This article is part of our Freshman Haze series.
Now that we are over the post-Valentine's Day bump (joyous for many, depressing for others), we are in range. If you concentrate hard enough, you can almost see through the February sheet on the calendar to look at beautiful, sweet, loving March: a month in which only the greatest of people were born. Anyhoo, per my tradition, I will spend the last three weeks of this year's rendition of the Freshman Haze looking at the top-21 freshmen of the season.
Here is my method: as I profile seven freshmen each week, I add their names to a spreadsheet. Last Sunday, I entered all of the players' stats and ranked them. The stats I used for ranking were minutes played, field-goal percentage, three-point percentage, free-throw percentage, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals and points. This is not a fool-proof method of ranking, but it is good enough. It is not fair to the Kentucky freshmen who got stuck in a minutes crush, but they were not the best fantasy assets this season.
Let's look at 15-21 (in reverse order to allow for some drama).
21. Bryant McIntosh, guard, Northwest Wildcats
Coach Chris Collins' second year in Evanston has not gone well. The team is once again at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, but there may be some hope for the future. Small forward Vic Law and guard Bryant McIntosh have been productive freshmen. The 6-foot-3 McIntosh had a run of double-digit scoring production from December to January. As befits a freshman,
Now that we are over the post-Valentine's Day bump (joyous for many, depressing for others), we are in range. If you concentrate hard enough, you can almost see through the February sheet on the calendar to look at beautiful, sweet, loving March: a month in which only the greatest of people were born. Anyhoo, per my tradition, I will spend the last three weeks of this year's rendition of the Freshman Haze looking at the top-21 freshmen of the season.
Here is my method: as I profile seven freshmen each week, I add their names to a spreadsheet. Last Sunday, I entered all of the players' stats and ranked them. The stats I used for ranking were minutes played, field-goal percentage, three-point percentage, free-throw percentage, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals and points. This is not a fool-proof method of ranking, but it is good enough. It is not fair to the Kentucky freshmen who got stuck in a minutes crush, but they were not the best fantasy assets this season.
Let's look at 15-21 (in reverse order to allow for some drama).
21. Bryant McIntosh, guard, Northwest Wildcats
Coach Chris Collins' second year in Evanston has not gone well. The team is once again at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, but there may be some hope for the future. Small forward Vic Law and guard Bryant McIntosh have been productive freshmen. The 6-foot-3 McIntosh had a run of double-digit scoring production from December to January. As befits a freshman, he has been inconsistent lately with three games of four of fewer points in his last eight. He had at least 12 points in the other five most recent games. McIntosh is hitting a healthy 37.3 percent of his three-pointers with a 12.2 scoring average and 4.3 assists.
20. Peyton Aldridge, Davidson Wildcats
While there are no Kentucky Wildcats at the top of the list, the mascot is well represented. Aldridge is a 6-7 forward who has provided 10.7 points and 5.0 rebounds to help these Wildcats compete in the team's new conference, the A10. The squad is just one game out of the lead. Davidson may be in a spot of trouble without point guard Jack Gibbs (meniscus tear), but Aldridge could be a surprise factor. He has scored 20 or more points four times, most recently Jan. 31 against St. Joe's. Aldridge had a sad Valentine's Day with his first scoreless game in a win over La Salle.
19. Justise Winslow, forward, Duke Blue Devils
Winslow is one of those players helped in the rankings because he does a lot of things well -- if nothing really well. The wide-body 6-6 forward had three straight double-doubles in a trio of wins against Virginia, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame a week ago. Winslow slumped in mid-January with a quarter of games in which he averaged 3.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. It appears he is back in good form. Overall, the Blue Devil averages 11.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
19. Daniel Hamilton, guard/forward, Connecticut Huskies
Hamilton and Winslow finished the rankings tied and it is not hard to see why. Both wing players can do a lot of things. They can hit three-pointers, rebound and facilitate the offense. Hamilton leads the Huskies in rebounding with 7.0 per game despite weighing just 190. He adds 10.2 points and 3.2 assists to his statistical resume for a player with a lot of upside. When Ryan Boatright moves on next year, Connecticut could be Hamilton's team.
17. Eric Paschall, guard, Fordham Rams
In fantasy leagues, volume counts. Paschall might not be the most accurate shooter, but he is getting a ton of shots for the Rams and is making just enough of them. The 6-6 guard hasn't been able to lift Fordham to many wins (just two in A10 play -- both in the last three games), but he has showed the ability to score against anyone. Before being held to 10 points in the Sunday win over St. Joe's, Paschall had scored at least 17 points in seven straight games. He has been attacking the rim more often and makes 78.8 percent of his freebies.
16. Dillon Brooks, forward, Oregon Ducks
Other than guard Joseph Young, the Ducks had little of substance coming back. It has been players like the 6-6 Brooks who have helped the team to the edge of the tournament bubble. Brooks is pretty good from within the arc (46.2 percent from the field, just 29.7 percent from three-point range), and he makes his free throws (81.8 percent). Brooks has had his playing time reduced because of foul trouble. He played just 21 minutes in Saturday's loss to UCLA because he accrued early fouls. Expect him to finish the season strong.
15. David Collette, forward, Utah State Aggies
Collette stands out on this list of largely frontcourt players because he makes his shots (56.9 percent from the field) and rejects others (2.1 blocks). The 6-8 native of Utah was plagued by foul trouble in the early season as his defensive aggressiveness got the best of him. Fouls are still a threat to his playing time, but has managed to block at least two shots in each of his last 10 games. He has scored in double digits in six of his last seven contests, including 24 points in the Jan. 24 overtime loss to UNLV. It should be exciting to see where Collette goes from here with a new coach in tow next season.
