College Hoops Barometer: Risers & Fallers

Let us open the season at the College Hoops Barometer by celebrating the sublime and ridiculous in college basketball. On Wednesday evening, a player named Josh Williams for Robert Morris equaled the NCAA record with 15 3-pointers. He finished with 49 points to lead the Colonials past Mt. Aloysius. Where did this come from? Williams, who transferred to Robert Morris after two seasons with Akron to play with his younger brother, had never hit more than six 3-pointers. If you're curious about whose record Williams tied, it is Keith Veney of Marshall who hit 15 treys on his way to 51 points in 1996. With the way the game is leaning toward the perimeter, that record may not last long.

Williams' performance highlighted an interesting evening in which the Big 10 continued to show its dominance over the Big East in the Gavitt Games. Illinois, playing without Trent Frazier, lost to Georgetown and Nebraska squashed a rebuilding Seton Hall squad. Perhaps the most surprising result of the season was Michigan pummeling Villanova. Maybe the Big East will be up for grabs this year and Michigan will once again be underrated,

UPGRADE

Ethan Happ, forward, Wisconsin Badgers

Under Bo Ryan, Wisconsin was known for players developing incrementally. Greg Gard served under Ryan for years and it looks like he has the same development pattern. Happ was excellent last year for a Badger team that struggled to find a wingman for the 6-foot-10 forward. In the early going, it looks like the senior has taken another leap to be one of the most productive players in the country. We knew he was going to be good, but we didn't know he was going to this good. He opened the season with a triple-double (10 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds), then shredded Xavier for 30 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Happ is going to put himself farther onto NBA radar.

Alpha Diallo, guard/forward, Providence Friars

Steady improvement has also been a hallmark of Diallo's career. He was a reserve as a freshman and served as an offensive complementary option last season. As a junior, he has moved in the spotlight and it appears that he is ready for performance. Diallo has opened the season with three straight double-doubles and has been scorching the nets from 3-point range. The 6-7 swingman has converted 52.6 percent of his long-range shots after making just 21.4 percent last year. He has helped the Friars to a 2-1 record with 20.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists. The rest of the non-conference slate has some challenges – South Carolina, Rhode Island, Boston College – so Diallo should continue to command big minutes and big production.

Kamar Baldwin, guard, Butler Bulldogs

Like Diallo, Baldwin is moving into the role of go-to player after supplementing Kelan Martin last season. He has been amazingly productive in the two easy wins for the Bulldogs. The scoring – 23.5 points – may have been expected, but the 6-1 junior has been doing everything else to boot. He has provided 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists, which leads to the speculation a triple-double could be coming. Baldwin is mostly known as a shooter, but he has only made 25.0 percent (2-of-8) from distance in the first two games. He only made 33.1 percent of his 3-points last season, so perhaps we should not have thought of him as a sniper. The Bulldogs will face a step up in competition on Friday against Ole Miss.

Tres Tinkle, forward, Oregon State Beavers

When JaQuori McLaughlin left the Beavers last year, Tinkler took over offensive facilitation duties. He was already leading the team in scoring and rebounding, but he averaged 3.7 assists to go along with 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds. One of the Thompson brothers (Stephen Jr. or Ethan) were expected to take on the point guard responsibilities, but the junior forward doesn't seem to want to give them up. In beating UC-Riverside and Wyoming at home, Tinkle has doled out 6.0 assists to go along with 23.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. He has also hit half of his 3-point attempts. Oregon State, under coach Wayne Tinkle, has had fantasy options but little success in terms of wins and losses. Perhaps Tinkle the Son changes that this season.

CHECK STATUS

Bennie Boatwright, forward, USC Trojans

Many people expected Boatwright to go pro after last season. He was recovering from a knee injury, but decided to come back to coach Andy Enfield's team. Because of those knee issues, Boatwright missed the first two games of the season, including a loss to Vanderbilt. While he was out, Nick Rakocevic started hoovering up boards and now has three straight double-doubles. On Wednesday, Boatwright made his season debut and scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, in 18 minutes. It may be that the senior is freed by Rakocevic's presence. He is a good shooter and too tall for most perimeter defenders. If he can remain healthy, he could lead the Trojans to the top of the Pac-12.

