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.

 

Rnk	Top Freshmen Centers	Team	VA5	Conf	HtText	Cl
5	Chet Holmgren #34	Gonzaga	8.52	WCC	7'0	Fr
8	Norchad Omier #15	Arkansas St.	7.79	SB	6'7"	Fr
12	Kenneth Lofton #2	Louisiana Tech	7.03	CUSA	6'7"	Fr
18	Johni Broome #4	Morehead St.	6.68	OVC	6'10"	Fr
34	DaRon Holmes #15	Dayton	5.84	A10	6'10"	Fr
57	Fousseyni Traore #45	BYU	4.91	WCC	6'6"	Fr
80	Jalen Duren #2	Memphis	4.27	Amer	6'11"	Fr
95	Charles Bediako #10	Alabama	3.92	SEC	7'0	Fr
111	Eddie Lampkin #4	TCU	3.67	B12	6'11"	Fr
112	Oso Ighodaro #13	Marquette	3.65	BE	6'9"	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.

 

Rnk	Top Centers (5)	Team	VA5	Conf	HtText	Cl
1	Oscar Tshiebwe #34	Kentucky	11.14	SEC	6'9"	Jr
2	Trayce Jackson-Davis #23	Indiana	8.94	B10	6'9"	So
3	Walker Kessler #13	Auburn	8.66	SEC	7'1"	So
4	Armando Bacot #5	North Carolina	8.6	ACC	6'10"	Jr
5	Chet Holmgren #34	Gonzaga	8.52	WCC	7'0	Fr
6	Orlando Robinson #10	Fresno St.	8.4	MWC	7'0	Jr
7	Hunter Dickinson #1	Michigan	7.89	B10	7'1"	So
8	Norchad Omier #15	Arkansas St.	7.79	SB	6'7"	Fr
9	Jack Nunge #24	Xavier	7.61	BE	7'0	Jr
10	KJ Williams #0	Murray St.	7.27	OVC	6'10"	Jr
11	Kofi Cockburn #21	Illinois	7.22	B10	7'0	Jr
12	Kenneth Lofton #2	Louisiana Tech	7.03	CUSA	6'7"	Fr
13	Mark Williams #15	Duke	6.96	ACC	7'0	So
14	Christian Koloko #35	Arizona	6.93	P12	7'1"	So
15	Jake Stephens #34	VMI	6.88	SC	6'11"	Sr
16	Isaiah Whaley #5	Connecticut	6.72	BE	6'9"	Sr
17	Keve Aluma #22	Virginia Tech	6.71	ACC	6'9"	Sr
18	Johni Broome #4	Morehead St.	6.68	OVC	6'10"	Fr
19	Osun Osunniyi #21	St. Bonaventure	6.65	A10	6'10"	Sr
20	JT Shumate #32	Toledo	6.56	MAC	6'7"	Jr
21	Gaige Prim #44	Missouri St.	6.48	MVC	6'9"	Sr
22	Javon Franklin #13	South Alabama	6.47	SB	6'7"	Sr
23	Yauhen Massalski #25	San Francisco	6.46	WCC	6'9"	Sr
24	Ryan Kalkbrenner #11	Creighton	6.45	BE	7'1"	So
25	Zach Edey #15	Purdue	6.45	B10	7'4"	So
26	Matthias Tass #11	Saint Mary's	6.44	WCC	6'10"	Sr
27	Jamal Cain #1	Oakland	6.42	Horz	6'7"	Sr
28	Isaiah Mobley #3	USC	6.39	P12	6'10"	Jr
29	Trevion Williams #50	Purdue	6.28	B10	6'10"	Sr
30	Drew Pember #4	UNC Asheville	6.13	BSth	6'10"	Jr
31	Darius Days #4	LSU	6.07	SEC	6'7"	Sr
32	Jaylin Williams #10	Arkansas	6.05	SEC	6'10"	So
33	Jalen Slawson #20	Furman	5.86	SC	6'7"	Sr
34	DaRon Holmes #15	Dayton	5.84	A10	6'10"	Fr
35	Bryson Williams #11	Texas Tech	5.8	B12	6'8"	Sr
36	Jesse Edwards #14	Syracuse	5.79	ACC	6'11"	Jr
37	Eric Dixon #43	Villanova	5.76	BE	6'8"	So
38	Andre Kelly #22	California	5.72	P12	6'9"	Sr
39	Graham Ike #33	Wyoming	5.7	MWC	6'9"	So
40	Luka Brajkovic #35	Davidson	5.61	A10	6'10"	Sr
41	Felipe Haase #22	Mercer	5.52	SC	6'9"	Sr
42	John Harrar #21	Penn St.	5.48	B10	6'9"	Sr
43	Nick Muszynski #33	Belmont	5.44	OVC	6'11"	Sr
44	Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua #23	Baylor	5.36	B12	6'8"	Jr
45	Enrique Freeman #25	Akron	5.35	MAC	6'7"	So
46	Pete Nance #22	Northwestern	5.32	B10	6'10"	Sr
47	Nate Watson #0	Providence	5.28	BE	6'10"	Sr
48	Josh Carlton #25	Houston	5.25	Amer	6'11"	Sr
49	Tanner Groves #35	Oklahoma	5.22	B12	6'10"	Sr
50	Myles Johnson #15	UCLA	5.16	P12	6'10"	Sr

