College Hoops DFS is here and I am excited that many people are asking about it. It’s a great extra DFS sport to add into your mix to make some money — especially once those Saturday’s are no longer football and focus more on the hoops action. A ton of transfers this season and a ton of players coming back utilizing the COVID eligibility waiver to get an extra year of college. So yes, when you ask if that guy has been in school since 2007 the answer is more closer to yes than you might think.
Finding minutes on these early slates is a challenge, but finding value is not as much of a challenge due to the pricing. I focus on DK mostly for College Hoops and with the slates including different games I am going to keep that focus primarily.
Top games to target
Louisiana Tech vs Alabama
We should prepare for another year of Alabama being a high paced team that plays exceptional defense. But in DFS we want their games due to the pace and their depth of talent + shooters. There’s a good amount of leadership lost on this team losing Herb Jones and John Petty. They should remain through their guards and Quinerly/Shackelford are the primary returning options who should shine for this team while Keon Ellis is a great value at $4,800 for them.
Louisiana Tech runs through Kenneth Lofton Jr and if you are like hey – is that Kenneth Lofton’s kid — the answer is .. uh .. well, technically yes since he is Kenneth Lofton Jr, but no, he is not that Kenny Lofton’s kid. This is a BIG power forward who is the type of guy that could give Bama some fits underneath — especially in an early season game where I doubt Alabama is scouting a ton to focus on how to handle him specifically. Bama can basically come out and run their tempo and win this game off their offense. His only concern is staying out of foul trouble here.
LT: Lofton
BAMA: Shackelford, Davison, Ellis
Kentucky vs Duke
One of my theories coming into the 2021-2022 season is that all the big name coaches who struggled in the COVID season are going to have bounce back seasons. Specifically we start with these two teams and I am very high on Kentucky coming into this season. They got some nice transfers as Coach Cal adjusts to no longer recruiting all the one and dones but more focusing on scooping guys who are talented but under-valued in their current schools.
The two guys I am watching the most are Sahvir Wheeler ($7700) and Oscar Tshiebwe ($6,000). Oscar from WVU was someone I always enjoyed there but he is a power guy who is the type that should have a SOLID game against Duke even with them revamping their front-court. The downside on Kentucky is that they are VERY deep and if Coach Cal gets upset at you early for lack of hustle you will be on the bench watching. Wheeler has a lot of upside as a primary scorer, but his minutes could be too low to hit full value. That said, keep an eye on Kentucky early this season and I like them to win this game tonight.
Duke returns Jeremy Roach, who I once coached against and held to under 14 total points in 8th grade. Nevermind that he missed the entire first half, that isn’t of note here folks. Roach in his second year at Duke should continue to build off strong play late in the 2020-2021 season and now has some more talent around him to be someone we strongly consider under 6k as his upside comes more as a distributor. Paolo Banchero ($8,800) is the new Duke stud that lots will be on and should get plenty of run tonight. The price is not ideal, but there is value out there.
UK: Wheeler, Washington, Tshiebwe
DUKE: Banchero, Roach
ONIONS PLAYS
These are my core plays for tonight. Like peeling an onion we look at three different layers to find a high end, mid range and value play to focus around
Jaden Schakelford – Alabama – $7,000
Alabama will always drive up the pace on their opponents so we don’t worry about a “pace down” spot and His 23% usage rate from a season ago should be higher this year.
Oscar Tshiebwe – Kentucky – $6,000
I believe that Calipari will trust Tshiebwe against Duke’s interior and he should be in line to have a great rebounding effort tonight. For $6,000 we get someone that can produce a double-double if he stays out of foul trouble.
Keon Ellis – Alabama – $4,800
Ellis is the best value player on the slate tonight that we just take and move on with. I would focus on two Alabama players in your main lineup and he is the best value on this squad at $4,800.
TOP 3
Excluding the Onions Plays
Guards: Michael Devoe, Ochai Agbaji, JD Davison
Forwards: Paolo Banchero, Kenneth Lofton, Quincy Guerrier
Value: Precious Ayah, AJ Lawson (No, not that SC AJ Lawson, different guy), Max Christie