Ranking college basketball’s top freshmen ahead of March Madness

The 2025-2026 Freshmen class in college basketball is being touted as possibly the greatest of all time, and that’s not even an exaggeration.

Since these kids were about 15 years old, there was talk about this class being generational, but I tried to avoid those discussions until they actually set foot on the hardwood.

Now it’s February, teams are deep into conference play, and I can confidently say, this is the greatest freshmen class I have ever seen.

Obviously, there’s the big three of Boozer, Dybantsa and Peterson, but other Freshmen have stood out just as much, if not more than some of those guys.

Today, we’ll rank the Top 5 freshmen in college basketball as it stands just about a month before the NCAA Tournament.

5. Caleb Wilson, Forward, North Carolina

Starting at number five on the list, we have Caleb Wilson.

Wilson has been producing ever since he set foot on the UNC campus. He’s put up five 20-point games in his last six as North Carolina has completely flipped their season around.

He’s averaging just under a double-double with 20 points per game, 9.9 rebounds per game and 2.9 assists per game.

With how fiery a player he is, I’m excited to see how he fares against Cam Boozer and Duke in their first matchup of the season.

4. Darryn Peterson, Guard, Kansas

Moving on to number four, I cannot put Darryn Peterson any higher due to the missed games throughout the early portion of this season, but he balled out in his most recent performance against BYU.

The combination of his explosiveness off the dribble, his shotmaking and his defense has really stuck out and made him remarkable to watch on the floor.

He’s averaging about 21 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, and 1.8 assists per game.

Even though he outplayed BYU’s AJ Dybantsa in their game, Dybantsa stays ahead of him in the rankings because of the durability issues Peterson has faced that have limited his overall impact this season.

3. Keaton Wagler, Guard, Illinois

Would Keaton Wagler be good in his freshman year? Yes. Did he put up 46 points against a Top 10 team in the Country in Purdue? Absolutely not.

Wagler has been a revelation, and he’s got the Fighting Illini going well as they were ranked as the number five team in the country in the most recent AP Poll.

He followed that dazzling performance against the boilermakers with 22 points and eight assists vs. Washington and 28 points, five rebounds and five assists vs. Nebraska.

He’s averaging about 18 points per game, five rebounds per game, and 4.2 assists per game.

He’ll likely be a Top 5 pick in the NBA draft come June.

2. AJ Dybantsa, Forward, BYU

The former number one prospect is having a phenomenal year, averaging 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists.

His shooting flaws have shown in BYU's past three games, as he is shooting just 18 of 53 from the field in three losses.

That said, his consistent productivity is hard to ignore, and he’s still having a historic freshman season despite his shooting woes.

1. Cam Boozer, Forward, Duke

Boozer is the runaway favorite for the national player of the year award, and the Blue Devils have looked like an elite team, winning five straight.

He’s averaging about 24 points per game, 10 rebounds per game, and about four assists per game.

He’s the obvious choice at number one due to not only his physical size and projection but also his numbers. He is statistically speaking, having the greatest college basketball season of all time if you look at it from a plus/minus perspective.

The tournament is slowly creeping up on us, and all five of these stars are sure to make big impacts come March.

Sawyer Bogaty is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email him at sgb5468@psu.edu.