NBA Draft Buzz: Top College Basketball Standouts from Opening Weekend
The first weekend of college basketball blessed us with some incredible games, from Alabama-St. John’s, to Kansas-North Carolina, to Arkansas-Michigan State and much more.
But who were the best performers in those contests? And who else stood out from games across the country? Below, we’ll go over the weekend’s top performers, starting with the top-25 ranked freshmen, more freshmen standouts and then the best international prospects.
Top-25 ranked freshmen
AJ Dybantsa (BYU) — 17 pts, 8 rebs, 3 ast, 7/10 FG vs. Holy Cross.
Darryn Peterson (Kansas) — 22 pts, 3 rebs, 3 ast, 2 stls, 8/14 FG, 3/5 3FG vs. No. 25 North Carolina.
Cameron Boozer (Duke) — 25 pts, 8 rebs, 5 ast, 8/15 FG vs. West Carolina.
Nate Ament (Tennessee) — 25 pts, 8 rebs, 5 ast, 2 stls, 6/12 FG vs. Northern Kentucky.
Caleb Wilson (UNC) — 24 pts, 7 rebs, 4 ast, 4 stls, 9/12 FG vs. No. 19 Kansas.
Chris Cenac (Houston) — 2 pts, 13 rebs, 2 ast, 1/8 FG, 0/3 FG vs. Towson.
Mikel Brown (Louisville) — 18 pts, 5 rebs, 9 ast, 5/11 FG, 2/7 3FG vs. Jackson State.
Koa Peat (Arizona) — 18 pts, 3 rebs, 3 ast, 6/7 FG vs. Utah Tech.
Darius Acuff (Arkansas) — 16 pts, 2 rebs, 6 ast, 2 stls, 5/16 FG, 2/8 3FG at No. 22 Michigan State.
Brayden Burries (Arizona) — 18 pts, 3 rebs, 3 ast, 4 stls, 7/16 FG, 3/6 3FG vs. Utah Tech.
Meleek Thomas (Arkansas) — 16 pts, 6 rebs, 2 ast, 5/15 FG, 2/9 3FG at No. 22 Michigan State.
Tounde Yessoufou (Baylor) — 13 pts, 5 rebs, 2 ast, 3 stls, 4/13 FG, 1/6 3FG vs. Washington.
Nikolas Khamenia (Duke) — 8 pts, 4 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2/6 FG vs. West Carolina.
Kingston Flemings (Houston) — 20 pts, 2 rebs, 3 ast, 2 stls, 8/10 FG vs. Towson.
Cayden Boozer (Duke) — 14 pts, 7 rebs, 5 ast, 2 stls, 4/8 FG vs. West Carolina.
Shelton Henderson (Miami) — 7 pts, 9 rebs, 3 ast, 2/8 FG vs. Bethune-Cookman.
Dwayne Aristode (Arizona) — 7 pts, 2 rebs, 1 ast, 3/4 FG vs. Utah Tech.
CJ Ingram (Florida) — 5 pts, 2 rebs, 1 ast, 2 stls, 2/4 FG vs. North Florida.
Darius Adams (Maryland) — 3 pts, 6 rebs, 1 ast, 1/6 FG vs. Georgetown.
Jasper Johnson (Kentucky) — 9 pts, 1 reb, 5 ast, 3/5 FG, 3/4 3FG vs. Valpo.
Alijah Arenas (USC), Braylon Mullins (UConn), Isiah Harwell (Houston) and Jalen Haralson (Notre Dame) were out with injuries. Michigan has not had a game since Nov. 3 for Trey McKenney.
Other top freshmen performers
Cam Ward (Michigan State) — 18 pts, 10 rebs, 2 stl, 8/13 FG vs. No. 14 Arkansas.
Ebuka Okorie (Stanford) — 29 pts, 4 rebs, 2 ast, 4 stls, 11/16 FG vs. Montana.
