College Basketball's 10 Tallest Teams: Does Height Make Right?

There's lots of debate about the importance of height on the basketball court.

How much should a player's size (or lack thereof) play into the decision of whether or not he will see the court?

Mountain State's 7' 8" junior Paul Sturgess (pictured) is the tallest college basketball player in the country, and barely gets off the bench for the NAIA school from West Virginia. 

I am continually indebted to Ken Pomeroy, basketball statistic extraordinaire. He puts together stats like no one I've ever seen. http://www.kenpom.com/

One obscure stat he came up with is the average height of every team in Division 1 basketball. It was interesting to look at both ends of the spectrum.

First, the 10 shortest teams in D1 Hoops are:

(Average height in inches / 2010-11 overall record as of Jan 20)

No. 345  Prairie View A&M  (74.1 / 5-13)

No. 344  Robert Morris  (74.5 / 8-9)

No. 343  Arkansas Little Rock  (74.5 / 11-9)

No. 342  Savannah St.  (74.6 / 3-17)

No. 341  Oregon  (74.6 / 8-10)

No. 340  Florida Atlantic  (74.7 / 14-6)

No. 339  Quinnipiac  (74.7 / 12-5)

No. 338  Maryland Eastern Shore  (74.8 / 4-13)

No. 337  Delaware St.  (74.8 / 7-9) 

No. 336  Sacred Heart  (74.8 / 7-10)

(Trivia Question - Can you name the conferences in which these teams play?)

Only three of these teams are playing .500 ball or better.

So, does size matter? Maybe. Sometimes. In this case, it may be part of the story of these teams' performance.

Let's look at the other end of the spectrum...let's see how the ten tallest teams in college basketball are fairing this season. 

Before you look, how many of these teams can you correctly identify?

10. Minnesota Golden Gophers

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

MILWAUKEE - MARCH 19: Ralph Sampson III #50 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers looks to pass the ball against the Xavier Musketeers during the first round of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Bradley Center on March 19, 2010 in Milwaukee, Wis

Average Height: 78.1 in.

Tallest Players: Ralph Sampson III (Yes, that's HIS son) - 6'11"; Elliott Eliason - 6'11"

Record: 14-4

Sampson (pictured) is tied for the Big Ten lead in blocks (2.3 bpg), and scores 10.4 ppg and grabs 5.5 rebounds per game. Earlier this season, Sampson had a big night against Western Kentucky, scoring 22 points, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking seven shots.

Eliason has not played yet this season; will most likely red-shirt.

9. New Mexico State Aggies

Average Height: 78.1 inches

Tallest Player: Abdoulaye N'doye - 7'0"

Record: 10-10

N'doye (pictured), originally from Senegal, has seen limited action this year, playing in nine of the Aggies games, scoring two points and grabbing five rebounds overall. 

8. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Credit: Journal Photos by Bruce Chapman

Average Height: 78.3 inches

Tallest Players: Ty Walker  - 7'0"; Carson Desrosiers - 7'0"

Record: 7-12

Walker (pictured) leads the ACC in blocked shots (2.9 bpg), blocking an amazing 11 shots against Marist earlier this season. He scores 3.5 ppg and grabs 4.3 rpg.

Desrosiers scores 4.1 ppg and grabs 3.6 rpg. He had a season high ten points against Winthrop.

7. Baylor Bears

http://baylorlariat.com

Average Height: 78.3 inches

Tallest Player: Dragan Sekelja - 7'0"  

Record: 12-5

Sekelja (pictured), originally from Zagreb, Croatia, has seen limited duty in five games, scoring seven points and grabbing seven rebounds overall. He had a season-high five points against Prairie View A&M, the shortest team in the country. 

6. Vanderbilt Commodores

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

COLUMBIA, MO - DECEMBER 08: Festus Ezeli #3 of the Vanderbilt Commodores shoots over Laurence Bowers #21 of the Missouri Tigers during the game on December 8, 2010 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Average Height: 78.3 inches

Tallest Players: Festus Ezeli - 6'11"; Josh Henderson - 6'11"

Record: 13-4

Ezeli (pictured) is having a breakout season. Originally from Nigeria, Ezeli is averaging 12.9 ppg, grabbing 6.5 rpg and blocks 2.4 shots per game (No. 4 in the SEC). 

Henderson, a freshman, has not seen any action and is red-shirting.

5. Syracuse Orange

http://blog.syracuse.com

Average Height: 78.4 inches

Tallest Player: Fab Melo - 7'0"

Record: 18-1

Melo (the second "Melo" at Syracuse), a freshman from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, plays a back-up role for the Orange, scoring 2.2 ppg and grabbing 1.8 rpg. Earlier this season, Melo (pictured) had eight points and seven rebounds against Cornell.

4. Kentucky Wildcats

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

LEXINGTON, KY - DECEMBER 22: Eloy Vargas #30 of the Kentucky Wildcats shoots the ball during the game against the Winthrop Eagles on December 22, 2010 in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 89-52. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Average Height: 78.5 inches

Tallest Player: Eloy Vargas - 6'11"

Record: 14-4

Vargas, a freshman from Moca, Dominican Republic, plays a back-up role for the Wildcats, averaging 2.3 ppg and grabbing 2.7 rpg. Vargas (pictured) scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds against Winthrop (the second player on this list to have a "big" night against the Eagles).

3. North Carolina Tar Heels

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

GREENSBORO, NC - DECEMBER 18: Tyler Zeller #44 and John Henson #31 of the North Carolina Tar Heels block a shot by Jordan Hamilton #3 of the Texas Longhorns at Greensboro Coliseum on December 18, 2010 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Co

Average Height: 78.5 inches

Tallest Player: Tyler Zeller - 7'0"

Record: 13-5

Zeller (pictured) leads the Tar Heels in scoring (14.1 ppg) and grabs 7.4 rpg (No. 8 in the ACC). Zeller had a season-high 27 points and 11 rebounds in a victory over Kentucky.

2. Florida State Seminoles

http://floridastate.247sports.com

Average Height: 78.8 inches

Tallest Player: Jon Kreft - 7'0"

Record: 14-5

Kreft (pictured) comes off the bench for the Seminoles to score 2.8 ppg and grab 2.3 rpg. He had a six-point, six-rebound night against Stetson.

1. Illinois Fighting Illini

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 30: Mike Tisdale #54 of the Illinois Fighting Illini saves the basketball from going out of bounds against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the 2010 ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Assembly Hall on November 30, 2010 in Champaign, Illi

Average Height: 79.1 inches

Tallest Player: Mike Tisdale - 7'1"

Record: 14-5

Tisdale (pictured) leads the Fighting Illini in rebounds (7.3 rpg, No. 6 in the Big Ten) and scores 9.9 ppg. Recently, the senior center had a 16-point, 14-rebound outing against Penn State.