While thecoachespacing the sideline in tailored suits or quarter-zips often get the most attention inmen's college basketball, it's the players on the court who determine who makes the Final Four and wins the national championship.
The2025-26 seasonhas been one of the most star-studded in recent memory in the sport, with future NBA Draft lottery picks and wildly productive college players dominating the landscape nationally.
During the2026 NCAA Tournament, some of the sport's brightest stars have continued to propel their teams on deep runs. Though standouts like AJ Dybantsa, Darius Acuff Jr. and Darryn Peterson are watching the tournament from home, a number of All-American and all-conference performers are still chasing their dreams of cutting down the nets in Indianapolis on the first Monday night of April.
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Among that distinguished group, who are the best players competing in the Elite Eight?
Here are the top eight players in the Elite Eight, with one player from each of the remaining eight squads:
Best players to watch in the Elite Eight
Players listed in alphabetical order
Cameron Boozer, Duke
The likely national player of the year has been everything the Blue Devils could have hoped for this season, averaging 22.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game to make him one of just 14 Division I players averaging a double-double this season. The 6-foot-9 freshman, the son of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, has kept up his outrageous production in the tournament, with a double-double in each of Duke's first three wins, including 22 points and 10 rebounds in a narrow Sweet 16 win over St. John's. He's a projected top-three pick in the NBA Draft for a reason.
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Brayden Burries, Arizona
Burries is one of several top-10 recruits from the 2025 class who have enjoyed stellar freshman seasons. On what might be the most well-rounded team in the country, Burries is the leading scorer at 16.2 points per game and has been efficient getting there, shooting 50.2% from the field and 39.5% from 3-point range. Though teammate Jaden Bradley earned Big 12 player of the year honors, Burries has been the Wildcats' best player in the tournament thus far, averaging 19 points per game and shooting 64.3% (including 75% from 3).
Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee
He's not the best NBA prospect on his team (that would be star freshman forward Nate Ament), but no player has been more indispensable to the Volunteers than Gillespie, who entered the Sweet 16 averaging a team-high 18.4 points, 5.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game. The Maryland transfer has been a steady, consistent presence for a team that has struggled to score at various points during the season.
Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue
It wasn't an accident that Kaufman-Renn was in position to score the winning basket in Purdue's biggest win this season. The Sellersburg, Indiana native, the rare college player who's in his fourth season with the program where he started his career, has come through in a big way during the Boilermakers' run to the Elite Eight, averaging 21.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 63.6% from the field. Teammate Braden Smith, the Division I career assists leader, has had the better career and better season, but Kaufman-Renn has been Purdue's best player so far in the tournament.
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Lendeborg was one of the best players outside the five power conferences last season, averaging a double-double for a 24-win UAB team. This season, he's proven to be just as effective in arguably the best conference in the sport while being the star for a team that spent several weeks this season ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. The 6-foot-9 consensus first-team All-American is averaging 15.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and in the NCAA tournament, he's been on fire, making 19 of his 30 shots (63.3%) and eight of his 13 3s (61.5%).
Tarris Reed Jr., UConn
Dan Hurley's team is remarkably balanced, with five players averaging between 10.6 and 14.2 points per game for a squad that's aiming to win its third national championship in the past four years. At the top of that group is Reed, a 6-foot-11 senior center who entered the Huskies' Sweet 16 win against Michigan State leading the team in scoring (14.2 points per game), rebounding (8.9 per game) and blocks (two per game). The Michigan transfer has followed up a strong regular season with an even better NCAA tournament, averaging 20.3 points and 15 rebounds per game. That run included one of the most ridiculous performances of the tournament, with 31 points and 27 rebounds in a first-round win over Furman.
Bennett Stirtz, Iowa
While Ben McCollum's coaching acumen helped him rise from Division II head coach to Iowa's first Elite Eight since 1987 in just two years, Stirtz's on-court contributions didn't hurt. The Hawkeyes guard has been with McCollum every step of the way the past four years, following the coach from Northwest Missouri State to Drake to Iowa, where he's averaging a team-high 19.7 points and 4.4 assists per game this season. He's carried the Hawkeyes offensively, as he's the only Iowa player averaging more than 10.4 points per game.
Keaton Wagler, Illinois
In a star-studded freshman class, Wagler has been perhaps the most unexpected star. He was the No. 261 recruit nationally in the 2025 class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings, but has been one of the best guards in the sport this season, averaging 17.7 points per game and shooting 41.1% from 3. He's been the centerpiece for a dynamic Illinois team that's No. 2 in adjusted offensive efficiency this season, according to KenPom.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:March Madness bracket breakdown: Best players to watch in Elite 8