This article is part of our DFS College Basketball series.
If you're reading this, you've clearly not reached your limits on basketball consumption, which honestly, I may be near that brink after a solid 13 hours of doing next to nothing other than watching games. What a great time of year! DraftKings is again offering a $10,000 prize pool with $2,000 to first place Friday night, tipping at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Mid majors are off the docket, and we're chalked full of heavy hitters here.
Five players are priced in five-figures with 10 more coming in at $9,000 or greater. A massive 179.5 total in Alabama - Kentucky makes for an obvious game to target, but UNC - Duke (154.5), Florida - Missouri (161.5) and Illinois - Maryland (159.5) aren't bad pivots. With teams winning and advancing, there will likely be some repeat names from yesterday's column, precisely where prices haven't been adjusted.
Getting ready for March Madness? For the latest in the projected field of 68 for 2025 NCAA Tournament, head to the RotoWire Bracketology page.
Top Players
Walter Clayton, G, Florida ($9,300)
Clayton is a touch buried in the upper tier pricing, and does enough peripherally to think there's potential for a near 5x return. He's handed out eight assists in consecutive games and is averaging 18.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists over his last four, all slight upticks on seasonal performance. Florida comes with an implied total of 85.5 points, so there should be ample opportunity for Clayton to provide a well-rounded outing. He went for 40.25 DKP agaisnt Missouri in season despite zero assists. A goose egg Friday in that column would be a surprise given Clayton's recent body of work.
Julian Reese, F, Maryland ($9,200)
The thought is Derik Queen ($9,900) matches up with Tomislav Ivisic, leaving the 6-foot-9, 252-pound Reese as a matchup nightmare for the remaining smaller Illini starters. That certainly played out in the regular season, as Reese had a massive 27 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks. Surely Illinois will have a better/different gameplan, but they'll still be challenged to match up with the beef the Terps have down low. Reese has scored in double-figures just once in his last four, so there's some risk that's hopefully mitigated by the high scoring total and narrow spread.
Kon Knueppel, G/F, Duke ($8,100)
The price has risen, as expected, and I expect many to be on this train, so consider it almost a free square and differentiate elsewhere. However, Knueppel is the centerpiece of the Duke attack with Cooper Flagg doubtful to play. He tied a career-high with eight assists Tuesday, finishing with a personal best 28 points while adding five rebounds. He averaged 19.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists against UNC during the regular season, and playing on the ball more should boost that latter number a touch. While not expecting yesterday's 52.75 DKP, a 4x return should be in the cards.
Middle Tier
Liam McNeeley, F, Connecticut ($6,400)
McNeeley represents a shot at upside for GPPs at a discounted price that reached as high as $8,500 in season. We're not expecting the 38 point, 10 rebound performance he had against Creighton previously, but it's there and speaks to potential. Since returning from injury, McNeeley has a 28.1 percent usage rate in the Huskies' 10 games, averaging 15.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists, all while shooting just 36.7 percent. Creighton defends well, ranking 19th in effective field goal percentage, per KenPom, so while McNeeley may not get ample open looks, volume and minutes will be available, and the discount can be too great to pass on.
Chase Hunter, G, Clemson ($5,900)
Hunter put up 32.5 DKP Thursday and the price hasn't changed, so we'll return to the well. The analysis is straightforward; lead guards are the path to success in March. Hunter had a 30.4 percent usage rate last night across 37 minutes. The game comes with a narrow one-point spread, so we can easily anticipate heavy minutes again, leading to additional peripherals and volume scoring.
Clifford Omoruyi, F, Alabama ($5,300)
It's easy, and probably not wrong, to pencil in Mark Sears ($10,000) into your lineups, take the ace in this high scoring game, and move on. And he's earned 40+ DKP in both matchups with Kentucky. But for essentially half the price, we can get a piece of the Tide that's in solid form and has also performed well against the Wildcats. Omoruyi has seven or more rebounds in five straight, going for 26.75 DKP or more in three of those. He's averaged 11.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in two matchups with Kentucky. Double-double potential at this price is rare.
Bargain Options
Fletcher Loyer, G, Purdue ($4,500)
This just looks like a complete mis-price, as Loyer was $5,500 yesterday and has been as high $6,700 throughout the year. He's a glue guy for the Boilermakers, and likely is here too for fantasy, offering a safe floor but no ceiling. You'll get 30 minutes, likely double-digit scoring and anything additional would surprise. Loyer hasn't been below a 3x return on this price since January 18th, and averaged 22.0 DKP in two meetings with Michigan in season, averaging 16.5 points, two rebounds, and nothing more.
Jake Heidbreder, G, Clemson ($3,300)
Digging deep here to free up salary. Dillon Hunter had his hand/wrist/finger wrapped heavily Thursday night, playing only eight minutes and seems unlikely to be available Friday. That's going to open minutes for someone, and Heidbreder got 23 in Hunter's absence last night. He didn't do much, scoring five points while adding an assist, rebound, steal and block, resulting in 9.25 DKP. He hit only 1-of-4 from 3-point range but shot it at a 40.3 percent mark during the regular season. Louisville ranks 170th in 3-point defense, so there's potential for Heidbreder to better last night's production, and we don't need much to reach a 4x return for the cheap price.
Travis Perry, G, Kentucky ($3,200)
This will need to be a last minute call, but assuming Lamont Butler is again sidelined, there's an opportunity for Perry to start in the game we clearly want to target. Perry started three tims in Butler's last absence, averaging 8.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals, including a 12-1-1-4 line against Alabama. While far from elite, it's more than enough at this minimal number. Perry only played six minutes Thursday despite Butler leaving in the first half, so this is far from a guarantee. Collin Chandler ($3,300) got 22 minutes last night, and can be considered if he's the starter, something he hasn't been all season and he's not the ball handler Perry is. Either way, there seems to be an extremely low-priced starter pending for Kentucky that can open up options for your lineup elsewhere.
