You probably read the title of this article and thought its author was a little bit loopy. While I'd agree with that assessment, I'll also say that I have almost completely run out of fantasy worthy centers to profile, so I thought I'd take a one-week excursion into the land of guard-eligible players that rebound like centers. The following list is one player short because my colleague Andy Bottoms wrote about Coastal Carolina's Joseph Harris earlier in the week. While Harris is very good (and averages 9.7 rebounds and 12 boards in his latest game), he hasn't changed enough in the past couple of days to write about him again. No, Damion James and Evan Turner need more ink, not Harris! Next week, I'll scrape up some more centers to look at, but let's look at the little(r) guys who clean the glass.
Damion James, Texas Longhorns
This probably isn't the best time to be writing about any of the Longhorns because the team has fallen off a cliff and lost five of their last seven games. However, Texas classifies James as a swingman, so he is eligible in most fantasy leagues as a guard. As such, he is a great player to have around. The 6-foot-7 senior is having the best statistical year of his impressive career with 18.0 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game. As I wrote about earlier in the year, James is a fantasy stud who doesn't really translate to dominant player. He seems to be at his best in a supporting role, and he definitely hasn't been able to lift Texas out of its funk. Nevertheless, he is coming off some impressive games, including 20 points and 19 boards in a loss to Baylor and his 24-point, 10-rebound game against Kansas on Monday. Few guard-eligible players can match his 12 double-doubles and ability to block shots (including eight blocks in his last two games). Fantasy owners will be sad to see James head elsewhere next year. He's had a great run.
Evan Turner, Ohio State Buckeyes
When it comes to legitimacy of guard status, I guess Turner has more of a claim to it than James. The 6-foot-7 junior actually handles the ball and facilitates the Buckeye offense, which makes his work on the boards even more impressive. Turner missed just six games in December after fracturing his back. It took him four games to shake off the rust, but in his last six games Turner has been a double-double machine with the possibility of a triple-double lurking around each corner. For the season, Turner is averaging 19.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.7 assists. These stats have put him into the race for National Player of the Year. While the Buckeyes do have a five-game winning streak, which should improve Turner's chances, all of the wins have come against the lower half of the Big Ten. The schedule toughens considerably in the last few weeks of the season with road dates at Michigan State and Illinois and a home game against Purdue.
Bilal Benn, Niagara Purple Eagles
Perhaps because he is also forward-eligible, the 6-foot-5 Benn never found a place on the Villanova roster while he was a Wildcat from 2005 to 2007. He transferred to Niagara prior to last season and has been keeping the Purple Eagle glass spotless ever since. This season, Benn is averaging 9.8 rebounds to go along with 13.5 points and 1.6 steals. Benn did miss three games in December with a knee injury, but it did not take him any time at all to get back up to pace. He opened the season with three consecutive double-doubles and has had nine since, including three since the injury. While Benn has continued to board strongly, his shooting numbers have declined since the start of MAAC play. In his last 10 games, Benn is only hitting 27.8% of his shots and 17.8% of his three-pointers. The Purple Eagles have lost seven of those games to sink to the lower half of the conference. Benn and Tyrone Lewis form one of the better one-two punches in fantasy hoops, but they need a great turnaround to get into postseason play.
Elijah Millsap, UAB Blazers
I have always been fond of Millsap. His brother, Paul, was one of the great college fantasy basketball producers of this decade in his four years at Louisiana Tech. Then, the younger Millsap came to Lafayette, LA in the same year that I did. He left the Ragin' Cajuns after his sophomore season, but my fondness went undiminished. On a UAB team that brought almost nothing back from last season, Millsap has stepped into the void and provided nearly everything. The 6-foot-6 junior is averaging 16.1 points and 9.3 rebounds - numbers he would not have been able to attain in Acadania because of coach Charles Lee's need to mass substititue (although Tyren Johnson seems to be prospering this year). Millsap had three straight games of 15 rebounds in mid-December and has scored at least 20 points seven times. He is coming off a three-rebound game against Rice, but he was saddled with early foul trouble. Millsap will likely be the man for the Blazers next year as well so he can be counted on for many more double-doubles.
Darington Hobson, New Mexico Lobos
The state of New Mexico has been a fantasy goldmine this year. New Mexico State plays a fast pace and has plenty of interesting options, but the Aggies do not have a single player who can hold a candle to one Lobo. Hobson is a junior college transfer who has been the end-all, be-all for the team. He is averaging 15.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 4.3 assists and has been the force who helped the team to two lengthy winning streaks (12 games to open the season and the current eight-game winning streak in Mountain West play). Hobson is also coming off a pair of impressive games in which he averaged 22.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in wins over TCU and UNLV. In the two games, Hobson hit 59% of his shots and canned six three-pointers. He is converting 39.5% of his threes and will be one of the top candidates for Mountain West Player of the Year.
Tommy Brenton, Stony Brook Seawolves
Unlike the first five players on this list, Brenton - a 6-foot-5 sophomore - isn't much of a scorer and that's probably why you haven't heard a lot about him. You will, especially if he can lead the Seawolves to the NCAA tournament. Currently, they are atop the America East standings and have won six straight games. Brenton is averaging 9.3 rebounds to go along with 7.8 points and 1.9 steals. In his past three games, Brenton has averaged 10.0 rebounds while only scoring 5.7 points. His offensive game will likely grow as he spends more time at Stony Brook. He did have an 18-point, 11-rebound game against Holy Cross on New Year's Eve and followed that up with 15 points and 11 rebounds against BU. However, he has scored in double-digits just twice in his last eight games. If you need only rebounds from a guard slot, Brenton could be a player to consider.
Tommy Hubbard, East Tennessee State Buccaneers
In his junior season, Hubbard has taken the leap from key reserve to key player for the Buccaneers. The team finds itself right in the middle of the Atlantic Sun race at 9-5 along with four other teams who are either 9-5 or 10-5. It might be the 6-foot-4 junior's play that gives the team the nod to its second straight Big Dance. He has 12 double-doubles, including four in his last five games. Hubbard made his presence known early in the season with 32 points and 11 boards in a Nov. 27 win over Arkansas. After only taking 2.8 shots per game as a sophomore, Hubbard has looked much more comfortable getting his and is even hitting 36.1% of his three-pointers. The reason he makes this list is his 8.6 rebounds. If his jump between his sophomore and junior seasons was evolutionary, one can only wonder what kind of species he'll become next year.