Top 25 Value Add Basketball Players & Top 15 in Each Conference

The rankings for 4,000+ college Most Valuable Players in college basketball are updated at www.valueaddbasketball.com based on stats as of January 17, 2022. Value Add Basketball ranks players in a method similar to how www.kenpom.com ranks teams. The offensive rating (AdjO) minus the defensive rating (AdjD, negative is good because the player is taking points away from the other team) to calculated the overall "Value" of each player above a replacement player.

This blog links to three options to review the rankings:

1. The 25 most valuable players in the country are listed on the table below.

2. You can also go to www.valueaddbasketball.com to sort all 4000+ players by team, conference, class, etc.

3. The picture above is from this CBS 247 story on the updated rankings.

4. Finally, the links below the table take you to your choice of the 32 college basketball conferences for the notes specific to that conference and their top 15 players in the ratings.

Rnk	Top 25 All-Americans	Team	Value	Ht	Cl	AdjO	AdjD	Gm/St	Conf
1	Keegan Murray #15	Iowa	11.08	6'8"	So	8.97	-2.12	16, 16	B10
2	Justin Bean #34	Utah St.	10.58	6'7"	Sr	8.38	-2.20	16, 16	MWC
3	Oscar Tshiebwe #34	Kentucky	10.51	6'9"	Jr	6.86	-3.65	17, 17	SEC
4	Trayce Jackson-Davis #23	Indiana	10.12	6'9"	So	7.21	-2.91	16, 16	B10
5	Alex Barcello #13	BYU	10.12	6'2"	Sr	8.87	-1.25	17, 17	WCC
6	Collin Gillespie #2	Villanova	9.94	6'3"	Sr	8.30	-1.64	17, 17	BE
7	Kendric Davis #3	SMU	9.71	6'0	Sr	9.12	-0.59	17, 17	Amer
8	Armando Bacot #5	North Carolina	9.43	6'10"	Jr	6.85	-2.58	16, 16	ACC
9	Terrell Brown #23	Washington	9.30	6'3"	Sr	7.45	-1.84	15, 15	P12
10	Ochai Agbaji #30	Kansas	9.27	6'5"	Sr	8.33	-0.93	16, 16	B12
11	Tylor Perry #5	North Texas	9.22	5'11"	Jr	7.92	-1.30	13, 0	CUSA
12	Malachi Smith #13	Chattanooga	9.21	6'4"	So	8.62	-0.60	16, 16	SC
13	Posh Alexander #0	St. John's	9.21	6'0	So	5.36	-3.85	14, 13	BE
14	Orlando Robinson #10	Fresno St.	9.12	7'0	Jr	6.79	-2.34	15, 15	MWC
15	EJ Liddell #32	Ohio St.	8.93	6'7"	Jr	6.86	-2.07	15, 15	B10
16	Justin Moore #5	Villanova	8.56	6'4"	Jr	6.14	-2.42	17, 17	BE
17	Santiago Vescovi #25	Tennessee	8.52	6'3"	Jr	6.00	-2.51	16, 16	SEC
18	Jamaree Bouyea #1	San Francisco	8.43	6'2"	Sr	6.46	-1.97	17, 17	WCC
19	Christian Braun #2	Kansas	8.32	6'6"	Jr	6.20	-2.12	16, 16	B12
20	Iverson Molinar #1	Mississippi St.	8.29	6'3"	Jr	8.00	-0.30	16, 16	SEC
21	Tevin Brown #10	Murray St.	8.25	6'5"	Jr	6.33	-1.91	13, 13	OVC
22	Trent Frazier #1	Illinois	8.23	6'2"	Sr	4.61	-3.62	14, 13	B10
23	Alondes Williams #31	Wake Forest	8.21	6'5"	Sr	6.89	-1.32	18, 18	ACC
24	Tari Eason #13	LSU	8.08	6'8"	So	5.16	-2.92	16, 0	SEC
25	Hunter Dickinson #1	Michigan	7.95	7'1"	So	6.17	-1.78	13, 13	B10

