Ranking the Most Dynamic Freshmen Scorers in College Basketball in 2015-16
Be the smartest man at the bar. Know the name before the Internet. Harass your fave NBA team about its draft board.
This is just a taste of the power awaiting anyone who consumes this slideshow. All it takes is one click of the mouse, and you're on your way to the next level of fandom.
This isn't just a list of the best freshman in college basketball. This isn't just a list of the best scorers. This isn't even a list of the best freshmen scorers. This is a list of the most dynamic freshmen scorers in college basketball right now. Are you ready? Because frankly, I don't see that you are.
What makes a scorer dynamic? Scoring, for one. I can say unequivocally that that is the first ingredient. Second is a higher-than-average probability of converting your shot attempts. Then there are those harder-to-define elements, such as athleticism and flair. Do you regularly show up on highlight shows and Twitter GIFs? Can you fire up the home crowd and silence hostile territory? Do your teammates look for you when the clock ticks down?
We're ranking them here based on those sorts of metrics. Points per game and field-goal shooting average are included in each slide, as is a wild-card statistic that differs from player to player but helps illustrate what makes each player so dangerous or, shall I say, dynamic. Intangibles also factor in, though admittedly they are subjective. Take heart, though: All subjective metrics are nevertheless correct.
One more thing: While more than a few of these guys will surely play at the next level, we're not measuring future potential. We're evaluating them as they stand based on current production.
Into the stratosphere we go. Sit down, strap in, hold on. All statistics accurate as of Dec. 22 and courtesy of the handy, dandy databases over at ESPN.com, unless otherwise noted.
10. Allonzo Trier, Guard, Arizona
1 of 10
PPG: 13.2
FG%: 51.6
Notable stat: 63.2 true shooting percentage (per College Basketball Reference)
The young man is tied for second on the 11-1 Wildcats in scoring, mainly because he's converting more than half his attempts from the field. As the true shooting percentage indicates, he's pretty efficient all over the court.
A product of basketball factory Findlay Prep, Allonzo Trier is a physically solid guard who can score with either hand. He's a little undersized and a little inconsistent, but he's one of those guys who always knows where the hoops is.
9. Ivan Rabb, Forward, California
2 of 10
PPG: 12.4
FG%: 66.3
Notable stat: 133.2 offensive rating (per College Basketball Reference)
Ivan Rabb maybe isn't going to stop traffic with his dazzling array of moves anytime soon, but what he lacks in tools he makes up for in pure efficiency.
Basically, the guy's a dunk machine. The 6'11" Rabb understands this about himself, to his credit, and plays accordingly. Maybe that's why he boasts such gaudy percentages, including the offensive rating above and a 30.6 player efficiency rating, both good for third in the Pac-12.
Even his free-throw shooting is good. Once a glaring weakness, he's hitting a respectable-for-a-big-man 75.6 percent from the stripe.
8. Diamond Stone, Center, Maryland
3 of 10
PPG: 10.7
FG%: 54.0
Notable stat: 13.8 PPG average in last four games
If this were simply a list of the nation's top freshmen scorers, if this were just another garden-variety slideshow, a little wham, bam, thank you, ma'am, just another product designed to make a quick buck, Diamond Stone wouldn't be here.
And hey, nothing wrong with those other lists. They're fine, for certain people. It's just that here, we try to do things a little more, what's the right word, dynamically.
Stone isn't even the starting big man for the Maryland Terrapins. Despite that, he's ahead of incumbent Damonte Dodd in most major categories and sits fourth in scoring on a high-powered Terps team.
The Milwaukee native is reminding everyone that back-to-the-basket isn't synonymous with boring. Use DeMarcus Cousins as your guidepost for Stone; he has pillowy hands and sugary short-range touch (look out for the finger roll) but doesn't shy away from contact. He can get up and down the floor, too, perfect for finishing all those Melo Trimble dimes.
More importantly for the present, Stone's offensive production is heading in the right direction as he gets used to this level of the game. In Maryland's first six contests, Stone averaged 16 minutes per outing. In the team's last five, he averaged 21.
"The bigger the lights, the better he plays," Terps coach Mark Turgeon said of Stone after his best game of the season, a 16-point, nine-rebound effort against UConn. "He's coming and it helps that he has a lot of veteran bigs around him."
True enough. Once conference play starts in earnest, though, those guys might be deferring to the youngster.
.png?w=256 "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship")
7. Jaylen Brown, Forward, California
4 of 10
PPG: 14.3
FG%: 41.5
Notable stat: 32.5 percent usage rate (per College Basketball Reference)
Jaylen Brown is physically gifted, standing 6'7", weighing 225 pounds and possessing the quickness and hops to beat just about anyone on the run or above the rim.
Brown is very intelligent, showing an early tendency to lead and be led on the Berkeley campus, both in the court and in class.
He's already a big part of the Cal offense, ranking second on the team in scoring and first in usage rate.
The Achilles' heel? His shooting stroke, which isn't what you'd call automatic. And it's not trending in the right direction, either. Over his last five games, he's a combined 17-53, or 32 percent, from the floor.
Only star guard Tyrone Wallace surpasses Brown's 124 total attempts, although at 49 percent, Wallace has more to show for his efforts.
Now put usage rate back into the equation, and you can see that Brown has a tendency to be a bit of a drain on the offense at times.
Though he's less efficient than Wallace and fellow Bear and superfrosh Ivan Rabb, Brown's transition game and athleticism gives him the edge in dynamism. When you're this gifted and smart, the mechanics will come. Probably.
