College Basketball Waiver Wire: Mid-December Pickups

I have never believed in college basketball polls (political polls don't seem to mean too much either). You can say that they are good for conversation or historical precedent, but the numbers are basically meaningless. Of course, college sports have conferences called the Big 10 and Big 12 that do not have 10 or 12 teams, respectively. Apparently, branding trumps everything else.

All of this is to say that while watching Kansas beat Villanova on Saturday afternoon, I did not feel like I was watching the best team in the country. The Jayhawks are undefeated, but they have hardly been dominant with relatively narrow wins of late over Stanford, New Mexico State and the Wildcats. Maybe the problem is that Dedric Lawson is not a flashy player; he just scores and rebounds consistently. Kansas will lose eventually and it probably won't be an "upset."

With that aside, on to the top pickups of the week:

ACC

Jose Alvarado, guard, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Alvarado was the known commodity coming into the season for coach Josh Pastner. Before being held to four points in the blowout win over Florida A&M last Sunday, the 6-0 sophomore had scored at least 12 points in four straight games. He is not a consistent producer of assists with just 3.3 per game, but he has recorded a steal in every game except one. Alvarado is leading the Yellow Jackets with 12.9 points and 1.9 steals. This week, Georgia Tech has a three-game schedule with home contests with Gardner-Webb and Georgia sandwiched around a visit to Arkansas.

Phil Cofer, forward, Florida State Seminoles

The Seminoles have been kind of a strange team offensively. The team has seven players providing at least 6.0 points, but no one is scoring more than 12.1 points. They need an offensive focal point, so it is a good thing that Cofer is likely to make his season debut on Monday. He suffered a foot injury in preseason practice and has missed the first nine games of the season. The 6-8 senior averaged 12.8 points on 48.6 percent from the field with 5.1 rebounds last year. The team has a three-game week against Southeast Missouri State, North Florida and Saint Louis.

Big 10

Vic Law, forward, Northwestern Wildcats

Law has clearly saved his best for last. The senior has opened the season with career highs across the board. He is leading the Wildcats with 18.5 points on 45.5 percent from the field and 41.8 percent on 3-pointers. Law has scored at least 13 points in every game. The 6-7 forward is adding 6.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Law has scored 20 points or more three times, including a 25-point outburst in the win over DePaul last Saturday. After a nine-day break, the Wildcats take on Chicago State on Monday followed by Oklahoma and Columbia this week.

Rasir Bolton, guard, Penn State Nittany Lions

After losing Tony Carr following the 2017-18 season, the Nittany Lions needed a scoring guard. They did not need to wait long to find their man. Bolton, a 6-3 freshman, had an early rough patch in which he scored a combined four points on 1-of-16 from the field in two games. He has found his shooting stroke of late and led the team with a combined 52 points in the last two games. Bolton nailed seven 3-pointers in the win over Colgate on Dec. 8 on his way to a career-high 27 points. The team hits the road with dates at Duquesne and Alabama.

Big 12

Makol Mawien, forward, Kansas State Wildcats

With Dean Wade being felled by a foot injury in the win over Georgia State on Saturday, it may be time for Mawien to re-emerge from the senior's shadow. The 6-9 junior has been quiet this season with just 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds because the Wildcats have a plethora of scoring options, including Wade. Mawien closed the regular season in 2017-18 with 59 points in three games, including a career-high 29 points in the season finale against Kansas. He will need to be aggressive in seeking his shot. The Wildcats play Southern Miss and Vanderbilt this week, so Mawien will get a chance to shine with Wade potentially facing a multi-week absence.

Kouat Noi, forward, TCU Horned Frogs

Noi's return to the lineup after missing the first three games of the season with a knee injury was overshadowed by Jaylen Fisher's return in the same game. The 6-7 sophomore had just four points in the loss to Lipscomb on Nov. 20, but has been scoring well in the Horned Frogs' four-game winning streak. He had a season-high 27 points in the Nov. 26 win over Eastern Michigan and has averaged 17.3 points over the four games. TCU only has one game with a Saturday date with Charlotte.

Big East

Femi Olujobu, forward, DePaul Blue Demons

When Max Strus sat out a game on Dec. 3 with slight knee tendinitis, coach Dave Laitao inserted Olujobi in the starting lineup. The well-traveled senior produced 16 points on 6-of-7 from the field and seven rebounds in the win and has been among the starters ever since. Although he had a rough game on Friday against UIC in which he did not score in 25 minutes, he had scored 50 points in his three previous games. The former North Carolina A&T and Oakland player is the best offensive option among the DePaul forwards. He will get a chance to bounce back against Incarnate Word on Wednesday before the Blue Demons host Boston College on Saturday.

Mitch Ballock, guard, Creighton Bluejays

Martin Krampelj has looked like a shade of the player who starred for the Bluejays before tearing his ACL last season. The team has needed scoring options, and two sophomores have come to the fore. Ty-Shon Alexander and Mitch Ballock played behind Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas last season and received limited opportunities. Both players are taking advantage of their starting status. Ballock has scored 42 points in his last two games and led the Bluejays with 19 points in the win over Green Bay on Friday. He is averaging 12.8 points and hitting 50.0 percent of his 3-pointers. Creighton plays at Oklahoma on Tuesday and hosts Coe College on Thursday.

