Who is the best player in college basketball entering the 2026-27 season? Maybe a name immediately popped into your head, but if you need to ponder the question for a bit, you're not alone. Of the 15 players named to the three CBS Sports All-American teams for the 2025-26 college basketball season, only three of them are returning to college basketball for the 2026-27 season.
One of those three, Texas Tech forward JT Toppin, faces an uncertain timeline on his way back from a torn ACL suffered in February. The other two — Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr. and Vanderbilt's Tyler Tanner — were third-team All-Americans who will need to make jumps to reach "best player in the sport" status.
When we released our annual preseason list of the Top 100 And 1 players in college basketball ahead of the 2025-26 season, three of the top five were star freshmen who lived up to the billing. Darryn Peterson, Cam Boozer and AJ Dybantsa each proceeded to meet the hype by becoming top-3 picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.
But the 2026 high school recruiting class is not regarded with the same reverence as the 2025 class, which produced the first eight picks in the 2026 NBA Draft and numerous other major contributors. Given the overall lack of talent in this year's freshman class and the mass departure of the sport's most impactful players, the door is open for a new wave of premier stars to make their mark.
Against that backdrop, our writers made their picks for who the best player in college basketball will be for the 2026-27 season.
Jeremy Fears Jr., Michigan State
The highest-rated player at KenPom from 2025-26 who is returning this season. Fears led the nation in assists (9.4 per game) and will probably be the most valuable player in the sport next season, given how often the ball will be in his hands as a four-year senior at the same program. He put up 15.3 points in addition to the nine-plus dimes per game and is just the third high-major player in the past 30-plus years to lead the country in assists and then return to college hoops the following season. The other two were Doug Gottlieb at Oklahoma State at the end of the 1990s and T.J. Ford at Texas in 2002 and 2003, when he turned himself into a national player of the year honoree.
Fears has the potential to lead the country in assists again on a team that will compete for a No. 1 seed while also being the hub of Sparty's wheel. There are other good candidates on this list, but nobody matches the statistical production, the veteran experience at one program and the surefire value on a proven roster like Fears. He should be the preseason pick for NPOY as far as I'm concerned. -- Matt Norlander
Juke Harris, Tennessee
Harris is a 6-foot-7 wing with NBA upside who averaged 21.4 points at Wake Forest last season. Now, he's stepping into a program with a strong recent track record for getting the most out of marquee transfers. Dalton Knecht (2023-24), Chaz Lanier (2024-25) and Ja'Kobi Gillespie (2025-26) paved the way for a player like Harris to arrive at Tennessee and take college basketball by storm.
Harris has the best combination of size, high-major experience and all-around game of the group, and he's going to be the offensive engine for a team with Final Four potential. Harris will have no choice but to elevate his defensive game while playing for Rick Barnes as he works his way into the 2027 NBA Draft lottery conversation. All the ingredients are in place for Harris to rise onto the national platform in a big way and contend for National Player of the Year status. -- David Cobb
Thomas Haugh, Florida
In the pre-NIL era, it would've been unheard of for a player of Haugh's caliber to return to school. Haugh, had he entered the 2026 NBA Draft, was projected as a sure-fire first-round pick and had a chance to go in the top 20 if he performed well at the combine. Instead, he's returning to school, where he projects to be the best player in college basketball.
Haugh is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife for Florida, capable of doing a little bit of everything. If we voted today for our preseason NPOTY, Haugh would almost certainly get the most first-place votes. Truthfully though, I think this year's discussion about who the best player in college basketball is more wide-open than usual. Haugh has the strongest case, but you could also talk me into Kansas forward Tyran Stokes, the No. 1-ranked player from the 2026 recruiting cycle who could very well be the No. 1 overall pick next summer. For now, Haugh owns the title as the best player in college basketball. -- Cameron Salerno
Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt
Do you know how good you have to be to be regarded as the best player in the country at only 6 feet tall?
Here's the list of high-major players who check in at 6-foot or shorter and have thrown down at least 17 dunks in a single season since 2008, per Bart Torvik.
1. Louisville's Russ Smith in 2012-13: 19
2. Auburn's Kenny Gabriel in 2010-11: 18
3. Vanderbilt's Tyler Tanner in 2025-26: 17
Tanner is different.
Tanner is the outlier of all outliers, but his superpowers stretch beyond just creating dunks at a historical rate. The lightning-quick point guard just does not make mistakes. He posted a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover rate this past season. He creates advantages offensively in his sleep using speed and a nasty change of direction. There was a play against Nebraska in the NCAA Tournament where Tanner de-pantsed three defenders with three separate crossovers on his way to the cup.
Oh, and he defends. And rebounds. And draws fouls. And makes tough shots. And runs his team. Like Thanos (and Cameron Boozer), Tanner is inevitable.
A massive junior season is on tap at Vanderbilt. -- Isaac Trotter
Caleb Holt, Arkansas
I understand this incoming freshman class isn't great -- especially compared to last season's that compelled roughly a third of the NBA to tank for a top pick. But I also know that each of the past two winners of the CBS Sports National Player of the Year award has been a freshman. So I wanted to at least add one to this list.
I went with Arkansas freshman Caleb Holt.
The 6-foot-5 guard is a top-five prospect in the 2026 class and likely to become the 31st lottery pick of John Calipari's Hall of Fame career. Holt is expected to star for an Arkansas team that's ranked No. 10 in the latest edition of the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1. Put another way, Holt should be the best player on a legitimate Final Four contender, which, almost by definition, would at least make him a part of the conversation. And with me adding him as a candidate here, it means 80% of our list of NPOY favorites -- everybody except Fears -- will call the SEC home this season. -- Gary Parrish
