NCAA Basketball: Luguentz Dort and James Akinjo latest freshmen on the rise

As December approaches, the freshmen class is beginning to find their footing as they continue to rise and put the nation on notice.

The college basketball season is roughly a month in and a new class of freshmen are starting to set themselves apart from the rest of their counterparts.

The last edition saw the likes of Quentin Grimes, Lamine Diane, Cam Reddish, Antoine Davis and Darius Garland led the way and in this edition, there’s some new blood making names for themselves. Davis leads all freshmen in points per game (30.0) and minutes per game (37.9) in the early going.

The Vanderbilt Commodores got a bit of bad news when it was announced freshman guard Darius Garland would be out for the remainder of the season after undergoing knee surgery to repair his meniscus. Without their star guard, they’ll have to lean heavily on freshman forward Simi Shittu.

Shittu had 17 points, five assists and three rebounds in the Commodores victory over the Savannah State Tigers on Tuesday night. It was their first full game without Garland in the rotation. He’ll be a player to keep an eye on with Garland out for the remainder of the season.

Injuries hopefully won’t dampen any more players’ seasons in 2018-19. There’s a new set of freshmen on the rise in this week’s edition. Here’s a look at players excelling in their first season.