NCAA Basketball: Top college basketball players at each height for 2018-19
By Brian Foley
6-foot-6
JR Tyus Battle, Syracuse
2017-18: 19.2 ppg, 2.1 apg, 1.5 spg
Battle is back at Syracuse after leading the Orange to a surprise Sweet 16 appearance in March. Battle was forced to do a lot for Syracuse offensively last season, but he should be able to let go of the reigns a bit this year as nearly every Syracuse player returns to campus, and three incoming recruits join the fray. Syracuse could field Jim Boeheim’s best team since 2013-14.
HM: SR James Palmer, Nebraska
6-foot-7
FR RJ Barrett, Duke
Nevada has three players – Caleb Martin, Jordan Caroline, and Cody Martin – amongst the top-five returning players listed at 6-foot-7, but its Barrett the newcomer who earns the crown here. Barrett doesn’t have the prettiest jump shot, but he plays bigger than his reported height and is a relentless attacker. The left-handed Canadian is the early favorite for the no. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
HM: SR Ca. Martin
6-foot-8
SR Luke Maye, North Carolina
2017-18: 16.9 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.4 apg
Maye returned to Chapel Hill this season looking to improve on his third-team All-American campaign from a year ago. Maye was one of five players to total at least 600 points and 350 rebounds last season, and just the sixth Tar Heel to accomplish the feat in the last 20 years. North Carolina uncharacteristically enters the 2017-18 season under the radar, but with Maye’s steady production and a talented crop of underclassmen, UNC should be back in the title hunt once again.
HM: JR Sam Hauser, Marquette
6-foot-9
SR Mike Daum, South Dakota St.
2017-18: 23.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.3 apg
No matter the stage, Daum – a threat in the post and on the perimeter – has been one of the best big men in the nation for each of the past two seasons. The Jackrabbits’ star is one of five players with at least 1,200 points and 500 rebounds over the last two years, but that number quickly drops to only one when you push the marks up to 1,700 points and 600 rebounds. No one is in Daum’s class, and he hasn’t slipped in March either. Daum averaged 22 points per game in his two tournament contests over the past two years, shooting a combined 7-14 from three.
HM: JR Dedric Lawson, Kansas
6-foot-10
SR Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
2017-18: 17.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 3.7 apg
Despite Happ’s best efforts, the Badgers missed the tournament for the first time in two decades in 2017-18. Still, the talented Wisconsin big man stuffed the stat sheet, and should do even more damage if the Badgers can create more perimeter action this season. Happ was one of two players to average at least 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block per game last year (Winthrop’s Xavier Cooks). Happ has already added an effective passing game to his low post play; now he just needs a jump shot. The Badgers’ star is only 1-11 from beyond the arc for his entire career.
HM: JR Killian Tillie, Gonzaga
6-foot-11
SO Daniel Gafford, Arkansas
2017-18: 11.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.2 bpg
Gafford is a shot-blocking maestro, swatting at least one shot in 19 of his 26 games last season, including seven blocks apiece in wins against Vanderbilt and Auburn. The Razorbacks return just 20.1 percent of their minutes from the 2017-18 roster, which ranks 345th among all Division-1 programs, so Gafford will be given every opportunity to take over on offense. He enters the season as a likely lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.