Zion and Duke vs. the Field: How Duke’s 2018 Recruiting Class Stacks Up Against The Best Freshman Classes Of All Time
Andrew Golden breaks down this year’s vaunted Duke team featuring Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett, and goes into the vault to see how they stack up against the best freshman classes in NCAA history
When Duke took the floor in early November for the first game of its season, all the media attention was focused on if the Blue Devils’ star freshmen could live up to their hype. Coach Mike Krzyzewski had worked his recruiting magic once again, signing four of the top 17 recruits in the ESPN 100, including the top three prospects. Duke blew out Kentucky by 34 in that game, and the Blue Devils’ freshmen scored 90 points to Kentucky’s team total of 84. From that moment, we knew that this Duke team was the real deal.
Fast forward a little over five months, and we are now only a day away from the start of the NCAA Tournament. Duke enters the tournament as the number one seed with championship aspirations to cement itself as one of the best teams in NCAA history. But where does their freshmen class rank among the best of all-time?
I have chosen eight freshman classes for this list that I believe have made significant contributions to their respective teams. My criteria is based strictly on performance inside of their freshman year and does not take into account any additional years in college or NBA results. My rankings also considered which freshmen really carried their teams and which freshmen were on the team, but ultimately weren’t the main contributors.
The Stats and Their Significance
First off, let’s establish one thing about stats: they don’t tell you the entire story and simply adding them up doesn’t tell you who’s actually the best. For example, the 2014–2015 Kentucky team is lower in essentially every statistical category except for blocks. But we have to keep in mind two things. Unlike some of the earlier recruiting classes, this one had only four recruits. The 1991–92 Michigan Wolverines had five freshmen and 2006–2007 Ohio State Buckeyes had six freshmen, which make their collective stats higher than Kentucky’s. That being said, the two Duke rosters on the list had the same amount of players, and their numbers are on par or above the norm for stats. This could be due to the fact that they were better freshmen, but keep in mind that 2014–2015 Kentucky was one of the deepest teams in college basketball history, carrying 11 players who played in at least 19 games and led them to a 35–1 record. With a 11-man rotation at times, it’s gonna be hard to get your stats up.
The statistics also tell us how impressive some of these freshman classes and individual players have been. This class of Duke freshmen is scoring at an unprecedented rate and, as you can see by the graph, the 2018–2019 Blue Devils’ blue bar just skyrockets ahead of the other teams that are in competition. The duo of Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett outscored two teams on this list. While you could make an argument for any team on this list, the freshmen’s scoring ability is pretty impressive for a team that averages a mere 83.8 points per game. Another mind-blowing stat that puts into perspective just how good Anthony Davis was: Davis averaged 4.7 blocks alone, which is more than any other freshman class combined.
Like stats, while records give us a good indication of how good teams were, it doesn’t tell us everything. Some of the Kentucky teams with higher records also had a plethora of older talent. Like Kentucky, the 1991–1992 Michigan Wolverines had young talent, but also multiple players who had been on national championship teams before. On the other hand, KD’s Texas Longhorns and this year’s Duke Blue Devils had some returners, but most of the production came from its freshmen. However, after looking at their stats, season results and impact, here is my list of the top freshman teams of all time.
The Rankings
8. KAT and the other Cats (or KATS or WildKATS…whatever): 2014–2015 Kentucky Basketball Team
Freshman Class: Karl Anthony-Towns, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Tyler Ulis
Accomplishments: 4x SEC All-Freshman Team, AP Second-Team All-American, First Team All-SEC, Second-Team All-SEC, SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC Sixth Man of the Year
Stats: 34.6 PPG, 15.7 RPG, 6.9 APG, 2.4 SPG, 2.9 BPG
Many of you probably see the names Devin Booker and Karl Anthony-Towns and wonder why this class isn’t considered one of the of all-time. Many of you are probably also wondering why a team that went 35–1 isn’t significantly higher. My justification is that their record isn’t an accurate representation of the freshman class, rather it reflects just how deep their roster was as a whole.
