Friday's slate at DraftKings is a mirror image of Thursday's. We tip at 7:10 p.m. ET, and the big tournament comes with a $20,000 first-place prize and $60,000 in overall winnings.
College Basketball DFS: DraftKings Picks & Preview for Friday, March 27
Strategy in your builds may never be more important than it is Friday. There's no more obvious game to target than Alabama - Michigan with its 173.5 point total, and the prices are down to a point in which stacking it is completely doable. But that's not an original thought. A build of Michigan's big four of Yaxel Lendeborg ($8,600), Aday Mara ($8,000), Morez Johnson ($6,500) and Elliot Cadeau ($6,100) is in play. That will still leave you with $5,200 for four more guys. Absolutely nothing wrong if you want to build that way, but for the sake of encouraging thought, we'll consider a few different options below. The real question is if you don't use all four, which chalk do you eat versus fade. The easy answer for me is Cadeau.
The top tier players here are priced up compared to Thursday, led by Cameron Boozer ($11,100). Four additional players are $9,000, which lends itself to the Michigan thinking above. But with tighter rotations, there can be enough value to squeeze one of these top/different options in. Outside of Boozer, I'm personally likely to fade that game for the most part, as I think it's going to be a low-scoring slugfest.
College Basketball DFS Top Players
Ja'Kobi Gillespie, G, Tennessee ($8,700)
Despite this being a slower, low-total game, Gillespie has elevated his game late in the year and has shown the upside to combat some of the Michigan guys. Since February 18 (10 games), Gillespie has three games with 50+ fantasy points. He's averaging 16.5 shot attempts over that span, so we know there's a scoring floor, but he's put in 6.1 assists and 3.2 steals in that stretch too. The Cyclones allow assists on 54.3 percent of opponent made baskets, and allow steals on 9.2 percent of their possessions, suggesting Gillespie will likely get multiple of each.
Tarris Reed, F, Connecticut ($8,300)
This is all about upside, and not particularly as much about the likeliest outcome. Reed isn't going to tear down 27 rebounds like he did in Round 1, but he has racked up eight double-doubles in his last 12 games, averaging 2.1 blocks in that stretch as well. If you've read my Sweet 16 Preview, you'll know I think Michigan State's Jaxon Kohler ($7,500) and Carson Cooper ($6,000) are going to be a problem for the Huskies, but that doesn't mean Reed can't still shine.
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Middle Tier
Silas Demary, G, Connecticut ($5,900)
There's obvious risk with Demary being limited last week by an ankle issue. Malachi Smith started two games and played 32 minutes in each, putting up six points, three rebounds, a solid 13 assists and two steals total. Those games were blowouts -- this one likely won't be. Simply, the Huskies need Demary to be the guy that averaged roughly 10/4/6/2 during the season if they're to advance. The matchup peripherals profile similarly to Gillespie above; Michigan State allows assists on 56.3 percent of made baskets and steals on 9.6 percent of their possessions.
Aiden Sherrell, F, Alabama ($5,700)
Are we trying to make this too easy/obvious with these reduced prices? Sherrell was $7,300 and $7,100 last week and peaked at $7,800 back in December (point being there's clear upside). As noted above, we want shares on both sides of this game given the pace/total, and this is just a ridiculous discount. Sherrell has three double-doubles in his last nine, averaging 12.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. The concern I have is Michigan's size, and Alabama's lack thereof. Sherrell committed four fouls in 17 minutes against Texas Tech last time out, but with so much scoring anticipated, Sherrell can still impact even if he's again saddled by fouls.
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College Basketball DFS Value Plays
J.P. Estrella, F, Tennessee ($4,400)
I'm not at all saying this is a slam-dunk, must-use play. But I'm struggling to understand the pricing. Estrella was $6,900 on February 14 and then missed two games. The price has gone down in every subsequent game since his return, and he's averaged 13.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists over his last seven. He's also started four straight. Fouls seem to be limiting minutes more than fatigue. He gives us a dirt-cheap frontcourt option, and even without an elite pace boost, we've at least got a narrow spread to force the Volunteers to play him as much as possible.
Kur Teng, G, Michigan State ($3,700)
Teng is only in play if you're trying to get Boozer into lineups, or if you want a fifth bigger piece to a Michigan stack. There aren't a lot of non-starters seeing meaningful minutes, and Teng only played 13 against Louisville, his lowest in 15 games. But he's had a reasonable 22.6 percent usage rate in that stretch, failing to reach double-digit fantasy points just six times. We have a faint chance he can return 3x while others in your lineup shine.
Check out RotoWire's college basketball starting lineup data to view recent stats, usage trends and identify potential DFS value plays.
