College Basketball Players Failing to Live Up to Their Preseason Hype

Duke's Cam Reddish was the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft in some preseason mocks, but he has failed to live up to the hype and is a distant third—maybe even fourth—just among Duke's top prospects.

That doesn't mean Reddish has been terrible. He's the third-leading scorer and one of the best defenders for the heavy favorites to win the national championship. But he's perhaps the most prominent name on the list of players falling well short of preseason expectations.

All eight of these players either appeared in the Wooden Award's preseason top 50 or in the top 10 of the 247Sports composite rankings for the 2018 recruiting class. To further gauge what was expected from those players, that list was then cross-referenced with CBSSports.com's preseason player rankings compiled by Matt Norlander, Gary Parrish, Chip Patterson and Kyle Boone.

The gap between the best player and 50th-best is massive, so it was crucial to include that list to get a sense of where in the top 50 everyone is supposed to be. For instance, North Carolina's Luke Maye has maybe been a top-50 player but isn't anywhere close to the No. 3 ranking he received from CBSSports.com.

The following players are listed in ascending order of that preseason rankings.

One final note: We are not including players who have missed most of the season. While we were expecting more from Bol Bol, Darius Garland, Lindell Wigginton and others, it would literally be adding insult to injury to say they haven't lived up to the hype, since they physically have not been able to do so.

EJ Montgomery, Kentucky

Michael Hickey/Getty Images

2018-19 Stats: 4.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.1 BPG

Preseason CBSSports.com Rank: Not Ranked

It's been a little while since a consensus top-10 freshman had as much trouble as EJ Montgomery has had making a meaningful impact at the college level.

Harry Giles put up similar numbers two seasons ago, but the Dukie was coming back from multiple major knee surgeries and never had much of a chance to be the phenom everyone fell in love with when he was in ninth and 10th grade.

The only other healthy guy in the past five years to struggle this mightily was Skal Labissiere—which should probably serve as a warning to future face-up/finesse forwards considering committing to Kentucky. John Calipari loves guys like Julius Randle, Bam Adebayo and Reid Travis who fight like hell for positioning and rebounds, and they'll always get more playing time than a 6'10" mid-range jump shooter.

Montgomery got out to a decent start to the season, though. Through Kentucky's first eight games, he averaged better than 20 minutes per contest, 6.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. But it became clear in early December that Ashton Hagans and PJ Washington needed to play as many minutes as possible in order for Kentucky to reach its potential, and it was Montgomery's playing time that took a big hit.

Over the past 12 games, the Georgia native has averaged fewer than 10 minutes per game with 2.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.7 blocks. He barely saw the floor in key games against Kansas, North Carolina and Seton Hall.

As far as the recruiting services were concerned, Montgomery was supposed to be the best player in Kentucky's freshman class and a likely one-and-done candidate. Instead, he is playing the least of the bunch and is least likely among the primary eight-man rotation to declare for this summer's draft.

Jalen Hudson, Florida

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

2018-19 Stats: 6.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 24.7% 3PT

Preseason CBSSports.com Rank: 28

Jalen Hudson's 2017-18 emergence as a lethal three-point shooter was one of the more surprising developments of last season.

In two years with Virginia Tech, he was painfully inefficient, shooting 32 percent from three-point range with a poor turnover rate. He bounced in and out of the starting lineup before transferring to Florida and becoming a scoring machine.

Hudson averaged better than 25 points per game in last year's PK80 tournament while shooting 56 percent (14 of 25) from beyond the arc. He continued to bounce back and forth between starting and being the sixth man, but he shot better than 40 percent from three-point range over the course of the full season and averaged 15.5 points per game.

And when the Gators needed him the most late in the season, he was excellent. Hudson put up 18.8 points over his final six games, making multiple three-pointers in each contest.

If you happen to find that guy, kindly return him to Gainesville.

Florida's season was supposed to be built around Hudson, but he is almost unplayable. Not only is he shooting 24.7 percent from three-point range, but he can't buy a bucket inside the arc, making just 34.8 percent of his two-point attempts. It is taking him 7.2 field-goal attempts to score 6.2 points per game, and he isn't providing much help in terms of assists or defense, either.

And yet, he has the highest usage rating while on the floor, per Sports Reference. Head coach Michael White keeps trying to get him going, but it just isn't happening.

Among the 50 players on the preseason Wooden Watch list, there is no question that Hudson has been the most disappointing.

Quentin Grimes, Kansas

AJ Mast/Associated Press

2018-19 Stats: 8.2 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.7 APG, 32.9% 3PT

Preseason CBSSports.com Rank: 21

Quentin Grimes made an astounding first impression. In the season opener against Michigan State, he made seven of his first nine field-goal attempts, including six threes. The guard temporarily lived up to the billing of being a streaky shooter and had many of us thinking he might be the next Malik Monk.

