It is the Year of the Big Man in college basketball.
Oh, no it’s not. Who am I kidding?
Every year in college basketball now fits that description.
The last four players to win Player of the Year from The Sporting News were centers, and the one before that was a power forward. Six of the past 10 consensus first-team All-Americans were big men.
Funny thing, though: Although effective frontcourt play has been required forever for teams to win the NCAA Championship, the best bigs aren’t dominating March. First-team All-America frontcourters have a 6-6 record in the past two NCAAs. Each of the past two POYs were eliminated by double-digit seeds in the first round.
For this truly to be the Year of the Big Man, some of this year’s elite bigs will need to be making their way through the NCAA field toward State Farm Stadium and the 2024 Final Four. And there are plenty on this list who’ll have a chance:
MORE: SN's preseason Top 25
First team
Zach Edey, C, Purdue
Last year’s stats: 22.3 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 2.1 bpg, 60.7 FG
Why he’s here: It’s a given the reigning Player of the Year for The Sporting News is going to be on our preseason All-America team. It is not a given he’ll be there at the end. Luka Garza managed to carry the dominance of his 2019-20 season into the following year and repeated as a first-teamer. Oscar Tshiebwe didn’t quite. So Edey returned to Purdue with no guarantees except that defenses will have had a full offseason to prepare plans for coping with his unique combination of size and skill. There hadn’t been a player listed at 7-4 win the POY awards since Ralph Sampson in the 1980s, and they have vastly different styles. Edey almost certainly will have to cope with a variety of different tactics and the likelihood many of them will involve a greater degree of physicality – teams challenging refs to call every foul committed against him.
MORE: Betting odds for Zach Edey repeating as Wooden Award winner
Boogie Ellis, G, Southern California
Last year’s stats: 17.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.1 apg, 43.4 FG, 38.6 3-PT
Why he’s here: Ellis is not going to be the most talented player at USC. As the season starts, it’ll be at least point guard Isaiah Collier, and when Bronny James is sufficiently recovered from his offseason heart procedure, that’ll be another. This is the first time in his five-year career, though, that Ellis will play alongside a high-end point guard, and that should be empowering for him. He shot solid percentages and was a productive scorer for last season’s 22-win squad, and that was while joining with wing Drew Peterson to initiate a pointless attack. Although Collier is gifted enough to ultimately outshine Ellis, he first should put him in a position to excel. Remember when Derrick Rose was the most talented player in college basketball but helped teammate Chris Douglas-Roberts become an All-American? It could be like that.
Kyle Filipowski, PF, Duke
Last year’s stats: 15.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.1 bpg, 44.1 FG
Why he’s here: Yeah, why is he here? I mean, if he’s here, he obviously belongs on the preseason First Team, but Filipowski’s decision to delay for at least a year his entrance to the NBA Draft was the most surprising of the 2023 NBA Draft process. He was widely projected as a first-rounder. Although he had hip surgery in the offseason, he said that was not a factor. He insists he stayed at Duke because he enjoyed his first year so much. He’ll enjoy it even more if he blossoms from a big guy who can make a shot into a big guy who’s a legit shooter. He hit 28.2 percent of his threes last season. If he gets that into the mid-30s (or higher), Duke will be that much more dangerous.
Graham Ike, PF, Gonzaga
2021-22 stats (at Wyoming): 17.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 51.0 FG
Why he’s here: It’d be kind of shocking if Gonzaga didn’t have someone in line to be an All-American. From Dan Dickau to Adam Morrison to Kelly Olynyk to Kyle Wiltjer to Rui Hachimura to then Corey Kispert, Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme over the last few years, it seems there’s always a Zag swimming with the biggest fish in college basketball. Ike is new to Gonzaga, but not to playing in the deep end; he helped lead Wyoming to a 25-win season and only the program’s third NCAA Tournament bid of this century. Well, the odds the Zags will be there in March are significantly greater – they haven’t missed since 1998 – and Ike is the best candidate to lead them there. He redshirted last season because of a foot injury, but reports from Spokane are that he’s back on two feet and performing great.
