Creme: Caroline Ducharme Is 9th Best Freshman in WCBB

[JoePgh]

ESPN just published an article by Charlie Creme on the 10 best freshmen in the country. At the top of the list was DePaul's freshman, Aneesah Morrow. Caroline was ranked 9th, behind two Notre Dame players: Olivia Miles (2nd) and Sonia Citron (6th). Most of the players on the list are relatively short guards. Talia Von Oelhofen of Oregon State was ranked 8th.

In the first paragraph, he notes that neither Azzi Fudd nor Raven Johnson have played enough to make the list, despite behind the two highest-ranked players coming in this year.

I won't try to link the article, but you can find it on the ESPN web site or in their app.

 

[Centerstream]

Ranking 10 best freshmen in women's college basketball

In an unpredictable season, our ranking of the top freshmen follows suit. Notre Dame put two on our list, but the top spot belongs to the Big East.

www.espn.com

From the link: Ducharme began the season barely getting off the Huskies' bench. In Monday's loss at Oregon, she played 40 minutes. The injuries that have rocked UConn's season have given her an opportunity that Ducharme has grabbed. Her efficiency is still a work in progress -- she needed 21 shots to score a team-leading 22 points against the Ducks -- and Ducharme has work to do on the defensive end, but she has at times been the Huskies' best player. In the seven games Paige Bueckers has missed with a knee injury, Ducharme has led UConn in scoring four times and is now third on the team in points per game.

 

[eebmg]

ESPN just published an article by Charlie Creme on the 10 best freshmen in the country. At the top of the list was DePaul's freshman, Aneesah Morrow. Caroline was ranked 9th, behind two Notre Dame players: Olivia Miles (2nd) and Sonia Citron (6th). Most of the players on the list are relatively short guards. Talia Von Oelhofen of Oregon State was ranked 8th.

In the first paragraph, he notes that neither Azzi Fudd nor Raven Johnson have played enough to make the list, despite behind the two highest-ranked players coming in this year.

I won't try to link the article, but you can find it on the ESPN web site or in their app.

I am surprised Miles is #2. In the (few?) games I saw, she was a dynamite passer playmaker but her shooting was ok and she made a lot of poor decision TO's and Citron looked like the #2 but I guess being on the Bench limits her stats? I guess things have changed a bit recently.

 

[Dillon77]

Most of the players on the list are relatively short guards

Thanks for the summary.....

I don't know about "most" being relatively short.

Three of them are listed as 5'6":

• #4. Shayeanne Day-Wilson of Duke
• #5 Jayda Curry of Cal
• #7 Rori Harmon of Texas

#1 is an undersized forward at 6'1", Aneesah Morrow of Duke (but still 6'1").

And the other six are pretty good-sized guards:

• #2 Olivia Miles of ND (5'10")
• #3 Serena Sundell of Kansas State (6'!")
• #6 Sonia Citron of ND (6'1)
• #8 Talia von Oelhoffen of Oregon State (5'10")
• #9 Caroline Ducharme of UConn (6'2")
• #10 Shyanne Sellers of Maryland (6'2")

• I think I need to see Sundell play. She entered K-State with two other six footers, Jaelynn and Byrlee Glenn, both of whom are also 6'+. Both Glenns are making solid contributions to the Wildcats.
• Without question, UConn would've had two players on this list if Azzi Fudd hadn't gotten injured. Here's to hoping she gets back as soon as healing permits.

 

[Cuango]

Let’s just say I wouldn’t trade Caroline for any of those players. She’s a gamer! I’ll be surprised if she’s still #9 in March.

 

[AzzisBraids]

Im fine with this list

 

[LwrcasefaN]

In a pickup game...she wouldn't get picked 9th out of this group, so, there's that.

 

[JellyBean]

Pretty solid list. I have no problem with the list. Just glad that C-Dawg is getting the shine that she deserves.

 

[Fossil]

What are the criteria for judging the freshman. Caroline has been asked to go from a bench player to a full-time 40 minute a game offensive number one option and has been kicking ass doing it. Have the others taking that type of responsibility or are they playing within the construct of a decent team but not asked to take on the responsibility that Caroline has. I usually don’t like Cream’s rankings and his tournament brackets so I will take this ranking with a grain of salt. All I know is Caroline is ours and thank goodness she is or we’d be in an even deeper hole.

 

[Postie]

Thanks for the summary.....

I don't know about "most" being relatively short.

Three of them are listed as 5'6":

• #4. Shayeanne Day-Wilson of Duke
• #5 Jayda Curry of Cal
• #7 Rori Harmon of Texas

#1 is an undersized forward at 6'1", Aneesah Morrow of Duke (but still 6'1").