Since then, however, he has been far from special.

In marquee wins over Marquette and Tennessee in late November, Grimes shot 1-of-7 from the field with no assists and four turnovers. In the big December win over Villanova, he made one free throw, had one assist and committed three turnovers. In last week's win over Iowa State, his box score consisted of 19 minutes, one steal, 0-of-4 from the field.

Grimes has had the occasional good game. He was basically the only Jayhawk to show up in the blowout loss at Iowa State in early January, and he was arguably their best player in the loss at Kentucky. And we would be remiss if we didn't point out he is shooting much better from three-point range over his past eight games (12 of 31) than he did from Nov. 17 through Dec. 28 (2 of 22).

But he is not the 21st-best player in the country. Heck, we couldn't responsibly argue that he's even a top-20 player in the Big 12.

Frankly, the only reason Grimes still has a starting job is because Kansas has been forced to play small since Udoka Azubuike's injury and because California transfer Charlie Moore has been an even bigger disappointment than Grimes. Don't be surprised if Ochai Agbaji replaces Grimes before too much longer.

In Tuesday night's loss to Texas, Bill Self was perfectly content playing without Grimes in crunch time. It was Agbaji, Devon Dotson, Marcus Garrett, Lagerald Vick and Dedric Lawson for the majority of the final six minutes. Grimes only played for the final 30 seconds because Garrett got poked in the eye. It's clear the Jayhawks coaching staff doesn't have much faith in Grimes right now.

Cam Reddish, Duke

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

2018-19 Stats: 12.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.1 SPG, 2.1 APG, 33.3% 3PT

Preseason CBSSports.com Rank: 19

The previous three players on this list have been way worse than anyone was expecting. The remaining five players haven't been awful, but they have undeniably fallen short of expectations.

Cam Reddish was a top-20 guy in the preseason and a projected top-five pick in the 2019 NBA draft by every mock-drafter under the sun. He might still go in the top five based on potential, but he's nowhere close to Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett or even Tre Jones on the list of Duke's most important players.

Like Kansas's Quentin Grimes, Reddish started out great. He had 22 points in the Champions Classic blowout win over Kentucky and doubled down by draining seven three-pointers against Vermont in his next outing. But he is barely shooting 30 percent from downtown since then (36 of 117) and is committing just under three turnovers per game—shockingly high for a non-point guard who is the team's third scoring option.

Both of those issues could be a product of trying too hard to carve out some spotlight on this team. A lot of his turnovers seem to come on offensive fouls, and a lot of his misses come on forced three-point attempts. For a guy who made everything look effortless in high school, it just doesn't seem like anything is coming naturally to the Pennsylvania native at this level.

Reddish has only had a KenPom.com offensive rating of 100 or better twice since December 1, and one of those came in the win over Florida State in which he hit the game-winning three-pointer while Williamson missed the entire second half after getting poked in the eye.

The good news is he has been a great defender, including getting a season-high five steals in the recent win over Georgia Tech. As such, he'll continue to get a lot of love in the lottery projections as a three-and-D wing. But Duke had better hope he starts hitting more threes soon.

Reid Travis, Kentucky

James Crisp/Associated Press

2018-19 Stats: 12.3 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.0 APG

Preseason CBSSports.com Rank: 18

Reid Travis is the main reason people fell in love with Kentucky this offseason. When he graduate-transferred from Stanford to UK, the Wildcats immediately become one of the four favorites (along with Kansas, Duke and Gonzaga) to win the national championship. His veteran leadership, his toughness and his propensity for double-doubles was supposed to push the 'Cats over the top.

As far as CBSSports.com was concerned, he was going to be Kentucky's most important player. He was the only Wildcat ranked in its preseason top 25.

Travis has been good, but he hasn't been that good.

His per-game averages have dropped considerably from his final season with the Cardinal (19.5 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.3 APG), although that can reasonably be attributed to the drastic difference in the supporting cast. He had to do everything in the post for Stanford, but he's just one of many capable frontcourt players in Lexington.

Still, he might be the least valuable of Kentucky's five starters and he is definitely not the most important player on the roster. PJ Washington has been more of a workhorse in the paint than Travis has been. Keldon Johnson and Tyler Herro are the go-to scorers, and Ashton Hagans is arguably the team's MVP because of his on-ball defense and ability to run the offense.

Travis was spectacular in the win over Kansas, scoring 18 points and grabbing seven offensive rebounds. Until that night, though, he had been a bit of a ghost in January, scoring six points or fewer in four of six games. Plus, he followed up that big game with one point and three rebounds against Vanderbilt.

But in spite of the struggles from the guy who was supposed to be the team leader, Kentucky has emerged as a serious threat to win the national championship. Just imagine how tough the 'Cats will be to beat if he can get back to playing like he used to.

