Latest Freshmen Rankings for the 2014-15 College Basketball Season

With under six weeks remaining until the start of conference tournaments—sad, but true—Duke's Jahlil Okafor is closing in on a wire-to-wire campaign as the National Freshman of the Year. Everyone had him at No. 1 before the year began, and that hasn't changed.

Yet.

Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell is at the forefront of a handful of players making a spirited push that is leaving some to wonder, such as Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis, if we could give Okafor the Wooden Award while naming another first-year phenom the Freshman of the Year.

In lieu of an actual formula, our top 10 freshmen are ranked by a theoretical and anecdotal "wins above replacement." How much worse would the player's team be if forced to start his backup, and how much better are his team's chances of making a deep tournament run because of him?

Strong per-game and per-40 minute numbers are a great start and a good way to get noticed, but we're looking for the most valuable players more than the most statistical ones.

Playing for a Final Four contender isn't required to be ranked, but it definitely helps.

Dropped from rankings (previous rank): Kelly Oubre (No. 10)

Statistics on the following slides current through the start of play on Thursday, Jan. 29, and are courtesy of KenPom.com, Sports-Reference.com and ESPN.com.

Honorable Mentions

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Seriously Considered, Ultimately Omitted

Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre, Kansas

After a recent surge by Alexander, these two Jayhawks entered play Thursday with the exact same number of minutes played and Alexander leading Oubre by two points scored. Maybe before the next update, one will be definitively better than the other. Until then, they're tied for 11th place.

Devin Booker, Kentucky

Booker is a phenomenal three-point shooter. He's one of the best in the country, but he doesn't do much else. And if we start ranking freshmen based solely on long-range accuracy, well, then we're suddenly giving shout-outs to Southern Utah's James McGee and Alabama State's Steve Rogers Jr.

Jakob Poeltl, Utah

He's still extremely valuable to the Utes, but he simply hasn't been putting up the same numbers that he was when we ranked him No. 10 six weeks ago.

Jevon Carter, West Virginia

Carter is one of the best defensive guards in the country, but he's also a pretty valuable asset on offense. He's cut from the same cloth as Aaron Craft and Briante Weber and should be a blast to watch for the next few years.

Domantas Sabonis, Gonzaga

We've overlooked Sabonis in these rankings to this point in the season, but he's still heating up. The Bulldogs' big man has at least seven points and eight rebounds in six consecutive games.

Briefly Considered, Quickly Rejected

Justin Jackson, North Carolina

He seems to be hitting his stride, but he's got a long way to go to catch up to freshmen who hit the ground running in November.

Rashad Vaughn, UNLV

Vaughn averages 17.6 points per game, but it is taking him 14.3 field-goal attempts to do so for a nine-loss team.

Jordan Bell, Oregon

An excellent shot-blocker and rebounder, Bell might be the most valuable player on Oregon's roster. Whether that eventually amounts to any respect in the voting will likely hinge on whether the Ducks even make the NCAA tournament.

Trey Lyles, Kentucky

With Alex Poythress out of the picture, Lyles has become a bigger piece of the Kentucky puzzle. However, he's averaging just 13.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per 40 minutes—both of which rank last among frontcourt players under consideration.

10. James Blackmon Jr., Indiana

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By the Numbers: 30.0 MPG, 16.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.3 APG

Best Game: 26 points, seven rebounds vs. SMU

Previous Rank: 9

Six late points in the 16-point loss to Purdue on Wednesday night kept his final stat line from looking too terrible, but it was tempting to drop James Blackmon Jr. out of our top 10 altogether after a second consecutive poor-shooting night in ugly losses for the Indiana Hoosiers.

However, he was so good for the first 19 games of the season that we're giving him something of a mulligan by keeping him in the final spot.

Blackmon has 12 games this season with at least 18 points, including back-to-back 21- and 22-point performances last week in wins over Illinois and Maryland—further evidence that he's an incredibly streaky shooter.

