Top 10 Returning Players In College Basketball Ahead Of The 2026-27 Season

For certain coaches and fans around the country, many of whom had been waiting with bated breath, last week’s NBA Draft withdrawal deadline finally afforded them the chance to exhale. The collective sigh you might have heard originated in places like East Lansing, Michigan, where point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. allowed the Spartans to breathe easier, and extended to Nashville, Tennessee, where point guard Tyler Tanner’s choice to return to school should propel Vanderbilt into the Top 25. Elsewhere, the reactions were far more tempered — crushed, even. Arizona bid farewell to star forward Koa Peat, a five-star freshman who made the surprising decision to remain in this year’s NBA Draft. And at Arkansas, whose coach, John Calipari, is accustomed to rebuilding efforts, the Razorbacks will need to replace standout guard Meleek Thomas. The draft giveth and the draft taketh away. With that in mind — and now that rosters are finally, sort of, almost complete — here’s a look at the top returning players in the sport ahead of the 2026-27 season: Height: 6-foot-2Weight: 190 poundsClass: Redshirt juniorPrevious schools: None Last season: 15.2 points, 9.4 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 32.4 minutes per game It’s anything but hyperbolic to say the trajectory of Michigan State’s upcoming season hinged on whether Fears, a second-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten performer, would decide to remain in the NBA Draft. He kept the Spartan faithful waiting until the absolute last minute, stretching his contemplative period — and the accompanying speculation on social media — all the way to the withdrawal deadline day. In the end, though, with most prognosticators viewing Fears as an early second-round pick, he decided to return for another year alongside head coach Tom Izzo. Though his on-court demeanor remains divisive, Fears should enter the 2026-27 campaign as arguably the best point guard in college basketball after leading the nation in assists last season. Fears will be counted on to demonstrate legitimate growth in maturity and leadership following the departures of veteran big men Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper, both of whom exhausted their eligibility. This team belongs to Fears. Height: 6 feetWeight: 175 poundsClass: JuniorPrevious schools: None Last season: 19.5 points, 5.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals in 33.5 minutes per game An incredible ascent from zero-star recruit to one of the more prolific scoring guards in the country vaulted Tanner into a legitimate draft prospect this spring, with most experts viewing him as a fringe first-round pick. Undeterred by an undersized frame, Tanner flashed strength on both ends of the court by earning first-team All-SEC honors while simultaneously being named to the conference’s All-Defensive Team last season. He was also inches away from connecting on a half-court heave against Nebraska that would have lifted Vanderbilt into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007. As with Michigan State, the Commodores’ outlook changes quite significantly with Tanner returning for another season. His presence alone should be enough to earn Vanderbilt a spot in most preseason rankings and keep the program in the upper half of what projects as an incredibly competitive SEC landscape. Head coach Mark Byington has a chance to lead the Commodores to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for just the second time in school history. Height: 6-foot-9Weight: 215 poundsClass: SeniorPrevious schools: None Last season: 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 33.3 minutes per game For Haugh and his teammates, the dream of winning back-to-back national championships was shattered with a stunning second-round loss to No. 8 Iowa last March. In many ways, it was a defeat that could have signaled the end of an era for Florida, whose exceptional frontcourt trio of Haugh, Alex Condon and Reuben Chinyelu all faced individual decisions about the NBA Draft. With one expert after another projecting Haugh — a consensus second-team All-American last season — as a surefire first-round pick and likely lottery choice, his time in college seemed finished. But on April 21, more than a month before the NBA’s withdrawal deadline, Haugh announced his intention to return for another year, matching Condon’s decision from the week prior. And when Chinyelu decided to join them by removing his name from the draft last month, head coach Todd Golden’s band was officially back together. Now, the Gators will almost certainly enter the 2026-27 campaign as prohibitive national title favorites and the presumptive No. 1 team in the country. Height: 6-foot-8Weight: 225 poundsClass: SeniorPrevious schools: Iowa State Last season: 16.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1 assist in 30.5 minutes per game Momcilovic faced two monumental choices in quick succession as the calendar inched from spring toward summer. First, the sharpshooting forward needed to decide whether to remain in the NBA Draft, where he projected as an early second-round pick. Once Momcilovic removed his name from consideration in late May, he was tasked with selecting a new collegiate destination after moving on from Iowa State. The dust finally settled late Monday evening when Momcilovic, a second-team All-Big 12 selection, committed to Kentucky over Louisville and Arizona. It’s easy to understand why 247Sports rated Momcilovic as the No. 2 overall player in this year’s transfer portal, trailing only former Kansas center Flory Bidunga, now at Louisville. He led the nation in both 3-point field goal percentage (48.7%) and 3-pointers made (136) for an Iowa State team that finished tied for third in a brutally difficult Big 12 and then reached the Sweet 16. Momcilovic chipped in at least three made 3s in 23 of 37 appearances for the Cyclones and reached a season-high eight 3-pointers on four separate occasions. Height: 6-foot-4Weight: 195 poundsClass: SeniorPrevious schools: Georgia Last season: 10.1 points, 5.