Honoring the mid-major's top players, top coach

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As college hoops sprints into the wildest week of the season, let's take a look back and honor the best of the mid-majors. There are plenty of players that could easily make this list, but these players excelled mostly away from the spotlight in conferences that don't draw the biggest crowds or the television networks, but still have some top-notch talent.

First-Team All-Mid-Major

Nick Fazekas, F, Nevada: OK, so Fazekas wasn't exactly out of the spotlight this season. The preseason, first-team All-American and two-time defending WAC Player of the Year wasn't exactly a secret when the season began, and he's been able to live up to the hype. During Nevada's romp to the WAC regular-season title, Fazekas recorded 17 double-doubles and had nine rebounds in three other games. With two regular-season games to play, Fazekas is averaging 20.9 points, 11.4 rebounds and is a big reason Nevada sits at 26-2. The big man is shooting 48 percent from three-point range, showing the versatility that caused Pacific coach Bob Thomason to say the senior is in a class by himself.

Rodney Stuckey, G, Eastern Washington: Stuckey received all sorts of accolades after his phenomenal freshman season, and he has duplicated those numbers while cutting down his turnovers as a sophomore. Stuckey has a chance to be a high NBA Draft pick if he comes out this year. Scouts like his ability to score and create for teammates. He averaged 24.6 points and 5.5 assists as a sophomore spending time as a point guard and shooting guard. Stuckey scored 100 points in a three-game stretch in February as the Eagles chased a bid for the Big Sky tournament.

Jared Jordan, G, Marist: Jordan has pretty much wrapped up his second consecutive national assist title, averaging 8.6 per game this season for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season champions. Jordan has increased his points and rebounds all four seasons for the Red Foxes, culminating in this season's line of 17.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game. Jordan recorded two triple-doubles this season at Siena and at Loyola (Md.). Jordan has worked his way up from a potential free agent to a guy who is on NBA Draft boards all over the league.

A.J. Graves, G, Butler: Graves burst onto the national scene during Butler's improbable run to the NIT Season Tip-Off championship. Graves averaged 22.3 points during the Bulldogs' four-game sweep of Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga. The junior is second in the nation in free throw shooting at 95 percent and made a Horizon League-best 88 three-pointers. Graves has been the main reason Butler worked its way into the national rankings during the season and is the player teams game-plan around. He broke the 20-point barrier 13 times and made five threes in five different games.

Jamaal Tatum, G, Southern Illinois: When you are named Player of the Year in the signature mid-major conference, it is hard to stay off an all-mid-major team. Tatum was the Missouri Valley's MVP after leading Southern Illinois to the conference crown and a No. 11 ranking in the latest AP Poll. Tatum paces a deliberate Saluki attack, averaging a team-best 14.5 points. He can also put the clamps on defensively, helping to hold Butler's Graves to a season-low five points in SIU's defining BracketBuster win at Butler. Tatum scored 20 points in that game and had a 15-point, six-assist, no-turnover effort on senior night when the Salukis avenged a loss to Evansville.

Second-Team All-Mid-Major

Nate Funk, G, Creighton: The first-team All-Missouri Valley guard led the conference in scoring with 17.1 points per game

DaShaun Wood, G, Wright State: The Horizon League player of the year led his team to a share of the regular-season championship by scoring a league-best 19.4 points per game

Caleb Green, F, Oral Roberts: The senior averaged 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists in the Mid-Continent Conference, and had a 20-point, 11-rebound, eight-assist performance in a win at Kansas

Kyle Hines, F, UNC-Greensboro: The junior edged out Davidson's Stephen Curry for Southern Conference MVP with 20.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game

Michael Jenkins, G, Winthrop: Jenkins led the Eagles to an unbeaten conference mark with 15.6 points a game and shooting 44 percent from three-point range