6. Dwayne Bacon, Guard, Florida State
5 of 10
PPG: 17.2
FG%: 52.6
Notable stat: FSU 73.2 adjusted tempo rate (per KenPom)
Running other teams out of the gym: Dwayne Bacon takes that not so much as a platitude as he does a direct challenge.
Earlier this week, he became the season's first two-time ACC Rookie of the Week. His scoring average slots him ahead of several other conference luminaries, freshmen and otherwise, including Duke's Brandon Ingram, Notre Dame's Demetrius Jackson and North Carolina's Brice Johnson.
The secret is in the Seminoles' adjusted tempo, or average number of possessions per 40 minutes, which ranks 12th in the nation among power-conference teams. A lot of that is attributable to Bacon, who makes a conscious effort to move end to end as rapidly and as often as possible.
“When I get a rebound I’m looking to push,” Bacon said, according to Corey Clark of the Tallahassee Democrat. “I like changing speeds and just reading everything. I feel like if I change speeds I can tell what a player’s about to do. ... I can run behind a big’s back and that’s just an easy layup. It’s all about changing speeds.”
5. Brandon Ingram, Forward, Duke
6 of 10
PPG: 14.9
FG%: 46.8
Notable stat: 9'2" standing reach (per DraftExpress)
Not to get all draftniky on you, but that length is what makes Brandon Ingram dynamic. He can pretty much score over anyone.
That's true under the basket or out in space. He's got a nice jumper with a quick, smooth release, and the thing is basically impossible to block.
His three-point shooting is decent (35.6 percent) though not spectacular, and his 60 percent average from the stripe is an out-and-out weakness. When you consider his fragile-looking frame alongside this, hack-a-Brandon doesn't seem so far-fetched.
Overall, though, Ingram is hard to stop in just about any place or phase. No wonder he's being compared to Kevin Durant.
4. Jamal Murray, Guard, Kentucky
7 of 10
PPG: 17.1
FG%: 42.0
Notable stat: 150 field-goal attempts (per College Basketball Reference)
Jamal Murray was a late addition to the Kentucky Wildcats, and fans have to be grateful John Calipari left the door open.
The Canadian has come out of nowhere to be one of the most potent scorers in the SEC and certainly is tops at Kentucky this season.
In the team's otherwise-disappointing loss this week to Ohio State, Murray went off for 33 points on 13-23 shooting from the floor, including 7-9 from deep. In that game, Murray joined Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight as the only freshmen to score 30 or more on a Calipari-coached Kentucky squad, according to 247Sports.com.
As evidenced by his prolific shooting (good for second in the SEC), he's getting plenty of opportunities with the 'Cats. That bodes well for continued eye-popping production.
3. Malik Beasley, Guard, Florida State
8 of 10
PPG: 17.3
FG%: 51.2
Notable stat: 42.6 percent three-point FG%
Bacon got all the frosh hype, but so far it's Malik Beasley who's leading FSU in scoring. He also leads the team in shooting percentage—overall, free throw and three point—among those playing at least 20 minutes per game.
Maybe he's not a lottery pick, but remember: We don't care about that for this list. As it stands in college basketball, there aren't many freshmen who are harder to stop than Beasley.
Don't look now, but with Beasley, Bacon and another nice freshman in Terance Mann all starting to come together, the Seminoles may be poised to come on strong this winter.
2. Marcus Evans, Guard, Rice
9 of 10
PPG: 19.9
FG%: 45.5
Notable stat: 18.8 points produced per game (per College Basketball Reference)
As you may be able to tell by the photograph, Marcus Evans likes to run, and then he likes to dunk. He's a one-man fast break, and there doesn't seem to be much anyone can do about it down there in mid-major land. No wonder he's the top-scoring freshman in the country, according to NCAA stats.
The 6'2" guard hails from the same part of Virginia that spawned athletes like Allen Iverson and Michael Vick, and he has some of the same lightning in his game. He's capable of generating offense for himself and others in multiple ways, as evidenced by his conference-topping points produced number, which accounts for scoring, assists and offensive rebounds.
If you're still not convinced, Evans also leads the conference in overall scoring, steals (told you he's a one-man run-out) and sits eighth in effective field-goal percentage and 15th in true shooting percentage. He's failed to reach double figures only once in 11 games this season.
Evans won't get a lot of attention (you know, because Rice), but don't be surprised if you see him pop up in a highlight reel or two as the word starts to get out. And you can say you knew him back when.
If only the 5-6 Owls were taking everyone by the same kind of storm as their best player. At least everyone will have a good time, thanks to Evans.
1. Ben Simmons, Forward, LSU
10 of 10
PPG: 19.1
FG%: 56.1
Notable stat: 32.8 player efficiency rating (per College Basketball Reference)
I know this isn't very surprising, but no one else can lay claim to the top spot like Ben Simmons.
The point-forward prototype has taken some lumps for not shooting enough or lacking super-deep range. Good thing he has the tools—which consist of every other possible thing—to overcome them.
I get that you have to nitpick when you're examining this level, and make no mistake, Simmons is at the very top of this class. It's just that his other strengths are so, well, strong that it's like criticizing Commander's Palace because the tablecloth was wrinkled.
His player efficiency rating puts him at ninth in the nation and well above any other freshman. He also leads the SEC in win shares (2.3) and two-point field-goal attempts with 139 (but really, tell me again about how he's not shooting enough).
Don't look now, but he's coming on. So far in December, he's averaging 22.8 points per game, paced by a crazy 43 points in a shootout win over North Florida.
That's scary, not to mention dynamic. And this doesn't even cover assists and rebounds.
The 76ers are on the clock.
.png?w=480 "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship")
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
