When people mention a successful basketball player, most of us imagine a 7-foot athletic freak of nature, but does height contribute to success? On the contrary, when people think of tall basketball players, they imagine people who dunk and get blocks, not take threes. A look at the data will determine whether or not height is needed to succeed in College basketball and whether height correlates to limited 3-point shooting.
Some, if not the best, teams in college basketball are the tallest. Duke, a one-seed in March Madness, is the 8th tallest team with an average effective height of 6 feet and 10.22 inches. Since they are very tall, they get 34.9% of rebounds while on offense, allowing them to get extra possessions and chances to score. Alabama, also a one-seed in March Madness, is the 4th tallest team with an average effective height of 6 feet and 10.57 inches. Alabama gets 36.2% of offensive rebounds, allowing them to get more opportunities to score like Duke. But, unlike Duke, Alabama shoots more threes and a higher percentage of threes, allowing them to capitalize on these extra possessions. Michigan is similar to both teams but slightly worse in all three categories, yet the tallest at 6 feet and 11.34 inches. Out of the 10 tallest teams in Division 1: Elon, Michigan, Creighton, Alabama, Stanford, SMU, Utah, Duke, Portland, and San Diego State; only Michigan, Creighton, Alabama, Duke, and San Diego State made March Madness.
The shortest teams have not had the same success. Of the 10 shortest teams: Albany, South Alabama, North Carolina A&T, Harvard, Houston Christian, Army, Cal Poly, Fairleigh Dickinson, Missouri State, and Akron, only the shortest team, Akron, made March Madness. The shorter teams, on average, perform worse in 3p%, O Reb%, and Win%; 32.82%, 28.18%, and 50%, respectively, compared to the tallest teams’ 33.99%, 42.62%, and 67.89%, respectively.
Height correlates to success and talent in college basketball, but it is not the sole cause. Most highly sought-after high school players are often tall, agile, and skilled and commit to the best programs with the best coaches. It is impossible to coach height, so these big, successful programs recruit tall players and shape them to be as skilled and efficient as possible. Akron, a not-very highly-regarded Men’s basketball program, made it to March Madness with a real shot of upsetting Arizona, a team with many more resources. While height allows you an advantage on the court, it is not the sole reason for success in college basketball.