Top 10 Freshmen in College Basketball — Week 7 Edition
Top 10 Freshmen in College Basketball - Week 7
The no. 1 and no. 2 spots in this ranking might as well be cemented in stone because they haven't changed in four weeks. Jabari Parker and Julius Randle continue to be the two best players in this year's freshman crop. Parker scores 20 seemingly every night, while Randle is a double-double machine and this week was no different for either player.
We do have a new addition this week with Aaron Harrison, who has been on fire for the Kentucky Wildcats. The rankings will be without Nigel Williams-Goss, who is not ranked for the first time this season. These rankings are meant to keep a rolling rank of who is putting up the best stats for the season and who has been hot recently. Williams-Goss still has a very solid freshman campaign going, but has been on a slow decline over the past few weeks. This was a demotion that has been in the works for weeks.
Another big surprise is the ranking of freshman phenom Andrew Wiggins; he has only played well in games that his team loses, which is very odd. Wiggins, Parker and Randle are still in line to be the top picks in next June's NBA Draft, but Wiggins is losing his overall lead.
The rest of the names in this week's rankings are familiar, but there was some shakeup this week. Take a look and see where your favorite freshman is ranked this week.
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8. Andrew Wiggins
Wiggins has 23 total points and five total rebounds in his last two games. After climbing back in the top three a few weeks ago, he is back to underperforming. Wiggins has been hot and cold all year long. 39.3 percent shooting over his last five games just isn't going to cut it. (Last week: 5)
7. Aaron Gordon
Gordon had his second-worst game of the season with eight points and five rebounds last week, which drops him considering that others had big weeks. Gordon has only failed to score double-digit points twice, and has had less than seven rebounds four times all season. However, they have all been in the past four games. (Last week: 4)
6. Joel Embiid
Embiid continues to move up with his increased playing time. He managed 17 points (on only four shot attempts) and eight rebounds in 21 minutes of action in a Kansas win over Georgetown this week. (Last week: 8)
4. Tyler Ennis
Ennis is on a ride straight up these rankings. He was unranked earlier in the season because others were posting big numbers, but he is without a doubt the most improved freshman from the start of the season. Ennis tied his season-high with nine assists and five steals this week. (Last week: 6)
1. Jabari Parker
Parker had another ho-hum week, posting 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in Duke's lone game this week. Parker would have to have a drastic reduction in production or another player to play out of their minds for him to lose his stranglehold on this spot. (Last week: 1)