NCAA Basketball: Creighton’s fall, Mountain West success among biggest takeaways
By Joey Loose
6. Checking in on the top recruits
One of the biggest talking points in the offseason is recruiting and a lot gets made of the recruit rankings, both for individual prospects and for the teams that land these young players. These lists are never perfect; that would be virtually impossible, but they do a good job of evaluating the most talented prospects in the nation. Today, we’re going to take a look at some of those top prospects and how their seasons are trending.
Considered by some as the top prospect, Nick Smith Jr. missed Arkansas’s first six games but has been explosive since his return, averaging 14.8 points a game and helping the Razorbacks look like a top team. Another talented top recruit was Kel’el Ware at Oregon, though he’s been coming off the bench of this season and is averaging just 9.7 points and 5.5 rebounds for a Ducks team that’s struggled early.
A lot of the focus was on Duke’s top-rated recruiting class and the results have been a mixed bag. Kyle Filipowski (14.8 ppg, 9.2 rpg) has been the early star for the Blue Devils, while top-prospects Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively seem to still be adjusting to the college game, with neither of them making as much of an impact at Duke.
The best-looking prospect early has been Brandon Miller of Alabama, who’s averaging 17.9 points and 8.4 rebounds a game for a Crimson Tide team that sits among the nation’s Top 5. Keyonte George of Baylor is averaging 15.7 points a game and has been critical to the Bears’ success, while Gradey Dick (15.4 ppg) is making himself at home at Kansas.
It’s still too early to tell how some of these players will end up, though nearly everyone we named will get their fair at the NBA in a year or two. Miller has to be the early favorite for Freshman of the Year, but he has some stiff competition from Filipowski and potential George or Dick in the coming months.