Freshman Takeover

College Basketball’s Elite Freshman Class

Photo from Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

In 2026, college basketball has had one of its craziest seasons yet. The level of play has been unbelievable, specifically in the freshman class. In the 2025 recruiting class, there were three players who were ranked number one in the country at one point, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Duke’s Cam Boozer, and none of them have disappointed. 

Though these players have been elite, other freshman athletes have come out of nowhere and dominated. Illinois’ Keaton Wagler was a consensus three-star recruit and has had one the best seasons of any player in college basketball. Wagler is averaging 18.5 points per game, five rebounds and four assists. In one game, Wagler scored 46 points, which is the most ever scored in the game by a true freshman.

Although these freshmen have been successful in college basketball this season, many of them are projected to leave and enter the NBA draft as first-round picks. In a recent mock draft, 15 of the projected 30 players drafted in the first round are true freshmen. With all of this exceptional talent, March Madness is bound to be one of the best tournaments in recent history.