The Year of the Freshman, Part 2

A couple years ago, most high school seniors capable of dominating on the college level were going straight to the pros. Year 1 of the NBA age limit came and went without any huge impact freshman. Year 2 brought us Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, two of the greatest freshman players in NCAA history. Year 3 - well, year 3 is just ridiculous.

Of the 73 programs in the major conferences (ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big 10, Pac-10 and SEC), 18 are currently being led in scoring by a freshman (24.6%). 37 of those teams have a freshman in their top 3 in scoring (50.6%). The top 7 picks on NBADraft.net’s 2008 Mock Draft are all freshman. 9 of their 13 lottery picks are freshman. The top 2 scorers, top rebounder and top FG% in the country, among the major conferences, are freshman.

While Michael Beasley, Eric Gordon, O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love get most of the media attention, this is probably the deepest freshman class the NCAA has seen in quite some time. Below are 26 freshman (ranked by PPG, not talent-level), all of whom have a chance to be all-conference performers this year. Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. showed last year freshman can lead their team to the final four - it looks like we will be saying the same about a least a team or two this year.

1. Michael Beasley, F, Kansas St - 24.9 ppg, 13.9 rpg
2. Eric Gordon, G, Indiana - 24.4 ppg, .543 FG%
3. O.J. Mayo, G, USC - 19.6 ppg, 1.9 spg
4. Donte Green, F, Syracuse - 19.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg
5. Andrew Ogilvy, C, Vanderbilt - 19.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg
6. Jerryd Bayless, G, Arizona - 18.8 ppg, 4.3 apg
7. J.J. Hickson, F, NC State - 18.0 ppg, .708 FG%
8. James Anderson, F, OK St. - 17.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg
9. Kevin Love, C, UCLA - 16.6 ppg, 9.7 rpg
10. James Harden, G, Arizona St. - 16.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg
11. Dominique Jones, G, South Florida - 16.5 ppg, 2.3 spg
12. Patrick Patterson, F, Kentucky - 16.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg
13. Manny Harris, G, Michigan - 16.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg
14. Nick Calathes, G, Florida - 15.8 ppg, 5.5 apg
15. Kosta Koufos, C, Ohio St. - 15.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg
16. Derrick Rose, G, Memphis - 15.7 ppg, 4.1 apg
17. Davon Jefferson, F, USC - 14.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg
18. Jonny Flynn, G, Syracuse - 14.3 ppg, 6.3 apg
19. Anthony Randolph, F, LSU - 13.9 ppg, 7.6 rpg
20. Kyle Singler, F, Duke - 13.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg
21. Blake Griffin, F, Oklahoma - 13.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg
22. Craig Brackens, F, Iowa St. - 12.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg
23. James Johnson, F, Wake Forest - 12.3 ppg, 10.0 rpg
24. DeJuan Blair, F, Pitt - 12.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg
25. Corey Fisher, G, Villanova - 11.9 ppg, 3.1 apg
26. Austin Daye, F, Gonzaga - 11.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg

http://reclinergm.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/the-year-of-the-freshman-part-2/