The Freshman Guards

[visitingcock]

We saw some great performance by freshman guards yesterday and more are probably coming this week.

the 2024 class was loaded with top guards. For a change, I'm gonna use prospect Nation's guard rankings (because the top 25 is so guard heavy)

Overall Rank ​ ​ ​ Position ​ Player ​ ​ State ​ Height ​ Committed School ​ 1 G Mikaylah Williams LA 6' 0" LSU 2 G Judea Watkins CA 6' 0" USC 3 PG Milaysia Fulwiley SC 5' 9" South Carolina 6 PG Kamorea Arnold WI 5' 8" Connecticut 8 G Ashlynn Shade IN 5' 10" Connecticut 9 PG Hannah Hidalgo NJ 5' 6" Notre Dame 13 PG Sayvia Sellers AK 5' 7" Washington 14 PG Jada Williams MO 5' 6" Arizona 15 G Emma Risch FL 6' 1" Notre Dame 16 G Zoe Brooks NJ 5' 10" North Carolina State 20 G Taliah Scott FL 5' 9" Arkansas 22 G Amiyah Reynolds IN 6' 0" Maryland

So, we got to see Mikayla Williams, Juju Watkins, Milaysia Fulwily, Hanna Hidalgo and Emma Riche yesterday.

Mikayla 31 minutes,, 8/16 FG, 1/2 Treys, 4 rebs , assist, 1 steal, 2 TOs
JuJu 31 minutes,11/18 FG, 1/2 Trey, 6 rebs, 5 assists, 6 steals, 5 TOs
Fulwiley 26 minutes, 8/14 fgs, 1/4 treys, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 steals, 1 TO
Hannah 37 minutes, 10/25 FG, 3/6 treys, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 6 TO's
Emma, 14 minutes 0/2 FGs 2 Rebounds 0 assists O steals 1 TO

the rest have yet to play. Hope KK and Shade get some good minutes in Uconn's talented guard corps.

Shout out to Dukes O. Okananwa who was not in the top 25. She had 25 minutes, 8/11FG 1/2 treys,12 rebounds 2 assists 3 steals. 1 TO Not great competition but still a very nice showing.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Sayvia Sellers played last night. Didn't jump out at me, seemed like she forced things a bit. 18 minutes 2-5 FG 0-2 trey 3 assists 1 TO.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Maryland played too, I didn't look at the box score, don't know what Reynolds did.

 

[nwhoopfan]

And Arizona. I watched just a few minutes off and on, so can't give a report on J. Williams.

 

[Geew1992]

Maryland played too, I didn't look at the box score, don't know what Reynolds did.

Reynolds?? Didn’t she transfer?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Reynolds?? Didn’t she transfer?

I have no idea, I was just going by the list above.

 

[visitingcock]

Reynolds?? Didn’t she transfer?

I think she transferred to join her sister at Purdue but she wasn’t iin last nights box score

 

[LoTrader]

There are a couple of freshman guards at OSU that have potential to make the PAC-12 All-Freshman team this season.

 

[Vowelguy]

So, we got to see Mikayla Williams, Juju Watkins, Milaysia Fulwily, Hanna Hidalgo and Emma Riche yesterday.

Mikayla 31 minutes,, 8/16 FG, 1/2 Treys, 4 rebs , assist, 1 steal, 2 TOs
JuJu 31 minutes,11/18 FG, 1/2 Trey, 6 rebs, 5 assists, 6 steals, 5 TOs
Fulwiley 26 minutes, 8/14 fgs, 1/4 treys, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 steals, 1 TO
Hannah 37 minutes, 10/25 FG, 3/6 treys, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 6 TO's
Emma, 14 minutes 0/2 FGs 2 Rebounds 0 assists O steals 1 TO

the rest have yet to play. Hope KK and Shade get some good minutes in Uconn's talented guard corps.

Shout out to Dukes O. Okananwa who was not in the top 25. She had 25 minutes, 8/11FG 1/2 treys,12 rebounds 2 assists 3 steals. 1 TO Not great competition but still a very nice showing.

