2025-26 Men's College Basketball Freshman of the Year Rankings

With just two weeks remaining in the 2025-26 men's college basketball regular season, best of luck to anyone attempting to put together a national All-Freshman team, because you're inevitably going to need to omit several first-year players doing incredible things.

Duke's Cameron Boozer is a no-brainer for that hypothetical five-man team, as he has been pretty much since Day One.

But trying to sort through Nos. 2-10 depends on when you're completing said exercise and which of those freshmen most recently scored 40+ in a game—because a bunch of them have done so at least once.

It's no wonder so many NBA teams are tanking this year. It feels like any top 10 pick could be a franchise-changer.

Contrary to consideration for National Player of the Year trophies like the Wooden Award, one needn't play for a title contender to have a real shot at winning this one. Team success definitely helps, though it's more of a bonus than a prerequisite for consideration.

Statistics are current through the start of play Friday, Feb. 20.

Most Honorable Mention: Kevair Kennedy, Merrimack

Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Season Stats: 17.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 4.1 APG, 2.0 SPG

Previous Rank: N/A

For each of the 31 D-I conferences, there is an "all-kenpom.com" team of the five most valuable players in the league.

As of Thursday afternoon, of those 155 players, 17 were freshmen.

And of those 17 freshmen, two were deemed by KenPom to be the most valuable player in their conference: Duke's Cameron Boozer in the ACC and Merrimack's Kevair Kennedy in the MAAC.

Apples and oranges, of course. One is the front-runner for National Player of the Year; the other is a player that the vast majority of college basketball fans have never watched, as Merrimack has played two games all season against top 100 opponents, losing by 35 at Florida and by 38 at Auburn back in November.

But let's show Kennedy some love, as he has the Warriors alone in first place in the MAAC in pursuit of their first trip to the dance.

In an era of basketball where even most of the seven-footers can shoot three-pointers, this 6'2" point guard prefers to get his threes the old-fashioned way, averaging more than eight free-throw attempts per game—compared to making just eight three-pointers all season. He's also a great distributor and a menace on defense.

It's all very similar to PJ Haggerty's redshirt freshman season at Tulsa a few years ago, and now he's one of the most unstoppable lead guards in the nation.

Kennedy could be a player to watch if Merrimack does make the tournament. Though, really, with how the sport is these days, we all know he's more of a key player to monitor once #PortalSeason gets underway.

10. Darryn Peterson, Kansas

John E. Moore III/Getty Images

Season Stats: 20.0 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.2 SPG, 43.1% 3PT

Previous Rank: 7

In what has sadly become a completely unsurprising development, Darryn Peterson scored 20 points in the first half of Wednesday night's win at Oklahoma State, only to spend almost the entire second half on the bench with an injury of unclear origin.

At least he played for one half instead of what would have been his 12th missed game of the year?

Look, when he does play, it's magic. No one is denying that.

While AJ Dybantsa is leading the nation in points per game, BYU's freshman star is averaging 29.6 points per 40 minutes played to Peterson's 29.7.

The Jayhawks' occasionally available star has made multiple three-pointers in all but one of his 15 games played. And he played 23 minutes or fewer in seven of those 15.

Because of the shows that he has put on, we still feel obligated to put Peterson in the top 10. But don't think for a second that it wasn't tempting to rank him behind Kevair Kennedy, or to leave him off the list altogether in favor of someone like Washington's Hannes Steinbach or Stanford's Ebuka Okorie, each of whom is grinding out 34 minutes per game on teams going nowhere fast.

9. Brayden Burries, Arizona

Chris Coduto/Getty Images

Season Stats: 15.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.7 SPG, 37.6% 3PT

Previous Rank: 8

Though Brayden Burries is no longer the star of the undefeated No. 1 team in the country, he did still shine in Arizona's recent losses, going for 25 points, five rebounds, and three steals at Kansas before putting up 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals in the overtime loss to Texas Tech.

And it's no longer a question of whether Burries or Koa Peat is more deserving of consideration as this team's top freshman. Peat was completely shut down by the Jayhawks, and he wasn't making any sort of impact before suffering the lower-leg injury against the Red Raiders, which caused him to miss Wednesday's game against BYU.

What's kind of funny about Burries' placement on this list is that in a lot of seasons, he'd be right in the thick of the conversation for national freshman of the year. After a slow first five games, he has had a fantastic season, playing his way into the conversation to be a top 10 draft pick.

This year, though?

He can't even hold a candle to what the guys in our top five have been up to. And now that he doesn't have the "best player on the best team" argument going for him anymore, this might be as high as he can climb.

8. Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville

Michael Hickey/Getty Images

Season Stats: 18.6 PPG, 5.1 APG, 3.4 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 34.6% 3PT

Previous Rank: N/A

Mikel Brown Jr. dropped out of the conversation during his five weeks on the shelf with a back injury. And even in his first two weeks back in the lineup, he wasn't quite his old self, shooting 32.7 percent from the field, including a disastrous 1-for-13 performance in the blowout loss at Duke.

Over the past three games, though, he has skyrocketed back into the mix, putting that permanent green light to wonderful use by averaging 34.3 points and shooting 18-for-29 (62.1 percent) from three-point range.

The magnum opus was the 45-point performance in that 118-77 laugher against NC State. But he also went for 29 against each of Baylor and SMU, leading all players in scoring in all three of those games.

If he could just bring the noise in a legitimately marquee win for Louisville, maybe he could climb into the top five. But the Cardinals are 0-5 vs. Quad 1A; he missed two of those games, and he posted a sub-100 O-Rating in each of the other three.

With road games remaining against North Carolina, Clemson, and Miami, though, he (and Louisville, in general) could change that narrative.

7. Caleb Wilson, North Carolina

Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images

Season Stats: 19.8 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.5 SPG, 1.4 BPG

Previous Rank: 5

For North Carolina, Caleb Wilson cannot possibly come back from his fractured left hand soon enough.

On the night that he suffered the injury, the Tar Heels lost to Miami. They did win the subsequent home game against a Pitt team that is broken beyond repair, but without both Wilson and Henri Veesaar on Tuesday, they lost by 24 at NC State.

Given how indispensable Wilson had been for UNC through the first 23-plus games of the season, this isn't a terribly surprising development. Even after missing two contests, he's still leading the Tar Heels in points, rebounds, blocks, and steals, and he's only a dozen assists behind Kyan Evans for first place in that department.

Wilson had scored at least 20 points in 13 of 15 games prior to the injury, and the hope is that he'll get right back to operating at that level once he's cleared to return.

6. Nate Ament, Tennessee

Wes Hale/Getty Images

Season Stats: 18.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.0 SPG, 32.4% 3PT

Previous Rank: 9

When we bumped Nate Ament from an honorable mention up to No. 9 in these rankings two weeks ago, we noted that he had turned some kind of a corner, averaging 22.1 points over his previous seven games compared to just 11.1 in the seven games prior to that.

Well, he has remained hot, going for 29 at Kentucky two Saturdays ago and 29 again in Wednesday night's rout of Oklahoma.

Ament shot 7-for-13 from distance between those two games, and he has gone 29-for-31 from the free-throw line over the past two weeks. He has now posted an O-rating north of 100 in 11 consecutive games, scoring at least 16 points in each.

It's almost hard to believe this is the same guy who was free-falling down mock draft boards six weeks ago, consistently struggling to get shots to fall.

Now that everything is clicking for him, Tennessee's tournament ceiling feels a good deal higher.

Maybe, just maybe, he can lead this program to its first Final Four.

5. AJ Dybantsa, BYU

Chris Gardner/Getty Images

Season Stats: 24.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.2 SPG, 35.7% 3PT

Previous Rank: 4

It's Cameron Boozer at No. 1, and then it's four healthy players battling for second place.

And while this particular healthy player is leading the nation in points per game, AJ Dybantsa is doing so for a BYU team that has lost six of its last nine games, playing its way down to a projected No. 7 seed.

Not only have the Cougars struggled lately, but they are now winless in six tries against Quad 1A, while Kingston Flemings, Keaton Wagler, and Darius Acuff Jr. are shining for teams with multiple really impressive wins and realistic Final Four aspirations.

At a certain point, that has to matter in this ranking.

For most of this rough recent stretch, defense has been BYU's biggest problem, and Dybantsa shares some of that onus. After holding its first 12 opponents to 65.4 points, BYU has allowed 82.4 points per game since late December.

Dybantsa sure does almost make up for it with all of his scoring, though, stepping up his game to average 29.9 points over the past month.

Maybe they can finally get a marquee win at home over Iowa State or Texas Tech down the stretch. That could be the ticket to getting Dybantsa back up to No. 2.

4. Kingston Flemings, Houston

Bryan Byerly/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images

Season Stats: 16.6 PPG, 5.3 APG, 3.7 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 38.8% 3PT

Previous Rank: 3

One thing you have to love about Kingston Flemings is that he always brings his A game against the best competition.

Per KenPom, Houston has played 10 "Tier A" games this season, in which Flemings has averaged 23.0 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.0 rebounds. He posted an O-rating of at least 112 in all 10 games, and was named the KenPom Game MVP in seven of them.

