Because of the landscape of college hoops, no group of players seems to be more anticipated, or scrutinized, than your team's crop of incoming talent. Gone are the days where top players stay three or four years and develop into exciting and valuable contributors. These days it is produce now, or you are a bust! Led by Duke's top ranked Austin Rivers, the ACC boasts eight Top 50 recruits according to Rivals.com. Early returns are in, and quite frankly, it's mostly been an underwhelming start for this talented group of rookies. Maybe most of the 2011 class will be on campus for a while. Let's take a look at the highs and lows of this group's first month.
Austin Rivers, guard, Duke Blue Devils
Regardless of personal opinions related to Rivers, I think it's fair to say Rivers has been decent to good, but far short of great in the early going. If the season ended today, there is little doubt Rivers would be the conference's Freshman of the Year, but that speaks more to the lack of challengers than it does to Rivers' production. He's averaging a healthy 15.4 points and is coming off a career-best 22 against Ohio State, but he's offering little else. Rivers has only had one game with more than three assists, and two games with four rebounds. For the year, his peripheral stats offer 2.4 rebounds, 2.3 dimes, 2.3 turnovers and 43.6% shooting. Need further evidence this is a decent, but hardly spectacular start?
P.J. Hairston, guard, North Carolina Tar Heels
I guess I'd be a bit hypocritical, and ridculously biased if I sat here and simply sung Hairston's praises for his scoring. The truth is that's all he is doing as well, but I do feel like the circumstances are quite different. Hairston is averaging 8.6 points, 1.5 boards and 0.6 assists off the Tar Heels' bench. But he's shooting a nice 48.6% from three-point range, and giving UNC an outside threat they've desperately lacked. He's doing all his damage in a modest 12.4 minutes. At 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, Hairston has a chance to develop into quite a threat over time.
James Michael McAdoo, forward, North Carolina Tar Heels
For good as Hairston has been, McAdoo has been virtually the polar opposite. He was the second highest ranked recruit coming in to the season (ranked eighth by Rivals.com), but has scored in double-figures just once, and simply looks lost offensively. He's hitting a woeful 45% from the charity stripe and is getting minutes simply to spell forwards John Henson and Tyler Zeller. He does look considerably bigger, and longer, than his high school film indicated, and he wasn't a top ranked recruit by accident. He just looks like he needs more time to develop. A lot more time.
Dorian Finney-Smith, forward, Virginia Tech Hokies
Regular readers of our news blurbs know how frustrating Finney-Smith's inconsistency has been. It can largely be traced to his shooting woes, 35.7% from the floor, 57.7% from the line, but Finney-Smith has mixed in four double-digit scoring efforts with nights of one, two and three points. To his credit, he's still hitting the glass, averaging 9.4 boards and never having less than six in eight games. He's fouled out once and had four fouls three additional times, which is worth monitoring. Still, he's playing 32 minutes each night, and if he can find a little consistency from the floor, he'll inch closer towards a double-double average. Not too bad, my friends.
Robert Brown, guard, Virginia Tech Hokies
Brown gets my vote for surprise freshman so far. Not that we didn't like Brown's talent, but he was less heralded than some of his classmates. He's like most on this list in that he's struggling to shoot the ball with any consistency (40.4%) but has scored in double-figures four times in eight outings, despite playing just over 22 minutes. He's coming off the bench, but has outplayed what appears to be a disinterested Dorenzo Hudson, and Brown could see his minutes increase in the near future. He played a career-high 31 last night against Kansas State.
Nick Faust, guard, Maryland Terrapins
We move from my most surprising freshman, to my most disappointing in the Terps' 6-foot-6 guard. Faust is playing a tick over 30 minutes, yet has only scored in double-figures once in seven games. His minutes are a clear indicator of the opportunity he has to produce, but Faust is shooting a simply dreadful 24.5% (12-of-49) from the floor, and an even worse 13.6% (3-for-22) from the three-point line. If Faust can't figure out ways to get the ball into the bucket during the next month, he'll likely see his role decrease during league play.
Shane Larkin, guard, Miami Hurricanes
Larkin can certainly challenge Brown for the most surprising rookie in the ACC, mainly because we didn't know when, or if, he would play after originally signing with Depaul. Similar to the next man on this list, Larkin is his team's only real point guard, and has now been inserted into the starting lineup. The move allows Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant to play off of the ball, and it allows the scrappy Larkin to have varying impacts on each game. In six contests, he's scored in double-figures twice (the two most recent,) had a six rebound outing, a six steal effort, and a five assist evening.
Quinn Cook, guard, Duke Blue Devils
Cook makes this list because I think he's about to move into the starting lineup. Through one month, the Blue Devils' rank 246th nationally, averaging just 11.6 assists; the lowest total I could find in their last ten seasons. Duke simply doesn't have a point guard, and Cook is a little further behind than most freshman due to a preseason knee injury. It's just a hunch, but his time is rapidly approaching.
Boston College Eagles
The Eagles are still trying to figure out their rotation, and that could very well take until January, February, or even next November to fully sort out. The roster in Chestnut Hill boasts nine freshmen, seven of whom are playing between 11.4 and 26 minutes per night. None of them have done anything with any deal of consistency, but it's certainly worth monitoring if and when the rotation is trimmed. Guard Patrick Heckmann is leading the way in minutes, and points (11.1), while forward Ryan Anderson leads the team in rebounds (5.4) and has scored in double-figures twice. I'm partial to center Dennis Clifford, just because of his position eligibility. He's second on the team in rebounding (5.3,) but has seen his minutes drastically slashed in recent games as the Eagels' give other players a look. Through the first five games, Clifford was getting 28 minutes of run nightly, and that number has fallen all the way to 16 in recent contests. Like the fans in Boston, this team will try their fantasy owners' patience.
Others worth tracking include C.J. Barksdale, F, Virginia Tech; Marquis Rankin, G, Virginia Tech; Malcolm Brogdon, G, Virginia