2003 Top 50 List: Yes
Dan Collins List: Yes
I wanted to start this post with a list of the greatest freshmen in ACC history. My preconceived notion was that Kenny Anderson would be second on that list behind Zion Williamson. But as I’ve looked at it more, Duke has me all confused.
Up until 2014, the list of greatest freshmen would have included Anderson, Joe Smith, Stephon Marbury, and Tyler Hansbrough. Then you could argue about who was next – Antawn Jamison, or Gene Banks, or Mark Price, or Skip Wise, or somebody else.
Then Duke came along. And suddenly, something that had never happened before, happened five times in six seasons: an ACC freshman made first team All-American. Jabari Parker 2014, Jahlil Okafor 2015, Marvin Bagley 2018, Zion Williamson 2019, RJ Barrett 2019. So are they the five best freshmen in ACC history?
Something seems wrong with that picture, doesn’t it? Is it possible that the five greatest freshmen in the history of the league all played for one team in the span of six years?
On one hand, I have to say yes, it is possible. First of all, we’re talking about Duke here. The approach they have taken to recruiting in the past decade is unique in the history of college basketball. They target getting as many of the best freshmen in the country as possible, fully expecting them to be one-and-done. They build their program on that. The reason that works is that freshmen are better than they’ve ever been. I’ve spent a lot of time in this series badmouthing the state of modern college basketball, but let me say this in its favor: the quality of freshman play has never been better. Kids are more mature physically, they’ve been groomed from an early age, and they’ve faced better competition.
But there is one major counterargument, and it’s one I’ve made several times in this series already: the overall quality of college basketball is lower. Jabari Parker made first team All-American in 2014; Kenny Anderson made third team in 1990. Does that mean that Jabari Parker was better than Kenny Anderson? Not for a minute. Because if you look at who wasn’t playing in college in 2014, suddenly you realize that maybe Jabari Parker’s year isn’t as impressive as you thought. Would he have made it over Anthony Davis? Kyrie Irving? Trey Burke, Victor Oladipo, Andre Drummond, Bradley Beal, Jared Sullinger, Otto Porter, Tristan Thompson, Ben McLemore, Cody Zeller?
See, when Kenny Anderson played, all the guys like that were playing in college. Yes, there were a few (JR Reid, Nick Anderson, Rex Chapman, and Shawn Kemp), but nothing like in 2014. We have to adjust for the era.
So I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Yes, freshmen are better than they’ve ever been, and Duke’s run of amazing freshmen is real, and as much as I’d like to just ignore them and pretend that Kenny Anderson and Joe Smith are the greatest of all time, I can’t and they aren’t. But, it’s not a level playing field either, and we do have to adjust our evaluations to account for that.
Taking all that into consideration, here’s my list.
Greatest Freshmen in ACC History
- Zion Williamson, Duke, 2019
- Kenny Anderson, Georgia Tech, 1990
- Marvin Bagley, Duke, 2018
- Jahlil Okafor, Duke, 2015
- Stephon Marbury, Georgia Tech, 1996
- Joe Smith, Maryland, 1994
- Tyler Hansbrough, UNC, 2006
- RJ Barrett, Duke, 2019
- Jabari Parker, Duke, 2014
- Gene Banks, Duke, 1978
Anderson was, of course, sensational in the NCAA Tournament as well, leading the Yellow Jackets to the Final Four as the Most Outstanding Player of the Southeast Region. In 1991, Anderson, Rodney Monroe, and Christian Laettner made for one of the most difficult ACC Player of the Year choices ever. Monroe got 54 votes, Laettner 32, and Anderson 21. The order in All-America was reversed, with Anderson making first team, Laettner second team, and Monroe some second, some third.
My favorite Kenny Anderson stat… as a sophomore, in a span of five games, he had:
- 40 in a win over Georgia
- 50 in a win over Loyola Marymount (one of only nine 50-point games in ACC history)
- 19 in a win over Tulane (an off day)
- 41 in a win over Villanova
- 40 in a win over Howard
40+ points in four out of five games.
I can’t let you mention Kenny Anderson without mentioning the most ridiculous triple-double in ACC history: Anderson had 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 18 assists in Georgia Tech’s 111-92 win over Pitt in December of 1989. It was the 9th game of his freshman season.
There have been 36 triple-doubles in ACC history. Anderson’s 18 assists are the most ever in a triple double (and just 2 off the ACC single-game record of 20). His 32 points is the second most in an ACC triple double, behind only Greivis Vasquez, who had 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in Maryland’s 88-85 OT win over UNC in 2009. Probably the 2nd best triple-double in ACC history. (There’s an idea for another list, Jake.)
Of those 36 ACC triple-doubles, 14 have occurred in conference play. The other 22 have mostly been against the sisters of the poor; think The Citadel, Lehigh, NC A&T, schools like that. Only 2 have been against “power conference” schools: 1) Anderson vs Pitt, then of the Big East; 2) Len Chappell of Wake Forest had 12 points, 12 assists, and 13 rebounds in a 84-78 win over Penn State in December of 1960. Penn State is in the Big 10 now, but was independent back in the 1960s, so I don’t know if they should really count or not.