This article is part of our DraftKings College Basketball series.
Welcome to another Saturday of college basketball at DraftKings. Your total available salary is $50,000 to build your best squad of eight players, which includes three guards, three forwards and two FLEX spots. Points are awarded on DraftKings as follows:
Point = +1 point PT
Made 3pt. shot = +0.5 PTs
Rebound = +1.25 PTs
Assist = +1.5 PTs
Double-Double = +1.5 PTs
Triple-Double= +3 PTs
With that out of the way, here are the available GPP contests for college basketball this Saturday:
$7K Full Court Press ($1,000 first prize), Entry Fee: $27
$5K Buzzer Beater ($500 first prize), Entry Fee: $2
$3K Buzzer Beater ($450 first prize), Entry Fee: $2
$3K Full Court Press ($500 first prize), Entry Fee: $27
$2K Big Dance ($700 first prize), Entry Fee: $100
$1.5K Fast Break ($200 first prize), Entry Fee: $12
$1K Big Five ($125 first prize), Entry Fee: $5
$300 Quarter Arcade ($43.50 first prize), Entry Fee: $0.25
and many more…
There are the two sets of contest times with the following games included:
12pm – 4pm Eastern
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh
Providence at St. John's
Texas Tech at West Virginia
Wisconsin at Iowa
Xavier at Seton Hall
Arkansas at Florida
Penn State at Illinois
Butler at Marquette
Georgetown at Creighton
Kansas State at Kansas
TCU at Iowa State
Villanova at DePaul
Rutgers at Indiana
Missouri at South Carolina
North Carolina at Louisville
6pm-12am
Eastern
Nebraska at Minnesota
Purdue at Northwestern
Texas at Baylor
Alabama at Kentucky
Duke at Virginia
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
Stanford at Washington State
Memphis at Gonzaga
Colorado at UCLA
With the Super Bowl this Sunday and the dog days of January nearly behind us, we look forward. Conference play (now about midway through) offers opportunity anew to revise a player's fantasy value. Some players' stocks will be rising, including getting more minutes and possibly finding themselves added to starting lineups. But, what comes up must also go down, and for every player upgraded, another will likely need to be downgraded.
Shedding spotlight on some freshmen with ever rising stocks is a good place to start. Their upside is huge, but so is their risk. Who trusts an 18 or 19 year-old to be reliable? Nonetheless, these players often have the strongest (and latest) surges in production and offer opportunity to strike while prices are still low. Here's a handful to target and use at your own risk:
Guards
Keenan Evans, Texas Tech, $3400
Texas Tech is a poor team in a very good conference. Their 1-7 Big 12 conference record has nothing to do with bad luck, and their 81-36 drubbing at Oklahoma last outing is a testament to just the kind of team this is. Yet, with poor teams come lineups that are variable and opportunities for freshman like Evans. He's averaging over 20 minutes, just over nine shots, one trey, three rebounds and an assist over his last few contests. If he can shoot around 40%, about nine points and 15fpts (4.4 fpts per dollar) make him a viable option to reserve funds for the more expensive players.
Khadeen Carrington, Seton Hall, $5600
Carrington has steadily progressed over the first ten weeks of the season. With an average of 24 fpts (4.3 fpts per dollar) over the last two weeks, he has become an acceptable target in daily lineups.
Isaiah Taylor, Texas, $7200
As one of the best guards in the nation (with the bigs down low to relieve some of the pressure), this "Diaper Dandy" is averaging nearly 32 fpts (4.4 fpts per dollar) over the last three. He was injured, but the injury and rust it caused have dissipated and the production floodgates have been opened.
Forwards
Trevon Bluiett, Xavier, $5400
Not exactly new on the scene, he scored 18 points his very first NCAA game. But, he hit a bit of a midseason freshman slump, but indications are that he's rounding back into his early season form with an average of 24 ftps (4.4 fpts per dollar) over his last two games.
Leron Black, Illinois, $4500
Last Saturday was sub-par, but with foul trouble and an abysmal 1-for-6 from the field, I can look past it. I still consider him a double-double threat with the accommodating 24 fpts (5.3 fpts per dollar), and possibly my favorite pick of the day.
Domantas Sabonis, Gonzaga, $5800
He's been improving all season, and with a decent opponent in Memphis, Sabonis should get a full slate of playing time and targets near double-double status and 25 fpts (4.3 fpts per dollar).
Let's not forget about everyone else. Here are some more experienced targets:
Guards
Sir'Dominic Pointer/Jamal Branch, St. John's, $8000/$4700
If, and it is an if this point, Rysheed Jordan misses Saturday's game with a strained right patellar tendon (an injury he sustained Wednesday night), these two St. John's guards combined for over 65 fpts in his absence last time out (a cumulative 5.1 fpts per dollar).
Kris Dunn, Providence, $9900
Dunn is the day's the most expensive player. He's coming off of a triple-double. He's averaging over 43 fpts (4.3 fpts per dollar) per game in conference play. He's worth every penny.
Geno Thorpe, Penn State, $4300
Thorpe is averaging just over 20 fpts (4.7 fpts per dollar) over his last two games.
Brannen Greene, Kansas, $3700
Greene is averaging 18 fpts (4.9 fpts per dollar) over his last three games.
Alex Barlow, Butler, $4900
Barlow is averaging 21.5 fpts (4.4 fpts per dollar) in conference play.
James Milliken, Creighton, $5700
Milliken is averaging 25 fpts (4.4 fpts per dollar) over his last four games.
Chris Jones, Louisville, $7900
Jones is averaging nearly 33 fpts (4.2 fpts per dollar) in conference play, and has a chance to capitalize getting the run-and-gun Tar Heels in front of the home crowd.
London Perrantes, Virginia, $4600
Perrantes is averaging nearly 20 fpts (4.3 fpts per dollar) in ACC play.
Jeff Newberry, Oklahoma State, $3300
Newberry is averaging 16.25 fpts (4.9 fpts per dollar) over the last three.
Forwards
Alandise Harris, Arkansas, $4500
New to the Razorback starting lineup over the last two games, and Harris is averaging 19.5 fpts (4.3 fpts per dollar) over that span.
Myke Henry, DePaul, $6500
Henry is averaging 28 fpts (4.3 fpts per dollar) over his last four contests.
Brice Johnson, North Carolina, $7800
Johnson is averaging nearly 34 fpts (4.4 fpts per dollar) over his last three outings, but does get a match-up with the 22nd ranked defense in Louisville.
Michael Carrera, South Carolina, $4800
Carrera is averaging nearly 21 fpts (4.4 fpts per dollar) over the last three.
Basil Smotherman, Purdue, $3300
Smotherman is averaging 18.25 fpts (5.5 fpts per dollar) over his past two outings.
Tony Parker, UCLA, $5900
Coming back from a back injury that held him out of a few games, Parker, when healthy is averaging over 25 fpts (4.2 fpts per dollar) in PAC-12 play.
