. If the shooting comes around, Peterson’s combination of explosive plays attacking the basket, rare ability to create offense for himself out of thin air, and defensive playmaking gives him a real shot to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
1. Braden Smith, Purdue
Smith is the ultimate college hoops underdog story, a small guard overlooked in the recruiting rankings who got noticed by an in-state powerhouse that believed he could be a winning player in the Big Ten. Smith has started every game at Purdue since entering the program, and he’s endured just about every high and low possible along the way. As a freshman, Smith was on the court as the Boilermakers were somehow upset by No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson to start the NCAA tournament. As a sophomore, Smith was Zach Edey’s best teammate on a team that went to the national championship game. Last season with Edey off to the NBA, Smith emerged as the best guard in the country, and now he has bypassed bigger NIL offers to finish his career at Purdue. He’s the type of guard who has complete mastery of the game: he’s so low to the ground as a sub-6-foot guard, but he can get anywhere he wants on the floor and always makes the right play. Smith’s facilitating is what originally got him noticed, but he’s become a deadly scorer too. Last season, he made 38 percent from three on six attempts per game, led the country in assists at 8.7 per game, and proved he could self-create and convert layups off the bounce. What Smith lacks in size he more than makes up for with his skill level, toughness, and composure. If you think he’s the best player in the country entering the year, not just the best guard, I won’t argue with you.
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Honorable mentions
Robert Wright III, BYU
Boogie Fland, Florida
PJ Haggerty, Kansas State
Anthony Robinson II, Missouri
Ja’Kobi Gilespie, Tennessee
Solo Ball, UConn
Kentucky’s Otega Oweh would have been on this list, but he’s more of a wing than a guard to me.
