In the past 20 years, the college game has seen a sea change. In the old days, when the best players stuck around to be seniors, you got excited about a recruiting class because you would get to watch that group grow together for a period of years. Now, you get excited because you may get to see a great young talent for a year before he goes to the NBA.
The length of time a star stays has changed, but so has the quality of player. The truth is, the best high school players, generally, are better and more talented now than ever. They are more athletic, more skilled and superior players. Yet college basketball is not as good as it was 20 years ago, because these ubertalented players don't stick around for very long.
Because these young players are really good, they are also the difference between winning and losing in today's game. A top freshman class can make more of an impact now than ever. Yet, they are not perfect.
Here are seven of the best incoming freshmen in the nation, their strengths and some things they need to improve to become complete players and make the biggest impact for their teams.
To read how some of the best incoming can make big impacts this season, you must be an ESPN Insider.
Jay Bilas
College Basketball analyst- College basketball analyst for ESPN and ESPN Insider
- Played and coached at Duke
- Practicing attorney
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Jay Bilas
Jay Bilas provides expert color commentary from courtside on college basketball games and serves as a studio analyst and as the co-host of ESPN's popular studio shows "College GameDay" and "College Gamenight." He also writes for ESPN.com and contributes numerous reports for "SportsCenter." Since 2003, Bilas has provided in-depth player scouting and analysis for ESPN's coverage of the NBA draft.