Keaton Wagler (Illinois) — 22 pts, 7 rebs, 3 ast, 7/9 FG vs. FGCU.
Acaden Lewis (Villanova) — 21 pts, 4 rebs, 4 ast, 3 stls, 9/13 FG vs. Queens.
Malachi Moreno (Kentucky) — 18 pts, 10 rebs, 3 ast, 1 blk, 8/14 FG vs. Valpo.
Eli Ellis (South Carolina) — 20 pts, 7 rebs, 2 ast, 5/11 FG, 3/6 3FG vs. Southern Miss.
Kiyan Anthony (Syracuse) — 19 pts, 3 rebs, 4 ast, 8/11 FG, 2/4 3FG vs. Delaware State.
Kayden Mingo (Penn State) — 16 pts, 6 rebs, 6 ast, 1 stl, 7/13 FG at New Haven.
Jake Wilkins (Georgia) — 15 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast, 5/8 FG vs. Morehead State.
Nyk Lewis (VCU) — 19 pts, 2 rebs, 2 stls, 7/13 FG, 4/9 3FG vs. Utah State.
Amari Allen (Alabama) — 6 pts, 10 rebs, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 3/8 FG vs. St. John’s.
Mo Sylla (Georgia Tech) — 10 pts, 11 rebs, 3 ast, 4 blks, 5/9 FG vs. Bryant.
Killyan Toure (Iowa State) — 11 pts, 3 rebs, 2 ast, 3 stls, 4/7 FG vs. Grambling.
International recruits
Neoklis Avdalas (Virginia Tech) — 33 pts, 5 rebs, 6 ast, 13/23 FG, 5/8 3FG vs. Providence.
Thijs De Ridder (Virginia) — 20 pts, 5 rebs, 2 ast, 6/10 FG, 3/4 3FG vs. NC Central.
Massamba Diop (Arizona St.) — 18 pts, 6 rebs, 1 ast, 2 stls, 7/12 FG, 2/2 3FG vs. Utah Tech.
Stefan Vaaks (Providence) — 17 pts, 3 rebs, 1 blk, 5/13 FG, 4/11 3FG vs. Virginia Tech.
David Mirkovic (Illinois) — 17 pts, 11 rebs, 1 ast, 1 blk, 5/11 FG vs. FGCU.
Hannes Steinbach (Washington) — 10 pts, 15 rebs, 3 blks, 4/7 FG vs. Baylor. 13 pts, 16 rebs vs. Denver.
Eric Reibe (UConn) — 11 pts, 5 rebs, 1 ast, 2 blks, 5/6 FG vs. UMass Lowell.
Sananda Fru (Louisville) — 12 pts, 5 rebs, 6/8 FG vs. Jackson State.
Lefteris Mantzoukas (Oklahoma State) — 8 pts, 3 rebs, 1 ast, 1 blk, 4/6 FG vs. Texas A&M.
Flip Jovic (Auburn) — 9 pts, 10 rebs, 1 ast, 1 blk, 4/7 FG vs. Merrimack.
Rubén Dominguez (Texas A&M) — 9 pts, 4 ast, 2 rebs, 3/8 FG vs. Oklahoma State.
Mario Saint-Supery (Gonzaga) — 8 pts, 4 rebs, 6 ast, 3 stls, 3/7 FG vs. Oklahoma.
Other top performances
Bruce Thornton (Ohio State) — 38 pts, 5 rebs, 5 ast, 14/17 FG, 5/8 3FG vs. Purdue FW.
JT Toppin (Texas Tech) — 31 pts, 14 rebs, 4 ast, 3 blks, 2 stls, 10/19 FG vs. Sam Houston.
Labaron Philon (Alabama) — 25 pts, 3 rebs, 3 ast, 10/17 3G, 2/5 3FG at No. 5 St. John’s.
Zuby Ejiofor (St. John’s) — 27 pts, 10 rebs, 3 ast, 2 blks, 2 stls, 9/12 FG vs. No. 15 Alabama.
