College Hoops Barometer: This is the Carter

College Hoops Barometer: This is the Carter

This article is part of our College Hoops Barometer series.

What's wrong with the Kentucky Wildcats? Despite picking up the win Tuesday, coach John Calipari, the uncredited inventor of the "One-and-Done" college basketball scheme, finds his Kentucky Wildcats ranked outside the Top 25 for the first time since 2014. Coach Cal is also seething both publicly and privately about losing out on prized recruits to Coach K at Duke, including the top 3 in the Class of 2018. While Calipari does have a commitment from Keldon Johnson out of Oak Hill Academy, that will not help this year's version of the Wildcats. UK is 5-3 in the SEC, with a non-conference clash upcoming against high-powered West Virginia. Kentucky still has to play Tennessee, Florida and Auburn, schools which are all currently ranked ahead of the Wildcats. Kentucky may get its act together over the next month or so, but the streak of three-straight regular season and conference tournament titles certainly appears to be in jeopardy.

Let's travel together to campuses around the country in this edition of the College Hoops Barometer.

UPGRADE

Wendell Carter Jr. (F)
Speaking of Duke, Marvin Bagley gets the pub for the Blue Devils, and rightly so. However, it would be a mistake to sleep on Carter, whose presence along with Bagley gives Duke arguably the top frontcourt in the nation. Carter has been a force during Duke's current five-game winning streak. He's posted three double-doubles over that span. Carter is averaging 16.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks over those last five contests, shooting an

What's wrong with the Kentucky Wildcats? Despite picking up the win Tuesday, coach John Calipari, the uncredited inventor of the "One-and-Done" college basketball scheme, finds his Kentucky Wildcats ranked outside the Top 25 for the first time since 2014. Coach Cal is also seething both publicly and privately about losing out on prized recruits to Coach K at Duke, including the top 3 in the Class of 2018. While Calipari does have a commitment from Keldon Johnson out of Oak Hill Academy, that will not help this year's version of the Wildcats. UK is 5-3 in the SEC, with a non-conference clash upcoming against high-powered West Virginia. Kentucky still has to play Tennessee, Florida and Auburn, schools which are all currently ranked ahead of the Wildcats. Kentucky may get its act together over the next month or so, but the streak of three-straight regular season and conference tournament titles certainly appears to be in jeopardy.

Let's travel together to campuses around the country in this edition of the College Hoops Barometer.

UPGRADE

Wendell Carter Jr. (F)
Speaking of Duke, Marvin Bagley gets the pub for the Blue Devils, and rightly so. However, it would be a mistake to sleep on Carter, whose presence along with Bagley gives Duke arguably the top frontcourt in the nation. Carter has been a force during Duke's current five-game winning streak. He's posted three double-doubles over that span. Carter is averaging 16.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks over those last five contests, shooting an impressive 64.4 percent from the floor. As long as Carter stays out of foul trouble, he is an absolute force for the Dukies in the post on both ends of the court.

Barry Brown (G)
Since Kamau Stokes went down with an injury, Brown and teammate Dean Wade have gone on a rampage. Wade has scored at least 20 points in four-straight contests, while Brown is averaging nearly 25 points per tilt with Stokes sidelined. That includes a 34-point barrage in Monday's win over Baylor. In fact, the Wildcats beat ranked opponents in TCU and Oklahoma during their three-game winning streak, with a narrow one-point loss to Kansas on the road in the contest before that. Though Stokes could return soon, it is clear that Brown and Wade have more than picked up the slack for K-State in the short term.

Shake Milton (G)
The Mustangs have been racked by injuries this season, but Milton has been one of the few constants. He is averaging career highs across the board for SMU, buoyed by several standout performances. He set a career best in points with 33 in last week's thrilling victory over highly-ranked Wichita State. He dished out nine assists apiece in back-to-back games versus ranked opponents in December. He's third in the conference in assists, tied for fourth in scoring, and ninth in steals with 1.5 per contest. With Jarrey Foster now done for the year with a partial ACL tear, Milton will be forced to shoulder even more of the burden for the Mustangs.

Payton Pritchard (G)
Pritchard has seen a huge jump in production between his freshman and sophomore campaigns, particularly in terms of scoring. Pritchard has nearly doubled his scoring from a season ago, averaging 15.7 points per tilt, which leads the squad. Pritchard's improvement in his outside shot is noticeable; he is hitting nearly 43 percent of his shots from downtown. Always a capable disher, Pritchard also leads the Ducks in assists, becoming the catalyst for the offense. The Ducks may not be an NCAA Tournament team this season, but Pritchard is making a name for himself and showcasing his all-around talent.

