Freshman Haze: Looking for Staying Power

Just two weeks ago, I was sitting in this spot and I thought I had a pretty good seven players to write about. Some players like Dwayne Bacon and Tyler Dorsey look like they have staying power, but the majority of the freshmen look like they were early season flashes in the pan. It happens. Hopefully, this week's seven has more staying power. Also, I will be writing about Ben Simmons in the near future, but I think we need to pump the breaks just a little. LSU was playing North Florida, which is a fine Atlantic Sun team, but wouldn't fare too well in the SEC. Simmons is an incredible flashy passer, has a great handle for a big man, but I am not sure if he makes his team better ... yet. Let's get to the freshmen.

Dejounte Murray, guard, Washington Huskies

The Huskies were one of the teams I looked at before the season because of their roster turnover. Andrew Andrews is doing his thing in leading the team, but he is getting a nice amount of help from Murray. The 6-foot-5 freshman is providing 13.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists through six games. It helps that Washington does not have a strong frontcourt rebounder, but Murray has collected nine boards four times already. He is a nice secondary facilitator of the offense and has at least three assists in every game. Murray has two 20-point games, including 21 points against Gonzaga just before Thanksgiving. He should be a keeper.

Bryant Crawford, guard, Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Like Dorsey, Crawford has a somewhat limited time to be a feature player for the Demon Deacons. In the next few weeks, Codi Miller-McIntyre will be back which will likely send Crawford to the bench or at least diminish his role. The 6-3 freshman missed the win over UCLA last week with the flu and he may have been affected on Monday against Rutgers (he was just 1-of-8 from the field). Like Murray, Crawford had two 20-point games early in the season. He was also able to salt away with win over Indiana with a pair of late drives to the basket, despite committing eight turnovers.

Chris Clarke, forward, Virginia Tech Hokies

Sticking in the ACC, Clarke has given the Hokies a nice boost in the frontcourt. The 6-6 freshman has been starting next to Zach LeDay, a transfer from South Florida, to give the team nice balance. Clarke is providing 11.4 points and 8.9 rebounds and has three double-doubles. He has mostly stayed out of foul trouble and has doled out two assists in every game until the Tuesday overtime loss to Northwestern. Clarke has hit just 43.3 percent from the field and has not blocked a shot. The undersized frontcourt (LeDay is 6-7) might be problematic in ACC play.

Tyler Lydon, forward, Syracuse Orange

This is kind of an odd season for the Orange. They will be without their coach Jim Boeheim for nine games starting on Saturday against Georgetown. The coach has been a steady presence on the Orange bench for 30 years. Coach-in-waiting Mike Hopkins will have Lydon, a 6-8 New Yorker, who had a double-double in the win over UConn on Thanksgiving. He has shown the ability to both crash the boards and hit three-pointers. Lydon is averaging 8.0 rebounds to go with 10.4 points and has made 50 percent of his three-pointers. He added six blocks against Charlotte and is averaging 2.3 rejections. Lydon did not do much in the overtime loss to Wisconsin on Wednesday (four points, four boards in 42 minutes), but he should bounce back Saturday against Georgetown.

Nick Emery, guard, BYU Cougars

Emery is in the news for the wrong reasons on Thursday morning. He was ejected from the Wednesday loss to Utah after punching Ute guard Brandon Taylor in the face. This is a shame because it was a stupid thing to do and Emery had been playing well. He will likely be suspended for multiple games. The 6-2 guard was coming off a 27-point outing against Belmont and has hit 13 three-pointers in his last four games. Perhaps more importantly, Emery had played at least 33 minutes in his last three games. After he sits out and thinks about his actions, Emery should be back to help BYU in the WCC.

Marcus Evans, guard, Rice Owls

Evans has busted out of a group of freshman guards to nab a starting spot next to Arizona State transfer Egor Koulechov. The duo are one of the top scoring backcourts in the country with Evans putting up 17.8 points (next to Koulechov's 18.8). The 6-2 freshman is at his best when he is attacking the rim and already has four games in which he has attempted nine free throws. He is converting 75 percent from the line and has added 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the 2-5 Owls. Rice has only won 24 games over the past three seasons; with players like Evans, the future may be brighter.

Kyle Foreman, guard, Boston University Terriers

In his first month with the Terriers, Foreman has had ups and downs – mostly ups. He has been the two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week, but the 6-2 freshman did not play against Massachusetts on Wednesday because of an injury. Eric Johnson stepped into Foreman's spot, but the team was not competitive without its freshman point guard. Foreman is averaging 12.2 points and 5.3 assists, and has made 44.4 percent of his three-pointers. The freshmen's excellent early season play has allowed Cheddi Mosely and John Papale to concentrate on scoring for the 3-4 Terriers. Eric Johnson (suspension) and Cedric Hankerson (knee) recently returned to the Terrier lineup, so Foreman will have some competition for playing time when he returns from his injury.