Booker and Anthony-Towns are current NBA stars, but they weren’t nearly as talented during their time at Lexington. KAT was the №1 pick, so everyone knew how good he was, but he didn’t necessarily lead the team. As I mentioned earlier, this Kentucky freshman class is one of the smallest on this list and saturated with talented sophomores and upperclassmen. The class didn’t blow anyone away with stats as no freshman scored above than 10.3 points per game. Tyler Ulis was a perfect point guard for this team, which had a plethora of skilled players to distribute to. Trey Lyles didn’t garner much attention on the team yet was still viewed as one of the top players in the country.
Overall, this class was a really good one with all four players making the SEC All-Freshman Team. But by far the stars of the team were Towns and Booker. While Booker won SEC Sixth Man of the Year, Towns took home tons of hardware, winning SEC Freshman of the Year and being named an All-American. Stats don’t mean everything, but impact does. While this team shouldn’t get docked for not having the statistics of the others, the freshmen weren’t the reason this team was successful. They were good, but they didn’t run the show, which puts them at the bottom of this list. If we are talking about NBA outcomes, I’d take this roster over most of the other teams on this list, but judging based off the one year, this freshmen class doesn’t match up very well.
7. “This Team Should’ve Won a Natty, But Underachieved” Team: 2009–2010 Kentucky Wildcats
Freshmen Class: Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, John Hood, Daniel Orton, John Wall
Accomplishments: 3x All-SEC Rookie Team, 2x All-SEC First Team, 2x AP First Team All-American, SEC Player of the Year, SEC Rookie of the Year
Season Stats: 46.1 PPG, 19.5 RPG, 9.4 APG, 3.9 SPG, 4 BPG
You’re probably sitting here thinking to yourself: how could a team that had two consistent All-Stars in their prime (John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins) and another really solid player (Eric Bledsoe) only be ranked number seven on this list? My response to that would be this: How could this team, that had three talented freshman picked in the top 18 picks of the NBA Draft and five first round draft picks, only make it to the Elite 8?
This was one of the most hyped up freshman classes at the time, with two players in the top five of ESPN’s recruiting rankings committing to Kentucky. And they didn’t disappoint. Cousins and Wall finished as AP All-Americans and three of the Cats’ four freshman led the team in scoring. Eric Bledsoe was a great complimentary guard to Wall who could score and distribute. While Orton and Hood weren’t factors on the team, Bledsoe, Cousins and Wall more than made up for their lack of involvement.
Unlike the previous Kentucky team, this team was run by the freshman and they carried them to the № 1 seed in the tournament, but they didn’t get it done. This team was the last team to have two first team All-Americans on the same roster; so how did they not win a national championship? They lost in the Elite 8 to a West Virginia team that had talent, but not the amount of skill and potential that Wall and Cousins had. This freshman class could’ve left a greater legacy if they had won it, but we will never know what could’ve been. However, what I do know is it knocks them down on this list and their underachievement will always haunt them.
6. “Kevin Durant is Better Than Greg Oden” Believers: 2006–2007 Texas Longhorns
Freshman Class: D.J. Augustin, Kevin Durant, Matt Hill, Damion James, Justin Mason, Dexter Pittman, Harrison Smith
Accomplishments: 2x Big 12 All-Rookie Team, AP First Team All-American, All-Big 12 First Team, All-Big 12 Second Team, Big 12 All Defensive Team, Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Big 12 Player of the Year, Naismith National College Player of the Year
Stats: 61.2 PPG, 29.9 RPG, 11 APG, 5.4 SPG, 4.3 BPG
Due to the implementation of the one-and-done rule for the first time, some of 2006’s best high school prospects were forced to play college basketball for a year. As a result, Kevin Durant played his one year out at Texas. In Austin, Durant established himself as one of the household names in college basketball. During his time, he averaged 25.8 points per game and 11.1 rebounds per game, putting him into the discussion for the number one pick (This sounds soooo ridiculous 13 years later lol).
While this team had seven players, the stats that this team put up are extremely impressive. When comparing them with the Fab Five, Texas had more blocks, points, rebounds, steals per game, which is a feat for any team, especially a freshman class. You could make the case that Texas had a larger class which inflated its numbers, but if you take out the freshman who didn’t really play, the Longhorns’ numbers still match up. Unfortunately, because of Durant, people forget just how incredible D.J. Augustin was. Augustin started every game, scoring 14.4 points per game and dishing out 6.7 assists. Someone had to get Durant the ball and Augustin could do a little bit of everything. Damion James and Justin Mason also contributed to the team scoring wise and rounded out the bench overall.
