Last night in college hoops: Utah’s Jakob Poeltl shows why he’s the best big man in America

No player in the country defined his team more than Delon Wright over the last two seasons of college basketball. Utah had finished under .500 four straight years before Wright arrived in Salt Lake City as a JUCO transfer, where he promptly blossomed into a two-way wrecking ball who led the program back to national relevance. Every consideration of the Utes this season started the same way: How would they adjust now that their star point guard had left for the NBA?

Through five games, the answer is already clear: Utah has a new star to build around, and his name is Jakob Poeltl. The sophomore center played the best game of his short career on Sunday as Utah held off Temple 74-68 to claim third place at the Puerto Rico Classic.

It’s possible that Poeltl would have been a first-round pick after a breakout freshman season, but the decision to return to school looks like it’s going to pay huge dividends. Poeltl stated his case as the best big man in America by dropping 32 points (on 10-of-12 shooting), 11 rebounds and three blocks in the win over the Owls.

Poeltl’s native Austria has never produced an NBA player, but that distinction won’t last for long. Poeltl always had pro size for a center at 7’0, 248 pounds, and now he’s showing off a more diverse game that has him averaging 20.8 points, 9.8 boards and 2.0 blocks on 67.3 percent shooting at the start of his sophomore year.

Utah’s basic plan of attack this season is to surround Poeltl with four shooters and let him pick defenses apart on the low block. Poeltl knew he’d need to enhance his post game without Wright consistently feeding him good looks, and his progress is already evident. Poeltl now has counters in the post for everything the opposing defenses throw at him:

With shooters dotting the perimeter, it’s essential for Poeltl to be able to make quick decisions in the post. He’s growing into a skilled passer who can make defenses pay for doubling him:

He also has quick hands, quick feet and a nose for the ball. Temple simply had no answer for him on Sunday. They won’t be the only team to feel that way.

Poeltl made a name for himself in the Sweet 16 when he held Duke’s Jahlil Okafor to a season-low six points. He isn’t blessed with great length (7’1 wingspan) but he’s a smart positional defender with good shot blocking instincts. Pro scouts should be encouraged seeing the way he can hold down the middle on both ends for a team that thrives playing four-out basketball.

Maybe most impressive of all, Poeltl is showing significant improvement at the foul line thus far. He’s making 70.8 percent of his free throws after hitting only 44.4 percent as a freshman.

The Utes were hammered by Miami on Friday (we’ll have more on the Hurricanes’ spectacular start later in the day), but they already have a couple quality wins and are showing they’re quick to adapt to a new identity based around Poeltl. There’s no easy way to make up for the absence of Wright, but pairing the most imposing big man in the country with so many shooters has Utah looking every bit as formidable as they were last season.

Grayson Allen played under 10 minutes per game last season as a freshman for Duke before exploding during the Final Four, at which point the entire country came to know him as that guy who vaguely looked like a young Ted Cruz. With Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow, Tyus Jones and Quinn Cook all off to the professional ranks this season, Allen was set to make the transition from rarely used reserve to primary scorer on one of the country’s most high profile teams.

Could he do it? Through five games, the answer is definitely yes, as long as he’s not playing against Kentucky.

Allen continued his torrid start on Sunday as Duke outlasted Georgetown 86-84 to claim the title at the 2K Classic. All Allen did was pour in 32 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from three.

Allen has now scored at least 26 points in every game but the one against Kentucky, where he was held to six points on 2-of-11 shooting and committed four turnovers in the Wildcats’ win. Aside from that, though? He’s been pretty great.

The combination of Allen’s slashing ability and deep shooting range is going to torch opposing defenses all year. Unless you can bother him with the length Kentucky has at the rim, look out.

Wisconsin was seconds away from dropping to 2-3 on Sunday when their star point guard bailed them out.

Koenig scored 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting in the win. Without Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker already, he needs to be a go-to scorer for Bo Ryan.

We told you this season was wide open.