Tyler Kolek, G, Marquette
Last year’s stats: 12.9 ppg, 7.5 apg, 1.3 spg, 47.1 FG, 39.8 3-PT
Why he’s here: Kolek is like Exhibit A for those who advocate for immediate eligibility for transfers. He played his freshman year at George Mason and got 30 minutes a game, but he was not deployed as the team’s primary point guard. Which is curious, because in his first big start for Marquette, at home against No. 10 Illinois, he ran the show and passed for five assists in a one-point victory. It only got better from there, and last year he was in complete command of a Big East championship team, ranking third in NCAA Division I in assists and winning the league’s Player of the Year trophy. What if he keeps getting better?
Second Team
Armando Bacot, C, North Carolina
Last year’s stats: 15.9 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 55.4 FG
Why he’s here: This is kind of a loaded question with Bacot. It seems to be more about why he isn’t on the first team after he opened last year among the top five players on this same list. Bacot didn’t have a poor 2022-23 season – the guy averaged a double-double, for goodness’ sake – but his numbers declined in every significant category: scoring, field goal shooting, blocks and especially rebounding, which dropped from an elite 13.1 per game to a quite good 10.4 average. The chemistry issues at UNC that spoiled last season are expected to have portaled out. How proficiently Bacot functions may be the surest measure of whether that turns out to be true.
Oumar Ballo, C, Arizona
Last year’s stats: 14.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.3 bpg, 64.7 FG
Why he’s here: With so many terrific big guys in college basketball, again, it is easy to overlook someone like Ballo, whose production was limited by playing the last two seasons next to one of the college game’s most capable bigs, Azuolas Tubelis. He earned to right to take nearly 14 shots a game and grabbed 9 rebounds per game away from Ballo. But he’s no longer there. That’s a lot of opportunity at production available to Ballo, and he’s good enough to make sure he gets more than his share.
Hunter Dickinson, C, Kansas
Last year’s stats (at Michigan): 18.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 56.0 FG, 42.1 3-PT
Why he’s here: As with Gonzaga, Kansas and coach Bill Self have an almost magical touch in getting the most out of their best players. KU has had at least one player reach first- or second-team All-America in 11 of the past 14 seasons, including first-team Jalen Wilson last season. So it’s almost inevitable a guy who arrives off back-to-back 18-point seasons is going to star for the Jayhawks. His ability to excel facing the basket and to score in the low post is going to make him a nightmare for opponents when KU rolls out its high/low attack. When Dickinson was available as a transfer, Self wanted him, badly. He knows Dickinson will be a fit.
Justin Moore, G, Villanova
Last year’s stats: 13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, 42.0 FG
Why he’s here: Moore’s numbers from a year ago aren’t terribly impressive, but they aren’t terrible for a guy who missed most of the year recovering from an achilles injury that occurred in the 2022 Elite Eight. It would be a fitting conclusion to an excellent career if Moore can recover the form that made him an essential part of Nova’s run to the Final Four just before his injury. He is a complete guard who can run the offense when necessary but is most comfortable operating as a key source of offense. With Mark Armstrong emerging at point guard, there should be freedom for Moore to fill his favored role.
Wade Taylor IV, G, Texas A&M
Last year’s stats: 16.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.9 apg, 39.6 FG
Why he’s here: His stats from a year ago say, no, he’s not likely to be among the top 10 players in college basketball this season, that he’s just a smidge outside that. His talent and his tape say those numbers don’t reflect all he’s capable of doing – and suggest this year’s statistics might. Staying in front of him is an absolute chore, and that’s whether or not he gets the help of a screen. His floater is lethal. Taylor needs to become more consistent as a shooter, not just to demonstrate his value as an elite player but to push the Aggies to the level they, too, are capable of reaching.
Third Team
Max Abmas, G, Texas
Last year’s stats: 21.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.0 apg, 43.6 FG, 37.3 3-PG
Boo Buie, G, Northwestern
Last year’s stats: 17.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.5 apg, 40.6 FG
Justin Edwards, F, Kentucky
Last year’s stats: 17.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg (high school)
Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton
Last year’s stats: 15.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.1 bpg, 69.5 FG
Tyson Walker, G, Michigan State
Last year’s stats: 14.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.9 apg, 45.9 FG, 41.5 3-PT
