NFL front offices use position-by-position big boards to dissect the top prospects on the board. A similar vision has started in college basketball, especially with the free agency boom. Understanding the type of each player is more important than ever in roster-building as teams try to construct the best teams and avoid pitfalls in the transfer portal.
College basketball archetypes aren’t gospel for everyone, but we have settled on the following 10 buckets:
Initiator point guard: They can score, but most importantly, they are on the floor to make others better. Think Chris Paul.Combo guard: These guards can play on or off the ball and do a little bit of everything offensively. Think Walter Clayton Jr.Shooting guard: These guards are snipers. Their job is to hit 3s and create space for others using their gravity. Think Klay Thompson.True wing: These wings can do everything offensively, and the best ones can defend multiple positions. Think Terrence Shannon Jr.Scorer/creator: These guys walk onto the floor trying to get buckets and can usually get 20 whenever they want. Think Caleb Love. Off-ball wing/4: These wings can guard multiple positions, but they tend to have a smaller role offensively, usually operating as a spacer, cutter or play-finisher. Think Alex Karaban (spoiler!).Wing handler: These wings tend to be primary on-ball creators who can run pick-and-rolls or even do some backdowns. Think Cooper Flagg.Stretch 4/big: These bigs tend to play on the perimeter. They don’t have to shoot 3-pointers, but it usually helps the offense when they can stretch the floor. Think Eric Dixon.Small-ball big: These bigs can guard multiple frontcourt positions easily and do a bunch of dirty work inside. They tend to have good, not great, measurables. Think Texas Tech’s JT Toppin (spoiler, part two!).True 5: These centers tend to have excellent positional size and almost always defend opposing centers. Think Ryan…..
