Ranking the top 10 scorers returning to college basketball for the 2024-25 season – 247Sports

College basketball graduated two of its top three scorers — Zach Edey and Terrance Shannon — to the NBA this offseason. However, power conference hardwoods are still set to overflow with certified bucket-getters this fall. Ten Division I players averaged 20.0+ points per game in 2023-24 and return to college hoops next season to play at the major level. We’ve identified and ranked all 10.
It’s a guard’s game. Nine of the top 10 leading scorers returning to college basketball are set to play in the backcourt last season. Michigan State’s Frankie Fidler is the lone exception, and he’s expected to play on the wing. Scoring is also up across the board. There were 37 players who averaged 20.0 points per game or more last season, compared to just 18 ten years ago.
Eight of the 10 players on this list transferred to power conference programs from smaller leagues.  The two who didn’t — North Carolina’s RJ Davis and Alabama’s Mark Sears — are bonafide National Player of the Year candidates.
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Here are the top 10 scorers returning to college basketball at the Power Five (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, SEC) level next season:
2023-24 Stats (Omaha): 20.1 PPG | 45.2% FG | 35.6% 3P
Fidler, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound product of Bellevue, Neb., earned first-team All-Summit League honors last season and rated as the No. 85 prospect and No. 16 small forward in the transfer portal this offseason. He’s the first transfer to commit to Tom Izzo since Tyson Walker ahead of the 2021-22 season. Fidler will compete for a starting role in 2023-24, according to 247Sports national basketball writer Isaac Trotter.
“Michigan State needed a bucket-getting wing, and Fidler should get the first crack at earning that job,” Trotter wrote. “Fidler doesn’t beat you with loads of athleticism, but he does a ton of his work before he gets the rock and the jumper is pure.”
2023-24 Stats (Bowling Green): 20.5 PPG | 44.3% FG | 28.9% 3P 
The addition of Hill will immediately bolster NC State’s backcourt next season. The 6-foot-4, 185-pound guard out of Bellevue (Ill.) earned All-MAC League First Team honors after averaging 20.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game as a junior. He had nine-straight games with 20+ points last season, the longest streak in the NCAA. He rated as the No. 98 overall prospect and No. 19 shooting guard in the transfer portal. He’s the highest-rated portal guard to run with the Wolfpack.
2023-24 Stats (Detroit Mercy): 20.8 PPG | 42.2% FG | 31.2% 3P
Stone chose the Mountaineers over interest Kansas, Florida State and Ole Miss as the No. 368 overall prospect and No. 84 shooting guard in the transfer portal this offseason. He’ll face a big step up in competition in 2023-24 as he moves from the Horizon League to the Big 12, but EerSports’ Mike Casazza said Stone can play his way into NBA consideration during his final year of college ball.
“If you clock in at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds as a guard with above average athleticism, there’s always a chance you can play your way into being a draft pick,” Casazza wrote. “Jayden Stone has proven to be a knockdown spot-up shooting threat, as well as a guy who can play on the ball and create for himself in a variety of ways.”
2023-24 Stats (Milwaukee): 21.1 PPG | 42.2% FG | 35.1% 3P
Freeman led the Horizon League in scoring at 21.1 points per game last season and rounded out the box score with 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He set a Horizon League record with 103 points in four games in the conference tournament last season. He rated as the No. 137 overall prospect and No. 22 power forward in the transfer portal. He’s the highest-rated of the Sun Devils’ five transfer additions this offseason.
2023-24 Stats: 21.2 PPG | 42.8% FG | 39.8% 3P
Davis became the first Tar Heel to earn consensus first-team All-America honors since Justin Jackson in 2016-17 following a brilliant senior campaign. The 2023-24 ACC Player of the Year racked up 784 points in 37 games last year, the fourth-most in a season by a Tar Heel and most since Tyler Hansbrough’s 882 in 2007-08. Davis broke a Smith Center record with a career-high 42 points against Miami on Feb. 26. He’s back for a fifth year as one-half of the second-best backcourt in the nation next season. 

2023-24 Stats (Stetson): 21.3 PPG | 42.8% FG | 38.1% 3P
Miami sought to add a scoring punch to its backcourt this offseason and landed Blackmon out of Stetson, who led the Atlantic Sun Conference and ranked No. 14 nationally in scoring last season. He rounded out the box score with 2.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 35 games for the Hatters. Blackmon earned All-A-Sun First Team honors and was named the A-Sun Tournament MVP after scoring 43 points in the championship game. 
2023-24 Stats: 21.2 PPG | 50.8% FG | 43.6% 3P
Sears flirted with the NBA Draft this offseason but opted to return to Alabama and will enter the 2023-24 season among the favorites for National Player of the Year. This past season, Sears set Alabama’s single-season scoring record and became the school’s third-ever consensus second-team All-American. He scored 20+ points in 26 of 37 games played this season, breaking Reggie King’s school record (23 games) set in 1978-79. His 121 total points in the NCAA Tournament were the second-most by any player.
2023-24 Stats (Drake): 21.2 PPG | 50.8% FG | 43.6% 3P
DeVries was the only Division I men’s basketball player to average at least 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game last season. He reached double figures in all but one contest and scored a career-high 39 points against UIC. He rated as the No. 6 overall prospect and No. 1 small forward in the transfer portal. Trotter named him one of the “best pure fits” in the portal.
“DeVries is, simply, a cheat code,” Trotter wrote. “He just does a bit of everything well, and DeVries has a real shot to be an All-Big 12 hooper in 2024-25.”
2023-24 Stats (UT Martin): 21.6 PPG | 43.2% FG | 43.2% 3P
Sears is a little undersized at 5-foot-11 but has a silky jumper and projects as LSU’s starting point guard in 2024-25. He shot more than 41% from the 3-point line on high difficulty with lots of volume. That’s encouraging, even at the OVC level. Sears is the only returning player to record at least 650 points, 140 rebounds, 140 assists and 75 3-pointers last season. He rated as the No. 95 overall prospect and No. 26 point guard in the transfer portal.
2023-24 Stats (Eastern Michigan): 21.7 PPG | 43.3% FG | 29.2% 3P
Acuff scored 25 or more points in eight of his 27 appearances, including a season-high 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting in a victory over Bowling Green. He was a high-volume shooter at Eastern Michigan last season and averaged a whopping 18.7 shots per game, more than double his next-closest teammate. Acuff is poised for a lower usage rate at Rutgers in 2024-25 and best projects as a bucket-getter off the bench. He should be one of the Big Ten’s best in that role.
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