We're down to the short portion of the season, as our next three slates will have just four teams before a Monday night showdown slate. It's going to make building different lineups a bit more of a challenge. That's probably going to be amplified here when we've got Arizona-Purdue matchup having a higher expected point total, much higher than Iowa-Illinois. The good news is, at least for Saturday, we don't have anyone priced at $9,000, let alone in five-figures, so all options should be on the table.
College Basketball DFS: DraftKings Picks & Preview for Saturday, March 28
The other challenge I see is the slate's highest-scoring projected team in Arizona has such balanced production...do you plug in as many as four of their starters and build out from there, or do you take some high-tier options elsewhere and just sprinkle in some Wildcats?
College Basketball DFS Top Players
Keaton Wagler, G, Illinois ($8,200)
While we are highly unlikely to get 12 rebounds again, Wagler does enough across all categories where we can lock him in as a stable option with a high-ceiling potential. Illinois is playing a deeper rotation than most still standing, but Wagler is exempt from that, averaging 34.0 minutes in the Tournament and 35.7 over his last 10, where he's posting 15.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.4 steals. He's taken double-digit shots in 12 straight and has scored in double-digits in every game since November 28th. If you need any more proof, he had 31.75 DKP against Iowa January 11th. If that's the floor, he's a great building block. I'm very interested in pairing him with David Mirkovic ($7,300) if you're using strategy two from above.
Trey Kaufman-Renn, F, Purdue ($7,900)
Kaufman-Renn is finally looking like the player we saw most of last season when he averaged 20.1 points. His last four outings have yielded a 29.0 percent usage rate, resulting in 21.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Oscar Cluff ($7,200) and Motiejus Krivas ($7,500) have to match up with leaves freshman Koa Peat ($7,000) to handle Kaufman-Renn. Peat has talent, but I'll take the experience in this matchup to take the young kid to school, so to speak.
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Middle Tier
Ivan Kharchenkov, F, Arizona ($6,400)
It's irresponsible to not have a Wildcat in this column even if there is no real standout option, whether it be form or matchup based. Kharchenkov lands by default; he's a sage bet for minutes (33.0 across his last five) and is a versatile enough contributor where he has multiple paths to a fantasy floor. If you prefer a higher-ceiling, lower floor play for GPPs, Tobe Awaka ($5,400) is the answer. Saturday is going to be an experiment with these builds...can you win by having no piece of the only team expected to score 80 points? I don't write these columns using our above-linked optimizer, but it suggests you can. Arizona is just so balanced it's not something you should force.
Andrej Stojakovic, G, Illinois ($5,900)
I've really struggled with this slate...everyone seems like known commodities. I think this price point is too high for Stojakovic's seemingly reduced role, averaging just 22.3 minutes in nine games since injury while losing his starting spot, but it's also a play on someone who won't be rostered much at all. He posted a double-double and 41.0 DKP against Oregon in this stretch, so there is upside, and he's scored in double-digits in five of those outings. That's enough of a floor for me to chase an unlikely upside. He had a 30.1 percent usage rate against the Hawkeyes in season, so there are paths.
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College Basketball DFS Value Plays
Alvaro Folgueiras, F, Iowa ($4,900)
So long as he's still under $5,000, I'm content going to this well even if it is likely a very popular paydown play. Folgueiras is playing with a great deal of confidence right now, averaging 13.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals across his last four games, playing 22.3 minutes, never failing to return at least 21.0 fantasy points. I believe this will be chalk, but we can eat it and move on.
C.J. Cox, G, Purdue ($4,400)
I actually believe this will be pretty chalky, too; maybe my new trend at this juncture of the season is to take the two clear cheap plays and be different with my build of studs. Cox has at least 11.75 DKP in 11 straight, averaging 25.7 minutes, 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists. He's reached double-digits in scoring in all three tournament games and if we get a pace boost with the high total, there's every reason to expect that trend to continue.
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