However, the knock on this team is still the fact that this team didn’t go far in the tournament. Even with the second-greatest player in college basketball (LOL it’s still funny even down here), this team was a four seed in the tournament and lost in the second round to USC. That Trojan team had Taj Gibson and Nick Young, but by no means should a team with that much talent lost to them or let alone be seeded that low. As a whole, while the stats are incredible, the inability to make a late season run really hurts just how good this team could’ve been. It would’ve been interesting to see how good this Texas team would’ve been the next year if KD would’ve stayed, as Augustin blossomed into an All-American the next year.
5. “Greg Oden is Better Than Kevin Durant” Believers: 2006–2007 Ohio State Buckeyes
Freshman Class: Mike Conley, Daequan Cook, Greg Oden, David Lighty, Mark Titus, Danny Peters
Accomplishments: 2x All-Big Ten First Team (Coaches), 2x Big Ten All-Freshman Team (Writers), AP Second Team All-American, NABC Defensive Player of the Year, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, Big Ten All-Defensive Team
Stats: 41.1 PPG, 19.8 RPG, 8.9 APG, 4.1 SPG, 4.2 BPG
Another played who felt the effects of the one-and-done rule was Greg Oden who played his one season at Ohio State. Oden was by far the most talented freshman on the team, despite missing the beginning of the season due to an injury. As a team, the Buckeyes averaged 4.2 blocks per game and Oden was responsible for 3.3 of those. He was such a valuable player strictly for his defensive presence, but he still averaged 15.7 points per game and grabbed 9.6 rebounds.
But Oden wasn’t the only talented freshman that helped Ohio State roll to the national championship game. Including Oden, the Buckeyes brought in four of the top 31 recruits in the 2006 class according to RSCI rankings. The most successful player in this class was Mike Conley, who was the 21st-ranked recruit coming out of high school. Conley played alongside Ron Lewis and dished out a team high 6.1 assists per game. Off the bench, the other four freshman contributed, but none was more valuable than Daequan Cook, who won Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year honors.
This team had a lot of freshman and a lot of talent, but ultimately didn’t have the impact or the stats to match up with the other teams on the list. If they had beaten Florida in the national championship, this might have been a different discussion. This team tops the other three teams because of the freshman almost took them the distance. The ‘06-’07 Texas team and ‘09-’10 Kentucky team didn’t have the results to show for their talent at the end. The ‘14-’15 Kentucky Wildcat freshmen didn’t make the team who it is. This team did a little bit of both. It had the results to show for it, a trip to the national championship against an experienced Florida team who had won a national championship the previous year. It had the impact too, as three of the team’s top four scorers were freshmen. But ultimately, the freshman couldn’t take the team all the way to the finish line, which is why they aren’t further towards the top of the list.
4. Anthony Davis and the Pips: 2011–2012 Kentucky Wildcats
Freshmen Class: Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, Kyle Wiltjer
Accomplishments: 2x All-SEC First Team, 2x All-SEC Defensive Team, 2x All-Sec Freshman Team, AP First-Team All-American, AP Third-Team All-American, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, SEC Rookie of the Year
Season Stats: 42.3 PPG, 22.6 RPG, 8.6 APG, 3.4 SPG, 6.3 BPG
Coming off of a trip to the Final Four the year before, Kentucky had high expectations headed into its 2011–2012 season. The Wildcats returned Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb, but still needed some more additions to really compete for another tournament run. So Kentucky didn’t waste any time by adding three of the top eight players in ESPN’s 2011 recruiting class. John Calipari and his staff added Marquis Teague to help run the offense and added two more five-star prospects in Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist were arguably the two best players in the SEC that season and led Kentucky to a perfect conference record. Davis was one of the most dominant defensive big men in the country, averaging 4.7 blocks per game and making clutch blocks at the right time. which is such a mind-boggling stat for a freshman in one of the top conferences in the country. It also helped that he averaged a double-double for the season and led the team in scoring with 14.2 points per game. Despite being fourth on the team in scoring, Kidd-Gilchrist also made the All-SEC first team and he, along with Teague, combined to score 21.9 points per game.
