NCAA Basketball: Top 30 frontcourt players for 2021-22 season
By Ian Mumm
18. Qudus Wahab, Maryland Terrapins
As a sophomore at Georgetown, Wahab took full advantage of Omer Yurtseven’s graduation and subsequent leveling up to the NBA ranks. He received a small role behind Yurtseven in his first season but was able to efficiently send warnings of what was to become of his production. The result was a 12.7-point, 8.2-rebound, and 1.6 blocks per night output to anchor the Hoyas frontcourt and provide valuable interior scoring for Patrick Ewing’s squad.
This summer’s transfer to Maryland offers a new opportunity for Wahab on a team more likely to impact the NCAA Tournament than his previous destination. The Terps will need Wahab to again anchor the frontcourt and stifle many of the elite bigs playing the Big Ten again this season. Maryland is not very deep behind the junior elevating his expectations on both ends of the floor, but if he can remain a “solid” piece for head coach Mark Turgeon this group could stand to surprise some people.
17. Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona Wildcats
Sean Miller’s venture into international recruiting proved to be a success last season, despite the program’s self-imposed post-season ban. The leading duo from that class, forward Azuolad Tubelis and guard Bennedict Mathurin, proved to take the adjustment to the Wildcats level of competition in stride. Tubelis emerged as a more reliable two-way threat than former 5-star Jordan Brown and high-rate shot-blocker Christian Koloko.
His passing ability and court vision won’t be found in the box scores, but Tubelis features a lot of craftiness in his repertoire. This summer he showcased a potentially evolving offensive game posting totals of 32 and 19 points against Canada and France respectively in the FIBA U19 World Cup. Those teams featured promising young bigs Zach Edey (Purdue) and Victor Wembanyama. With a new coaching staff for the Wildcats, Tubelis will be expected to carry over this momentum and scoring consistency in the Pac-12 this year.