Below are the links to each conference review and top 15 players, with the Player of the Year listed.

Abbr, Conference, Player of Year so far, Team

AE, America East Conference, Ryan Davis #35, Vermont

Amer, American Athletic Conference, Kendric Davis #3, SMU

ASun, ASUN Conference, Darius McGhee #2, Liberty

A10, Atlantic 10 Conference, Michael Jones #13, Davidson

ACC, Atlantic Coast Conference, Armando Bacot #5, North Carolina

B12, Big 12 Conference, Ochai Agbaji #30, Kansas

BE, Big East Conference, Collin Gillespie #2, Villanova

BSky, Big Sky Conference, Dillon Jones #2, Weber St.

BSth, Big South Conference, Ricky Clemons #1, Campbell

B10, Big Ten Conference, Keegan Murray #15, Iowa

BW, Big West Conference, Collin Welp #40, UC Irvine

CAA, Colonial Athletic Association, Cam Holden #55, Towson

CUSA, Conference USA, Tylor Perry #5, North Texas

Horz, Horizon League, Jamal Cain #1, Oakland

Ivy, Ivy League, Kino Lilly #10, Brown

MAAC, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, George Papas #5, Monmouth

MAC, Mid American Conference, JT Shumate #32, Toledo

MEAC, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Kris Bankston #30, Norfolk St.

MVC, Missouri Valley Conference, Garrett Sturtz #3, Drake

MWC, Mountain West Conference, Justin Bean #34, Utah St.

NEC, Northeast Conference, Alex Morales #2, Wagner

OVC, Ohio Valley Conference, Tevin Brown #10, Murray St.

P12, Pac 12 Conference, Terrell Brown #23, Washington

Pat, Patriot League, Cam Spencer #12, Loyola MD

SEC, Southeastern Conference, Oscar Tshiebwe #34, Kentucky

SC, Southern Conference, Malachi Smith #13, Chattanooga

Slnd, Southland Conference, Isaac Mushila #10, Texas A&M CC

SWAC, Southwestern Athletic Conference, Jayveous McKinnis #11, Jackson St.

Sum, Summit League, Baylor Scheierman #3, South Dakota St.

