Big 12 Basketball: Preseason mailbag entering 2021-22 campaign
By Andrew Tineo
Which freshman not named Tyrese Hunter will have the biggest impact?
It is hard to go against Baylor forward Kendall Brown, but I will go away from him and pick CJ Noland from Oklahoma.
Noland was mentioned in my breakdown of the Sooners, but his role could land him in the starting rotation and create some opportunities to score near the rim, especially at his six-foot-three, 215-pound build.
He committed to the Sooners over Kansas State, North Texas, and Colorado State and was ranked the No. 87 player in the country, according to 247.
Noland’s defense is a perfect transition to the gauntlet of the Big 12 and Noland can pass the ball at a high clip.
When it comes to how many starts, it’s unclear with Goldwire getting the majority of the load at point guard, but Noland plays more naturally off the ball.
Umoja Gibson and Elijah Harkless are both seniors, which will be very difficult to jump them. However, we have seen experienced players have to take backseats to the bench, most notably with Sherman at West Virginia.
Taurean Prince molded out a long NBA career, as a majority of his college career was off the bench at Baylor. I believe Noland can have a slightly higher freshman impact than Rondel Walker did, but with the same tenacity on defense and higher upside on the offensive end.