Updated College Basketball Freshman of the Year Rankings for 2015-16
It may not be the year of the freshman in college basketball, but there are still some really good ones to follow.
There's Henry Ellenson helping to turn around the Marquette Golden Eagles in a hurry. Thomas Bryant is starting to click at Indiana, which is making the Hoosiers—who haven't lost since that Duke fiasco—look a lot more formidable. You know about Ben Simmons, who makes this list quite easily. But there are some quieter, quite solid role players we'll get into mentioning.
This is when it starts to get more interesting when ranking these new guys. How are they going to handle the increased intensity of league play—and also often (in some leagues) meeting up twice a year? You have to continue to develop daily.
We've played through two months of the 2015-16 season. The list of the top freshmen in the country has changed some since we last featured this freshman crop in mid-December. Just as you'd expect of freshmen, there have been ebbs and flows.
It's not as stellar a group as the past few seasons, but there are still plenty of guys on their way to stardom. (Just ask Oklahoma's Buddy Hield, for example—it doesn't have to happen right away.)
We've ranked the nation's 10 best freshmen based on their overall performance in comparison to other first-year players as well as how much it's helped their team's play to this point.
10. Jaylen Brown, California
1 of 10
Sure, we were worried Cal might turn into a disappointment considering its likely reliance on freshmen to get to the next level this year.
If you haven't noticed, around the country, this isn't the year to be requiring 13th-graders to play the biggest parts.
That doesn't mean Brown has failed to make an impact, though. The 12-6 Golden Bears have lost three straight games even as the 6'7" freshman is still the top contributor.
For better or worse, Brown is a top-30 guy when it comes to dominating his team's possessions. He at least looks worthy when considering he's a 55 percent shooter from the field. He needs to trim down his three-point attempts and become a better foul shooter, even though Brown's so good at drawing whistles.
But he's not the first freshman with room to grow.
We still like this guy a lot because he's willing to get after it—even after games. As the San Francisco Chronicle's Connor Letourneau pointed out in December, Brown has been known to work out again after contests in order to get his game right. He's averaging 14.8 points and nearly six rebounds per game, a number that can go up fast because of his potential.
9. Tyler Lydon, Syracuse
2 of 10
It's been such a screwy year for Syracuse.
The Orange got a lot of fans and pundits thinking this could be a special year after the three-game triumph at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Then came the swing of rough play (losing to St. John's at Madison Square Garden, really?) without head coach Jim Boeheim roaming the sideline.
And now...'Cuse has won three in a row after a stunted opening to ACC play that included a loss to suddenly hot Clemson, then at home to North Carolina.
But through it all, Tyler Lydon's been a special freshman to stay solid through it all.
He had eight points and nine rebounds Monday night in the win at Duke, right around his averages for the season (8.9 and 6.6, respectively).
His versatility at 6'8" is a plus, though he's not exactly Syracuse's most valued freshman—Malachi Richardson (who's 6'6") gets more playing time and commands a better KenPom productivity metric. Yet it's Lydon who offers across-the-board national value in the rankings. He's strong at steals and assists and even shoots nearly 44 percent from three-point range.
He scored a combined six points in the losses to the Tar Heels and Clemson. That shows he has work to do (who doesn't?), but also that he's more valuable than we figured at the beginning of the season.
8. JaQuan Lyle, Ohio State
3 of 10
These aren't your older brother's Ohio State Buckeyes. A 35-point loss at Maryland last weekend shows us as much.
With the Buckeyes sitting at 12-7 to this point, it's going to take quite a surge to avoid an NCAA tournament absence for the first time since 2008. But at least JaQuan Lyle has been a relatively bright spot.
He's averaging 10.5 points and 5.2 assists, numbers that are up compared to a month ago during nonconference play.
It hasn't been easy trying to be a key guy replacing D'Angelo Russell—at 6'5", Lyle is similarly sized but not a similar scorer, shooting 47 percent from the field but just 25 percent from the arc.
But we've got to give him some credit for his top-35 assist rate considering these Buckeyes aren't an easy-scoring bunch.
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7. Jamal Murray, Kentucky
4 of 10
This is unfortunately a fair picture to describe the Kentucky Wildcats and Jamal Murray.
That sure looks like it could be a smooth jump shot, but it also appears to be in the process of getting blocked.
The Canadian youngster's team has lost two of its last four games, though the 6'5" guard has scored at least 20 points in all of them—and shot better than 50 percent from the field in all but last Saturday's defeat at Auburn.
Murray's one of the most versatile, explosive freshmen in this class, averaging 17.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and close to three assists.
It can't be easy being the newcomer who's leading a surprisingly disappointing group. But that's hardly Murray's fault, as even though he is the minutes and possessions keystone for UK, he's shooting nearly 39 percent from three-point range.
Right now, Murray is the fifth-best scorer in the SEC. He could use some more volume and accuracy to help the Wildcats, but he is still looking like a top-10 NBA draft pick who just needs to enjoy his brief time in Lexington while continuing to grow.
6. Malik Beasley, Florida State
5 of 10
We know, we know. Dwayne Bacon is the higher-rated recruit and sits at the top of the Florida State food chain. He's also shooting a robust 53 percent inside the arc.
But for sheer value, we'll take Florida State Seminoles teammate Malik Beasley, who is a more efficient shooter from all over the floor, including 11 percentage points better than Bacon from the three-point line.
The tandem helped produce a big home win against No. 13 Virginia on Sunday, so FSU's clearly moving in the right direction after a tough start getting used to a ruggedly good ACC.