SB, Sun Belt Conference, Javon Franklin #13, South Alabama

WCC, West Coast Conference, Alex Barcello #13, BYU

WAC, Western Athletic Conference, Jovan Blacksher #10, Grand Canyon

Note: I added the words "Most Valuable Player" above after initially posting this because our rankings measure how valuable a player is to a team while other votes may measure the "Player of the Year." In most cases I'd say the two are similar, but when writing the Big 12 summary below it occurred to me Baylor was a perfect example of when MVP and POY can be different. James Akinjo and Kendall Brown should be considered for Player of the Year in the rugged Big 12, but I don't believe either of the are in the running for Most Valuable Player because Baylor is so deep that if either of them could not play, Baylor still has seven players on the court that can dominate. I don't believe Kansas could contend nationally if Ochai Agbaji or Christian Braun were out - if those two were out and the two Baylor players above were out for the same game, I believe Baylor would beat Kansas handily..Baylor's incredible depth actually means each player is slightly less valuable because the replacement player stepping in for them is so good.

Big Ten Conference Top 15 Men’s Basketball Players To Date

 For Immediate Release

John Pudner, 404.606.3163, johnp@takebackaction.org

Big Ten Conference Top 15 Men’s Basketball Players To Date

“Value Add Basketball is happy to provide the early list of the conference’s top 15 men’s  basketball players based on proven analytics used by NBA teams for draft prep,as well as writers at Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NBC Sports, Fox Sports,” said John Pudner, the inventor of the system.”

“Seven of 14 Big Ten teams feature a player with more than a 70 percent chance of making the NBA, and that does not even include Ohio State and the top player in the league - EJ Liddell. Liddell leads three Big Ten players in the top seven players, placing 4th, while Iowa’s Keegan Murray ranks 5th and Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis ranks 7th.”

“The All-Big Ten team would be completed by Purdue’s Jaden Ivey, the top NBA prospect at 95% and 4th in the conference in Value Add (8.58) and Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson 5th. Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis ranks as the 19th most valuable player in the country, which would make him 1st team All-Conference in all 31 other conference but leaves him as the 6th best player in the loaded Big Ten.”

You can click on this google doc with information on all 4,000+ players prior to it being posted on www.valueaddbasketball.com. You can also click here for the top 100 players in the country.

Information includes each player’s chance of making the NBA, his Value Add Rating for how many points he impacts a typical game (roughly 10 points is All-American level). The key to the table is: Rank = the player's conference ranking, Value Add = how many points he improves his team over a replacement player, Class = if he is in his 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th and final year of eligibility, Ht = his height, AdjD = how many points he takes away from opponents, and NBA = his percent chance of making the NBA.

Feel free to use any information contained in these statements as wanted, and email (johnp@takebackaction.org), or text/call 404.606.3163 for any questions or additional quotes from John Pudner.

Rank	B10	Team	Value Add	Class	Ht	AdjD	NBA
1	EJ Liddell	Ohio St.	9.88	Jr	6'7"	-3.06	49%
2	Keegan Murray	Iowa	9.61	So	6'8"	-2.65	78%
3	Trayce Jackson-Davis	Indiana	9.39	So	6'9"	-3.75	71%
4	Jaden Ivey	Purdue	8.58	So	6'4"	-2.66	95%
5	Hunter Dickinson	Michigan	8.39	So	7'1"	-3.07	26%
6	Johnny Davis	Wisconsin	8.32	So	6'5"	-2.59	86%
7	Brad Davison	Wisconsin	7.78	Sr	6'4"	-1.37	1%
8	Payton Willis	Minnesota	7.55	Sr	6'4"	-1.83	1%
9	Pete Nance	Northwestern	7.31	Sr	6'10"	-3	1%
10	Hakim Hart	Maryland	7.14	Jr	6'8"	-1.94	1%
11	Trevion Williams	Purdue	7.09	Sr	6'10"	-3.55	26%
12	Ron Harper	Rutgers	6.98	Sr	6'6"	-2.62	31%
13	Eli Brooks	Michigan	6.96	Sr	6'1"	-1.76	1%
14	Jamari Wheeler	Ohio St.	6.93	Sr	6'1"	-3.5	1%
15	Kofi Cockburn	Illinois	6.74	Jr	7'0	-2.76	40%
Def	Marcus Bingham	Michigan St.	6.69	Sr	7'0	-4.26	1%
Def	Trent Frazier	Illinois	6.74	Sr	6'2"	-3.9	1%
Def	Caleb McConnell	Rutgers	2.96	Sr	6'7"	-3.38	1%
Def	Race Thompson	Indiana	6.05	Jr	6'8"	-3.18	1%
Def	John Harrar	Penn St.	6.34	Sr	6'9"	-2.99	1%
NBA	Caleb Houstan	Michigan	3.36	Fr	6'8"	-1.56	83%
NBA	Gabe Brown	Michigan St.	6.08	Sr	6'8"	-1.14	45%
NBA	Malaki Branham	Ohio St.	0.94	Fr	6'5"	-0.86	45%
NBA	Bryce McGowens	Nebraska	3.32	Fr	6'7"	-0.79	91%
NBA	Max Christie	Michigan St.	2.97	Fr	6'6"	-0.74	90%
NBA	Frankie Collins	Michigan	0.86	Fr	6'1"	-0.73	28%

