This article is part of our College Hoops Barometer series.
For all the talk about Michael Porter, Jr. and Marvin Bagley III prior to the season, the top freshman in the country thus far has been Oklahoma's Trae Young. Playing with a polish well beyond his years, Young leads the nation in both scoring and assists. Young takes nearly 10 treys per game, but gets to the foul line frequently as well. He is far from a volume scorer, shooting 47.8 percent from the field, including 38.3 percent from long range. Add in some rebounds and a 9-1 record for the Sooners, including recent wins over Wichita State and USC, and Young's early season surge has been arguably the biggest story on the hardwood this year. Did I mention he tied an NCAA record with 22 assists against Northwestern State on Tuesday? Yes, you read that correctly. As for right now, it's Trae Young's world, and we're all just living in it.
Let's take a look at some other players helping or hurting their cause in this week's edition of the College Hoops Barometer.
UPGRADE
Juwan Morgan (F)
The Hoosiers are likely going to struggle this season, but Morgan cannot be blamed. The junior forward has taken his game to new heights this year. He's become a more efficient scorer inside the three-point arc en route to more than doubling his point per game total from a season ago. Morgan poured in a career-high 34 points in an overtime win over Notre Dame on Saturday. Morgan is mixing it up
For all the talk about Michael Porter, Jr. and Marvin Bagley III prior to the season, the top freshman in the country thus far has been Oklahoma's Trae Young. Playing with a polish well beyond his years, Young leads the nation in both scoring and assists. Young takes nearly 10 treys per game, but gets to the foul line frequently as well. He is far from a volume scorer, shooting 47.8 percent from the field, including 38.3 percent from long range. Add in some rebounds and a 9-1 record for the Sooners, including recent wins over Wichita State and USC, and Young's early season surge has been arguably the biggest story on the hardwood this year. Did I mention he tied an NCAA record with 22 assists against Northwestern State on Tuesday? Yes, you read that correctly. As for right now, it's Trae Young's world, and we're all just living in it.
Let's take a look at some other players helping or hurting their cause in this week's edition of the College Hoops Barometer.
UPGRADE
Juwan Morgan (F)
The Hoosiers are likely going to struggle this season, but Morgan cannot be blamed. The junior forward has taken his game to new heights this year. He's become a more efficient scorer inside the three-point arc en route to more than doubling his point per game total from a season ago. Morgan poured in a career-high 34 points in an overtime win over Notre Dame on Saturday. Morgan is mixing it up down low and also getting to the foul line. He has four double-doubles on the year, including three in his last four contests. The surging forward leads the squad in scoring and rebounding, and the Hoosiers will need some more Herculean efforts from the junior in order to stay relevant in the Big Ten this season.
Udoka Azubuike (C) 
Azubuike was more of a complementary player last year, but the seven-footer from Nigeria has taken on a more prominent role as a sophomore for the vertically-challenged Jayhawks. With Billy Preston and Silvio De Sousa not yet eligible, Azubuike has led the front line for KU. Azuibuike leads the Jayhawks in rebounding with 8.1 boards per tilt, while showing an extremely nimble touch around the rim. Few opposing centers can match Azubuike's size and width, and he has responded by shooting an outstanding 77.6 percent from the floor. That puts the big man second in the entire country in field goal percentage. It will be interesting to see how Azubuike's minutes are affected if De Sousa and Preston are cleared, but for now, Azubuike will be clogging the lane for the Jayhawks.
Mike Watkins (F) 
Watkins has recorded double-doubles in consecutive games for the Nittany Lions. He has also been a menace on the defensive end as a sophomore. Despite standing at just 6-9, Watkins is averaging a stout 3.5 swats per contest. Only Reggie Lynch of Minnesota is managing more rejections per game in the Big Ten. Watkins had a seven-block outing against Wisconsin earlier this month; he also set a career high with 22 points in that contest. Lamar Stephens and Watkins form a fairly formidable duo in the frontcourt for PSU.
Chimezie Metu (F) 
The Trojans have a stellar starting five but not a whole lot of depth this season. USC has five players averaging more than 28 minutes played per game. Metu is one of those ballers, and he is actually the leading scorer for the Trojans. He posted a career high of 31 points in USC's last game, a win over UC-Santa Barbara. Metu is also averaging 8.1 boards per contest, and posted back-to-back doubles in the two contests before SC's most recent win over the Gauchos. Still, Metu, Jordan McLaughlin and Bennie Boatwright (currently sidelined with a minor foot ailment) will continue to have to play monster minutes for the Trojans to figure into the Pac-12 race. However, forward Nick Rakocevic has come on strong of late with consecutive double-doubles for the Trojans, which could aid their cause.