Pac 12

Lucas Siewart, forward, Colorado Buffaloes

The 6-10 junior became a starter this season and has provided a stretch forward for the Buffaloes. He is hitting an unsustainable 55.2 percent of his 3-pointers in a limited sample size. He has only take 29 long-range shots through nine games. He is providing 12.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in addition to his 3-point marksmanship. Siewart had back-to-back double-doubles in wins over Portland and Colorado State. The Buffaloes will put their six-game winning streak up against Indiana State on Dec. 22 in their last game of the calendar year.

Vionte' Daniels, guard, Washington State Cougars

In weekly fantasy leagues, the Cougars are going to be popular next week. The team has four games, which will probably the last of the four-game weeks this season. Even players with limited production like Daniels can be nice pickups with so many games in a week. Daniels is averaging 8.3 points and 4.8 assists. He has been held to single-digit scoring in his last three games, but has three games of 11 points or more. Daniels has only had fewer than four assists twice. The week holds games against Ride, SIU-Edwardsville, then two games in the Las Vegas Classic.

SEC

Lamar Peters, guard, Mississippi State Bulldogs

The problem for the Bulldogs is that they have too many good players for any one to come to the fantasy forefront. Peters has smashed that ceiling by hitting eight 3-pointers in back-to-back games. He scored 55 points in the outburst against McNeese and Clemson. The 6-0 junior has scored in double digits in seven of his last eight games and has helped the Bulldogs win six in a row. He has also provided a team-high 6.0 assists to go along with his 14.1 points. MSU hosts Wofford and Wright State this week.

Chris Silva, forward, South Carolina Gamecocks

Fouls have curtailed Silva's production throughout his senior season. He was held to single-digit scoring in five of six games. He fouled out for the first time on Dec. 8, but had his third double-double of the season. There is still plenty of potential from the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He has blocked 10 shots in his last three games. Silva's averages of 11.1 points and 6.7 rebounds are down from last year, but there is plenty of potential for the 6-9 senior to provide more. The Gamecocks face Virginia and Clemson.

Smaller Conferences

Jason Burnell, forward, Jacksonville State Gamecocks

We start our tour of the smaller conferences with two Ohio Valley players who are doing well. Burnell is in his second season with the Gamecocks after transferring from Georgia Southern. The 6-7 forward is providing 13.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists. He has four double-doubles, including a 23-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist outing in the win over North Florida on Nov. 21. Jacksonville State has won five of its last six games. They face North Alabama and West Virginia.

Tyrese Williford, guard, SIU-Edwardsville Cougars

It is hard to tell how junior college transfers will adapt to Division I basketball. Williford averaged 12.0 points at Wabash Valley Community College in Illinois last season, but has looked very comfortable in a Cougar uniform. He is providing 14.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists as a starting guard. The 5-10 junior is not a good 3-point shooter (just 23.3 percent), but can drive to the basket. He has scored 20 points or more three times, including a season-high 25 points on Dec. 8 against Harris Stowe. SIUE has four games with road games at Drake and Washington State followed by a pair of games at the Las Vegas Classic.

Larry Austin, guard, Central Michigan Chippewas

In his first three season of college basketball, Austin was not able to break into starting lineups at Xavier and Vanderbilt. The 6-2 senior has found his place with Central Michigan and is leading the team with 19.6 points through 10 games. In a thrilling triple-overtime win over Youngstown State on Dec. 4, Austin provided 24 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals. He adds 5.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.5 steals to his scoring. The Chippewas host UMKC and Jackson State.

Cyril Langevine, forward, Rhode Island Rams

Before being held to six rebounds in the win over West Virginia on Sunday, Langevine had strung together six straight double-doubles. The 6-8 junior had been used as a defensive stopped in his first two seasons at URI, but has added a nice offensive output this season. He has more than doubled his scoring average to 15.7 points on 54.3 percent from the field. He has added 11.3 rebounds and 11.1 blocks to his scoring. The Rams have had Langevine handle the ball a bit too much and he is committing 4.1 turnovers per game. Rhode Island is off until Saturday when they play Bucknell.

Steve Santa-Ana, guard, Elon Phoenix

As a middle of the pack – at best – Colonial team, the Phoenix are often overlooked. While it looks like Elon will not be more than that this year, since they have lost four games in a row, they do have two fine scoring options. Tyler Seibring was supposed to lead the team in scoring and is doing so, but Santa Ana has provided an excellent complementary scorer. The 6-4 senior is hitting 41.4 percent of his 3-pointers on his way to 14.9 points along with 6.8 rebounds. Santa Ana has averaged 19.6 points over his last five games and hit 18 3-pointers in that span. Elon will look to add to their three wins against Kennesaw State and UMKC.