And the other six are pretty good-sized guards:

• #2 Olivia Miles of ND (5'10")
• #3 Serena Sundell of Kansas State (6'!")
• #6 Sonia Citron of ND (6'1)
• #8 Talia von Oelhoffen of Oregon State (5'10")
• #9 Caroline Ducharme of UConn (6'2")
• #10 Shyanne Sellers of Maryland (6'2")
• I think I need to see Sundell play. She entered K-State with two other six footers, Jaelynn and Byrlee Glenn, both of whom are also 6'+. Both Glenns are making solid contributions to the Wildcats.
• Without question, UConn would've had two players on this list if Azzi Fudd hadn't gotten injured. Here's to hoping she gets back as soon as healing permits.

Morrow ranked #1 now passes the eye test.She wasn’t ranked in top 100 in HS.Morrow again proves don’t pay attention to HS rankings.Miles and Cintron are legit were not ranked top ten.A shame there are at ND.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Morrow is highly likely to be the BE FOY. Depending on how much Paige plays, Morrow could also be the BE POY.

 

[Dillon77]

I am surprised Miles is #2. In the (few?) games I saw, she was a dynamite passer playmaker but her shooting was ok and she made a lot of poor decision TO's and Citron looked like the #2 but I guess being on the Bench limits her stats? I guess things have changed a bit recently.

Miles' worst game of the year was against Georgia when she had 8 turnovers and shot horribly. She's been coming on since mid-December in terms of tightening the leash on t/o's and not insisting on taking all the three-point opportunities. While her three-pt. pct is still low, her overall shooting is 44%.

While Citron's scoring is down, that's somewhat because teams are playing her hard. Rather than force the issue, she moves the ball, sets screens, plays great defense and also rebounds. Her greatest value is this: ND plays better when she's on the court. And she averages about 27 minutes per game.

 

[Alydar]

Will ESPN/Creme be awarding banners to the top freshman in January?

 

[pk1234]

I think you can make the argument Caroline's the best player on this list.

 

[cancontent]

I think you can make the argument Caroline's the best player on this list.

Best player overall or best player at her position? Being in the top 10 is excellent, especially when she wasn't touted like others in the pre-season.

It's also unfair to other players like Morrow who have been impressive since the start of the season. I couldn't justify knocking her out of the #1 position based on Ducharme's recent play.

Things may change by the end of the season. At this moment, I think she's getting her fair due.

 

[fireford]

I have a suspicion that Creme wanted to rank Caroline higher but was afraid "someone" might accuse him of "Uconn bias".

 

[eebmg]

I'm fine with ranking Caroline lower than might be the case. That will just fuel her infamous chip on the shoulder.

 

[Vowelguy]

I think you can make the argument Caroline's the best player on this list.

I think you could make an argument that any of the 10 are the best players on the list.

 

[Postie]

Best player overall or best player at her position? Being in the top 10 is excellent, especially when she wasn't touted like others in the pre-season.

It's also unfair to other players like Morrow who have been impressive since the start of the season. I couldn't justify knocking her out of the #1 position based on Ducharme's recent play.

Things may change by the end of the season. At this moment, I think she's getting her fair due.

Morrow is is leading the BE in rebounding at 6’2 and is second in scoring.Why does Caroline deserve to be ranked over her.Because she wears a UCONN uniform ?

 

[Vowelguy]

Morrow is highly likely to be the BE FOY.

And National FOY.

I believe she’s in the top 20 among all players for scoring AND rebounding.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Are the early enrollees from last year really Freshman?

Not sure who you'd bump, but I think Jenna Johnson from Utah should probably be on this list. Stats aren't everything...but her stats are way better than several of the included players. Way, way better. Most of the players are from teams that are doing better than Utah, but then you have Curry from Cal.

 

[donalddoowop]

It was wrong for him to mention the number of shots Caroline took. That was not the case in some other games and some of the players listed has taken a lot of shots to score 20 points. However, Caroline is probably not the best freshman.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Morrow is the clear choice but I'd put Caroline in the top 5. Harmon is a sleeper. I love her game. Citron for sure. If Caroline played for another team and coach the entire offense would revolve around her and we would be seeing her put up regular 20 -25 point games. Mile's is shooting 3 pointers at a 22% rate? That's a problem. It's more indicative of the small sample sizes of the data though. Depending on the situation, my first pick for a team would be Citron, Morrow or Caroline. Defensive ability is a delimiter.

 

[cancontent]

Morrow is is leading the BE in rebounding at 6’2 and is second in scoring.Why does Caroline deserve to be ranked over her.Because she wears a UCONN uniform ?

That question should be directed to the poster I replied to. I'm not in that camp of thought.

 

[HuskyNan]

What are the criteria for judging the freshman. Caroline has been asked to go from a bench player to a full-time 40 minute a game offensive number one option and has been kicking ass doing it. Have the others taking that type of responsibility or are they playing within the construct of a decent team but not asked to take on the responsibility that Caroline has. I usually don’t like Cream’s rankings and his tournament brackets so I will take this ranking with a grain of salt. All I know is Caroline is ours and thank goodness she is or we’d be in an even deeper hole.

It’s totally subjective and, remember, it’s a list written by an ESPN columnist