Unheralded Freshmen You Need to Watch in 2015-16

Star freshmen have become such an integral part of college basketball it's hard to imagine that any significant contributions from first-year players could slip through the cracks without the requisite fanfare. Just look at the Internet salivation of standouts such as LSU's Ben Simmons and Kentucky's latest batch of youngsters, or the attention Kansas freshman Cheick Diallo's battle for NCAA eligibility garnered.

Believe it or not, though, there are other freshmen playing in the 2015-16 season who are making an impact and somehow doing so without near-constant blog posts or draft-stock updates.

We've identified eight unheralded freshmen whose play so far has made them just as worthy of praise as the big names. For the purpose of this story, our loose definition of "unheralded" means those who were not rated as 5-star prospects by 247Sports.

Malik Beasley, Florida State

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Florida State has gotten a big push so far from a pair of freshmen, with guards Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley combining to average 36.3 points per game as the Seminoles' top two scorers. The pair committed on the same day in September 2014, though Bacon's pledge drew more headlines.

It's the 6'5" Beasley that's been the more noted standout through seven games because of his great shooting touch, which has resulted in a stellar 57.5 percent field goal percentage that includes 51.6 percent from three-point range. He already has five 20-point games, though his high of 25 came in a losing effort when FSU fell to Hofstra in the Paradise Jam last month in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

CBS Sports' Matt Norlander ranks Beasley third on his list of candidates for national freshman of the year honors, noting how explosive and efficient he's been on offense.

"His 71.1 true shooting percentage is hilariously good, considering how often he has the ball in his hands," Norlander wrote.

Deyonta Davis, Michigan

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Deyonta Davis almost didn't make this list, but not because of his play. The 6'10" forward was ranked No. 26 overall in the Class of 2015 by 247Sports, which put him just on the outside of 5-star status.

Semantics aside, Davis has been as much a part of Michigan State's 9-0 start and rise to No. 1 in the Associated Press poll as senior Denzel Valentine or any of the Spartans' starters. Playing less than 20 minutes per game, Davis is third on the team in scoring (9.9) and rebounding (6.1) while his 20 blocked shots are more than any three other players combined.

Davis is shooting 64.1 percent from the field, though he hasn't used his size to get to the line much yet. He's taken just 10 foul shots, making seven.

A youngster who's just scratching the surface of his talent, Davis is the only freshman on NBADraft.net's 2016 mock draft that wasn't a 5-star prospect in 2015.

Marcus Evans, Rice

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Rice hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 1970 and doesn't look like it will be getting there this season based on a 3-6 start. Yet amid those struggles has been some aggressive play by 6'2" guard Marcus Evans.

A Virginia native whose other scholarship offers were from closer to home, Evans has twice earned Conference USA's Freshman of the Week honors. He's averaging 18.2 points per game, going for 28 points in a Dec. 2 loss to Houston Baptist. In his collegiate debut at a ranked California team, Evans scored 18 points with two steals.

The last time Rice had a standout freshman of this level was in 2013-14, when forward Sean Obi led the league in rebounding. He ended up transferring to Duke after that season.

Ethan Happ, Wisconsin

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It's rare that a power program ends up redshirting a freshman for any reason other than injury. But Wisconsin didn't have a need for Ethan Happ last year, not with seniors Frank Kaminsky and Duje Dukan, junior Sam Dekker and sophomore Nigel Hayes around to eat up all the frontcourt minutes.

Only Hayes remains from the Badgers team that lost to Duke in the national title game, elevating the 6'9" Happ from a practice player in 2014-15 to a full-time starter in his first season of college basketball.

Though Wisconsin's 6-3 start is below normal standards, Happ's performance has been just what the team expected. He's scoring 10.8 points per game while shooting 51.4 percent, and his 8.0 rebounding average is tops on the team and 1.7 per game better than Kaminsky had in his first season as starter in 2013-14.

Tyler Lydon, Syracuse

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Syracuse generally doesn't play a lot of guys over the course of the season, but the 2015-16 Orange are even thinner than normal with five players averaging at least 30 minutes per game. Four of those are starters, the other a relatively unknown freshman who has turned heads.

Tyler Lydon, a 6'8" forward from tiny Elizaville, New York, had 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 32 minutes off the bench in Tuesday's 78-51 win over Colgate. He was 2-of-3 from three-point range, upping his rate for the season to 50 percent on 26 attempts.

Lydon is the prototypical Syracuse player, a long-and-lean wing who can play inside but also loves to take the long-range shot. He averaged 15.7 points and 9.3 rebounds during the three wins at the Battle 4 Atlantis, making 7-of-10 threes. For the year he averages 10.1 points and 7.1 rebounds.

JaQuan Lyle, Ohio State

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Ohio State has already lost three times this season, including back-to-back home losses to Texas-Arlington and Louisiana Tech. Thad Matta has one of his youngest teams in years, with four sophomores and three freshmen among the Buckeyes' top eight players.

JaQuan Lyle, a 6'5" guard, has been the most impressive of the first-year players thanks to his great ball-handling. He had 12 points and two assists in Tuesday's 74-50 win over Air Force, and for the year he averages 10.0 points and 5.5 assists per game. 

It's fair to say he's not playing like a freshman because he's older than most players in that class, having spent a post-graduate season at a prep school after not qualifying academically for college in 2014-15. Lyle was supposed to play for Oregon last season but wasn't cleared, and after going to IMG Academy he ended up with OSU.

Yankuba Sima, St. John's

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With a first-time head coach and a totally revamped roster, the growing pains St. John's has endured to this point in 2015-16 aren't surprising. Chris Mullin is working with seven freshmen among his 14 players.

Looking at things from a positive light, that just means things can only get better for the Red Storm. In terms of center Yankuba Sima, that's particularly promising.

The 6'11" native of Spain, who played at a prep school in Florida before coming to St. John's, Sima is still very raw as an offensive player whose best contributions right now come on defense. His 3.5 blocks per game are fourth-best in Division I, including six swats in St. John's Nov. 19 win over Rutgers.

He's coming off his first career double-double, going for 17 points and 10 rebounds (along with five blocks) against St. Francis of Brooklyn on Sunday. According to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, Sima suffered a dislocated pinky during that game yet played through the pain.

James Thompson IV, Eastern Michigan

Eastern Michigan's 86-58 home win Tuesday over NAIA school Rochester was the Eagles' fourth game (and win) this season against a non-Division I school. Against D-I opponents, the Eagles are 2-3 with losses at Michigan State and Penn State.

Regardless of the level of opponent, though, 6'10" center James Thompson IV is putting up eye-popping numbers. His 17-point, 11-rebound, three-block effort against Rochester gave him five straight double-doubles and six overall. He had 18 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks Saturday at Penn State.

For the year, Thompson is averaging 15.0 points and 11.6 rebounds while shooting 65.9 percent.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.