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 28.4 minutes per game After head coach Dan Hurley and his squad pushed No. 1 Michigan to the brink in this year’s national championship despite significant injuries to Demary (ankle) and guard Solo Ball (wrist), it left many UConn fans wondering what might have been. The Huskies never complete their stunning comeback against top-seeded Duke in the Elite Eight without Demary’s two 3-pointers in the waning moments. Nor do they reach the title game without his seven points, seven assists and nine rebounds against Illinois in the Final Four. Still, those performances paled in comparison to what Demary offered at his best during the regular season. Time and again, Hurley credited Demary for instilling the team with levels of toughness and defensive intensity that raised UConn’s ceiling. Coaches around the conference seemed to agree: Hurley’s peers voted Demary first-team All-Big East and also placed him on the league’s All-Defensive Team. Demary and guard Braylon Mullins should form one of the sport’s best backcourts. Height: 6-foot-4Weight: 203 poundsClass: SeniorPrevious schools: Wisconsin Last season: 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals in 33.8 minutes per game One year removed from a near-silent transfer portal cycle in which head coach Jon Scheyer only added reserve center Ifeanyi Ufochukwu, the Blue Devils made much more of a splash this spring. In addition to signing former Belmont star Drew Scharnowski, the No. 31 overall transfer and No. 8 power forward in the portal, Scheyer also secured one of the sport’s best pure scorers in Blackwell. Any concerns about whether Blackwell would ever make it to Duke were erased on May 22 when he withdrew from the NBA Draft. A former three-star recruit, Blackwell developed into a highly effective three-level scorer during an impressive career with the Badgers. He increased his scoring average from 8 points per game as a freshman, to 15.8 per game as a sophomore, to a career-best 19.1 per game last season, earning third-team All-Big Ten honors. Potency from beyond the arc (38.9%) and at the free-throw line (85.9%) made Blackwell a coveted option in this year’s portal cycle. Height: 6-foot-11Weight: 236 poundsClass: SeniorPrevious schools: None Last season: 15.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 blocks in 30.5 minutes per game The statistic that most people referenced when discussing the impact of Florida’s mammoth frontcourt — which included Condon at power forward, Thomas Haugh at small forward (6-9, 215 pounds) and Reuben Chinyelu at center (6-10, 265 pounds) — was offensive rebounding rate. Those three players spearheaded a relentless assault on the glass that led to the Gators recouping more than 43% of their field goal attempts, second nationally behind only Tennessee. As a result, no team finished with a better rebounding margin than Florida’s mark of plus-14 per game. Having that kind of size proved equally beneficial on the defensive end, where the Gators ranked sixth nationally in adjusted efficiency and eighth in opponent 2-point field goal percentage. Condon’s two-way versatility was a major reason why. He finished as the team’s top player in Bayesian Performance Rating, according to EvanMiya.com, which is a metric that tracks an individual’s overall value whenever he’s on the floor. Height: 6-foot-9Weight: 250 poundsClass: SophomorePrevious schools: None Last season: 13.3 points, 8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 29.5 minutes per game Though Illinois fans could be forgiven for not knowing much about Mirkovic when he committed to head coach Brad Underwood, the coaches and scouts who closely follow international basketball were already overly familiar with his game. By then, Mirkovic had averaged 22.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game at the 2022 FIBA U16 European Championships while playing for his native Montenegro. The following year, he averaged 8.9 points and 4.1 rebounds across seven games in the 2023 U20 European Championship, where he was the youngest player. And in 2024 — not long before signing with Illinois — Mirkovic made his debut for Montenegro’s senior national team in a FIBA EuroBasket qualifier. Mirkovic’s versatility and overall feel for the game translated seamlessly to college, where he entrenched himself as a day-one starter for Underwood. He finished the season ranked 12th nationally among freshman in the PRPG! metric on Torvik, which calculates how many points per game an individual contributes beyond what a replacement-level player would offer. He should be among the Big Ten’s elite this season. Height: 7-foot-2Weight: 260 poundsClass: SeniorPrevious schools: None Last season: 10.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 25.3 minutes per game There were times during Arizona’s remarkable 2025-26 campaign, which included the program’s first trip to the Final Four in a quarter-century, when it seemed all but impossible for opposing teams to score around the rim. Player after player — regardless of size, independent of position — would simply be turned away by Krivas, a mountainous presence adept at applying the sport’s famed principle of verticality to avoid being called for fouls. He finished the season with an incredible ratio of 73 blocked shots and only 103 fouls, driving the Wildcats toward a second-place finish in adjusted defensive efficiency behind Michigan. The only players with better individual defensive ratings than Krivas, according to EvanMiya.com, were Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan, Reuben Chinyelu of Florida, Aday Mara of Michigan, Flory Bidunga of Kansas and Joseph Tugler of Houston. Krivas is now the unquestioned anchor for a team that needs to replace its three leading scorers in Brayden Burries (16.1 points), Koa Peat (14.1 points) and Jaden Bradley (13.3). How much, or how little, Krivas’ own offensive repertoire expands in the coming months might serve as a good barometer for Arizona’s ceiling next season. He’ll need to make more than 3.5 field goals per game for the Wildcats to remain among the sport’s elite. Height: 6-foot-1Weight: 180 poundsClass: SeniorPrevious schools: North Carolina Last season: 10.5 points, 5.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per game What a luxury for head coach Dusty May to retain the Most Outstanding Player from this year’s Final Four. Though Cadeau entered his name in the NBA Draft earlier this spring, the expectation among Michigan’s coaching staff was always that he would return for his senior season. In fact, Cadeau’s presumptive presence as the central figure on next year’s roster became a key selling point for the Wolverines when pursuing new faces in the transfer portal. May and his assistants soon realized that quite a few players, especially rim-running centers, were eager to play with Cadeau. Given the departures of Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara, all of whom are expected to become first-round picks later this month, there’s an opportunity for Cadeau to assume more of a scoring role next season. He and shooting guard Trey McKenney, who was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team after averaging 9.9 points per game, should give Michigan one of the strongest, most experienced backcourts in the league.