This article is part of our Freshman Haze series.
Not every freshman gets to have a starring role. Some first-year players choose schools that already have established stars at their position. They can choose to sulk on the bench or to make the best of the situation, doing what they can in either limited minutes or playing out of position. The following seven players have taken on the identity of role players after being stars in high school. Keeper and dynasty league players should take note: if they stay in school for another season or two, they could become stars.
Cameron Lard (F) 
It became apparent early on that the Cyclones had their backcourt pieces in place. The previously profiled Lindell Wigginton, Donovan Jackson, and point guard Nick Weiler-Babb guided the team to nine straight wins, but there were questions in the frontcourt. The 6-foot-9 Lard has stepped in and given the team an option in the paint. He is averaging 11.1 points on 63.8 percent shooting, with 6.5 rebounds for good measure. He has three double-doubles, including 21 points and 16 rebounds in the overtime loss to Texas on New Year's Day. Lard's role on Iowa State should grow and he may help the team get some wins in conference play.
Gary Trent (G) 
The Blue Devils have a lot of stars, so a player like Trent can get lost among the Grayson Allens and Marvin Bagleys. The guard came to Duke with the reputation as a superior shooter, but he has only shown the ability to knock
Not every freshman gets to have a starring role. Some first-year players choose schools that already have established stars at their position. They can choose to sulk on the bench or to make the best of the situation, doing what they can in either limited minutes or playing out of position. The following seven players have taken on the identity of role players after being stars in high school. Keeper and dynasty league players should take note: if they stay in school for another season or two, they could become stars.
Cameron Lard (F)
It became apparent early on that the Cyclones had their backcourt pieces in place. The previously profiled Lindell Wigginton, Donovan Jackson, and point guard Nick Weiler-Babb guided the team to nine straight wins, but there were questions in the frontcourt. The 6-foot-9 Lard has stepped in and given the team an option in the paint. He is averaging 11.1 points on 63.8 percent shooting, with 6.5 rebounds for good measure. He has three double-doubles, including 21 points and 16 rebounds in the overtime loss to Texas on New Year's Day. Lard's role on Iowa State should grow and he may help the team get some wins in conference play.
Gary Trent (G)
The Blue Devils have a lot of stars, so a player like Trent can get lost among the Grayson Allens and Marvin Bagleys. The guard came to Duke with the reputation as a superior shooter, but he has only shown the ability to knock down 3-pointers in spurts. On the season, he is hitting 35.6 percent of his 3-pointers and averaging 13.0 points. Trent is an excellent free-throw shooter and has only missed two freebies (37-of-39, 94.9 percent). He may need to stick around Durham for another season to get a starring role after Allen, Bagley, and possibly Wendell Carter move on.
Lonnie Walker IV (G) 
Walker is another player in search of a better role for his team. He came to Miami as a McDonald's All-American who had torn his ACL last year. The 6-4 guard was able to play on opening day and has given the Hurricanes guard depth. He had one big scoring game against Boston University on Dec. 5 with 26 points, but has not been able to score more than 13 points. The problem for Walker is that Miami already has Bruce Brown and Ja'Quan Newton in the backcourt, so there are not many shots for him. He has averaged 8.1 points on 42.3 percent from the field. One item of note -- he did step into the starting lineup Sunday for just the second time this season.
Jaylen Hands (G) 
The 6-3 Hands is the heir apparent to Lonzo Ball, but the Bruins already have a capable point guard in Aaron Holiday. The freshman has had to move over to the shooting guard role and has aclimated himself nicely with 11.8 points and 41.4 percent of his 3-pointers. Hands had his most effective passing game on Saturday with eight assists to go along with 11 points off the bench in the win over California. Holiday is just a junior, so Hands may not be able to be the Bruin point guard until 2019-20. It is never a bad thing to have extra ball handlers.
Souley Boum (G) 
Boum stayed home to go to school. The native of Oakland joined the Dons and made his mark in the early season with a pair of 20-point games to start. He missed three of four games in early December, but has only been held to single-digit scoring three times. Unfortunately, two of those low-scoring efforts have been in the last week, as Boum was held to a combined 12 points on 28.6 percent from the field in a split with BYU and Pepperdine. He opened WCC play with a 26-point performance in the win over Portland. Boum leads the Dons with 14.2 points.
Jordan Goodwin (G) 
Goodwin's change in role may be an unfortunate one: he injured his ankle on Saturday against Richmond and did not return after playing just six minutes. The 6-3 guard had played at least 30 minutes in every other game after starting from the opening tip. He really struggled from 3-point range in the first six weeks of the season, but had improved during conference play with 3-of-5. The Billikens can ill afford to lose Goodwin, who is leading the team with 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals to go along with 11.3 points, but Rutgers transfer D.J. Foreman will get more playing time.
David Jenkins Jr. (G) 
The Jackrabbits needed a player to take some of the pressure off star forward Mike Daum. Enter the 6-2 Jenkins, who is second on the team with 14.7 points. It helps that opponents have to concentrate on the 6-8 Daum, who can set up Jenkins for plenty of open shots. The guard has scored at least 20 points five times with a season-high of 31 points on Dec. 15 in the double-overtime loss to Colorado (which is the only loss for the Jackrabbits in the last month). South Dakota State leads the Summit League in scoring at 86.6 points and Jenkins is a big reason why.
