This article is part of our College Basketball Waiver Wire series.
With Christmas break on the horizon, the schedules are going to start to slow down a bit. Teams will go from 4-5 games in a two week span to possibly only two. It's certainly something to keep an eye on when making your waiver wire pickups these next couple weeks.
The focus for this week's top pickups was players who will play two games, as well as those who provide some long-term upside. Let's take a look at the top options who should be available in most leagues...
Power Conferences
Ismael Massoud, F/C, Georgetown
Massoud missed the first six games of the season with a broken hand, but since returning has made a big impact. He hasn't started either of the games but he might as well have playing 31 minutes in each contest. Massoud posted a double-double against TCU on Saturday and has six blocks in the two games. He also has a very green light having already hoisted up 15 three-point attempts, something not all that common for a F/C eligible player.
Juwan Gary, F/C, Nebraska
Gary missed the first three games of the season due to a suspension, but since returning has made a big impact. The 6-6 senior started every game he played in last season with the Huskers but appears to have taken a leap with his offensive game this season. While Gary has yet to start in four games played, he is averaging 16.0 PPG and 1.8 3PM while shooting 56.1 percent
With Christmas break on the horizon, the schedules are going to start to slow down a bit. Teams will go from 4-5 games in a two week span to possibly only two. It's certainly something to keep an eye on when making your waiver wire pickups these next couple weeks.
The focus for this week's top pickups was players who will play two games, as well as those who provide some long-term upside. Let's take a look at the top options who should be available in most leagues...
Power Conferences
Ismael Massoud, F/C, Georgetown
Massoud missed the first six games of the season with a broken hand, but since returning has made a big impact. He hasn't started either of the games but he might as well have playing 31 minutes in each contest. Massoud posted a double-double against TCU on Saturday and has six blocks in the two games. He also has a very green light having already hoisted up 15 three-point attempts, something not all that common for a F/C eligible player.
Juwan Gary, F/C, Nebraska
Gary missed the first three games of the season due to a suspension, but since returning has made a big impact. The 6-6 senior started every game he played in last season with the Huskers but appears to have taken a leap with his offensive game this season. While Gary has yet to start in four games played, he is averaging 16.0 PPG and 1.8 3PM while shooting 56.1 percent from the floor. He has notched at least five rebounds in every game as well and should see more minutes going forward.
JaKobe Coles, F/C, TCU
Coles has taken on an unfamiliar role this season being one of the top players after notching two career starts in his first three seasons of college basketball. Coles is just behind Emanuel Miller for the team lead in scoring at 15.7 PPG and is also just behind Miller for the team lead in rebounding at 5.3 RPG. TCU has the second shortest offensive possession rate in the country, which lends itself to a lot of opportunities for a player like Coles, who is mismatch at the power forward position.
Meechie Johnson, G, South Carolina
Johnson has been red hot of late scoring at least 24 points in three of his last four contests. During that stretch Johnson is shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from downtown. The offseason addition of Ta'lon Cooper has put Johnson in position to not have to worry about distributing the ball as much and focus on getting buckets. With a number of teams set to see their schedule slow down a bit, South Carolina has two games on tap this week against Clemson and ECU.
Keshon Gilbert, G, Iowa State
Gilbert and Tamin Lipsey are proving to be one of the more underrated backcourt duos in the country. Gilbert is coming off a strong sophomore campaign at UNLV and has bettered his numbers across the board through eight games with the Cyclones. Gilbert has put up 14 assists and six steals over his last two games and also has a double-double with rebounds back on Nov. 23 against VCU. His strong contributions in several categories make him one of the best long-term pickups this season.
Otega Oweh, G/F, Oklahoma
The Sooners team is looking like the best squad of the Porter Moser era, rolling to a 7-0 start. Oweh is a rising sophomore that has made a huge leap to now leading the team in scoring at 15.7 PPG. On top of that Oweh has been a menace on the defensive end at 2.3 SPG. Oweh doesn't shoot it from deep a lot, but he has made all five of his attempts from out there so far this season. The Sooners have two games this week against Providence and Arkansas.
Jaylen Murray, G, Mississippi
Murray is usually the smallest player on the court in any game he plays but he is arguably the biggest competitor out there. The junior was a key piece at Saint Peter's the last two years and has come right into a power conference program and is running the show. Murray has had two games this season with at least 22 points and seven assists, including last time out against Memphis. He is third on the team in scoring at 13.7 PPG and is shooting career highs from the field (43.6 percent) and from three (37.5 percent).
Myles Rice, G, Washington State
Rice has been one of the surprises in the Pac-12 early in the season and now sits fifth in the conference in scoring at 17.4 PPG. Rice is also leading the Cougars in assists (2.4 APG) and steals (1.1 SPG). The 6-3 redshirt freshman has been extremely efficient at 52.9 percent from the field, 40 percent from deep and 81.5 percent from the free-throw line. Rice and WSU have two cupcakes on deck this week in UC-Riverside and Grambling State.
Other Conferences
Amari Kelly, F/C, George Mason
Kelley spent two years with Duquesne before spending another two more at UNC-Wilmington where he had his best season as a senior at 7.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Now as a graduate student, Kelly has been excellent for the Patriots, averaging 13.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest. Kelly has double-doubles in three of his last four games and has gone 8-for-13 from behind the arc this season. This has the look of a team that will challenge in the A-10.
Christian Tucker, G, UTSA
Tucker averaged 14.7 MPG and 14.9 MPG his first two seasons with UTSA, but is now in position to be the lead guard and is proving he can handle the role. He is leading the American Conference at 6.0 APG and coming off a career-high 11 dimes against Lamar. Tucker has also scored in double figures in six of the eight games. UTSA is one of the worst defensive teams in the country so they will be forced to play fast and put up a lot of points.
Rubin Jones, G, North Texas
With Tylor Perry now gone, the Mean Green needed to have one of their guards step up, and Jones has taken the initiative. The senior has scored 15 points three times this season and is top-five in the American Conference at 4.4 APG. Jones also has a pair of games this season with at least five steals. The 6-5 point guard is shooting a career-high 44.4 percent from three-point range and will continue to be relied on this week in games against Boise State and Fordham.
Mason Falslev, G, Utah State
The Aggies have a new coach this season in Danny Sprinkle and the prize of his first recruiting class has been this 6-3 freshman. Falslev has started all eight games and is contributing across the board averaging 12.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.9 three-pointers per contest. Falslev appears to be gaining more confidence having scored 19 points in two of the last three games. Utah State has great matchups against San Diego and Northwest Nazarene this week.
