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There are more than 5,000 players on the 365 men’s basketball team that currently compete at the Division I level, and I decided to spend more time than I care to admit combing through every single roster ahead of the start of the 2025-26 season to see which ones have names that stand out from the rest of the pack.
These are the college basketball players with the best names who are on a Division I roster heading into the 2025-26 season.
I wish I could tell you I had a firm set of criteria when it came to determining who made the cut, but to be honest, this was an exercise that was primarily based on vibes; it basically involved me scrolling for hours on end and pausing whenever I thought to myself, “That’s a sick name.”
There were some guys who I initially flagged who didn’t invoke the same feeling when I looked back at the list I’d compiled, but these are all of the ones that firmly went harder than the rest upon further review.
Po’Boigh King—Guard, Sam Houston
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Mantas Kocanas—Center, Cal
Sir Issac Herron—Forward, Louisiana Tech
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Butta Johnson—Guard, Clemson
Peteris Pinnis—Forward, Providence
Phat Phat Brooks—Guard, Central Michigan
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Leopold Levillain—Forward, Cal State Long Beach
Legend Smiley—Shooting Guard, San Francisco
Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Royal Blue Smith—Guard, Arkansas State
Buddy Hammer Jr.—Forward, UNT
Tennessee Rainwater—Guard, Le Moyne
Samantha Laurey / Argus Leader / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Poohpha Warakulnukroh—UCF
Godslove Nwabude-Eastern Michigan
Trevon Blassingame—Guard, Idaho
Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
Solo Ball—UConn
Wiggy Ball—UL Monroe
Treysen Eaglestaff—Forward, WVU
Samantha Laurey / Argus Leader / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Chandler Bing—Vanderbilt
Donovan Draper—Navy
Vyctorius Miller—Oklahoma State
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Cash McSweeney—Princeton
Money Williams—Montana
Greedy Williams—UNC Wilmington
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Maximus Gizzi—Guard, Minnesota
Always Wright—UT Rio Grande Valley
All Wright—Xavier
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Congratulations to everyone who made the list.