CHECK STATUS
Marcquise Reed (G)
Reed is the leading scorer on a surprising Clemson squad that currently sits at 10-1 after wins over Florida and South Carolina. The former Robert Morris guard is averaging 20.2 points per game over the last five contests, all wins for the Tigers. Reed is no one-trick pony, though, as he is also managing 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. It will be interesting to see if Reed can keep up this level of play with a challenging upcoming ACC conference schedule. For example, the Tigers play Miami, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Virginia in succession in the middle of January. Still, Reed figures to play heavy minutes, and take plenty of three-pointers, regardless of outcome.
Allonzo Trier (G) 
Trier suffered what looked to be a scary knee injury for the Wildcats in Monday's blowout win over North Dakota State. Trier appears to have escaped serious injury, though, as the junior guard has been diagnosed with a bone bruise. Though he may miss a game in the short term, Trier should be back for what is suddenly a monstrous matchup between Arizona and in-state rival Arizona State on Dec. 30. Trier leads the Wildcats in scoring, just ahead of freshman sensation Deandre Ayton.
Paul White (F) 
White is one of four players currently averaging double figures in points for the Ducks. However, the Georgetown transfer suffered a concussion and will miss at least one game for Oregon, if not more. With the added focus on proper treatment of head injuries, the Ducks could elect to proceed cautiously with one of their starters prior to heading into the meat of Pac-12 conference play. In White's stead, Kenny Wooten is likely to see increased action. Wooten had an impressive outing in Oregon's last game versus Fresno State, accumulating 13 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks in a 68-61 triumph.
Koby McEwen (G) 
There were high expectations for McEwen after a superb freshman campaign. With the graduation of Jalen Moore, it was expected that McEwen would assume the mantle as the focal point of the Aggies squad. Unfortunately, McEwen missed some time due to an ankle injury, and has really not looked in sync through 12 contests. While he is still second in scoring and dishing for the Aggies, McEwen's statistics are down across the board. He is shooting just 40 percent from the floor, and has really struggled at the foul line, hitting just 65.6 percent of his shots from the charity stripe. The 6-4 sharpshooter may be showing signs of breaking loose, though, as he has hit the 20-point mark in two of the last four games. A return to full health and more efficiency will go a long ways towards aiding McEwen's game and turning around his season.
DOWNGRADE
Admon Gilder (G)
Gilder is unlikely to return to the court until January due to a knee issue. The junior guard has been an extremely valuable member of the surprising 9-1 Aggies. Gilder is third in scoring, fifth in rebounding for one of the top rebounding squads in the nation, and second in dishing. In sum, Gilder was averaging 12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for A&M prior to the injury. The Aggies would love to have Gilder back for the Jan. 2 matchup with Florida, though a return the following week in ranked road matchups with Kentucky and Tennessee is more likely. In his absence, expect Marquette transfer Duane Wilson and junior swingman D.J. Hogg to pick up the slack in the backcourt.
DaQuan Jeffries (F) 
The junior forward will miss at least the next month due to a hand injury suffered in practice last week. Jeffries had been a vital cog for the Golden Hurricane to begin the season, but the junior has been sidelined for three games already due to the hand ailment, and obviously more time is needed to rest and rehab before he can return to the court. The transfer from Oral Roberts was third in scoring, second in rebounding and the team leader in both steals and blocks. Senior forward Junior Etou is averaging 21.7 points per contest since Jeffries went down with the injury.
Markell Johnson (G) 
Johnson has been suspended indefinitely for violating the Student-Athlete Code of Conduct for the Wolfpack. The leading assist man for NC State, Johnson was managing a stellar 6.6 dimes per contest. In fact, he is currently second in the ACC in assists, narrowly trailing Duke's Trevon Duval. With Johnson's return to the court up in the air, freshman Braxton Beverly is likely to assume distribution duties. Unfortunately, the loss of Johnson may end up being extremely detrimental to the squad. In NC State's first game without Johnson, the Wolfpack fell to UNC-Greensboro by a score of 81-76.
Isaac Vann (F) 
The transfer from Maine was supposed to boost the NCAA Tournament chances for the Rams this season, but he has been battling an ankle injury most of the season and thus has been unable to find much time on the court. Vann has missed seven of the last eight games, having otherwise played just three minutes against Texas on Dec. 5. With Vann sidelined, the Rams have limped to a 7-5 record to begin the 2017-2018 campaign. VCU is hopeful that Vann will be able to return once Atlantic 10 conference play begins against Fordham at the end of the month. Still, he has barely played for the Rams, and it could take some time for Vann to get back into game shape as well as mesh with his teammates.