His problem right now is that Indiana has no interior presence whatsoever. It was bad with a healthy Hanner Mosquera-Perea, and it's so much worse now that he's sidelined with a knee injury. Opponents simply aren't afraid of being beaten inside by the Hoosiers and have begun completely focusing on defending the perimeter.

That's bad news for a man who has attempted 120 three-pointers this season and who has now made just 2-of-9 in the past two games.

We'll see if he can adapt and remain one of the most valuable freshmen in the country, but he's not particularly close to first or second in those rankings in his own conference right now.

9. Angel Delgado, Seton Hall

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By the Numbers: 26.4 MPG, 9.4 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 1.2 BPG

Best Game: 19 points, 19 rebounds, one assist, one block vs. DePaul

Previous Rank: 8

Usually a player will go up in the rankings after posting the best individual game of his career.

Unfortunately, Angel Delgado's magnum opus came in a home loss to DePaul for a team that is rapidly falling out of the NCAA tournament picture.

It isn't Delgado's fault that the rest of the Seton Hall Pirates shot 22.4 percent from the field and 1-of-16 from three-point range, but it certainly sullies his 19-point, 19-rebound performance that it didn't even help his team beat the annual bottom-feeders in the Big East.

Still, impressive work from a player who has quietly been very solid all season long. He hasn't been quite the double-double machine as the next player in our top 10, but Delgado does have seven of them to his credit.

He is averaging 14.2 points and 14.5 rebounds per 40 minutes—numbers that are almost identical to the 14.5 points and 14.3 rebounds Rico Gathers posted last year for Baylor before turning into one of the best power forwards in the country this season.

After the loss to DePaul, head coach Kevin Willard told Maria Guardado of NJ Advance Media, "Angel's offensive rebounds have been huge. As he gets older and understands defensive positioning, I think he can be an even better rebounder. He's still just a puppy. He had 19 rebounds, he can get 25 rebounds. That's how good of a player he can be."

8. Kevon Looney, UCLA

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By the Numbers: 32.0 MPG, 13.0 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.2 BPG, 1.2 SPG

Best Game: 27 points, 19 rebounds, three assists, one block vs. Stanford

Previous Rank: 6

At this point, we just feel bad for Kevon Looney.

He gives it everything he's got night in and night out. He has 10 double-doubles on the season and has yet to grab fewer than six rebounds in any of his 20 games.

But it hasn't much mattered, because the rest of the team just isn't that good.

In their last six losses, the UCLA Bruins have been held to an average of 51.3 points per game. It's quite the far cry from the team that averaged 81.2 points per game last season.

Through it all, though, there's Looney hustling for loose balls and fighting through double-teams to get to the hoop. He's averaging a double-double for a team that's one more defeat away from reaching double digits in the losses column.

Last week, he had 25 points and 19 rebounds as the Bruins were getting swept in their trip to the Oregon schools—both losses by double digits.

He won't be named Freshman of the Year, but maybe we can give Looney some sort of "Alan Williams Badge of Honor" for consistent greatness on a floundering team.

7. Tyus Jones, Duke

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By the Numbers: 30.4 MPG, 10.9 PPG, 5.0 APG, 3.2 RPG, 1.4 SPG

Best Game: 22 points, six rebounds, four assists vs. Wisconsin

Previous Rank: Honorable Mention

Tyus Jones briefly dropped out of the top 10 after a few subpar games against North Carolina State and Miami, but he's back in the fold after impressive 22-point showings in wins Nos. 999 and 1,000 of Mike Krzyzewski's career.

Really, if we learned anything about the Duke Blue Devils in January, it's that they aren't the same team if Jones isn't playing well. He certainly doesn't need to be scoring 20 points per game, but Duke's chances of winning increase drastically when he's contributing a considerable combination of points, assists and steals.

(An off night from Jahlil Okafor would arguably be even more detrimental to their cause; however, we wouldn't know, because he hasn't had any of those yet.)

With Jones, it's been more of an eye test than anything else.

You can just sense when he's comfortable and confident on the court. Sports Illustrated's Brian Hamilton called him "unflappable" after the marquee win over Wisconsin, saying in that piece, "It was another impressive statement about where they are already and how far they can go, especially if their first-year floor leader plays like this."

6. Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky

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By the Numbers: 19.3 MPG, 8.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 0.9 APG

Best Game: 19 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, two assists, one steal vs. Eastern Kentucky

Previous Rank: 4

Has anyone seen Karl-Anthony Towns in the past two weeks? We're wondering if we should file a missing-person report.

Towns was a beast leading up to our last update. In four games, he was averaging 24.5 minutes, 10.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.

Since then, he had a very nice block parade against Vanderbilt (seven blocks in 18 minutes) but not much else. He has averaged 14.7 minutes, 4.7 points and 2.7 rebounds over the past three games.

Part of that drop in production has been due to constant foul trouble, but what happened in the game against South Carolina? He had just two fouls, didn't commit either of them until the second half and played fewer minutes than Marcus Lee.

With all due respect to the underutilized Lee, that never happens, but it did just happen to the guy who is allegedly battling with Jahlil Okafor for the No. 1 draft pick in June.

We've got the perfect cure for whatever is ailing him, though. He had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks against Missouri a little over two weeks ago, and that's the team he gets to face again Thursday night.

5. Myles Turner, Texas

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By the Numbers: 22.7 MPG, 11.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.8 BPG

Best Game: 26 points, nine rebounds, six blocks, one assist, one steal vs. Lipscomb

Previous Rank: 5

Correlation does not necessarily imply causation, but Myles Turner is finally getting more minutes and touches for the slumping Texas Longhorns.

Since the start of Big 12 play, Turner has averaged 25.9 minutes and 9.6 field-goal attempts per game as opposed to 21.0 minutes and 7.5 field-goal attempts through 13 nonconference games.

After the recent loss to Kansas, Tom Keegan of KUSports.com quoted head coach Rick Barnes as saying, "You see him, you watch him play. He should be on the block all the time. I think he could be a dominant 12-foot-and-in player. ... I think he can dominate."

Thus far, though, he has struggled with that extra workload. He's shooting 42.0 percent from two-point range in conference play after shooting 55.1 percent to start the season.

Part of that might just be fatigue, but the larger issue is that opposing coaches are clearly gearing their defense toward stopping Turner. He's getting shoved off the block and constantly being double-teamed when his tireless efforts to establish position actually result in a successful entry pass.

Despite opponents' best efforts to wear him down, Turner is still averaging 13.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.2 blocks over his last five games.

Now if only Texas could figure out how to turn that production into more wins.

4. Melo Trimble, Maryland

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By the Numbers: 33.0 MPG, 16.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.5 SPG

Best Game: 31 points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal vs. Arizona State

Previous Rank: 3

"I'd have to say that he's the straw that stirs the drink, there's no question about it. He's as good [a freshman point guard] as I've seen in a while."

According to Don Markus of The Baltimore Sun, that's what legendary Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo had to say about Maryland's super frosh Melo Trimble after the Maryland Terrapins completed their season sweep of the Spartans.

Trimble had 24 points and three assists in the game, but he was even better a week later against Northwestern, putting up 27 points, four steals and three assists in helping lead his team back from a very late 11-point deficit.

On the heels of a 19-point loss to Indiana, a home loss to the Wildcats would have left us questioning whether Maryland was losing focus and starting to fall apart. Instead, the incredible comeback has us wondering if Trimble and the Terrapins are still getting even better than anyone expected.

Going forward, we'll be curious to see if Trimble will start doing more to get guys such as Dez Wells and Jake Layman involved.

Trimble has attempted at least 13 shots in five of his last eight games after attempting 11 or fewer in each of his first 13 contests. Painting that a different way, he averaged 2.5 shots per assist in nonconference play, but that ratio has nearly doubled to 4.8 in Big Ten games.

A gentle reminder that he has a talented and finally healthy supporting cast could be all it takes to make him the best freshman in the country.