Bacon led the Seminoles with 18 points, but it was Beasley who caught fire in the second half, finishing with 17 despite missing his first five shots from the field. A three-pointer right before halftime was a perfect catalyst in breaking a three-game losing streak (all ACC games) and a five-game skid against Top 25 teams.
The ACC's leading freshman scorer made all four of his second-half shots against UVA, just the kind of prudence and efficiency we like to see from new guys.
5. Brandon Ingram, Duke
6 of 10
This is a pressure-packed year to be a freshman at Duke considering all that last year's core group of newcomers accomplished, so we grade Brandon Ingram on a bit of a well-earned curve. This kid's done everything possible to fit in on an undermanned roster.
Over Duke's current three-game losing streak, Ingram has poured in 54 points and 19 rebounds. In the two games prior, when slotted into interior of the defense despite being a 6'9" wing player, the newcomer produced 10 blocked shots in games against Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.
He is second to sophomore Grayson Allen as far as productivity goes for the Blue Devils, and has handled all of the shifting around with aplomb, especially coming after a very slow start.
Ingram needs to curb his turnover rate, but you've got to love a young player of his size—who's averaging nearly 17 points and six boards—that can make a difference with blocks and steals, not to mention make 53 percent of his two-point shots and roughly 40 percent of his three-point tries.
4. Diamond Stone, Maryland
7 of 10
There are three terrific "fit-in" freshmen out there—newcomers who have found nice roles on excellent teams.
We're talking about Tyler Davis at Texas A&M, Caleb Swanigan of Purdue and this guy, Maryland's Diamond Stone.
We give Stone the edge because of his strong numbers despite relatively modest playing time. The 6'11" newbie is getting nearly 52 percent of the minutes available to him, but averaging 13.7 points and 5.8 rebounds.
However, he's still considered Maryland's "go-to guy" in KenPom's ratings. And no wonder, as Stone is making just shy of 60 percent of his shots from inside the arc and is also a terrific free-throw shooter, making nearly 80 percent of his attempts.
The mixing of Stone and sophomore point guard Melo Trimble has been a match made in Final Four-potential heaven for head coach Mark Turgeon.
3. Thomas Bryant, Indiana
8 of 10
We say this in a very nice way: Thomas Bryant is like Thomas the Tank Engine.
What we mean is this Indiana Hoosiers freshman big man keeps chugging along, as does Tom Crean's team.
Bryant (who averages 12 points and nearly six rebounds) has reached double figures in scoring in the past four games, putting in a double-double (18 points, 13 rebounds) against Ohio State in that span.
He's found his niche on offense around a high-scoring team, though he figured to be relied upon for his defensive presence at the start of the season.
He leads the country in field-goal percentage inside the three-point line, making a ludicrously good 75 percent of his attempts. The blocked-shot numbers have picked up in recent weeks, too.
We'll admit, it wasn't looking good for Crean, Bryant or anyone else at IU following that Dec. 2 smackdown at Duke. But since then, they've won every game (all 10, including the first five of Big Ten play), and we've liked Bryant's emotional component since the Duke game.
He was ticked off during it—visibly so in a couple of situations—and that passion has worked to his advantage.
2. Henry Ellenson, Marquette
9 of 10
Ellenson's impact makes him arguably the nation's most valuable freshman, considering few folks gave the Marquette Golden Eagles a chance before the season started.
The 6'10" freshman—who didn't get to have a true ending to his high school career due to a March hand injury which required surgery—has been stellar.
Marquette has dropped its past two games—against Xavier and Villanova, both top-10 teams—but Ellenson still averaged 16 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor.
Earlier this year he fared well against the biggest star of this freshman class, LSU's Ben Simmons, and produced 16 points and 11 boards in an 81-80 win.
Only once has he failed to score in double figures—an early-season dud against Iowa—otherwise he's a been reliable rebounder at both ends of the floor and has a deft offensive game from all around as well.
We were particular fans of his game-clinching swat of Providence's Kris Dunn because the big man looked very smooth while roaming the perimeter (admittedly, he had help).
Marquette is 12-6 and at least in the "bubble" picture of the NCAA tournament after going 13-19 last year. Ellenson has certainly aided the learning curve of a new team and second-year coach Steve Wojciechowski.
1. Ben Simmons, LSU
10 of 10
This year's freshman class is not loaded with one-and-done players who are ready to make the jump to the pros, as Bleacher Report's C.J. Moore pointed out this week.
But we'll forgive Ben Simmons if he decides to be the exception to the rule.
Arguably the most versatile offensive player in college basketball, regardless of age, the 6'10" forward is still valued as KenPom's eighth-ranked Player of the Year. That's despite being on an 11-6 team that looks like a decent bet to not make the NCAA tournament.
Sure, he could shoot three-pointers better (33 percent). And sure, he could take over games more often. We wish he was like Steph Curry, someone who could propel the program he's a part of to new heights. But that's just not quite his game.
However, let's remember he's still more forceful than Duke's Jabari Parker or Kansas' Andrew Wiggins were a few years ago when they were (please remind us why?) heralded as the next LeBron James.
Simmons is so fun to watch. He can go coast-to-coast against any team in the country. He's averaging 20 points and nearly 13 rebounds while shooting better than 50 percent. He also averages 5.1 assists, and that's with a generally overmatched team, which must make it frustrating for him to pass the ball—but he still does. And unless your team is playing against LSU that night, you should root for this guy.
His maturity warrants rewarding late into March. Simmons deserves an NCAA tournament appearance to show his value, and not just to NBA scouts.
Advanced stats courtesy of KenPom.com unless otherwise noted.
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