People often seek to determine the greatest of all time in any category. With Weber State University’s men’s basketball season over, I wanted to find out who the greatest player in program history is.

The formula
There are a few different stats I used:
Scoring: Points per game (PPG)
Rebounds: Rebounds per game (RPG)
Assists: Assists per game (APG)
Defense: Steals per game (SPG) + Blocks per game (BPG)
Efficiency: EFF = (Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks – Missed Field Goals – Missed Free Throws – Turnovers) / Games Played
Accolades + Team success (AT): I figured out the accolades by assigning points to each accolade. The Accolade point system is as follows:
All American: 5
Big Sky Player of the Year: 4
Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, 1st Team All-Big Sky: 3
Big Sky Newcomer of the Year/Rookie of the Year, 2nd Team All-Big Sky: 2
3rd Team All-Big Sky, Big Sky 6th Man of the Year: 1
Team success point system:
NCAA Tournament Win: 5
Big Sky Tournament Champs: 4
Big Sky Regular Season Champs: 3
20-win seasons: 2
Big Sky Tourney Runner Up: 1

Normalizing stats
The first step is to normalize the stats, which is to divide them by the highest number found in the data. So, the player with the highest value in the specific stat will have 1.0 as their normalized stat. The scoring stat becomes nPPG, rebounding becomes nRPG, and so on.

Weighting stats
Some stats are more important than others, so I weighted them. Each weight must sum up to 1, so here are the numbers:
Scoring: 0.3
Rebounding: 0.15
Assists: 0.15
Defense: 0.1
Efficiency: 0.1
Accolades + Team success: 0.2

The equation
So the final equation is as follows:
Greatest Player Index (GPI) = ((nPPG*0.3) + (nRPG*0.15) + (nAPG*0.15) + (nDEF*0.1) + (nEFF*0.1) + (nAT*0.2))

The ranking
I decided to do the top 10 players of all time and put them on here, with each of the normalized stats they got. Here’s the ranking:

10. Jermaine Boyette (2000-2003)
nPPG: 0.82
nRPG: 0.21
nAPG: 0.61
nDEF: 0.64
nEFF: 0.59
nAT: 0.45
GPI: 0.582
First, we have Jermaine Boyette, the 2003 Big Sky player of the year, who led the Wildcats to their second time in program history going undefeated in conference play. Boyette scored high in the points category, with above-average numbers in assists, defense, and efficiency, but the lack of team success outside of the 2002-2003 season hurt him.

9. Rico Washington (1987-1989)
nPPG: 0.90
nRPG: 0.75
nAPG: 0.21
nDEF: 0.52
nEFF: 0.98
nAT: 0.14
GPI: 0.595
A name you’re probably surprised made it into the top 10 is Rico Washington. Washington benefits from an extremely high score in points and efficiency with good rebounding and average defensive numbers. What hurts Washington the most is the lack of team success, being a part of some of the worst teams in school history. Despite this, his stats stand out enough to put him over the hump.

8. Jimmy DeGraffenried (1990-1991, 1993-1996)
nPPG: 0.60
nRPG: 0.98
nAPG: 0.19
nDEF: 0.19
nEFF: 0.96
nAT: 0.64
GPI: 0.600
Jimmy DeGraffenried is often overshadowed by his teammate, Ruben Nembhard, who will appear later, but he had a phenomenal career in his own right. Holding the second-highest rebounding numbers and being unbelievably efficient puts DeGraffenried in the top 10. He has the highest true shooting percentage in school history. I was surprised he didn’t rank higher in the accolades and team success metric, with him being a part of one of the greatest teams in school history, along with two first-team selections and a Big Sky POY award in 1996. We must remember that it’s compared to others, which says more about the other names than DeGraffenried.