Michael Weathers, guard, Oklahoma State Cowboys

During the summer, Weathers got into legal hot water by stealing someone's wallet and using a credit card. The charges were lowered from a felony to misdemeanor, and Weathers apologized. He returned to Cowboy practice last week and saw his first action on the court on Wednesday. The 6-2 sophomore only played three minutes and scored two points. The production is not important, but it is great that he is back on the court. He was end-all, be-all for Miami (OH) as a freshman in 2016-17 and it won't be long until he takes on more responsibilities for coach Mike Boynton. If he is hanging out on a waiver wire in your league, he is worth taking a flyer on.

Tacko Fall, center, UCF Knights

The Knights were bitten by the injury bug last season. Tall and guard B.J. Taylor only appeared in one game together. Fall missed the second half of the season with a shoulder injury and it looks like he may not yet be fully healthy. In his first two games, the 7-6 center has also been plagued by fouls and only provided 6.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. Another issue is that Fall is now sharing the paint with George Washington transfer Collin Smith. Fall has not missed a shot in six attempts and had five blocks in the win over Rider in the season opener. He will never be a 30-minute per game player, but in the early going Fall has been underwhelming.

Evan Boudreaux, forward, Purdue Boilermakers

We knew that Carsen Edwards was going to be solid for the Boilermakers and we knew that center Matt Haarms would fill the Isaac Haas void (although maybe he should change his name to Maatt to really do so). More was expected from the 6-8 Boudreaux, who transferred from Dartmouth after the 2016-17 season. With the Big Green, Boudreaux was a top offensive option and averaged 17.5 points in 9.5 rebounds as a sophomore. Thus far, he has come off the Boilermaker bench and had little impact on games with 12.0 points and 4.5 rebounds. Coach Matt Painter has a number of options to fill the frontcourt and Boudreaux may have to be content with being a reserve this season.

DOWNGRADE

Chris Clarke, forward, Virginia Tech Hokies

Clarke was suspended indefinitely on Halloween and there has been little news indicating that the 6-6 senior is going to return to the team any time soon. In other words, this is not a Western Kentucky, one-game suspension. Clarke was a jack-of-all-trades off the bench for the Hokies last year in which he averaged 8.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists. He may yet return this season, but for the time being Ty Ouotlaw is taking his place in the starting lineup. Outlaw provided five points and six rebounds in the win over Gardner-Webb on Friday, and could be an interesting player to monitor.

Jaylen Fisher, guard, TCU Horned Frogs

Fisher and Alex Robinson gave the Horned Frogs a dual-point guard attack last year that was very successful. The 6-2 junior was injured on Jan. 13 and missed the stretch run of the team's NCAA Tournament season. Fisher had another surgery over the summer and was expected to be ready for the season. He has not made his debut and Robinson has played well on his lonesome. Fisher may have to move off the ball since Robinson has provided 17.5 points and 6.0 assists in the first two wins for TCU. Coach Chris Beard could look to have two facilitators once Fisher returns to health, but that may not be until conference play.

Frank Howard, guard, Syracuse Orange

Coach Jim Boeheim leaned on Howard, Tyus Battle and Oshae Brissett so much last season that one of the trio had to buckle under the huge minutes' load. It was Howard, who has yet to appear in a game after injuring his ankle in October. Without its starting point guard, Syracuse does not have a player averaging more than 2.5 assists (and that player is redshirt freshman Buddy Boeheim). Howard's absence has allowed East Carolina transfer Elijah Hughes to get more shots. For a modicum success in the tough ACC, the Orange are going to need Howard to get healthy.

Roosevelt Smart, guard, North Texas Mean Green

The Mean Green appear to be on the precipice of having an excellent backcourt. Redshirt freshman Umoja Gibson has been scoring well and Ryan Woolridge is on triple-double alert with 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists. Add in Smart, who has yet to make his season debut after straining his calf and Conference USA opponents may have to start worrying about North Texas. Smart averaged 19.5 points and hit 37.8 percent of his 3-pointers as the team's leading scorer last year. Gibson and Smart should spread the court and allow easier baskets for forwards such as Jorden Duffy and Zachary Simmons.