3. Stanley Johnson, Arizona

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By the Numbers: 28.6 MPG, 14.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.6 SPG

Best Game: 22 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals vs. Colorado

Previous Rank: 7

Outside of maybe Okafor, no freshman in the country has been as consistently and efficiently dominant as Stanley Johnson.

He's had some occasional turnover problems, but entering play Thursday night, he was averaging 1.57 points per field-goal attempt.

That type of ratio is typically reserved for big men who rarely attempt shots further than six inches from the hoop, absolutely lethal three-point shooters and players who live at the free-throw line. Case in point, Notre Dame's Jerian Grant has been extremely efficient in his quest for the Player of the Year award, but even his ratio at the start of the day was 1.48.

But Johnson, a 6'6" guard/forward hybrid who doesn't shoot a ton of three-pointers and rarely plays with his back to the hoop, has done an incredible job of serving as the primary scoring threat for one of the biggest contenders to win the national championship.

And, oh yeah, he's the team leader in defensive win shares for what KenPom.com calculates as the seventh-most efficient defense in the country.

That's the part that is typically harder to quantify when comparing Johnson to high-volume scorers. In points, assists and rebounds per game, he barely even compares to Okafor or D'Angelo Russell. Factor in his defense, though, and he's one of the most indispensable freshmen in the nation.

2. D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State

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By the Numbers: 32.7 MPG, 19.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 5.1 APG, 1.8 SPG

Best Game: 33 points, seven rebounds, six assists vs. Northwestern

Previous Rank: 2

The temptation to move D'Angelo Russell to No. 1 is getting harder and harder to ignore.

He was already on the fringe of making the leap two weeks ago. Since then, he has averaged 27.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in three games.

Yes, it's a small sample size, but let the record show that LeBron James has averaged 27.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game in his possibly better-than-Michael Jordan NBA career, so those are ridiculous numbers for a guy who has eight fewer minutes to work with in college games.

Throw in the fact we're talking about a freshman putting up these absurd numbers in a conference that hasn't even produced a 20.0-points-per-game player in the past three years, and perhaps you can begin to wrap your head around how great Russell has been.

The kicker, though, is that it barely even looks like he's trying.

Someone who doesn't even turn 19 until late February shouldn't be effortlessly scoring 20 points per night on a team that really doesn't have anyone else worth guarding.

But he is, and he's apparently so bored with it that he's reinventing the bounce pass, too.

Okafor remains No. 1 on our list, but Russell has closed the gap from yards to feet to inches over the past month. How he fares in the head-to-head battle with Melo Trimble on Thursday night could determine if and when he moves to the top spot.

1. Jahlil Okafor, Duke

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By the Numbers: 30.5 MPG, 18.7 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 1.5 BPG, 1.5 APG

Best Game: 25 points, 20 rebounds, three blocks, two steals, one assist vs. Elon

Previous Rank: 1

Whatever notion we had of dropping Okafor from the top spot went out the window when he abused Bonzie Colson in the first half of his 22-point, 17-rebound performance against Notre Dame.

Unfortunately, he shot 2-of-7 from the free-throw line in a losing effort—including four crucial misses in the span of three possessions late in a very tight game—but find us a more dominant big man from the past decade who hasn't struggled from the free-throw line.

That doesn't exactly excuse his 56.2 percent stroke, but it's such a minor and common problem that we're OK with it being the Achilles' heel of our projected Freshman of the Year.

Outside of that one weakness, he has been unstoppable. Okafor has at least 10 points in every game this season and has scored at least 21 eight different times. According to KenPom.com, he is drawing 6.1 fouls per 40 minutes, while committing just 2.8. In fact, it's been nearly two full months since the big man reached four personal fouls in a game.

That's the key for him come tournament time. The only people in the country with enough strength to slow down Okafor are the ones in striped shirts with whistles.

We'll see if that changes this weekend against a Virginia team that boasts the third-best two-point defense in the nation. If he gets a double-double against the Cavaliers, he would join North Carolina State's Kyle Washington on the list of players who have accomplished that feat this season.

That just might be enough to crown him the Freshman of the Year before February even begins.

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.