CHECK STATUS

Collin Sexton (G)
Sexton's stellar freshman campaign has been overshadowed a bit by the outrageous play of Oklahoma's Trae Young. Sexton has a 40-point game of his own this season, averaging 18.5 points per game overall for the Tide. Sexton does not quite have the playmaking ability of Young, nor the outside shot, but is still hitting 36.7 percent from downtown and managing 3.4 assists per contest. If not compared to Young, all of these numbers would be exceptional for a freshman. However, Sexton recently missed two games with an abdominal injury. He returned to the court Tuesday at Ole Miss, but scored just seven points in a 78-66 loss. The Tide may be choosing to bring Sexton back slowly in order to avoid re-injury. As such, it may take him a few games to get back into rhythm, assuming he can stay healthy. It would be wise to keep an eye on Sexton's health and production.

Cameron Lard (F)
The freshman big man has seen an uptick in playing time as the season has progressed, resulting in much more consistency. Lard has five double-doubles on the year, including most recently a 12-point, 12-rebound outing at Texas on Monday. After seeing over 30 minutes just once in the first 12 contests for the Cyclones, Lard has played at least 30 minutes in five-straight tilts. Over that span, he is averaging 14.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and three blocks. Lard is becoming a weapon for the Cyclones inside the paint; hopefully his newfound starting role will last.

Andrien White (G)
A thumb injury has forced White to miss the last two games for the 49ers. Though the injury is not considered serious, White has seen a curious dip in three-point shooting this season. In fact, both White and leading scorer Jon Davis have been pretty poor from beyond the arc. Perhaps unsurprisingly, with the two best players on the squad struggling, the 49ers have limped to a 5-13 start, including 1-6 in Conference USA. A speedy recovery would be ideal for White, though even a quick return may not be able to stop UNC-Charlotte's losing streak.

Luka Garza (G)
Garza continues to adjust to the college game, having attained newfound success in recent contests. He tallied a career-high 16 rebounds Tuesday against Wisconsin en route to his fourth double-double of the season. As his conditioning has gotten better, Garza has been able to break the 20-minute mark in six of the last seven games. Though his shot selection and efficiency could still use some work, Garza is hitting 63-percent from the floor since being reinserted into the starting lineup. The Hawkeyes remain one of the worst teams in the Big Ten, though Garza's development is a silver lining and an exciting proposition for the future of Iowa basketball. In fact, four of the five starters for the Hawkeyes are sophomores or younger.

DOWNGRADE

Donte Grantham (G)
The Tigers were dealt a crushing blow when it was announced Grantham would miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Grantham was second on the squad in scoring and rebounding, and third in dishing. He was one of the biggest reasons for the surprising 16-4 start to the season for Clemson, which includes a 5-3 record in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. Freshman Aamir Simms started last game in place of Grantham and posted career highs in points, rebounds and minutes in a lopsided loss to Virginia. Simms will be the most direct beneficiary of Grantham's injury.

Tacko Fall (C)
Fall will be sidelined for the remainder of the year after undergoing shoulder surgery. The 7-foot-6 junior was averaging 11.3 points, 7.3 boards and 1.9 blocks per game prior to the injury. Though he was shooting a career-best 76.7-percent from the floor, Fall's rebounds and blocks were down from a season ago. Fellow junior forward Chad Brown will try to fill Fall's gigantic shoes; Brown actually notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's win at South Florida.

Jaylen Fisher (G)
A torn meniscus will put Fisher on the shelf for the rest of his sophomore season. One of the catalysts for the Horned Frogs offense, Fisher was averaging 5.4 dimes per contest. He was also one of five members of the team averaging double digits in points on the year. Keep an eye on junior Alex Robinson with Fisher sidelined. In three games since Fisher went down, Robinson is averaging an absurd 10.7 assists. That includes a 17-assist virtuoso performance against Iowa State last week.

Martin Krampelj (F)
Krampelj had six double-doubles to his credit for the Blue Jays this season. The sophomore led Creighton in rebounding at 8.1 boards per contest. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays will be forced to find some source of rebounds for the remainder of the season, as Krampelj will not return this year after suffering a torn ACL versus Seton Hall last week. Senior Toby Hegner appears to be most likely to benefit in terms of minutes and production, though the guards for the Jays will also attempt to pick up the slack, specifically Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas, the two leaders in the backcourt.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jesse Siegel
Siegel covers college football, college basketball and minor league baseball for RotoWire. He was named College Sports Writer of the Year by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.
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