Fulwiley is 5 9 and she got 7 rebounds?

 

[Darwin]

Fulwiley is 5 9 and she got 7 rebounds?

She can dunk the ball, she obviously is a great jumper.

 

[visitingcock]

Fulwiley is 5 9 and she got 7 rebounds?

She’s actually 5-11.

 

[GamecockFam]

I have a feeling the battle for freshman of the year will be a more interesting conversation than the player of the year category. We have some freshmen that came to play!

 

[The deacon]

I have a feeling the battle for freshman of the year will be a more interesting conversation than the player of the year category. We have some freshmen that came to play!

And, GamecockFam, as we found out in '20-21 with Paige Bueckers, a freshman could also win the NPOY. It seems unlikely right now with Clark, Bueckers, et al, around, but one never knows for sure.

 

[GamecockFam]

And, GamecockFam, as we found out in '20-21 with Paige Bueckers, a freshman could also win the NPOY. It seems unlikely right now with Clark, Bueckers, et al, around, but one never knows for sure.

True and I agree

 

[Geew1992]

My daughter and I had a convo about the freshman’s. Said this was gonna be a special class

 

[nwhoopfan]

And, GamecockFam, as we found out in '20-21 with Paige Bueckers, a freshman could also win the NPOY. It seems unlikely right now with Clark, Bueckers, et al, around, but one never knows for sure.

One of the Fr. would have to be absolutely phenomenal to get POY this season. I think hell freezing over is more likely.

 

[Darwin]

One of the Fr. would have to be absolutely phenomenal to get POY this season. I think hell freezing over is more likely.

No argument here, outside of the likelihood that hell is nonexistent, but I digress.

 

[visitingcock]

KK Arnold off the bench for UConn:

 

[bbsamjj]

One of the Fr. would have to be absolutely phenomenal to get POY this season. I think hell freezing over is more likely.

Agree. The folks Paige beat out for NPOY were very good players (Rhyne Howard, Dana Evans, sophomore year A. Boston, freshmen year C. Clark) but nowhere near the level or reputation of this year's senior class.

The only frosh who has a shot is JuJu Watkins since she is clearly the best player on USC and will be asked to carry that offense. But I think the odds of her beating out two previous NPOY winners (Clark and Paige), not to mention Cardoso, Reese, Brink, etc, is....unlikely.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Agree. The folks Paige beat out for NPOY were very good players (Rhyne Howard, Dana Evans, sophomore year A. Boston, freshmen year C. Clark) but nowhere near the level or reputation of this year's senior class.

The only frosh who has a shot is JuJu Watkins since she is clearly the best player on USC and will be asked to carry that offense. But I think the odds of her beating out two previous NPOY winners (Clark and Paige), not to mention Cardoso, Reese, Brink, etc, is....unlikely.

And while it is an individual award, it is usually based somewhat on team success as well. While USC will be interesting to follow this year, I don't see them being among the elite teams in the country.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Okay, I was impressed w/ Sayvia Sellers in her second game. Albeit against a bad team (NCCU). 18 points/7assist/4 steals 3-5 behind the arc. They have another Fr. guard who also scored 18 tonight.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Another big game from Hidalgo. Is the box score correct? Shows she had 12 steals!

 

[GamecockFam]

To add their names to the list...Zoe Brooks, Qadence Samuels, and Tessa Johnson all had good games today against top level competition today. The guard play in this freshman class is just out of this world. Have we ever had such a large group of freshmen make a statement so early?

 

[GamecockFam]

I've got a theory brewing. Most of these kids would have been in 9th grade in 2020, correct? So I bet a lot of schools cancelled the season and the kids were stuck at home with time on their hands. I bet this group spent a lot of time alone at home working on their shot and perfecting their fundamentals. I wonder if that has anything to do with this freshman phenomenon?

 

[bbsamjj]

interesting theory though i think that time to work on fundamentals would be offset by a lack of game play experience. but you may be right!