Tucker DeVries (Indiana) — 27 pts, 5 rebs, 2 ast, 1 stl, 9/15 FG, 6/9 3FG vs. Marquette.
Rienk Mast (Nebraska) — 18 pts, 12 rebs, 10 ast, 8/10 FG vs. FIU.
Henri Veesaar (North Carolina) — 20 pts, 4 rebs, 4 ast, 1 blk, 8/12 FG, 2/5 3FG vs. No. 19 Kansas.
Meechie Johnson (South Carolina) — 33 pts, 3 rebs, 3 ast, 9/19 FG, 7/14 3FG vs. Southern Miss.
Kylan Boswell (Illinois) — 31 pts, 10 rebs, 3 ast, 8/13 FG, 4/7 3FG vs. FGCU.
Mark Mitchell (Missouri) — 29 pts, 5 rebs, 3 ast, 12/14 FG vs. SEMO. 24 pts, 10 rebs, 7/13 FG vs. VMI.
Juke Harris (Wake Forest) — 29 pts, 9 rebs, 1, ast, 2 stls, 10/15 FG, 3/5 3FG vs. Morehead State.
Alex Condon (Florida) — 25 pts, 10 rebs, 4 ast, 3 blks, 2 stls, 8/12 FG vs. North Florida.
PJ Haggerty (Kansas State) — 23 pts, 4 rebs, 11 ast, 5/9 FG, 11/12 FTs vs. Bellarmine.
Braden Smith (Purdue) — 20 pts, 7 rebs, 9 ast, 8/15 FG vs. Oakland.
Bennett Stirtz (Iowa) — 24 pts, 1 reb, 7 ast, 2 stls, 7/11 FG, 4/7 3FG vs. Western Illinois.
Terrence Brown (Utah) — 36 pts, 4 rebs, 3 ast, 13/23 FG vs. Weber State.
Keyshawn Hall (Auburn) — 25 pts, 14 rebs, 1 ast, 6/9 FG, 12/13 FTs vs. Merrimack.
Nate Bittle (Oregon) — 25 pts, 8 rebs, 1 ast, 6 blks, 7/15 FG vs. Rice.
Baba Miller (Cincinnati) — 24 pts, 11 rebs, 1 ast, 3 blks, 8/9 FG vs. Georgia State.
Nick Boyd (Wisconsin): 25 pts, 3 rebs, 3 ast, 2 stls, 8/16 FG vs. Northern Illinois.
Lamar Wilkerson (Indiana): 23 pts, 3 rebs, 8 ast, 2 stls, 8/19 FG, 6/10 3FG vs. Marquette.
Chad Baker-Mazara (USC): 26 pts, 7 rebs, 3 ast, 2 blks, 7/13 FG, 3/4 3FG vs. Manhattan.
Jason Edwards (Providence) — 28 pts, 2 rebs, 4 ast, 10/19 FG, 2/7 3FG vs. Virginia Tech.
Jaylin Sellers (Providence) — 26 pts, 3 rebs, 1 ast, 9/19 FG, 4/10 3FG vs. Virginia Tech.
CJ Gunn (DePaul): 28 pts, 6 rebs, 3 ast, 3 stls, 8/20 FG in vs. Stonehill.
Cade Tyson (Minnesota) 21 pts, 6 rebs, 1 ast, 2 stls, 5/9 FG vs. Alcorn State.
Mikey Lewis (Saint Mary’s) — 28 pts, 4 rebs, 5 ast, 3 stls, 7/13 FG, 4/6 3FG vs. Chattanooga.
Naas Cunningham (UNLV) — 25 pts, 3 rebs, 3 ast, 8/14 FG vs. Chattanooga.
Kyle Jorgensen (Colorado State) — 25 pts, 9 rebs, 2 ast, 8/12 FG, 2/5 3FG vs. Omaha.
Subscribe to The Field of 68 on YouTube
Subscribe to The Field of 68’s Daily Newsletter
