College basketball’s 9 most important freshmen, ranked

The one-and-done era is entering its golden years. With the NBA set to abolish its age limit by 2020 or 2021, a period of college basketball that has been defined by freshmen is coming to a close.

Pretty soon, super prospects like Kevin Durant, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Ben Simmons will never step foot on campus. The pros and cons of the one-and-done rule have been argued ad nauseam, but college basketball will be missing something when the best young players in the country ultimately decide to go straight to the pros.

Savor this while you still can. College basketball is welcoming in another exciting crop of freshmen this year, with the top three prospects in ESPN’s recruiting rankings all choosing Duke. While the 2016 freshmen class was led by its point guards (Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, Dennis Smith, De’Aaron Fox) and last year’s group was defined by big men (Deandre Ayton, Mohamed Bamba, Marvin Bagley, Wendell Carter), this season’s top freshmen mostly play on the wing.

These are the best freshmen in college basketball, ranked by how important they will be to the national landscape and discussion around the sport.

Kansas has the deepest roster in the country at the start of the season. The main storyline for the Jayhawks will be how they integrate a strong group of transfers, led by star forward Dedric Lawson and also including his brother K.J. Lawson and point guard Charlie Moore. Of course, there is also another top-five recruiting class on the way. Quentin Grimes is the biggest blue chipper of the bunch.

Grimes is a sturdy and dependable 6’5 shooting guard who has produced at the highest levels of play for his age group. He was named MVP of the FIBA Americas U18 Championship after leading Team USA to gold by averaging 14.7 points, four rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. Kansas fans can expect a freshmen with a well-rounded, two-way game who should be filling up box scores from the very start of the season.

Reddish might have the highest natural talent level of any freshmen in the country. That’s why we put him at No. 1 in our initial 2019 NBA mock draft. So why is he only No. 8 in this list? Because Duke’s other two super freshmen (more on them later) are going to draw most of the headlines while likely also taking on a larger percentage of the offensive possessions. For Duke to reach its national title ceiling this year, it needs Reddish to tap into his role player potential as a defender, spot-up shooter and passer who plays with energy.

But make no mistake: Reddish is good enough to carry an offense all by himself. He makes the game looks so effortless at times as a 6’8 wing with a 7’1 wingspan who can shoot, pass and create while playing on or off the ball. Reddish is already comfortable ripping pull-up jumpers, and honed his playmaking skills as a high school point guard. For all of his talent, it is curious that Reddish only shot 40 percent from the field last season on Nike’s EYBL circuit.

Reddish has faced questions about his motor and feel for the game. If he answers both in a positive way, Duke is going to be an absolute juggernaut this season.

Every blue blood in the country wanted Darius Garland. Despite holding offers from Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, and plenty more, the dynamic point guard chose to stay home and play for Vanderbilt, where he’ll team up with fellow five-star recruit Simi Shittu (a bouncy forward with playmaking ability) to form one of America’s top freshmen tandems.

Garland is in complete control of the offense at all times. At 6’2, he’s a speedy lead guard who can hit shots all over the floor. He can burn defenders off the dribble and has the vision and passing talent to find open teammates. He isn’t the biggest or most explosive point guard in the world, but his advanced skill level is what sets him apart as the best freshmen point guard in America.

If Kentucky is going to live up to the hype as a popular pick for preseason No. 1, it’s going to need Keldon Johnson to be a certified offensive weapon. Johnson is a 6’6 wing with a developed scoring package, finding ways to get buckets from mid-range and at the rim. He might not have the jaw-dropping athleticism of Hamidou Diallo or the long-term upside of Kevin Knox, but Johnson should be able to fill their void because he’s a workhorse scorer who never stops attacking.

The Wildcats are hoping he’s made strides as a three-point shooter over the summer. Kentucky was light on shooters last year and it could be a problem again if Johnson isn’t stretching the floor.

Langford became a high school hero in Indiana by scoring more than 3,000 career points and winning a state title at New Albany High. His decision to chose the Hoosiers over a host of blue bloods (specifically Kansas) only enhances his legend. He’s the biggest recruit in Bloomington since Eric Gordon, and his presence gives IU a chance to get back to the NCAA tournament after missing out the last two seasons.

