College Basketball Waiver Wire: Pickups of the Week

The last 10 days all of the worry about Kentucky has melted away. Kentucky took care of business against North Carolina in Chicago, then went to Louisville and came away with a win. Is this the same team that crushed by Duke in the Champions Classic? It is, but coach John Calipari is getting his rotation in order and some of the freshmen are progressing.

The ACC should once again be the best conference with Duke, Virginia and North Carolina at the top, but the SEC should be really intriguing. Tennessee, Auburn and Kentucky make for a strong trio. Florida is defending well and Mississippi State is very strong. It is a shame that Vanderbilt and Missouri lost their best players (Darius Garland and Jontay Porter) for the season. There shouldn't be an easy win during the season as even South Carolina should be competitive.

Let's take a spin around the country to see who has been performing well and could be picked up. Many of the players started slowly, so their overall numbers may not reflect what they have done lately.

ACC

Chaundee Brown, guard, Wake Forest Demon Deacons

It looks like this might be a lost season for the Demon Deacons. They have lost to teams such as Houston Baptists and Gardner-Webb, which is not something ACC teams should do. The good news is that the 6-foot-5 Brown appears to be growing into a nice scorer. He has put up at least 12 points in his last six games after scoring in double digits in just one of his first five games. In his last five games, Brown is averaging 14.8 points and 6.0 rebounds. The Demon Deacons play Cornell before opening conference play against Georgia Tech.

Kenny Williams, guard, North Carolina Tar Heels

Williams has taken over offensive facilitation duties for the Tar Heels. His scoring is down from last year (11.4 points to 8.3 through Saturday's win over Davidson), but he is getting the ball to other UNC players. The 6-4 senior is providing 4.8 assists. Like Brown, Williams started the season slowly and only scored one point in his first two games. He has put up at least 11 points in five of his last six games and has 23 dimes over his last four. Harvard comes to the Dean Dome for a visit this week before the Tar Heels head to Pittsburgh.

BIG TEN

Isaiah Moss, guard, Iowa Hawkeyes

The 6-5 junior has been starting since the beginning of the season, but he has only been playing a starter's complement of minutes since the start of December. He is inconsistent, but has scored at least 13 points in three of his last six games and has helped the Hawkeyes win five in a row. Moss has hit 40.0 percent of his 3-pointers and scored a season-high 20 points in the win over Iowa State on Dec. 6 to start the winning streak. He has also averaged 4.0 assists over his last four games. Moss and the Hawkeyes play at Purdue on Thursday before hosting Nebraska.

Trent Frazier, guard, Illinois Fighting Illini

The Illini will be one of the teams at the bottom of the Big 10, but coach Brad Underwood is slowly assembling a team. He has Frazier and Ayo Dosunmu in the backcourt to learn and grow over the next few years (if everything goes right). Frazier poured in a combined 53 points in a win over East Tennessee State and a loss to Missouri before being held to nine points in the overtime loss to Florida Atlantic on Saturday. He has scored at least 15 points seven times and has hit at least three 3-pointers in all of those games. Frazier is hitting 42.7 percent of his 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 15.9 points. Illinois opens the New Year on the road at Indiana and Northwestern.

BIG 12

Wesley Harris, forward, West Virginia Mountaineers

With Sagaba Konate out for at least another two weeks, Harris will get a few more opportunities. The 6-8 junior has taken advantage of the extra room to operate and has provided 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in the last three games. In that span, he has hit 7-of-8 from 3-point land and is hitting 39.4 percent of his 3-pointers on the season. The Mountaineers certainly miss their backcourt from last season, but the team has won seven of its last nine games. Coach Bob Huggins may need Harris to shoot more: he has only taken 6.3 shots per game. The Mountaineers host Texas Tech and travel to Texas this week.

Brady Manek, forward, Oklahoma Sooners

Hopes were high for Manek coming into the season. As a freshman, he averaged 10.2 points in a complementary role. Would the 6-9 forward take a big step forward as a sophomore? Things looked good at the outset of the season and he put up three double-doubles in a row. Those are his only three double-doubles of the season. He has perked back up lately with 12.8 points and 5.7 rebounds in his last six games. The Sooners have won seven in a row and may be a thorn in their Big 12 opponents. They will get a chance to play the big dog with a game at Kansas on Wednesday before hosting Oklahoma State.

BIG EAST

Maliek White, guard, Providence Friars

When freshman guard A.J. Reeves went down in early December with a foot injury, coach Ed Cooley could have called upon Makai Ashton-Langford or Isaiah Jackson to start. He did not. He chose White and the 6-3 guard has responded. He has helped the Friars win all three games as a starter with 14.3 points, including 54.5 percent on 3-pointers, and 5.0 assists. Providence gets a jump on conference play on Monday against Creighton before hosting Villanova on Saturday. We'll see just where the Friars are in the conference pecking order early.

Martin Krampelj, forward, Creighton Bluejays

Krampelj was probably dropped in many leagues after his uninspiring start to the season. He was recovering from his third ACL surgery and scored in single digits in five straight games in November. The loss against Oklahoma on Dec. 18 appeared to be a wakeup call and the 6-9 junior put up season highs with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He has scored in double digits in his last three games, but the last two have come against mediocre competition. For the Bluejays to be successful in the Big East, they will need a productive Krampelj. They play Providence on Monday before heading toe Butler.

