Robinson, Adams Top Value Add Top 50

UCLA’s Jordan Adams broke his foot to end UCLA’s title hopes then lost teammate Shabazz Muhammad to the NBA. But www.valueaddbasketball.com projects him as the second best returning player this season behind only Michigan’s Glenn Robinson, and with Kyle Anderson also back, UCLA has two of the Top 50 best players in the country listed below.

A year after projecting Otto Porter would go from scoring single digits to Player of the Year, and spotting Trey Burke as the clear POY early in the season, Value Add projects a group of sophomores as the best in the land.

Players typically make a huge jump in productivity between their freshman and sophomore seasons, and that would project Robinson would improve Michigan’s scores by an average of 13.39 percent per game, just better than Adams’s projected 12.99. The preseason All-American team based on the ratings would be led by point guard Marcus Smart, who decided to take a shot at a title at Oklahoma State rather than rake in millions this year. With TJ Warren (NC State) on the team, the top four players come from the top four conferences, but small schools have a representative in Stony Brook’s Jameel Warney as the projected fifth best player.

The projections do not reflect the early games, but were released after each team had played a game to verify the players were on the correct rosters. Of the top 50 players, 48 played in their season opener. Mitch McGary of Michigan missed the opener with a minor injury but is back practicing with the team. UNC’s PJ Hairston sat out due to an NCAA investigation of possible violations. A separate post covers the top teams, and the rankings of the 2,100 players expected to add value to their teams this year will be posted on the database at www.valueaddbasketball.com.

Rnk	First Name	Last Name	Team	Ht	Class	Value Add
1	Glenn	Robinson	Michigan	6-06	So	13.39
2	Jordan	Adams	UCLA	6-05	So	12.99
3	TJ	Warren	NC State	6-08	So	11.31
4	Marcus	Smart	Oklahoma St.	6-04	So	11.17
5	Jameel	Warney	Stony Brook	6-08	So	10.44
6	Gary	Harris	Michigan St.	6-04	So	10.36
7	Nik	Stauskas	Michigan	6-06	So	10.27
8	Andrew	Wiggins	Kansas	6-07	Fr	10.00
9	Shabazz	Napier	Connecticut	6-01	Sr	9.80
10	Sam	Dekker	Wisconsin	6-07	So	9.60
11	Spencer	Dinwiddie	Colorado	6-05	Jr	9.57
12	Russ	Smith	Louisville	6-00	Sr	9.55
13	Aaron	Gordon	Arizona	6-08	Fr	9.50
14	TJ	McConnell	Arizona	6-01	Jr	9.43
15	RJ	Hunter	Georgia St.	6-05	So	9.12
16	Bryce	Cotton	Providence	6-01	Sr	9.01
17	Rasheed	Sulaimon	Duke	6-04	So	8.84
18	Mitch	McGary	Michigan (inj)	6-10	So	8.82
19	Doug	McDermott	Creighton	6-08	Sr	8.75
20	Georges	Niang	Iowa St.	6-07	So	8.70
21	Myles	Mack	Rutgers	5-09	Jr	8.56
22	Andre	Hollins	Minnesota	6-01	Jr	8.55
23	Jalan	West	Northwestern St.	5-10	So	8.45
24	Phil	Forte	Oklahoma St.	5-11	So	8.30
25	Olivier	Hanlan	Boston College	6-04	So	8.22
26	Trevor	Releford	Alabama	6-00	Sr	8.08
27	Jabari	Parker	Duke	6-08	Fr	8.00
28	Kevin	Pangos	Gonzaga	6-02	Jr	7.97
29	Quinn	Cook	Duke	6-01	Jr	7.97
30	Dwayne	Evans	St. Louis	6-05	Sr	7.88
31	Cory	Jefferson	Baylor	6-09	Sr	7.80
32	Juvonte	Reddic	VCU	6-09	Sr	7.67
33	PJ	Hairston	UNC (NCAA inv)	6-05	Jr	7.61
34	Kyle	Anderson	UCLA	6-08	So	7.59
35	Julius	Randle	Kentucky	6-09	Fr	7.50
36	Nick	Johnson	Arizona	6-03	Jr	7.41
37	Josh	Scott	Colorado	6-10	So	7.35
38	CJ	Fair	Syracuse	6-08	Sr	7.30
39	Akil	Mitchell	Virginia	6-08	Sr	7.28
40	Aaron	Craft	Ohio St.	6-02	Sr	7.23
41	Aaron	White	Iowa	6-08	Jr	7.20
42	Tyler	Haws	BYU	6-05	Jr	7.19
43	Ben	Brust	Wisconsin	6-01	Sr	7.11
44	Jake	Odum	Indiana St.	6-04	Sr	7.05
45	Andrew	Harrison	Kentucky	6-05	Fr	7.00
46	Seth	Tuttle	Northern Iowa	6-08	Jr	6.98
47	Treveon	Graham	VCU	6-05	Jr	6.89
48	Chris	Udofia	Denver	6-06	Sr	6.87
49	Austin	Hollins	Minnesota	6-04	Sr	6.84
50	Davante	Gardner	Marquette	6-08	Sr	6.82