Top Frontcourts

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Oct 14, 2008

Top Frontcourts

Louisville

Williams, pictured, (11.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 4.5 apg) and Clark (11.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg) are matchup nightmares who should both go in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft. Samuels is a beast of a power forward who should go in the first round of the 2010 draft. No team in the Big East -- or the nation -- can top this 3-4-5 trio.

North Carolina

Reigning Wooden and Naismith Award winner Hansbrough, pictured, (22.6 ppg, 10.2 rpg) could carry a frontcourt on his own, but he has a solid wingman in Thompson (8.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and now, a couple of elite freshmen in Zeller and Davis.

UConn

The 7-foot-3 Thabeet, pictured, (10.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 4.5 bpg) was named national Defensive Player of the Year last season after breaking Alonzo Mourning's Big East record for blocks. Scouts who saw Thabeet's newly aggressive post game this summer expect him to become more of an offensive force -- or at the very least, a more forceful dunker -- as a junior. Adrien, meanwhile, is the team's steadiest veteran, leading them in minutes played (33.8 mpg), points (14.8 ppg) and rebounds (9.1 rpg).

Michigan State

Suton, pictured, (9.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg), a senior workhorse, is one of the county's most underrated big men. Morgan (14.0 ppg) shot 55.8 percent from the field last season and is one of the Big Ten's most athletic forwards. Roe, a 6-foot-8 freshman, was recently cleared to play after left knee surgery, and could end up being a bigger star than any of his frontcourt mates.

Notre Dame

Harangody, pictured, began his freshman year on the bench and finished his sophomore season as the Big East Player of the Year, averaging 20.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. With Rob Kurz (7.1 rpg) graduated, 'Gody will need help on the glass from Hillesland, who averaged 5.2 boards in 22.4 minutes per game as a junior.

Pitt

Blair's solid freshman season (11.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg) was overlooked nationally because most attention was on the one-and-done rookies. He's a candidate for a sophomore breakout. Young (18.1 ppg), pictured, a fringe first-rounder who chose to return for his senior year, could make a run at Big East Player of the Year honors.

Texas

The 'Horns won't have a clear star this season, but James, pictured, (13.2 ppg, 10.3 rpg) is their best all-around player. Atchley emerged as a sweet-shooting role player (hitting 41.3 percent of his threes) last season, while bigger things are expected out of Johnson (5.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg) as a sophomore. He sat out 16 games of his freshman year with a heart condition before he was cleared to play.

Wake Forest

Johnson (14.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg) had a fantastic freshman season at power forward, but may move to the 3 to make room for Aminu (pictured) the jewel of the Deacons' recruiting class. The 6-foot-8 freshman was the No. 7 overall recruit in Rivals.com's Class of '08 rankings, and Walker (No. 17) and Woods (No. 20) are no slouches, either.

Duke

Duke reclassified Henderson (12.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg) as a "G/F" this season, and since he's neither one of the Blue Devils' primary ball-handlers nor much of a long-distance shooter, we're grouping him with the forwards. He and Singler, pictured, (13.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg) will be one of the best 3-4 duos in the nation, but unless Zoubek (3.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg) can earn his way into Coach K's rotation, the Blue Devils will once again be lacking in the size department.

Oklahoma

Blake Griffin, pictured, (14.7 ppg, 9.1 rpg) is a beast in the paint, but he's going to be facing double-teams now that Longar Longar (11.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg) is gone. Blake's brother Taylor (6.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and Wright, a UCLA transfer, will need to pull their weight on the interior.

Tennessee

Smith, pictured, (13.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.4 apg) is the Vols' leading returning scorer and an All-America candidate. Chism (9.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg) will occasionally show flashes of brilliance -- like an 18-point, 18-rebound game against Vanderbilt on Jan. 17 -- but needs to become a more consistent contributor. Negedu, an athletic 6-foot-8 freshman who decommitted from Arizona, will provide decent relief off the bench.

Gonzaga

Daye (10.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg), who might be the most skilled 6-foot-10 player in the country, is projected as a future NBA lottery pick. Heytvelt, pictured, (10.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg) was a star prior to his drug-related suspension in '06-07, but has yet to recapture that magic. The 'Zags need him to be a beast in the paint in order to be a legit top-10 team.

Xavier

Scouts were raving about Brown, pictured, (10.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg) this summer. He's expected to take over Josh Duncan's role as the Musketeers' leading scorer, although they'll likely remain a well-balanced team. Frease, a 7-foot freshman from Ohio who was a five-star recruit, says he wants to be "Xavier's Greg Oden."

Georgetown

Monroe, a 6-foot-10 power forward, was at one point ranked the No. 1 overall player recruiting class of 2008. While he shouldn't enter with Oden- or Beasley-level expectations, he'll be a solid replacement for Roy Hibbert on the Hoyas' front line. Summers, pictured, is expected to become Georgetown's No. 1 scoring option this season, after averaging 11.1 points per game as a sophomore.

Kentucky

Patterson, pictured, (16.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg) was robbed of his first March Madness experience after suffering a stress fracture in his ankle in late February. If the 6-foot-8 power forward can stay healthy as a sophomore, he should be a candidate for SEC Player of the Year along with Tennessee's Tyler Smith and Florida's Nick Calathes. Miller, a homegrown (Maysville, Ky.) small forward, is a four-star recruit who could make an immediate impact.