Tis the season for a couple of days full of holiday hoops! We have a couple of big days on Thursday and Friday before the Diamond Head Classic concludes on Saturday. We start with eight early games today before eight more at night! It's a DFS extravaganza, and I'll be with you the whole way. Let's do this!
We start off in the nation's capital with Alcorn State visiting George Washington. Texas-Arlington heads west to Lubbock to take on the Red Raiders. Nevada and Temple have the first game of the Diamond Head Classic. Presbyterian heads to Winston-Salem to take on Wake. Northern Colorado heads down to Colorado Springs to take on Air Force. We have Niagara heading over to Syracuse. Old Dominion hosts TCU. We close this out with American taking on Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy college basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 12/21/23, starting at 2 PM Eastern. I’ll provide multiple player suggestions at guard and forward, aiming to highlight one option at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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DraftKings CBB DFS Guards
Judah Mintz, Syracuse ($9,000)
We'll call that game against Virginia what it was: lockdown defense by Reece Beekman. Mintz was fine before that game and he has been fine since. Close game or blowout, Mintz has produced like we would expect when shelling out this much for a player. He has at least 34 DraftKings points in every game except for against other orange teams and Chaminade. His struggles against Tennessee and Virginia can be forgiven given the quality of the opponent.
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest ($7,700)
The Gonzaga transfer is the best pure shooter that Wake has. The bad news is that if Sallis isn't hitting shots, he's not doing much else either. The good news is that Sallis has scored in double figures in every game in a Wake uniform, scoring 19 or more in six of the 10 games. We would like a see a few more counting stats, but you can't argue with that kind of production just from scoring. Sallis is good for at least another 10 points in peripherals.
Quadir Copeland, Syracuse ($6,200)
Copeland has been a spark off the bench for the Orange for much of the season, but he has taken his scoring to another level lately. Copeland has hit 11 of 15 shots from the floor in the last two games en route to 29 points. That's not all! He has 13 rebounds, six assists, two blocks, and two steals as well. He's close to Judah Mintz in production right now. Copeland should get good run tonight as Syracuse should run off with this, but this is definitely a situation to watch going forward.
Luke Bumbalough, Niagara ($4,300)
Bumbalough has played big minutes in the last two games because he has been arguably their best-scoring threat. Bumbalough has 30 points over the last two games. We should curb expectations against Syracuse, but Bumbalough is still going to get his shots. If this game manages to stay close, his ceiling is in the mid-20s.
Also consider: Micah Peavy, TCU ($8,000); Hysier Miller, Temple ($7,400); Joe Toussaint, Texas Tech ($7,200); Ethan Taylor, Air Force ($7,000); Kerwin Walton, Texas Tech ($6,400); Tyler Nickel, Virginia Tech ($5,700); Jaron Rillie, Northern Colorado ($5,000)
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DraftKings CBB DFS Forwards
Saint Thomas, Northern Colorado ($9,400)
Thomas played 37 minutes in a 22-point loss to Colorado last weekend. It's safe to say that the Bears are going to play him as much as possible. Thomas finished a rebound shy of a double-double and scored 27 of his team's 68 points against the Ralphies. Thomas is the Northern Colorado offense right now. He has 77 points in the last three games to go with his 33 rebounds.
Rytis Petraitis, Air Force ($7,800)
Petraitis has only played four games so far because a shoulder injury sidelined him for most of November, but he has picked up where he left off in his strong freshman season. Petraitis has 72 points and 26 rebounds in the four games he has played so far. The shoulder seems fine and whatever minutes limit he had is lifted. Petraitis has logged 68 minutes over the last two games. He has a high ceiling today.
Ernest Udeh Jr., TCU ($5,000)
Udeh toiled in obscurity in Lawrence, but he is starting for TCU this year. Of course, starting doesn't mean what it used to. Udeh still hasn't played 20 minutes in a game yet, but he is a really good rebounder and has become a better scorer. He's still got some developing to do, but TCU seems willing to let him do it, albeit in limited minutes.
Efton Reid III, Wake Forest ($4,600)
Reid was stuck behind Drew Timme in Spokane last year but has looked good for Wake in his three games so far. He managed to foul out in just 14 minutes against NJIT, but in the other two games, Reid has 14 points and 21 rebounds in 49 minutes. Reid should be in for a nice workload against a Presbyterian team that Wake should handle with ease.
Also consider: Emanuel Miller, TCU ($8,100); Darren Buchanan Jr., George Washington ($7,600); Warren Washington, Texas Tech ($7,100); Tylan Pope, Nevada ($6,100); K.J. Hymes, Nevada ($5,200); Michael Pajeaud, Alcorn State ($3,500)