10 Honorable Mentions
2 of 12
‘Stars Impacted by Injury’ Tier
Darryn Peterson, Kansas (22.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.2 APG, 43.2% 3PT, 6 games)
Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville (16.6 PPG, 5.1 APG, 3.0 RPG, 10 games)
Braylon Mullins, Connecticut (11.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.4 APG, 10 games)
With both Peterson and Brown, it’s easy to see why they’ll both be lottery picks—when their respective chronic hamstring and back injuries allow them to take the court. They’ve combined to play fewer minutes than a lot of the top freshmen, though, and it’s difficult to consider either one a serious threat for national freshman of the year when they’ve missed so much time.
Mullins missed the first six games with an ankle injury and has simply been hit or miss since making his debut. For what it’s worth, Jayson Tatum was in a similar boat back in 2016-17 at Duke, missing the first month with a foot injury and going through nearly two months of oscillating great/mediocre nights before really locking in. That isn’t to say Mullins is the next Tatum, but perhaps he could follow a similar only-season-of-college-basketball arc.
‘Not the Best Freshman on Their Team’ Tier
Koa Peat, Arizona (14.4 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 2.9 APG)
Chris Cenac Jr., Houston (9.1 PPG, 7.7 RPG)
Meleek Thomas, Arkansas (15.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.5 SPG, 37.0% 3PT)
Five games into Arizona’s season, Peat was clearly the most valuable freshman on that team. But after a slow start, Brayden Burries has arguably blossomed into the bigger star. Similar to Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard at Kentucky two years ago, the title of “Best Freshman for the Wildcats” might bounce back and forth throughout the season. Burries holds the edge for now, though.
For the other two, it’s not particularly close. Cenac and Thomas have taken a backseat to Kingston Flemings and Darius Acuff Jr. on their respective teams. Heck, when Houston and Arkansas squared off last month, the two brighter stars combined for 48 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds while Cenac and Thomas had a combined line of 16 points, eight rebounds and one assist.
Nate Ament, Tennessee (14.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.5 SPG)
A likely top-five pick who arguably hasn’t been a top-10 freshman and who doesn’t neatly fit into any of the other buckets here, Ament is a bit of an enigma who has struggled or vanished in most of Tennessee’s big games.
He’s shooting 31.3 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from three-point range in six opportunities against “Tier A” competition, per KenPom. In Saturday’s loss to Arkansas, he was held without a point or rebound for nearly 14 minutes in the second half while a two-point Tennessee lead turned into a 13-point deficit. But he’s clearly gifted and could be one big performance in a big game away from crashing the top five.
‘Virginia’s Trifecta of Freshmen’ Tier
Johann Grünloh, Virginia (8.5 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 2.6 BPG)
Chance Mallory, Virginia (10.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.4 APG, 2.0 SPG, 38.6% 3PT)
Thijs de Ridder, Virginia (16.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.4 APG, 40.0% 3PT)
As far as 247 Sports was concerned, Virginia didn’t even have a top 25 recruiting class this year. Mallory was almost a top-50 player in the class, while neither the German Grünloh nor the Spanish de Ridder was regarded by Hoops HQ as one of the seven best international acquisitions just in the ACC.
All three have been huge, though, in putting UVA back on the national radar after a couple of down years. Grünloh is the 7’0″ force in the paint, leading the team in both rebounds and blocks per game. Mallory has been a solid weapon on offense and an elite defender, leading the ACC in both steal percentage and defensive box plus/minus. And de Ridder has been the go-to scorer and the best rebounder outside of Grünloh.
Unless Virginia surges into the mix as a top 10 team, it’s unlikely that any of these three will come to be regarded as a top 10 freshman. But this has become easily a top-five freshman class as far as collective impact goes.
