Who would make a college basketball all-star game? Smith, Lendeborg, Boozer headed East

If college basketball had an NBA-style all-star game, what would the rosters look like?

We divided the country along the Mississippi River and created East and West rosters of college basketball’s very best players. With most of the ACC, Big East, Big Ten and SEC, the East region is overcrowded with options, forcing us to make some tough cuts.

This is the second part of our series – here’s the East selection (if you missed the West, check it out here).

Appetizers

Braden Smith, Purdue

Smith is a four-year starter and the maestro of one of the best offenses in the sport. Smith fills the role of senior captain and point guard on this team. He remains on the hunt to break the NCAA’s all-time record for career assists, and his pick-and-roll mastery makes life easier for his teammates.

He actively creates passing angles that few others can imagine, and his shooting – 51.7 percent from mid-range according to CBB Analytics, 41.9 percent from 3 – means you can’t just drop him and turn him into a scorer.

Keaton Wagler, Illinois

Not even the considerable hype surrounding Wagler at the start of the season could have predicted this. The unheralded freshman has risen to the top of the sport thanks to his remarkable offensive prowess and is among the strongest challengers in Cameron Boozer’s National Player of the Year campaign.

Wagler shows shades of Stephen Curry: under-recruited but dominant with his touch, change of pace and long-range shooting touch, while still physically underdeveloped.

According to CBB Analytics, Wagler hits 45.6 percent of his 3s that come from 25+ feet. That’s ridiculous. As he grows stronger and tightens his grip, he will become even more unstoppable.

Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan

The connective tissue between Michigan’s gargantuan frontcourt and skilled backcourt, Lendeborg is the versatile destroyer who gives Dusty May tremendous lineup flexibility. He ranks in the 100th percentile of CBB Analytics’ Regularized Adjusted Plus-Minus (RAPM), which indicates how much better Michigan performs when he is on the field compared to an average player.

Even if Lendeborg struggles with his three-point shot in Big Ten play, he remains one of the most efficient offensive players in the country due to his authoritative finishing, activity on the offensive glass and intelligent passing. He also influences the game defensively in countless ways.

Cameron Boozer, Duke

Boozer is the overwhelming favorite for national player of the year. Of course he’s going to start on this all-star team! Boozer has been the epitome of consistency, averaging 23 points, 10 rebounds and four assists no matter who the Blue Devils face.

His touch and footwork are far beyond his years, and he is deadly any way Jon Scheyer uses him. Boozer, through Synergy, ranks in the 78th percentile or higher in efficiency across all eight primary game modes. Percentile rankings compare him to all Division I players.

Whether you think he’s the top pick in the NBA Draft or not, there’s little debate about whether Boozer is the best and most productive player in college basketball right now.

Caleb Wilson, North Carolina

Neither Wilson nor Boozer are a true center, but we bend the positional rules to get the five best players on the field. Wilson’s athleticism is remarkable, and as a result he leads the nation in dunks (67, according to Bart Torvik, narrowly surpassing Kansas’ Flory Bidunga’s 64).

He’s more than just the highlight reel, though: he possesses an efficient mid-post arsenal, strong passing instincts and the ability to get around slower big men. Like Boozer, he is extremely consistent, having scored between 20 and 23 points in 12 of UNC’s last 16 games.

However, Wilson is out indefinitely with a broken left hand, opening up another spot. Auburn’s Keyshawn Hall, a hugely productive scorer for a likely NCAA Tournament team, makes the most sense as a replacement. To fill Wilson’s spot in the starting lineup, I would elevate St. John’s center Zuby Ejiofor, as the East’s lineup needs real size to combat the West’s domestic strength.

Bank

Jeremy Fears, Michigan State

Fears’ extracurricular activities on the field have been making the most noise lately. But for his ability and impact, he is an incredibly worthy honor. His ridiculous 53.5 percent support rate is out of this world. For context, the best end-of-season percentage over the last five years was 49.1 percent, according to Saint Louis’ Yuri Collins in 2023.

His assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.13 is also absurd. The entirety of Michigan State’s offense is Fears running ball screens and probing holes until he gets into the paint or finds a passing target. He is also an annoying defender on the ball. He may not be your favorite player, but he would be great on an all-star team.

Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt

Tanner’s emergence as a dominant force this year is one of the best under-the-radar stories in sports. A diminutive speedster who lives in the lane or can launch from deep, Tanner recently exploded for 37 points against Oklahoma – and he can have even more impact on defense. He ranks in the top 30 nationally in steal rate, and his sneaky ball pressure helps fuel Vandy’s transition attack.

He’s annoying, fights over screens, and his defensive impact is reflected in advanced metrics: He ranks fourth among all Division I point guards in Evan Miya’s Defensive Bayesian Performance Rating, which measures how much better a team’s defense performs with a player on the court, and ranks right below Arizona’s Jaden Bradley.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee

Gillespie somehow wasn’t a midseason finalist for the Bob Cousy Award (showing the incredible depth at that position), but he deserves a spot on this all-star team for several reasons. He’s an analytical darling, ranking 12th nationally among all players in EvanMiya’s BPR, an all-in-one impact metric that combines box score and play-by-play data.

He’s an invaluable creator, defender and shooter for the top-20 Volunteers, and outside of him and freshman Nate Ament, Tennessee is sorely lacking in perimeter creation. He has struggled to finish on the edge this year, but his overall impact and irreplaceability earn him a spot in the squad.

Labron Philon, Alabama

Philon, the catalyst for one of the nation’s fastest and most efficient offenses, has completely completed the transformation from Mark Sears’ perimeter sidekick to high-use alpha – and he became more efficient in the process. He is absolutely devastating as a creator of ball screens, ranking in the 99th percentile in frequency and 87th percentile in points per possession on those plays, according to Synergy. That effectiveness is aided by his excellent runner/floater package, which sees him finish deftly over the top of the bigs once he gets past his man downhill. He has also impressively increased both his volume and effectiveness from beyond the arc. He’s not a defensive standout, but his overall offensive impact is huge.

Thomas Haugh, Florida

Florida’s balanced scoring makes them a tough all-star case. All five starters have usage rates between 19 and 23 percent, meaning the individual stats don’t jump off the page. But the Gators are the best team in the SEC and a true Final Four contender, so I wanted a rep, and Haugh narrowly beat out teammate Rueben Chinyelu for the honor.

Haugh’s malleability makes him a crucial piece in Florida’s massive lineups, as he can defend smaller players and knock down perimeter shots. That means Todd Golden can play big without completely sacrificing space or defense. Chinyelu’s overwhelming numbers and elite defense also give him a strong case. Still, according to EvanMiya’s analysis, Haugh is a few steps higher, plays many more minutes and is the Gators’ top scorer.

Tarris Reed, UConn

Silas Demary Jr. is probably UConn’s more valuable option: his on/off splits are better than Reed’s, and he ranks 9th nationally in EvanMiya’s BPR, compared to Reed who lands 28th. If you wanted to hire Demary as a UConn representative instead, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. I still needed a big man to anchor the paint, though, so I turned to Reed, a rebounding behemoth who makes his hay via physical stamps around the rim in UConn’s patient half-court offense. He’s also an imposing defensive presence for a top-five unit, according to KenPom, and he’s also shown surprisingly effective passing vision this year.

Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s

Ejiofor was as advertised this year, dominating the paint with his relentless effort and raw physicality. He remains one of the conference’s top finishers despite dramatically increasing his usage (26.5 percent compared to 21.1 percent last year, according to KenPom), and is also a solid defensive presence.

His remarkable evolution as a playmaker deserves considerably more attention: He ranks seventh in the Big East in conference game assist percentage, and his 21.8 percent assist percentage on the season pales in comparison to his percentages of 9.3 and 10.6 percent over the past two seasons.

Honorable mention: Demary, UConn; Ament, Tenn.; Morez Johnson, Michigan; Chinyelu, Florida; Quadir Copeland, NC State, Otega Oweh, Kentucky; Aday Mara, Michigan; Nick Boyd, Wisconsin; Bruce Thornton, Ohio State; Ryan Conwell, Louisville