2026-27 MEAC Top 10 Players: Taylor and Gillus Lead the List
2026-10-15
This is MMH's working 2026-27 MEAC player ranking, combining proven production with expected roles. It is an editorial list, not the conference's official preseason team.
The list uses current rosters and relevant team reporting reviewed through October 15, with potential additions noted below.
Lower-division and exhibition figures are identified explicitly. The list does not equate those numbers with Division I production.
1. Cedric Taylor III — Howard
2025-26 baseline: 17.2 PPG / 6.7 RPG / 3.1 APG.
Taylor is the most complete proven player in this draft. Howard can ask him to finish possessions, initiate offense and defend multiple assignments. The challenge is handling more attention after Bryce Harris leaves without allowing difficult shots to consume the offense. His value extends well beyond being the leading returning scorer.
2. Cam Gillus — Howard
2025-26 baseline: 10.8 PPG / 4.3 RPG / 4.7 APG.
Gillus gives the favorite a dependable organizer. His passing and ability to punish defenders from outside help Howard keep its offense connected. He does not need to win a scoring race to have a championship-level influence, but the Bison may need more assertive creation in possessions previously finished by Harris.
3. Alfred Worrell Jr. — Morgan State
2025-26 baseline: 17.4 PPG / 3.8 RPG / 36.3% 3PT.
Worrell gives Morgan State a proven perimeter scorer. His 81 made threes and 88.5 percent free-throw shooting last season provide a strong baseline, and his ability to score without dominating every possession should help the Bears integrate new ballhandlers.
4. Ose Okojie — Howard
2025-26 baseline: 10.7 PPG / 3.8 RPG / 1.5 SPG.
Okojie can influence a possession without receiving the first pass. His defensive assignments, transition work and ability to attack an unsettled opponent make him central to Howard's identity. A longer stretch of consistent two-way impact would be more valuable than a small increase in scoring alone.
5. Noah Treadwell — South Carolina State
2025-26 baseline: 9.4 PPG / 1.4 RPG / 35.3% 3PT.
The returning MEAC rookie of the year has a chance to become a more central scorer. Treadwell already has experience against the league's defenses, but a bigger role will ask him to make reads after opponents take away the first shot. South Carolina State needs that development to produce a more reliable half-court attack.
6. Jordan Skyers — Norfolk State
Baseline: Incoming freshman; 21 points in the August 2026 tour finale.
Skyers is the projection-heavy selection. The official tour report documents his 21-point, five-steal finale, showing how he might contribute against older players. That is an encouraging exhibition sample, not a college scoring average. Norfolk State needs him to turn that promise into dependable shot creation against Division I defenses.
7. Isaiah Buckley — North Carolina Central
2025-26 baseline: Division II Shaw: 14.4 PPG / 4.4 APG.
Buckley offers Moton a guard who has already combined scoring and distribution. Those figures came at Shaw, so his ranking reflects the role MMH expects him to handle rather than a direct conversion of lower-division averages. He can help Central turn a much larger roster into a functional offense.
8. Alex Cotton — Howard
2025-26 baseline: 8.5 PPG / 3.1 RPG / 37.1% 3PT.
Cotton supplies a skill the favorite needs around its creators: a shot opponents must respect. His next step is maintaining that spacing while improving his defensive and off-the-dribble contributions. Howard has enough ballhandling that he should not need to force himself into a lead-guard role.
9. John Awoke — Morgan State
2025-26 baseline: Wagner: 7.1 PPG / 3.0 RPG / 36.3% 3PT.
Awoke brings Division I experience and the flexibility to work beside a primary playmaker. Morgan State needs useful decisions from more than one guard after losing Davis. If Awoke can shoulder some of that load without sacrificing defensive effort, his importance will exceed a modest prior scoring average.
10. Christian Meeks — North Carolina Central
2025-26 baseline: Morgan State: 5.9 PPG / 5.8 RPG.
Meeks supplies proven MEAC rebounding to a new Central team. He can connect lineups and provide physical play while the new guards learn each other. This is a role-and-impact selection, with reliable possession work carrying more weight than an unsupported prediction of a scoring breakout.
Conditional additions and players to watch
Anthony McComb III and Elijah Jamison would strengthen Norfolk State's backcourt and merit places near the top of this ranking if available. They played on the August tour but are absent from the current retrieved roster, so neither is counted in the numbered list.
James Brown has considerable upside for Howard if his foot recovery allows a sustained role. Coppin State's Allen Myers and Tafara Gapare can change the Eagles' frontcourt, while Nelson Lamizana has a path to greater responsibility. Delaware State's Anthony Parker and Nehemiah Reedus bring substantial Division II scoring that must translate. Morgan State's Jeremiah Kwarteng, Central's Darius Kane and South Carolina State's Jayden Pretty are other newcomers worth following.
Related coverage
Sources: Blue Ribbon's 2026-27 yearbook, current official school rosters, Morgan State's October 1 season preview, Norfolk State's August tour report, and NCCU's signing-class announcement. Rankings reflect current roster information reviewed October 15, 2026.