Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Top College Basketball Centers this Season

In Value Add Basketball we consider the teams "center" the player who has some combination of the most defensive rebounds, blocked shots and height, but typically the fewest assists and steals. A great center will typically have even better raw numbers than a great point guard, because the guards typically need to get the ball to the center close to the basket for a closer shot - even though not nearly as many centers play with their "back to the basket" like they did for most of the history of basketball.  (for a summary of the top players at each position, click here).

Because www.valueaddbasketball.com calculates how many points per game a player improves his team compared to if a typical replacement player took his place, the raw value add is adjusted by position since the replacement player would be at the same position. Therefore, once the formulas are run, and centers raw value add is lowered by multiplying it by 0.9 to get the result you see below and at www.valueaddbasketball.com.

Top 10 most valuable centers are listed below. in general freshmen make so many mistakes (turnovers, bad shots etc.) the first half of the season that they do not rank nearly as high as more experienced players. However, they tend to improve more at the end of the season, so we watch for breakout freshmen first when looking at brackets. Therefore we start with the 10 most valuable freshmen centers in college basketball, starting with the Zags Chet Holmgrem who improves Gonzaga by 8.52 points per game - meaning there is a better than 50/50 chance the Zags would have LOST any game that they won by fewer than eight points.

In his case, he improves the Zags' offense by 5.04 points per game, while his defensive rating of -3.48 indicates he takes three to four points more away from the opposing team then a typical replacement center. Here are the most valuable 10 freshmen centers through games of February 15.
 
RnkTop Freshmen CentersTeamVA5ConfHtTextCl
5Chet Holmgren #34Gonzaga8.52WCC7'0Fr
8Norchad Omier #15Arkansas St.7.79SB6'7"Fr
12Kenneth Lofton #2Louisiana Tech7.03CUSA6'7"Fr
18Johni Broome #4Morehead St.6.68OVC6'10"Fr
34DaRon Holmes #15Dayton5.84A106'10"Fr
57Fousseyni Traore #45BYU4.91WCC6'6"Fr
80Jalen Duren #2Memphis4.27Amer6'11"Fr
95Charles Bediako #10Alabama3.92SEC7'0Fr
111Eddie Lampkin #4TCU3.67B126'11"Fr
112Oso Ighodaro #13Marquette3.65BE6'9"Fr

Top 50 Centers Overall

In true value, our calculations indicate the 1st Team All-American so far should come from Kentucky, and Holgrem is in a tight races for the 2nd Team All-American center with stars from Indiana, Auburn and UNC.
 
RnkTop Centers (5)TeamVA5ConfHtTextCl
1Oscar Tshiebwe #34Kentucky11.14SEC6'9"Jr
2Trayce Jackson-Davis #23Indiana8.94B106'9"So
3Walker Kessler #13Auburn8.66SEC7'1"So
4Armando Bacot #5North Carolina8.6ACC6'10"Jr
5Chet Holmgren #34Gonzaga8.52WCC7'0Fr
6Orlando Robinson #10Fresno St.8.4MWC7'0Jr
7Hunter Dickinson #1Michigan7.89B107'1"So
8Norchad Omier #15Arkansas St.7.79SB6'7"Fr
9Jack Nunge #24Xavier7.61BE7'0Jr
10KJ Williams #0Murray St.7.27OVC6'10"Jr
11Kofi Cockburn #21Illinois7.22B107'0Jr
12Kenneth Lofton #2Louisiana Tech7.03CUSA6'7"Fr
13Mark Williams #15Duke6.96ACC7'0So
14Christian Koloko #35Arizona6.93P127'1"So
15Jake Stephens #34VMI6.88SC6'11"Sr
16Isaiah Whaley #5Connecticut6.72BE6'9"Sr
17Keve Aluma #22Virginia Tech6.71ACC6'9"Sr
18Johni Broome #4Morehead St.6.68OVC6'10"Fr
19Osun Osunniyi #21St. Bonaventure6.65A106'10"Sr
20JT Shumate #32Toledo6.56MAC6'7"Jr
21Gaige Prim #44Missouri St.6.48MVC6'9"Sr
22Javon Franklin #13South Alabama6.47SB6'7"Sr
23Yauhen Massalski #25San Francisco6.46WCC6'9"Sr
24Ryan Kalkbrenner #11Creighton6.45BE7'1"So
25Zach Edey #15Purdue6.45B107'4"So
26Matthias Tass #11Saint Mary's6.44WCC6'10"Sr
27Jamal Cain #1Oakland6.42Horz6'7"Sr
28Isaiah Mobley #3USC6.39P126'10"Jr
29Trevion Williams #50Purdue6.28B106'10"Sr
30Drew Pember #4UNC Asheville6.13BSth6'10"Jr
31Darius Days #4LSU6.07SEC6'7"Sr
32Jaylin Williams #10Arkansas6.05SEC6'10"So
33Jalen Slawson #20Furman5.86SC6'7"Sr
34DaRon Holmes #15Dayton5.84A106'10"Fr
35Bryson Williams #11Texas Tech5.8B126'8"Sr
36Jesse Edwards #14Syracuse5.79ACC6'11"Jr
37Eric Dixon #43Villanova5.76BE6'8"So
38Andre Kelly #22California5.72P126'9"Sr
39Graham Ike #33Wyoming5.7MWC6'9"So
40Luka Brajkovic #35Davidson5.61A106'10"Sr
41Felipe Haase #22Mercer5.52SC6'9"Sr
42John Harrar #21Penn St.5.48B106'9"Sr
43Nick Muszynski #33Belmont5.44OVC6'11"Sr
44Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua #23Baylor5.36B126'8"Jr
45Enrique Freeman #25Akron5.35MAC6'7"So
46Pete Nance #22Northwestern5.32B106'10"Sr
47Nate Watson #0Providence5.28BE6'10"Sr
48Josh Carlton #25Houston5.25Amer6'11"Sr
49Tanner Groves #35Oklahoma5.22B126'10"Sr
50Myles Johnson #15UCLA5.16P126'10"Sr

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