Preseason power rankings: Power forwards

Notre Dame senior Luke Harangody arguably is the nation’s most outstanding player. He undoubtedly is the most indispensable.

Without Harangody in the lineup, Notre Dame might struggle to finish as high as 12th in the Big East standings. With Harangody, the Irish are legitimate NCAA tournament contenders.

Harangody is the No. 1 power forward in the preseason edition of the Rivals.com College Basketball Power Rankings, which measure the nation’s top performers at each position.

Harangody enters his senior season with 1,036 career points and 540 career rebounds, which puts him 369 points and 162 rebounds away from becoming the Big East’s career leader in each of those categories.

THE TOP 25 POWER FORWARDS
  1. Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, 6-8/246, Sr.
  2. Craig Brackins, Iowa State, 6-10/230, Jr.
  3. Patrick Patterson, Kentucky, 6-9/235, Jr.
  4. Ed Davis, North Carolina, 6-10/225, Soph.
  5. Damion James, Texas, 6-7/225, Sr.
  6. Kyle Singler, Duke, 6-8/230, Jr.
  7. Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia, 6-7/230, Sr.
  8. Chris Wright, Dayton, 6-8/226, Jr.
  9. Lazar Hayward, Marquette, 6-6/225, Sr.
10. Matt Howard, Butler, 6-8/230, Jr.
11. Wayne Chism, Tennessee, 6-9/246, Sr.
12. Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest, 6-9/215, Soph.
13. Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech, 6-9/234, Jr.
14. Deon Thompson, North Carolina, 6-9/245, Sr.
15. Luke Babbitt, Nevada, 6-9/225, Soph.
16. DeShawn Sims, Michigan, 6-8/235, Sr.
17. Mike Davis, Illinois, 6-9/220, Jr.
18. Stanley Robinson, Connecticut, 6-9/220, Sr.
19. Jeff Allen, Virginia Tech, 6-7/230, Jr.
20. Dominique Archie, South Carolina, 6-7/216, Sr.
21. Bryan Davis, Texas A&M, 6-9/250, Sr.
22. Alex Tyus, Florida, 6-8/220, Jr.
23. Trey Thompkins, Georgia, 6-10/247, Soph.
24. JaMychal Green, Alabama, 6-9/220, Soph.
25. Arnett Moultrie, UTEP, 6-11/225, Soph.

Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.

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