Do Freshmen Matter Anymore?

MVC Has Some Good Ones

(St. Louis, MO) – During the ‘portal pandemic’ era of college basketball we have to ask the question, ‘Do freshmen matter anymore?’ Can so-called mid-major programs recruit and win with freshmen on the team? Will the talented ones simply move on after a year or two?

These questions and concerns are challenges for coaches in the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences. Coaches routinely say and believe that teams have to get old to win. During this new era of free player movement, many teams choose to ‘get old’ by recruiting older players.

There are no ‘true’ freshmen playing meaningful minutes for roughly have of the MVC teams.

Two programs that have traditionally taken the long view and recruited and developed young players (Belmont and Northern Iowa) are still doing so today. Can it last? Casey Alexander at Belmont and Ben Jacobson at UNI have several good first-year players, but one reason Jacobson is playing his freshmen a good amount is because of the transfer of Noah Carter to Missouri. One of the reasons Alexander is relying on some rookies is due to Will Richard’s move to Florida.

Belmont freshman Cade Tyson ranks thirteenth in the Valley scoring race and is the only freshman on that list. There are no OVC rookies in that league’s top thirty. Seven OVC teams receive very little contribution from their first year players.

So are teams better off shopping in the portal since they struggle to find contributors and then equally fight to hold on to the productive ones? MVC and OVC coaches are still struggling to learn the balance in these shifting strategies.

Do freshmen matter anymore?

Valley’s Top Freshmen

Belmont’s Tyson and point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie have impressed and coach Alexander needed them to be as good as their high school ratings indicated. While Ben Sheppard is the headliner, transfers Drew Friberg and Keishawn Davidson have played well. The rookies have rounded out the lineup nicely.

While Alexander truly believes in building with freshmen, his team would struggle mightily if not for the contributions of Friberg and Davidson. Make no mistake, Tyson and Gillespie have performed and they look like Belmont players. Gillespie is among the league leaders in assists and steals and Tyson is second in free throw percentage and third in long distance accuracy.

Alexander says Gillespie and Tyson are playing important roles.

 

 

Those two are keepers… or are they? We might ask, ‘who is recruiting them right now?’

Northern Iowa has force-fed freshmen to the challenges of Division 1 basketball. With A.J. Green moving to the NBA and Carter moving to the Southeastern Conference, the likelihood of significant playing opportunities was there for Panther freshmen.

Injuries to Nate Heise and Austin Phyfe’s blood clot issues meant the youngsters had to step front and center. Trey Campbell, Michael Duax, Landon Wolf have shown flashes of the significant roles they will play in the future and are playing somewhat right now.

They are Jacobson’s third, fourth and fifth leading scorers. Wolf is the team’s second most prolific three-point shooter. Duax is its third leading rebounder, while Campbell is second in steals and assists. He has started all 16 UNI games and is third in minutes played.

Jacobson says playing in games is the best experience and his rookies are benefitting and contributing.

 

 

Twins in Chicago?

Illinois Chicago has a pair of freshmen that are big part of the Flames’ attack now and potentially in the future. Jalen Jackson and Christian Jones are playing heavy minutes for Luke Yaklich’s squad and are proving they belong. Each has started nine of the Flames’ 18 games.

Both rookies are playing over twenty-three minutes per game and they are averaging an identical 5.8 points per game and 1.9 rebounds. The 6’2 Jackson made his early mark on the defensive end and is growing offensively. Jones is impossible to miss when he is playing. He has speed and seems to always be on the move. East St. Louis’ Jones and Fort Wayne’s Jackson have each recorded three double-digit scoring games.

Yaklich says his freshmen matter and they are consistently growing.

 

 

Is Avila The Best of the Bunch?

Indiana State’s Robbie Avila will likely battle Tyson for the Freshman of the Year award and was a recruiting coup for coach Josh Schertz. Rated as sixth best player coming out of Illinois, Avila was known as one of the best power forwards nationally.

While his overall statistics aren’t eye-popping, he has had big moments and seems to be growing into the college game. He averages a respectable 8.8 points and 4.2 rebounds, but over the last three games, he’s averaging 13.3 and 6.7.

Schertz says the plan was to bring him along slowly, but an injury force fed some minutes to his 6’10, Oak Forest, Illinois native.

 

 

Freshmen Matter

Most Valley coaches tell me they are learning how to navigate the portal, but must also figure out a way to stack classes. While older players have a proven track record, short term roster make up doesn’t allow for much of that ‘culture building’ we hear every college coach say is critical.

While power conferences may come poaching during the portal pandemic, recruiting and developing players for long term success still seems relevant and important to the health of programs like those in the Missouri Valley.

Valparaiso’s Maximus Nelson, Missouri State’s Damien Mayo and N.J. Benson and Evansville’s Gabe Spinelli are other freshmen that bear watching.

Every current Valley Player of the Year candidate came to the league as freshmen. Player growth, development and team continuity are truly important and that’s why freshmen matter.

Do Good