A glance at the top 50 basketball players according to www.valueaddbasketball.com shows the typical trend—the best NBA prospects are sophomores and freshman, but the best college players are seniors.

LSU freshman Ben Simmons could be the best player since LeBron James. He battles last year’s freshman hero of the title game Grayson Allen of Duke for the top spot. Nine of the 13 players in the top 50 with a better than 2-to-1 chance of making the pros are freshman or sophomores just like Allen and Simmons.

However the rest of the top 10 players—based on how many points each of the 4000+ Division 1 players are worth to their team—are seniors. NBA scouts know that players make a huge jump between their freshman and sophomore seasons and by their senior year are already near their peak—which is why in many drafts most seniors are skipped. However, the three seniors that are both in the top 50 and likely to make it in the NBA play for rival schools, Denzel Valentine of No. 1 ranked Michigan State (whose coach Tom Izzo is famous for not paying AAU coaches to get his talent) and Michigan’s Caris LeVert.

All 4000 players and 351 teams can be searched at www.valueaddbasketball.com, but the top 50 players are listed below and the top 50 team values are: 1. Duke; 2. Virginia; 3. Oklahoma; 4. Purdue; 5. Michigan State; 6. Kansas; 7. Iowa; 8. Vanderbilt; 9. Xavier; and 10. SMU.

Rnk Player Team Ht Yr Value Add NBA? Con
1 Allen, Grayson 3 Duke 6’05 So 13.58 68% ACC
2 Simmons, Ben 25 LSU 6’10 Fr 12.64 96% SEC
3 Walker, David 4 Northeastern 6’06 Sr 12.31 38% CAA
4 Valentine, Denzel 45 Michigan St. 6’05 Sr 12.18 84% B10
5 Gbinije, Michael 0 Syracuse 6’07 Sr 11.09 46% ACC
6 Hield, Buddy 24 Oklahoma 6’04 Sr 10.93 57% B12
7 Uthoff, Jarrod 20 Iowa 6’09 Sr 10.69 3% B10
8 Walkup, Thomas 0 Stephen F. Austin 6’04 Sr 10.47 2% Slnd
9 Payton, Gary 1 Oregon St. 6’03 Sr 10.24 54% P12
10 McClellan, Sheldon 10 Miami FL 6’05 Sr 10.04 11% ACC
11 Lydon, Tyler 20 Syracuse 6’08 Fr 9.48 74% ACC
12 McCaw, Patrick 22 UNLV 6’07 So 9.26 70% MWC
13 Poeltl, Jakob 42 Utah 7’00 So 9.16 88% P12
14 Morris, Monte 11 Iowa St. 6’03 Jr 8.87 59% B12
15 Peters, Alec 25 Valparaiso 6’09 Jr 8.82 9% Horz
16 Jackson, Demetrius 11 Notre Dame 6’01 Jr 8.79 88% ACC
17 Wiltjer, Kyle 33 Gonzaga 6’10 Sr 8.77 24% WCC
18 Gibbs, Jack 12 Davidson 6’00 Jr 8.72 10% A10
19 LeVert, Caris 23 Michigan 6’07 Sr 8.68 73% B10
20 Scott, Josh 40 Colorado 6’10 Sr 8.66 10% P12
21 Robinson, Duncan 22 Michigan 6’08 So 8.59 B10
22 Ferrell, Yogi 11 Indiana 6’00 Sr 8.55 16% B10
23 Jones, Matt 13 Duke 6’05 Jr 8.49 5% ACC
24 Mockevicius, Egidijus 55 Evansville 6’10 Sr 8.44 10% MVC
25 Ingram, Brandon 14 Duke 6’09 Fr 8.42 98% ACC
26 Lee, Damion 0 Louisville 6’06 Sr 8.34 44% ACC
27 Selden, Wayne 1 Kansas 6’05 Jr 8.32 27% B12
28 Johnson, Melvin 32 VCU 6’04 Sr 8.29 A10
29 Johnson, Brice 11 North Carolina 6’10 Sr 8.27 45% ACC
30 Mason, Frank 0 Kansas 5’11 Jr 8.26 10% B12
31 Niang, Georges 31 Iowa St. 6’08 Sr 8.13 8% B12
32 Trimble, Melo 2 Maryland 6’03 So 8.11 79% B10
33 Brown, John 0 High Point 6’08 Sr 8.07 BSth
34 Ware, Gavin 20 Mississippi St. 6’09 Sr 8.05 SEC
35 Warney, Jameel 20 Stony Brook 6’08 Sr 8.05 10% AE
36 Allen, Terry 15 Richmond 6’08 Sr 8.02 4% A10
37 Beasley, Malik 5 Florida St. 6’05 Fr 7.94 ACC
38 Dunn, Kris 3 Providence 6’04 Jr 7.78 95% BE
39 Rabb, Ivan 1 California 6’11 Fr 7.71 75% P12
40 Miles, Isaiah 15 Saint Joseph’s 6’07 Sr 7.71 A10
41 Sabonis, Domantas 11 Gonzaga 6’10 So 7.69 68% WCC
42 Robinson, Justin 12 Monmouth 5’08 Jr 7.63 9% MAAC
43 English, AJ 5 Iona 6’04 Sr 7.63 7% MAAC
44 Morgan, Jeremy 20 Northern Iowa 6’05 Jr 7.62 MVC
45 Woodard, Jordan 10 Oklahoma 6’00 Jr 7.62 2% B12
46 Boothe, Nathan 53 Toledo 6’09 Sr 7.61 MAC
47 Young, Michael 2 Pittsburgh 6’09 Jr 7.61 2% ACC
48 Spangler, Ryan 0 Oklahoma 6’08 Sr 7.58 2% B12
49 Woodley, Zeek 23 Northwestern St. 6’02 Jr 7.56 10% Slnd
50 Jefferson, Amile 21 Duke 6’09 Sr 7.56 9% ACC