This freshman class is considered one of the greatest because they won a national championship. In order to be the best, you have to prove that you’re the best and that’s exactly what they did. The freshman class beat some talented rosters, including an Indiana team that beat the Wildcats earlier in the season, the Louisville Cardinals who would become the national champs the next year and Thomas Robinson’s Kansas Jayhawks. Despite all the talent, Kentucky beat every team by at least eight points en route to a championship. The freshmen were a huge part of accomplishing this feat, but they also had help along the way. As a mentioned earlier, Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist were two of top five scorers on the team, but the other three were on the team when Kentucky went to the Final Four the year before. Kentucky had the perfect mix of youth and experience to coast to the title and their freshman class is good enough for number four on the list.
3. Duke’s Wanna-Be Best Freshman Class: 2014–2015 Duke Blue Devils
Freshmen Class: Grayson Allen, Tyus Jones, Jahlil Okafor, Justice Winslow
Accomplishments: ACC Player of the Year, ACC Freshman of the Year, All-ACC First-Team, All-ACC Third Team, AP All-American
Season Stats: 46.1 PPG, 19.5 RPG, 9.4 APG, 3.9 SPG, 2.5 BPG
Before Zion and his crew came along this year, this Duke freshman class was considered one of, if not, the best Coach K had ever put together. What’s extremely funny about these monster freshman classes at Duke is that Coach K was so opposed to the idea of one-and-dones. However, in 2014, he finally caved in, signing four recruits in ESPN’s Top 25 recruits. At the head of that class was №1 recruit Jahlil Okafor, who was the focal point of Duke’s national championship run.
Okafor was arguably one of the best three big men in the country that year, averaging 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds. He took home almost every Big award for a ACC player, including player of the year and All-ACC first team. What was most impressive about this Duke freshman class was that this team wasn’t extremely reliant on Okafor when it came to production on offense. Jones and Winslow were extremely reliable offensively and they leaned on them on countless occasions for clutch baskets. Winslow was one of the best slashers in the country, drawing a lot of comparisons to Dwayne Wade, and Jones’ contributions were extremely apparent in the National Championship game, when Okafor got into foul trouble. The team looked for options offensively. Tyus Jones came through with 23 points, making basket-after-basket during the second half. Grayson Allen, who wasn’t a big contributor on this team, even added 16 points off the bench during the game.
When I look back at this team, there is a clear difference between this freshman class and the ones that it tops: the freshman carried the team to the national championship. Quinn Cook was the only player on the team who really gave Duke an additional offensive boost that wasn’t a freshman. When the team needed a clutch bucket, Okafor or Jones was the go-to player. I can’t say that any of the other freshmen classes carried their teams quite like this one. Even if they did, they didn’t have a national championship to show for it. This team also probably helped Coach K realize that the one-and-done system actually worked for him and led to the eventual recruitment of the next team on this list.
2. Zion and the Monstars: 2018–2019 Duke Basketball Team (subject to change…)
Freshmen Class: R.J. Barrett, Tre Jones, Cam Reddish, Zion Williamson
Accomplishments: 3x AP All-ACC Freshman Team, 2x AP ACC All-Defensive Team, 2x AP All-ACC First Team, AP ACC Player of the Year, AP ACC Freshman of the Year
Season Stats: 68.1 PPG, 24 RPG, 13.8 APG, 6.9 SPG, 3.0 BPG
When it comes to sibling rivalries, they will do anything to get an edge. When Tre Jones committed to Duke, he challenged his brother for the best freshman class, one-upping Tyus with R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish and Zion Williamson. When you can pass the ball to the top three recruits in the ESPN100, it makes your life a lot easier. This freshman class has taken people’s expectations and completely shattered them.
Barrett and Williamson are both on pace to break the ACC record for points per game in a season. Can you imagine having not one, but two players breaking the same record in the same season? I don’t think that there’s any team that has had two dominant freshman play as well in the same conference the way Zion and R.J. have. To put their stats into perspective, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were both All-SEC First-Team, scoring 26.1 points per game and 17.8 rebounds. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins combined for 31.7 points per game and 14.1 rebounds per game. Zion and RJ’s stats? Not even close: 45 points per game and 16.4 rebounds per game. This duo could be considered the most dynamic freshman 1–2 punch in NCAA history.
