One of the unanticipated byproducts of the NIL/transfer portal era in college basketball has been the decrease in importance of “superstar freshmen.”
Three seasons ago, just one freshman who has been ranked in the top 100 of his recruiting class was on a team that advanced past the Sweet 16. That was Donovan Clingan, who came off the bench for eventual national champion UConn. That same season, just one true freshman — Alabama star Brandon Miller — ranked in the top 100 in the nation in scoring.
A year later in 2024, a grand total of one of the 20 players who started a game in the Final Four was a
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