Two years ago, the trio of Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith Jr. set the bar very high for instant-impact freshman classes. All three -- who were ranked in the top six of the ESPN 100 coming out of high school -- were named All-Americans and ended up as the top three picks in the 2022 NBA draft.
Things regressed a bit last season, when Alabama's Brandon Miller was the lone freshman All-American and the lone college player chosen in the top five of the NBA draft.
The high school class of 2023, aka this year's college freshmen, is trending much closer to last season's group, although there's no one at the top quite like Miller in terms of college impact, and there's not nearly as much high-end depth. A year ago at this time, 17 college freshmen were in the top 30 of ESPN's NBA draft rankings. This year, there are nine.
For more context, there were just 16 top-100 freshmen averaging double figures in scoring entering Tuesday's games. Last season, there were 19. Digging deeper, eight of this season's 16 were top-25 recruits -- meaning just eight players ranked between 26 and 100 are putting up double figures in points so far this season.
Those trends will change as first-year players get more comfortable with the college game and as others get fully healthy (a number of high-level newcomers are dealing with injuries), but with conference play approaching, it's time to take stock of the freshmen class so far.
Most stats as of Dec. 20
Best of the best
The No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class and the projected No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA draft, Collier has established himself as a high-level playmaker despite USC struggling to a 6-5 start. He's averaging 16.1 points and 4.3 assists, although turnovers and foul trouble have been issues. His best performance might have been the season opener against Kansas State, when he finished with 18 points and six assists with an efficient shooting performance.