Wooden Award Finalists, KenPom, Value Add Ranks Top Hoops Players

The following 33 players are considered one of the top 20 players in the country by at least one of three evaluations.

Each player is awarded 50 points if one of the 20 Wooden Award Finalists, then 50 points for being ranked 1st by www.kenpom.com or www.valueaddbasketball.com, 49 points for being ranked 2nd by either, etc. A player received no points if not listed as a Wooden Award finalists, or failed to make Pomeroy's top 10, or finished lower than 50th at www.valueaddbasketball.com.

For example, Luka Garza scores a perfect 150 points for being on the Wooden list and calculating as the No. 1 player at both www.kenpom.com and www.valueaddbasketball.com, 50 points each for 150. Baylor's Jared Butler is second with 50 points for making the Wooden list, 48 points for ranking 3rd at www.valueaddbasketball.com and 49 points for ranking second at www.kenpom for 147 points, followed by USC's Evan Mobley with 140 points etc. 

 

Rnk	Player	Team	Wooden?	Value Add	Ken Pom	Total all 3
1	Luka Garza	Iowa	Yes	1	1	150
2	Jared Butler	Baylor	Yes	3	2	147
3	Evan Mobley	USC	Yes	4	8	140
4	Trayce Jackson-Davis	Indiana	Yes	8	5	139
5	Ayo Dosunmu	Illinois	Yes	14	3	135
6	Drew Timme	Gonzaga	Yes	23	4	125
7	Kofi Cockburn	Illinois	Yes	29	10	113
8	Collin Gillespie	Villanova	Yes	7		94
9	Corey Kispert	Gonzaga	Yes	12		89
10	Justin Champagnie	Pittsburgh	Yes	13		88
11	Marcus Carr	Minnesota	Yes	19		82
12	Jay Huff	Virginia	No	18	9	75
13	Charles Bassey	Western Kentucky	Yes	28		73
14	Carlik Jones	Louisville	Yes	37		64
15	Ron Harper Jr.	Rutgers	Yes	38		63
16	Cameron Krutwig	Loyola Chicago	No	42	6	54
17	Hunter Dickinson	Michigan	Yes	62		50
18	Jeremiah Robinson-Earl	Villanova	Yes	85		50
19	Cade Cunningham	Oklahoma State	Yes	94		50
20	Jalen Suggs	Gonzaga	Yes	114		50
21	James Bouknight	Connecticut	Yes	336		50
22	Quentin Grimes	Houston	Yes	473		50
23	Chris Duarte	Oregon	No	2		49
24	Oscar da Silva	Stanford	No	5		46
25	Jose Alvarado	Georgia Tech	No	6		45
26	Trevion Williams	Purdue	No	71	7	44
27	Miles McBride	West Virginia	No	9		42
28	Kendric Davis	SMU	No	10		41
29	Matthew Hurt	Duke	No	11		40
30	Tyson Etienne	Wichita St.	No	15		36
31	DeVante' Jones	Coastal Carolina	No	16		35
32	Quincy Guerrier	Syracuse	No	17		34
33	Alex Barcello	BYU	No	20		31