This article is part of our Freshman Haze series.
The bubble is coming into view. Bubbles don't generally last three weeks, but the NCAA tournament bubble takes awhile to come into focus. In terms of excellent freshmen, it appears that two schools: Kentucky and Duke took the majority of the best of the lot. I wonder how many of the top Wildcats and Blue Devils will come back. We'll know in a few months.
This week, we look at the middle of the top 21 freshmen. There are not very much surprising names, but there are some surprising placements. Don't forget, these rankings are based on the numbers, not my eye test. Let's get to it.
14. Isaiah Whitehead, guard, Seton Hall Pirates
At one point this season, it looked like Seton Hall might have freshmen to equal any other team. Angel Delgado is a good bet to lead the Big East in rebounding and Whitehead is an athletic wing with playmaking abilities. Then the 6-foot-4 native of Brooklyn hurt his foot and missed nine games. The Pirates managed to go 5-4 without him, but his return has upset the applecart, and the team has lost six straight to fall out of contention. Whitehead averages 12.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists, and he should be one of the better players in the conference next year.
13. James Blackmon Jr., guard, Indiana Hoosiers
The Hoosiers figured to be point guard Yogi Ferrell's team and they would go as far as he could lead them. Happily, Ferrell has not had
The bubble is coming into view. Bubbles don't generally last three weeks, but the NCAA tournament bubble takes awhile to come into focus. In terms of excellent freshmen, it appears that two schools: Kentucky and Duke took the majority of the best of the lot. I wonder how many of the top Wildcats and Blue Devils will come back. We'll know in a few months.
This week, we look at the middle of the top 21 freshmen. There are not very much surprising names, but there are some surprising placements. Don't forget, these rankings are based on the numbers, not my eye test. Let's get to it.
14. Isaiah Whitehead, guard, Seton Hall Pirates
At one point this season, it looked like Seton Hall might have freshmen to equal any other team. Angel Delgado is a good bet to lead the Big East in rebounding and Whitehead is an athletic wing with playmaking abilities. Then the 6-foot-4 native of Brooklyn hurt his foot and missed nine games. The Pirates managed to go 5-4 without him, but his return has upset the applecart, and the team has lost six straight to fall out of contention. Whitehead averages 12.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists, and he should be one of the better players in the conference next year.
13. James Blackmon Jr., guard, Indiana Hoosiers
The Hoosiers figured to be point guard Yogi Ferrell's team and they would go as far as he could lead them. Happily, Ferrell has not had to do it alone and Blackmon has emerged as a capable scorer from the wing. The 6-4 guard has equaled Ferrell's scoring output with 16.1 points and hit better than 40 percent of his three-pointers. He has hit 20 points or more nine times, including four games in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers are one of those bubble teams, so you may see Blackmon in the Big Dance.
12. Riley LaChance, guard, Vanderbilt Commodores
It has been a few years since Vanderbilt was relevant in the SEC. The last time the Commodores made the NCAA Tournament was 2012. Perhaps coach Kevin Stallings get things turned around with the 2014-15 freshman class that includes Wade Baldwin and the 6-2 LaChance. The Wisconsin native has hit 38.4 percent of his three-pointers on his was to 12.6 points to go along with 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He had back-to-back 26-point games in mid-January in a pair of wins against Purdue and Western Carolina.
11. Rashad Vaughn, guard, UNLV Runnin' Rebels
Just as an injury cost Whitehead a quarter of the season, Vaughn has succumbed to a knee injury that has cost him the last three games. The 6-6 McDonald's All-American had been playing very well before the injury. He put 30 points on Colorado State in a loss on Feb. 7. He averages 17.8 points and 4.8 rebounds. Vaughn hopes to return for the Mountain West conference tournament in two weeks. The Rebels have gone 1-2 without him, so they hope he returns as well.
10. Jahlil Okafor, center, Duke Blue Devils
This may seem like an outrageously low ranking for the player who is the odds on No. 1 pick of the 2015 draft. Like most big men, Okafor doesn't shoot three-pointers, but he also doesn't get many assists or steals. Then, there is the curse of the big man: free throws. The Blue Devils' 7-footer is making just 54.8 percent of his freebies. He missed the win over Clemson with a sprained ankle. He should be back before too long and will bring low post dominance to Duke.
9. Chris McCullough, forward, Syracuse Orange
Perhaps next year I will re-jigger my rankings to cause players who suffer injuries to fall. McCullough has missed the majority of conference play after tearing his ACL on Jan. 8. The reason for the high ranking for the 6-10 native of the Bronx is his all-around play. He was particularly a menace on the defensive end with 1.7 steals and 2.1 blocks. It also helped a great deal that he hit the only three-pointer he attempted. McCullough opened the season with three double-doubles in his first eight games before cooling off in December. The upper New York winter will do that to a player.
8. Pascal Siakam, forward, New Mexico State Aggies
If we consider UNLV a power conference school (and they probably should be), then Siakim is the only player from eight to 15 from the "mid-majors." The 6-9 native of Cameroon has proved to be a monster in the paint. He has five double-doubles and averages of 13.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. He has a decent stroke from the line (75.2 percent) and has hit 58.4 percent of his field goals. The Aggies are going to coast to the WAC regular season and will need to win three conference tournament games for Siakam to get a wider exposure.