You also can’t underestimate the importance of their other two freshmen. Jones, like his brother, is the player who holds the team together and keeps everything under control. He isn’t the type of scorer that his brother was, but his role as distributor is perfect for this team. The class is rounded out by Cam Reddish, who is an anomaly at times. When he is on his game, he can be Duke’s best shooter on the court. But when he’s off, he can be Duke’s biggest liability. However, when he is on, he makes Duke essentially unstoppable.
So why isn’t this Duke team ranked the number one team? Two things keep me from pulling the trigger and saying this freshman team is the best. The first thing that concerns me is that I wonder what their ceiling would’ve been without Zion. When Zion went down with an injury against North Carolina, the Blue Devils, including that game, went 3–3 in his absence. While you can’t judge a team for their play when teammates are injured, Duke couldn’t right the ship. Even with Barrett, Jones and Reddish, the Blue Devils played three games against ranked teams (UNC x2, VT) and didn’t win once. So is this class just really talented or is it just the result of having a freak of nature at forward? The other thing stopping them is winning a national championship. When the four of them are on the floor at the same time, there isn’t a more dynamic class than them, which puts them near the top of the list. However, if they don’t make a deep run into the tournament, then their legacy is tarnished in my opinion. A team with this much talent has no excuse to not make it to the Final Four. Anything exit earlier than that will have us wonder just how good they were. The stats are there, the talent is there when they are in cohesion on the floor, but their ceiling will be determined by how well they do over the next three weeks.
1. Fab Five: 1991–1992 Michigan Basketball Team (yes! I know technically this season doesn’t technically count, but for the sake of the argument let’s keep it here)
Freshmen Class: Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose, Chris Webber
Accomplishments: All-Big Ten Second Team, USBWA Freshman of the Year
Season Stats: 58.7 PPG, 26.8 RPG, 12 APG, 4.6 SPG, 3.9 BPG
When comparing the best players, coaches and teams, there is normally a bar of measurement to compare them to. For example, when someone argues that LeBron is the greatest player of all-time, the immediate response is: How does he stack up with MJ? Since the 1991–1992 season, freshman classes have been measured up with the Fab Five. This freshman class was comprised of five players in the top 100, unheard of at the time. Even more impressive was the fact that four of the five were All-Americans, a record that was held until 2014–2015.
None of the classes on the list above would have existed had it not been for this group of freshmen. When they started as freshman, head coach Steve Fisher promised that not all of the freshman would start at one time. Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose and Chris Webber were immediate starters, but as the season moved on, they were too good not to start and were dominant once they officially started together. In the first game the Fab Five started, they played Notre Dame and scored every point of that game. They became on of the most dominant and cohesive units in NCAA history, relying on their unselfishness to involve everyone in the offense. While the argument could be made that Michigan had the upperclassmen with experience, I would argue that one the freshman took over, it completely became their team.
The Fab Five weren’t the best team in the regular season, earning a six-seed in the NCAA Tournament, but they came into their own when it counted the most. In the tournament, they played some of their best basketball, beating №2 Oklahoma State and their rival, №1 Ohio State to get to the Final Four. The only team that stopped them from getting their national title was Duke, who won their second straight championship and had one of the more historic rosters of all time. Despite this, they have still earned the №1 ranking on this list. There haven’t been a lot of teams as dominant as the Fab Five, even though they lost back-to-back national championships. Regardless of their finish, Michigan set the standard for freshman classes moving forward. Most people would’ve considered two or three players with a McDonald’s All-American a success. But for a team at this point in time to grab four McDonald’s All-Americans and another top 100 player is incredible. The freshman had the swagger and the poise to take their team and carry them all the way to the national championship, when some teams didn’t start freshmen.
It’s hard to dethrone the original team that set a high bar for everyone else to reach, but Zion and the Monstars are right on their heels. Of all the teams on the list, there isn’t a team who has had two players more dominant than Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett. At the time, what Michigan was doing the unthinkable and teams around the country have tried to emulate it since. Many have tried, few have succeeded. But it’s safe to say the 2018–2019 Duke Blue Devils have succeeded and if they can win six more games and do something the Michigan Wolverines were never able to do, the top two teams on this list might have to switch.
Andrew Golden is (unfortunately) a Baltimore Ravens fan and overall sports enthusiast. You can check out some of his work here and follow him on Twitter here.
