This article is part of our Freshman Haze series.
It is time for the Freshman Haze year-end review. I know the year is not ended yet, but we at Haze Headquarters have to gear up for March. Therefore, it is an opportune time for a countdown of the best freshman of the 2015-16 season. I took a statistical snapshot on Sunday, February 7 and put all of the players I have featured in this space into a ranking spreadsheet.
The stats I looked at were minutes, points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers and the percentages (field goal, free throw, three-point). I decided to add in the negative stat of turnovers this year because it is a factor in many fantasy formats. As I've said in the past, it is not a category I like because it penalizes players that do the majority of the ball handling. However, I thought it might add a wrinkle to the top 21 countdown. By the way, the lowest-ranked freshman was Duke's Chase Jeter, who barely saw any playing time. Let's look at 15 through 21.
21. Tyler Dorsey, guard, Oregon Ducks
Dorsey was supposed to have a year of learning from Villanova transfer Dylan Ennis, but the senior only appeared in two games because of foot injuries. The 6-foot-4 guard was thrown in the fire and proved to be a quick study. He is hitting 42.6 percent of his 3-pointers to tally 13.0 points per game. The Ducks have topped the Pac 12 standings due to his steady play and the team has
It is time for the Freshman Haze year-end review. I know the year is not ended yet, but we at Haze Headquarters have to gear up for March. Therefore, it is an opportune time for a countdown of the best freshman of the 2015-16 season. I took a statistical snapshot on Sunday, February 7 and put all of the players I have featured in this space into a ranking spreadsheet.
The stats I looked at were minutes, points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers and the percentages (field goal, free throw, three-point). I decided to add in the negative stat of turnovers this year because it is a factor in many fantasy formats. As I've said in the past, it is not a category I like because it penalizes players that do the majority of the ball handling. However, I thought it might add a wrinkle to the top 21 countdown. By the way, the lowest-ranked freshman was Duke's Chase Jeter, who barely saw any playing time. Let's look at 15 through 21.
21. Tyler Dorsey, guard, Oregon Ducks
Dorsey was supposed to have a year of learning from Villanova transfer Dylan Ennis, but the senior only appeared in two games because of foot injuries. The 6-foot-4 guard was thrown in the fire and proved to be a quick study. He is hitting 42.6 percent of his 3-pointers to tally 13.0 points per game. The Ducks have topped the Pac 12 standings due to his steady play and the team has continued to win despite a recent cold spell from the field (26.9 percent in his last three games). If Ennis is able to redshirt this season, he could share the backcourt with Dorsey in 2016-17.
20. Jerome Robinson, guard, Boston College Eagles
The rankings do not take games played into account, so the fact that Robinson is likely out for the rest of the season with a broken wrist is not a factor. He actually had his best game of the season in the opener with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists in the win over St. Francis (New York). He still earned major playing time even after he quieted down and provided 11.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 33.1 minutes. The Eagles will be counting on Robinson next year to take a step up and help coach Jim Christian's team into respectability.
19. Corey Sanders, guard, Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Like Robinson, Sanders has not been involved in many wins in his freshman season. The Scarlet Knights are firmly entrenched in the basement of the Big Ten, but the 6-2 guard is doing his darnedest to get his team into the win column. He scored 39 points with 12 assists in the triple-overtime loss to Illinois on Feb. 3 and followed that up with 28 points in the loss to Nebraska on Saturday. Sanders is averaging 15.9 points (seventh among profiled freshmen) with 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals (both fifth). He could be a building block for Rutgers to build around.
18. Dejounte Murray, guard, Washington Huskies
Not much was expected from the Huskies this year. They had Andrew Andrews, but everyone else was a first-year question mark. Murray has punctuated the season with exclamations by providing 15.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists to help Washington become a likely tournament team. He had a big game in the overtime win against Arizona State on Feb. 3 with 34 points, 11 rebounds and six assists before fouling out. Murray is a streaky shooter and has been held to single digits seven times.
17. Dedric Lawson, forward, Memphis Tigers
The Tigers have one of the best frontcourt combos in Lawson and Shaq Goodwin in the American Athletic. While Memphis does not look like they will have much to roar about in March, Lawson has been excellent. He is averaging 14.3 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. If one were to criticize the 6-8 forward, it would be for shot selection. He is hitting just 39.1 percent of his field goals and 33.3 percent of his three-pointers. He has plenty of room for improvement and will not have to share the limelight with Goodwin next year.
16. Marcel Pettway, forward, Bryant Bulldogs
I like it when players from small schools who have not won much filter into the rankings. The 6-8 forward who stayed home in Rhode Island to play ball is on a team that has two seven-game losing streaks. He keeps plugging away in the paint to provide 11.4 points and 7.4 rebounds. Pettway has eight double-doubles and has scored at least 20 points four times. With sophomore guard Hunter Ware (13.3 points, 2.2 3-pointers), the Bulldogs may be headed in the right direction.
15. Jordan Varnado, forward, Troy Trojans
Varnado is in the same situation as Pettway. Troy is not going anywhere this season, but the 6-6 forward has gained plenty of experience. He shot out of the gates with five double-doubles in his first nine games, but has not been very productive in Sun Belt conference play. Varnado has still managed to score eight times in conference play, but the Trojans have won just two games. The forward and sophomore guard Wesley Person (16.8 points) both have NBA lineage, so they could lead the Trojans to better places in the next two seasons.