Langford can give you buckets at the rim, from mid-range and beyond the arc. Archie Miller should be running him off screens all year, allowing him to attack close-outs when he’s not getting catch-and-shoot opportunities. There’s a good chance he posts the highest scoring average of any player on this list.

Indiana already has one proven offensive force in senior big man Juwan Morgan. If Langford lives up to the hype, IU should be competitive in the Big Ten.

The son of Manute Bol is going to be a sensation as a freshman at Oregon. Bol Bol is a physical anomaly, a 7’3 center with a reported 7’8 wingspan who is knockdown shooter from three-point range. Bol hit 49 percent of his threes in Nike’s EYBL circuit and hit 83 percent from the foul line. Where perimeter shooting felt like a novelty for his father, the ability to stretch the floor from behind the arc is the bedrock of Bol’s game.

Bol is also a terror defending the rim, using his historic length to block 4.5 shots per game on the EYBL. He’ll need to add strength and scouts have questioned his motor and his focus, but there’s no arguing with his level of production. He’ll team up with another blue chip recruit — scoring wing Louis King — in Eugene for a Ducks team that looks like a whole lot of fun heading into the season.

UNC endured some down years in recruiting while a massive academic fraud scandal hung over the program. Now that it’s over, something funny has happened: Chapel Hill looks like an NCAA safehouse. Take Nassir Little, who appeared ticketed for Arizona before the FBI investigation hit. He quickly pivoted to North Carolina, proving the Tar Heels have returned to their rightful blue blood status on the recruiting trail. UNC hasn’t had a top-five NBA draft pick since 2005 (when they had two: Raymond Felton and Marvin Williams), and Little is poised to change that.

Little is the type of long, strong wing teams at every level of the game covet. His motor was his best attribute early in his high school career. As his skill level caught up, he rocketed up the rankings, climbing as high as the No. 2 player in his class according to Rivals after winning MVP of the McDonald’s Game.

Little is progressing as a shooter and as a ball handler. His physicality is already top-notch, giving UNC a versatile forward with a 7’1 wingspan who can slide all over the lineup. He remains an intense competitor who shouldn’t back down from playing a critical role on a team with preseason national title inspirations. The scariest thing about Nas Little? He’s just figuring out how good he can be.

Barrett is a golden boy in every sense: the future of Canadian basketball, the consensus No. 1 prospect in his class (even after skipping a year in high school), the favorite to be the top pick in the NBA draft. He has proven himself on every stage before reaching Duke, most notably by knocking off John Calipari’s USA team by scoring 38 points in the FIBA U19 World Cup. To put it simply: Barrett is can’t miss.

At 6’7, Barrett is a slashing wing whose special ability is sidestepping around defenders to finish at the rim. He also sees the floor well as a passer and generally plays a high-IQ game. Defensively, he has the mindset and the length to match up with anyone on the perimeter. This is a star-level player who never takes a possession off.

Barrett has the talent to be an offense unto himself, but at Duke he’ll have to blend in with two other one-and-done studs. This will put a focus on his ability to play off the ball at times, which means fine-tuning his jump shot and knowing when to facilitate. It will be fascinating to see how this experiment with three top recruits at Duke works, but it should be a crash course into what NBA life will be like for him. Barrett is good enough to play in the league right now. In the meantime, Duke is thankful the one-and-done isn’t abolished just yet.

It’s hard to know exactly what to make of Zion Williamson if only because we have never seen a player quite like him. He is the height of a shooting guard (6’6) yet would be the second heaviest player in the NBA right now at 285 pounds. He’s also one of the most explosive leapers you will ever see, with his ridiculous dunking ability making him a household name well before he ever attended high school prom.

But make no mistake: Williamson is more than a dunker. He leverages that raw athletic power to play with ferocity on both ends of the floor, turning himself into a monster rebounder, capable shot blocker, and a thief in the passing lanes. Best of all, he plays a high-IQ game and never seems to lose his poise or get lost in the moment.

Williamson can handle the ball and pass it. He can act as a point-forward, initiating the offense one minute and darting through the lane for a rebound or dunk the next. There will be nothing more thrilling in the sport this year than watching him grab a board, push the ball down the court and destroy the rim with a dunk.

Williamson has the potential to be the first pick in the NBA draft, but it’s also possible he’s the third Duke player off the board. Either way, he’s going to be the talk of college basketball all year.