That does mean he's only averaging 12.6 points in the Cougars' other 16 games, but they've also held those foes to 55.8 points and haven't much needed his heroics on offense to win each of those contests.

We've seen both sides of that coin in a big way in the past couple of weeks.

Flemings couldn't buy a bucket in the comfortable wins over Cincinnati, Utah, and Kansas State, shooting a combined 6-for-33 from the field in maybe his three worst games of the season. But against tournament-bound Iowa State, BYU, and UCF, he shot 25-for-45 with 15 assists, almost carrying them to what would have been a massive road win over the Cyclones.

If that trend continues, buckle up for a fun couple of days, as Houston hosts Arizona on Saturday before a trip to Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Monday.

3. Keaton Wagler, Illinois

Steven Branscombe/Getty Images

Season Stats: 18.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 4.3 APG, 42.9% 3PT

Previous Rank: 2

When Kylan Boswell suffered his hand fracture, it was Keaton Wagler to the rescue.

He was already a clear-cut top 10 freshman, averaging 18.2 points, 5.2 assists, and 5.0 rebounds in the 10 games prior to Boswell's injury, but Wagler dug deeper for 24.6 points and 5.7 assists for the seven games that Boswell was on the shelf.

But now that the veteran leader is back, has Wagler's role shrunk?

It's hard to say, because Illinois annihilated both Indiana and USC and didn't really need him in either game. Wagler took two shots in the final 13 minutes against the Hoosiers and one shot in the final 15 minutes against the Trojans, and he averaged 14.0 points between them.

But combine that with the rough showing in the loss at Michigan State two weekends ago (2-for-16 with a non-positive assist-to-turnover ratio for the first time since November) and Wagler slips slightly from No. 2 to No. 3.

He does have one looming gigantic opportunity to reassert himself as the top challenger to Boozer, when the Illini host Michigan next Friday.

Wagler's 46-point spectacular came on the road against Purdue. And between the two games against Nebraska, he put up a combined total of 47 points and 15 assists. If he has another ace up his sleeve for the Wolverines—especially if it comes on the heels of Boozer struggling with Michigan this Saturday—that sure would get some attention.

2. Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas

Jason Clark/Getty Images

Season Stats: 22.3 PPG, 6.2 APG, 3.0 RPG, 44.0% 3PT

Previous Rank: 6

Even before Wednesday's slate of games, there was already an argument to be made for moving Darius Acuff Jr. up into the top three.

He had been averaging 22.6 points and 6.9 assists per game dating back to Thanksgiving, scoring at least 17 in 19 consecutive games. And in the 13-point win over Auburn on Valentine's Day, he shot 7-for-10 from downtown, tying what had been his season high with 31 points.

"Had been" is doing some seriously heavy lifting there after Acuff went off for 49 points in the double-overtime loss at Alabama on Wednesday.

Arkansas entered the night short-handed with Karter Knox sidelined again, and it only got worse from there as Meleek Thomas, DJ Wagner, Billy Richmond, and Nick Pringle all fouled out. By the end of the second overtime, the Razorbacks had a pair of guys on the court who had played a combined total of 36 minutes all season.

And Acuff still almost got them across the finish line, shooting 16-for-27 from the field and 11-for-12 from the free-throw line in an individual performance for the ages.

Had he pulled up and hit a triple to win the game instead of missing a game-tying two-point attempt in the final seconds, it probably would've gone down as the biggest moment of the entire 2025-26 men's college basketball regular season.

As is, he's now averaging 23.9 points, 6.8 assists and 2.0 turnovers over his last 20 games. Ludicrous efficiency from what arguably should be the SEC Player of the Year.

1. Cameron Boozer, Duke

Lance King/Getty Images

Season Stats: 22.8 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 3.9 APG, 1.7 SPG, 39.4% 3PT

Previous Rank: 1

Death.

Taxes.

Cameron Boozer going for roughly 20 and 10 with multiple assists in every game.

In two games against Clemson and Syracuse in the past week, Boozer put up 40 points, 20 rebounds, and six assists.

In the two games before that, it was 41 points, 21 rebounds and seven assists.

The two games before that? 43 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists.

You get the idea.

It's not as flashy as Flemings scoring 42, Dybantsa scoring 43, Wagler scoring 46 or Acuff scoring 49 on their most magical nights. However, you simply cannot point to a bad Boozer performance in this entire season, and he has done this night in and night out for what would be the No. 2 overall seed if the season ended today.

Can he do it again this Saturday against Michigan's loaded frontcourt?

If so, it might be the final nail in the coffin of a National Player of the Year race that has already felt over for a while now.