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Sherron Collins. As a sophomore he was a great 6th man throughout the season and came up big in our title run.
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Remy Martin. Regional MOP off the bench! A slot below Collins because Martin didn't do much in the regular season.
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Sasha Kaun. Probably a 7th man technically but I felt I had to include him. Great backup big and saved our asses against Davidson.
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Thomas Robinson. The year before he was an All-American, he came off the bench. Great bench player who helped us see little, if any, dropoff when a Morris twin had to sit.
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Christian Braun (freshman). Came off the bench for our 2020 team and gave us some perimeter shooting that we really needed. Fairly mistake-free for a freshman as well.
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Freshman Frank Mason III. Lots of ups and downs but showed signs of the special player he would grow into.
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Freshman DaJuan Harris. Came off the bench as a freshman, wreaked havoc on the opposing offense and gave us a true point guard that that team probably should have played more.
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Naadir Tharpe (sophomore year). I know he wasn't a great starting point guard, but he made our team better by bringing some much needed ball-handing off the bench as a sophomore.
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Flory Bidunga. Lots of potential and was our best player sometimes, but was also pushed around by stronger players in the most too much.
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Jamari Traylor. Elite and versatile defender by his senior year. Never really developed any offensive skills.
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Connor Teahan. His three-balls against misery make him a legend. That said, his shooting was very streaky overall and he wasn't athletic enough to be a great defender.
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Elmarko Jackson.
Thanks for doing these. Been a good thing to discuss. Hard to think specifically about 6th men because most of those guys became starters.
Sadly i can't recall who came off the bench!
I think you need to add Mitch Lightfoot to that list. While not starter material there were many games where he came in and provided a quick spark with a couple baskets or a big rebound. A true 6th man, not a starter-in-waiting. And a National Championship on his resume.
Aldrich as a freshman for his game against UNC in the final four.
Aldrich definitely deserves a shoutout but I wouldn't include him simply because he was the 8th or 9th man that season. But it honestly speaks volumes about how good (and underrated) Arthur, D-Block, and Kaun were that they were able to keep Aldrich buried on our depth chart that season.
1 and 2 are obvious and incredible. That's what you need to win a natty. Some level of selflessness.
What about Ochai when he pulled his redshirt? He did end up starting 16 of 22 games, but he played his way into the lineup (albeit in a disappointing season that was basically over after Doke got hurt).