This month, College Fantasy Hoops Insider brings you a new feature: our conference players of the month. Our group of writers look over the month of January for their respective conferences and named the best of the best. You'll notice that the ACC and Big East aren't represented. Well, we jumped the gun a bit last week when Jeff Borzello detailed his players of the month for those conferences. One award for all non-Tier 1 conferences seems absurd, but that's the way college basketball leans.
Big Ten
Robbie Hummel, F, Purdue Boilermakers
Evan Turner's back injury caused him to miss one game in January and play sparingly in another, thus opening up the door for someone else to actually win this. Things were pretty close for me between Hummel, Turner, DeShawn Sims, and John Shurna for this month, but Hummel's multi-category production tipped the scales in his favor. In nine January games, Hummel averaged 18.1 points and reached double-digits in all nine games (none of the other three did that), including his 35-point outburst against Ohio State. He averaged 7.7 rebounds, had at least six boards in all but one game, and posted three double-doubles (tied for best among the group with Turner). Hummel chipped in with 2.8 assists per game and was the only player I considered to average at least one steal (1.1) and one block (1.3) per game. As for his shooting, Hummel drained 46.5 percent from deep, and would have been at 40 percent even without his 8 of 13 game against the Buckeyes. He also shot 89.7 percent from the free throw line (again, best of the quartet) and played the latter half of the month with an injured finger. I also looked at turnovers given that some leagues punish you for those, and Hummel had eight for the entire month. Among the other candidates, Sims averaged the most points (20.1) and the most rebounds (8.9), but he tallied just nine assists. Turner still made a strong case, and odds are I'll be focusing on him next month.
Others considered: John Shurna, Northwestern Wildcats; DeShawn Sims, Michigan Wolverines; Evan Turner, Ohio State Buckeyes
Big 12
Damion James, G/F, Texas Longhorns
While his team may be in a tailspin, the one thing that has been consistent for fantasy owners has been Damion James. James finished the month with a Big 12 high six double-doubles in nine games. Only four Big 12 players finished the month averaging 10 or more points and rebounds. For the month, James averaged 20.22 points, 11.67 rebounds per game. The one hole in James' game has been assists (0.44 AST/game), but he more than makes up for it with his scoring. During January, James shot 49.62% from the floor, 45.45% from behind the arc and 66.67% from the charity stripe. Of James' 11.67 rebounds, 4.33 of them were on the offensive boards. James beat out James Anderson who averaged 23.11 points, 5.78 rebounds and 2.89 assists during the month. Where Anderson wasn't able to match up was with double-doubles (he had none). in addition, James was able to beat out Ekpe Udoh who only had 3 double-doubles, but did start off the month with a triple-double. Udoh's output was probably most affected by his teammates Tweety Carter and LaceDarius Dunn who were right behind Udoh with their monthly averages.
Others considered: Alec Burks, Colorado Buffaloes; Cole Aldrich, Kansas Jayhawks; Marquis Gilstrap, Iowa State Cyclones; Sherron Collins, Kansas Jayhawks
Pac 10
Ty Abbott, G, Arizona State
Just like the Pac 10 race in the standings, the month of January saw the elite fantasy players fall back to the pack and some new blood emerge. Landry Fields, Quincy Pondexter, and Klay Thompson stole all of the early season fantasy headlines from the conference but another player emerged to take home the hardware. Ty Abbott, a 6-foot-3 junior guard from Arizona State, was probably on the waiver wire in most leagues when the month started. After all, even after his torrid month Abbott's season scoring average is only 11.5 points. Ah, but last month was a good one for the sharpshooter. He averaged 18.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 threes, 2.4 assists, and 1.4 steals. What is even more impressive is that he made 28 threes and still shot 51% from the floor. It is almost impossible to find guards that have a field goal percentage over 50%, makes 3.5 threes, and grabs seven boards. That kind of production would send owners dancing in the streets. Abbott recorded two double-doubles (again from guard!) and had a game where he made seven threes (which is one more than Fields made all month). Fields finished a close second, but his lower field goal percentage (44%) combined with his lack of production behind the arc was enough to crack open the door for Abbott to take top honors.
Others considered: Pondexter, Derrick Williams, Jerome Randle, and Jeremy Green.
SEC
Devan Downey, G, South Carolina Gamecocks
It was exciting for me to have the initial SEC Player of the Month come down to the final week of play. What little doubt existed prior to Tuesday night was erased as Devan Downey put the Gamecocks on his back once again and led them to an upset win over then #1 Kentucky. I was overly critical of Downey early in the season (and I’m allowed to do so, I’m an alum) for his low field goal percentage, and lack of fantasy contributions outside of points. And when USC lost Dominique Archie to injury, and dismissed Mike Holmes in December, it would have been easy for Downey to pack it in, consider his future after South Carolina and be safe. Instead Downey has put the Gamecocks on his shoulders, and no one appears capable of stopping him. Downey’s SEC scoring average is a ridiculous 31.6 and he leads the conference in steals with 3.1 per game. Does Downey’s field goal percentage keep him from being a truly elite fantasy player? Probably, but in the past month, there hasn’t been a more reliable scorer, and consistency and reliability go a long way in fantasy sports. Quite simply, you know what you are getting each time Downey takes the floor. And scoring aside, his assist and rebound totals won’t hamstring you (3.6 and 3.2 on the year, respectively.) In real life, just imagine where South Carolina would be right now without this stud. Unless Downey’s 5 foot 9 frame can’t take defenses running at him nightly through March, there is absolutely no reason to expect Downey to slow down. He is the type that can get even hotter and lead a team on a run through a conference tournament (a la Randolph Childress) as well. And would you want to be a 4, 5 or 6 seed and see Mr. Downey sitting opposite of you in the first round of the Tournament? I wouldn’t either.
Others considered: DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky Wildcats ; Courtney Fortson, Arkansas Razorbacks; Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State Bulldogs
Non-Tier 1
As noted in the SEC Player of the Month, consistency goes a long way toward determining fantasy championships. While the players mentioned in the "others considered" list may have had higher highs than our winner, none of them provided excellent stats with maddening consistency of Babbitt. The sophomore at Nevada scored at least 19 points in all eight of his games this month and had at least nine rebounds. He topped out at 29 points in a loss at Boise State on Jan. 23 and had 13 rebounds in a loss at Louisiana Tech on Jan. 3 and in between it was excellence as routine. Babbitt was on fire from the field all month and finished with a 55.1% field goal percentage, 47.1% on threes, and 88.7% on free throws. Babbitt heated up toward the end of the month and in his last four games hit 33 of 51 shots for 64.7% from the field. Despite shouldering a great offensive load, Babbitt, a 6-foot-8 native of Reno, only had more than two turnovers twice and averaged 2.5 giveaways. He made his defensive presence felt as well with 1.8 steals and 1.4 blocks as well as at least two steals and one block in his last six games. While Babbitt lifted many fantasy teams into high seeds in upcoming tournaments, the Wolf Pack only went 5-3 in conference, but they are just one game behind the three co-leaders of the WAC (Louisiana Tech, Utah State, and New Mexico State). For the season, Babbitt is third in scoring in conference at 21.1 points and second in rebounding at 9.9 per game. It will be interesting to see what this double-double machine can do for an encore in February.
Others considered: Damian Saunders, Duquesne Dukes, Aubrey Coleman, Houston Cougars, Hassan Whiteside, Marshall Thundering Herd