Nassir Little, North Carolina

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

2018-19 Stats: 10.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 25.7% 3PT

Preseason CBSSports.com Rank: 9

Nassir Little was supposed to be the one guy capable of breaking up the Duke triumvirate atop the draft boards.

His defensive intensity and ability to finish through contact had scouts enamored long before he balled out at the various all-star games. Little was dominant at the McDonald's All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic, and he seemed to be a consistent perimeter jumper away from becoming the No. 1 overall pick. 

He was to this year's recruiting class what Josh Jackson was at Kansas in 2016 or what Stanley Johnson was at Arizona in 2014.

But where those 6'7" three-and-D wings were immediately handed prominent roles as one of the top scoring options for a title contender, Little has yet to start a game at North Carolina and has been unable to get into any sort of rhythm.

The fact that he's coming off the bench wouldn't make a difference if he was consistently performing once he gets on the floor, but he hasn't been. Little has had a couple of quality efforts lately, but his poor play against the likes of Michigan, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina State are more indicative of where he is at in his development.

Prior to hitting a pair of three-pointers in last week's win over Virginia Tech, Little had made just three of his previous 24 attempts dating back to Nov. 12. And that potential to become a lockdown perimeter defender has been nonexistent, as he is averaging 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per 40 minutes for a team that entered Tuesday's blowout of Georgia Tech allowing more three-point field goals (165) than it had made (163).

As with Cam Reddish, some team in the lottery will probably still try their luck with Little, hoping it's just a poor fit in college and that he'll tap into the potential displayed throughout high school. But the Floridian is a far cry from being one of the 10 best college basketball players this season.

Caleb Martin, Nevada

Gary Kazanjian/Associated Press

2018-19 Stats: 18.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.3 SPG, 33.8% 3PT

Preseason CBSSports.com Rank: 5

Caleb Martin has made more of a positive impact this season than any other guy encountered thus far on this list, but he's nowhere close to the fifth-best player in the country.

He's not even the best player on his own team. That title belongs to Jordan Caroline. And Caleb's brother, Cody, might be the more important twin, given his efficiency and the way he runs the offense as a point forward.

There's no question that Caleb Martin has been an indispensable asset for a one-loss Nevada squad. The 6'7" forward ranks second on the roster in points, assists, blocks and steals. And his ability to score in isolation as well as take and make a lot of three-pointers is a huge reason Nevada is able to operate the way that it does.

But to get his 18.5 points per game, Martin is averaging 14.2 field-goal attempts. And prior to an outstanding performance against UNLV on Tuesday, he had been even less efficient in Mountain West Conference play, scoring 103 points on 98 shots. The saving grace is that his turnover rate is microscopic, but that's little consolation for a volume shooter missing nearly twice as many threes as he makes.

Martin was a 40.3 percent three-point shooter last year, but his percentage has dropped markedly while his number of attempts per game has increased. Aside from that, he's just about the exact same player as he was last year—which is plenty good, but not worthy of being named a first-team All-American. He's a borderline top-25 player who has yet to be tested by an elite opponent.

Like Reid Travis, he has been good, but he has been nowhere near as good as he was supposed to be.

Luke Maye, North Carolina

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

2018-19 Stats: 13.9 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 2.1 APG, 33.8% 3PT

Preseason CBSSports.com Rank: 3

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's necessary to reiterate that appearing on this list doesn't necessarily mean the player has performed poorly, but rather just that he isn't living up to preseason expectations.

In the case of Luke Maye, we're still talking about a high-value player. He's just a few rebounds shy of averaging a double-double for the season, and he both shoots from the perimeter and distributes the ball surprisingly well for his position. It's hard to believe North Carolina would be a Top 10 team right now without him.

But he's not the third-best player in the country. He's arguably the third-best player for the Tar Heels, and he probably wouldn't be named first-team All-ACC if the vote was conducted today.

Part of the issue is the furthest thing from a problem for the Tar Heels: They are more well-rounded on offense this year and don't need Maye to be as much of a singular force. Cam Johnson is a much better shooter than he was in 2017-18, and Nassir Little is a drastically more assertive scoring option than Theo Pinson was.

Still, aside from free-throw percentage, just about all of Maye's numbers are down a bit from last season (16.9 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 2.4 APG, 43.1% 3PT). The three-point shooting is the most concerning drop-off, because that's what made him such a matchup nightmare last year. Prior to hitting four of five against Virginia Tech this past weekend, he was shooting just 31.3 percent and had only made multiple triples in four contests.

By Feb. 10 last year, Maye had already scored at least 22 points in a game 10 times, including three games with more than 30. But this season, he put up 24 in the season opener and hasn't eclipsed 21 since then. Even while making four threes against Virginia Tech, Maye still only managed to score 14 of North Carolina's 103 points.

Kerry Miller covers men's college basketball and college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @kerrancejames.