7. Dillon Jones (2020-2024)
nRPG: 0.68
nAPG: 0.61
nDEF: 0.57
nEFF: 0.84
nAT: 0.38
GPI: 0.605
The most recent player to make this list is current Oklahoma City Thunder player Dillon Jones. What’s surprising to me is that Jones’ numbers don’t really stick out, but what helps him is that he has above-average numbers in every category, save for nAT rating, primarily due to the latter. If we were to look at who was the most important to their team, Jones would be far and away ranked first as he is first in school history in win shares. This proves his reputation as a jack-of-all-trades player.

6. Ruben Nembhard (1993-1995)
nPPG: 0.71
nRPG: 0.34
nAPG: 0.72
nDEF: 0.67
nEFF: 0.57
nAT: 0.62
GPI: 0.620
The player I mentioned earlier who overshadows Jimmy DeGraffenried is Ruben Nembhard. In a similar situation to Dillon Jones, Nembhard benefits from having above-average numbers in nearly all categories. Interestingly enough, as seen with DeGraffenried, despite winning an NCAA Tournament game, a Big Sky Player of the Year, and multiple first-team all-conference selections, they are still in the 0.6 range for the nAT rating.

5. Willie Sojourner (1968-1971)
nPPG: 0.83
nRPG: 1.00
nAPG: N/A
nDEF: N/A
nEFF: 1.00
nAT: 0.62
GPI: 0.623
The following two players show the main issue with this equation. First off is the great Willie Sojourner. The primary issue with the equation is that it screws over players who played before the 1980s, as all of their career assists, steals and blocks were not counted. Knowing this, and that Sojourner probably would have been in the 0.90 range in terms of blocks, somewhat ruins the equation.

4. Bruce Collins (1976-1980)
nPPG: 0.73
nRPG: 0.52
nAPG: 0.34
nDEF: 0.17
nEFF: 0.73
nAT: 1.00
GPI: 0.637
As with Sojourner, Collins suffers from the lack of stats. Although assists were counted for his entire college career, steals and blocks were not until his senior season. Thus, his DEF rating is hampered. Despite this, Collins has the highest nAT rating, as he was a three-time team all-conference selection, three-time conference tournament champion, three-time conference regular season champion and he won an NCAA Tournament game. If the lack of defensive stats did not hamper his numbers, Collins would probably be No. 1 on this list.

3. Damian Lillard (2008-2012)
nPPG: 0.80
nRPG: 0.30
nAPG: 0.62
nDEF: 0.44
nEFF: 0.62
nAT: 0.86
GPI: 0.657
Most people’s pick for the greatest player in school history, Dame, is brought down by his defense and efficiency. However, his points and high nAT rating push him this high. Despite never going to the NCAA tournament, Dame was a part of two teams that won the regular season title and two conference tournament runner-ups. Despite not being the greatest player in terms of college play — based on this equation — he is far and away not only the greatest NBA player from Weber State but also the greatest NBA player who went to a Utah college.

2. Eddie Gill (1998-2000)
nPPG: 0.65
nRPG: 0.36
nAPG: 1.00
nDEF: 1.00
nEFF: 0.71
nAT: 0.48
GPI: 0.665
A player I was surprised was ranked this high was Eddie Gill. Like Jimmy DeGraffenried, Gill was usually overshadowed by another teammate; however, Gill had a great career in his own right. Gill holds the highest nAPG and nDEF ratings and good nPPG and nEFF numbers. This puts him above nearly all players in Weber State History in GPI. What holds him back from being No. 1 is the lack of team success in his senior year and his high accolade numbers being hampered by the man who is ranked first.

1. Harold Arceneaux (1998-2000)
nPPG: 0.97
nRPG: 0.47
nAPG: 0.31
nDEF: 0.89
nEFF: 0.83
nAT: 0.67
GPI: 0.715
According to my Greatest Player Index, the greatest player in Weber State men’s basketball history is Harold “The Show” Arceneaux. Arceneaux has the second-highest nPPG, along with a very good nDEF and nEFF rating. Arceneaux is one of only two players — the other being Dame — to have won two Big Sky Player of the Year awards. That, along with an NCAA Tournament win in which he dropped 37 against North Carolina, helps Arceneaux be rated the greatest player to ever play at Weber State.