PAC-12

Daejon Davis, guard, Stanford Cardinal

Much has been made about how terrible the Pac-12 is this season. The results have not been good and the teams now get to beat each other. Maybe a surprise team will make its way to the top of the conference. Maybe it will be Stanford. Davis has helped the team win five of its last seven games and has been very effective in his last five games. The 6-3 sophomore has provided 17.6 points and 5.2 assists. His season averages are 11.8 points and 3.8 assists, so he has really improved. The Cardinal can make their mark in conference play at southern California this week with games at UCLA and USC.

Sedrick Barefield, guard, Utah Utes

Barefield started the season very poorly. In his first four games, he only converted only 28.3 percent of his field goals and the Utes went 2-2 against mild competition. The 6-2 senior has since picked it up and has scored at least 15 points in seven of his last eight games. He is coming off a 33-point outburst in the loss to Nevada, which should augur good things in Pac-12 play. Barefield is hitting 40.3 percent of his 3-pointers and is averaging 15.0 points. The Utes hit the road for a trip to the desert to play Arizona State and Arizona in the opening weekend of Pac-12 play.

SEC

Tyler Herro, guard, Kentucky Wildcats

There are many contributing factors to the Wildcats' resurgence. One is that Herro is starting to knock down shots from the perimeter. In the victories over Utah, North Carolina and Louisville, the 6-5 freshman from Milwaukee has hit nine 3-pointers and averaged 18.7 points. Because opponents have to be wary of Herro, the paint is opened up for bigs like Reid Travis and PJ Washington. Herro will need some help from the outside, but he has shown that he can score against big time competition. That's a good thing because Kentucky will look to start SEC successfully against Alabama and Texas A&M this week.

Andrew Nembhard, guard, Florida Gators

Coach Mike White has turned the Gators into a defensive juggernaut. Florida has not given up more than 69 points this season and put a clinic on against Butler on Saturday. The Bulldogs were held to 43 points. Nembhard is a 6-5 freshman who is starting at point guard. His offensive game is still in progress and he is only averaging 7.3 points. The good news is that he is hitting 43.3 percent on 3-pointers, but he needs to take more outside shots. He is leading the Gators with 5.8 assists. Nembhard will get his first taste of SEC play this week against South Carolina and Arkansas.

MID-MAJORS

Troy Harper, guard, Drexel Dragons

Harper did not score in two of his first three games of the season. On Nov. 17 against La Salle, he decided to attack the basket and scored 24 points. The 6-1 Campbell transfer has not looked back since. Harper has scored at least 13 points in his last 10 games and has hit the 20-point mark six times. He has attempted at least eight free throws in eight games and is converting 81.8 percent of his freebies. Unfortunately, Harper's best efforts have not helped the Dragons win and the team has lost four straight games. Drexel will look to snap that streak this week when they host Elon and William & Mary.

Frankie Ferrari, guard, San Francisco Dons

It doesn't look like any team is going to challenge Gonzaga in the WCC this year (like most years). San Francisco has a great shot of being number two, which isn't bad and may lead to a big to the NCAA Tournament. The 6-0 Ferrari has scored better than his 13.3-point average in nine of his last 10 games. Yes, he started the season slowly too. The Dons were knocked off by UC-Santa Barbara on Saturday to snap a five-game winning streak that included wins over California and Stanford. Ferrari also offers 5.6 assists and 1.8 steals. San Francisco will get a big test against St. Mary's on Thursday before playing at Pepperdine on Saturday.

Justin Kier, guard, George Mason Patriots

The Patriots have been missing Jaire Grayer in December. The senior guard has missed the last six games. The 6-4 Kier has absorbed some of Grayer's shots and has put up at least 12 points in every game that Grayer has missed. He had a career-high 32 points in the loss to Vermont on Jan. 3 and followed that with back-to-back double-doubles in wins over James Madison and Navy. Grayer will eventually come back, so Kier's offensive production may be curtailed. The Patriots take on St. Joseph's and St. Bonaventure.

Alexis Yetna, forward, South Florida Bulls

If your team could use a double-double machine (and what team couldn't?), then check out the 6-8 Yetna. The forward from France has six double-doubles in his last nine games. And if you rub your eyes, you will notice that the Bulls have won six in a row. Yetna opened the streak with 18 points and 13 rebounds and had 16 points and 16 rebounds in the win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday. Can this type of production continue into American Athletic play? We will see when the Bulls host Connecticut and head to Tulsa.

Tahj Eaddy, guard, Santa Clara Broncos

When KJ Feagin went down with a broken thumb, the Broncos could have been sunk. Instead, the team has leaned on its backcourt of Eaddy and freshman Trey Wertz. The 6-1 sophomore has continued to hit 3-pointers as he did as a freshman and has doubled his scoring. Eaddy has helped Santa Clara win five straight games including a double-overtime win against USC on Dec. 18. He had 21 points and eight assists against the Trojans. The Broncos will see if they can keep winning against San Diego and Gonzaga to open the WCC slate.