Arkansas’ Nick Smith, Kentucky’s Cason Wallace tabbed as freshmen to watch by CBS Sports

247 Sports Ranking: SG 1st, Overall 9th
Anyone who wasn’t sure about George’s potential impact was undoubtedly sold on Baylor’s trip abroad. Meanwhile, George displayed a mature scoring game, raining shots at the GLOBL Jam, averaging 22.8 points per game and leading the Bears to the title game. Flagler will probably slide into the point guard spot. This will allow George to do what he does best: buckets.

247 Sports Ranking: CG 1st, Overall 1st
JD Notae played an interesting role in the defensive Razorbacks a year ago. He was an inefficient scorer, but someone had to score, so Notae gave him 16.4 shots per game and he scored 18.3 points per game. With Notae moving on, Smith could fill a similar role, but he has all the tools to perform the role more efficiently. Smith can also create for others as a playmaker and has no problem making shifts defensively.

247 Sports Ranking: CG 2nd, Overall 5th
Wallace is a coach’s dream, a player who impacts the game with his intensity and effort. At 6 feet 4 inches and 193 pounds, he possesses good strength, athleticism and length as a playmaker on his ends defensively. Will he hit the shot? he has that ability. If he can do that, he could unlock Kentucky’s half-court offense. He also helps with secondary creations. Wallace needs to be at his best for the Wildcats to return to the Final Four.

247 Sports Ranking: 3rd in SF, 11th overall
At 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 232 pounds, Whitmore has an explosive combination of power and athleticism that should quickly cause matchup problems. He was named Most Valuable Player in his FIBA ​​U18 Americas Championship and helped USA Basketball win a gold medal. Halfway through, he looked like a future All-American and NBA player. Villanova’s first-year head coach, Kyle Neptune, would be happy to give Whitmore any chance after he recovers.

247 Sports Ranking: CG 3rd, Overall 10th
With Johnny Juzan and Jules Bernard moving forward, Bailey has a chance to step into the lead role, and free-spirited threat Jaime Jaquez returns. Bailey is a smooth athlete and a capable shooter who can slice teams in transition by getting to the basket and finding open teammates. Bailey’s Game, Basketball IQ, Athletic Performance The combination makes him an instant influential player. He does it for a UCLA team that is ranked in the top 10 and could prove to be the best of the Pac-12.

247 Sports Ranking: 1st in SF, 3rd overall
Another player on this list may be Duke’s most promising player, but Whitehead, who returned from a broken leg in August, looks like perhaps the best candidate to lead the Blue Devils in scoring. Strength means you can bully players in lane to reach the basket. He combines that with a smooth jump shot that makes him a tough cover. Arguably his most important role with the Blue Devils is defense and passing as a scorer.

247 Sports Ranking: 1st C, 2nd overall
At 7-1 lbs and 230 lbs, the Lively offers the kind of rim protector every team wants. He leads his EYBL with his 3.7 blocks per game, and the combination of length and athleticism makes it a question of when, not if, he will pass that impact on to the Blue Devils. He can rebound vigorously, run on the floor, and play above the rim. That would be enough, except that Lively has shown some compelling skills that give him a huge offensive advantage.

247 Sports Ranking: 1st PG, 15th overall
Some players are just connective tissue. It’s given the term “glue” because it ties all the different parts of the team together. And Black is the most tenacious glue player, a 6-foot-7 points he’s a guard and can affect the game in many ways, even if he’s not scoring. Black needs to improve his jumper, but he’s doing everything else to a high standard. His height and length mean he can switch defensively, he rebounds well against his position and seems to enjoy setting up teammates more than scoring himself. is.

247 Sports Ranking: 7th PG, 34th
Ranked lowest on Boone’s list, Clarke should be one of the most impactful freshmen in the country as he steps into the top 15 potential teams in need of a point guard. And while Illinois was able to fill those few minutes with a few players, Clarke was able to score the first crack at the start. He had limited him as a senior. He plays more of a point guard role than a distributor.

247 Sports Ranking: PF 1st, Overall 6th
Jackson was the top-ranked player in his class for 2023 before opting to reclassify, drop out of North Carolina, and join in-state South Carolina. Jackson is a bouncy power forward with sweet jumper makings, especially in the midrange. And he’s been able to pull off NBA looks by showing off his athleticism in transition and defense. South Carolina doesn’t have high hopes for his SEC, so they can give Jackson every chance to shine personally. If Gamecocks exceeds expectations, he should be the main reason why.