Through the first two months of the season, the 2025-26 freshman class has looked as good as any we’ve ever seen in college basketball.
Three of the favorites for National Player of the Year are freshmen, the No. 1 team in the country has a pair of freshmen stars, and the second-leading rebounder in the nation is an under-the-radar freshman from Germany. Not to mention, arguably the biggest name in the class — Kansas guard Darryn Peterson — has barely touched the floor due to a lingering hamstring injury.
Below is a ranking of the top freshmen so far. This list will be updated every few weeks as conference play continues.
1. Cameron Boozer, 6-foot-9 forward, Duke
23.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.7 steals, 56.5 FG%, 35.8 3FG%
The centerpiece of another Duke juggernaut, Boozer — a highly skilled, bruising forward — is the current frontrunner for the Wooden Award. He leads the nation in scoring and ranks in the top 20 in rebounding. Across 13 outings, the 18-year-old has two 35-point games, one of which came against No. 22 Arkansas, and seven double-doubles.
Boozer scored 29 points in a thrilling victory over No. 15 Florida on Dec. 2, then notched 18 points (16 in the second half), 15 rebounds and 5 assists in a victory over No. 7 Michigan State a few days later. His KenPom Player of the Year rating (2.331) as of Jan. 1 is the fifth highest since the database started keeping the metric in 2011.
2. AJ Dybantsa, 6-foot-8 wing, BYU
23.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 59.1 FG%
Dybantsa has narrowed the gap between him and Boozer over the last month. The do-it-all wing had one of the most impressive individual performances of the season in a 67-64 comeback win over Clemson on Dec. 9, scoring or assisting on 34 of BYU’s 45 second-half points. He followed that up with a career-high 35 points against Abilene Christian and a historic triple-double (33 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) against Eastern Washington.
Since the Clemson game, Dybantsa is averaging 29.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.4 steals while shooting 65.8 percent from the field. Those numbers aren’t sustainable, but Dybantsa has clearly found his rhythm and his confidence continues to soar. “The bigger the stage, the better he performs,” Ace Dybantsa, AJ’s dad, told Hoops HQ. “I asked him a few years ago, ‘Don’t you feel the pressure? He goes, ‘Dad, what pressure? I’m just hooping.’”
3. Caleb Wilson, 6-foot-10 forward, North Carolina
19.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 1.4 steals, 55.8 FG%
Wilson is in the midst of a magnificent stretch, scoring at least 20 points in each of his last six games while shooting 60.2 percent from the field. The uber-athletic forward has been steadily climbing draft boards since the season tipped off. He leads all freshmen in rebounds per game (11.2), double-doubles (nine) and free throw attempts (111).
Even when he’s struggling to score, Wilson affects winning with his work on the glass and relentless energy on both ends. In the Tar Heels’ ACC opener on Tuesday — a 79-66 victory over Florida State — he finished with 22 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, becoming the first UNC player in the last 30 seasons to lead the team in all four of those categories in a single game.
4. Darius Acuff Jr., 6-foot-3 guard, Arkansas
18.8 points, 6.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 49.4 FG%, 44.3 3FG%
The latest in a long line of star freshman point guards to suit up for John Calipari, Acuff has been the Razorbacks’ engine this season. He has scored at least 17 points in seven straight outings, including a career-high 27 — to go with 7 assists and 5 rebounds — against Houston’s stout defense on Dec. 20.
Here’s what coach Kelvin Sampson had to say about Acuff prior to the matchup: “Elite talent, elite basketball IQ, elite passer, tough. He’s as good as any point guard I’ve seen. He just makes everything easier. He gets guys shots, he knows when to go, he knows when to change speeds. The biggest separator for him is his ability to make threes. There are a lot of point guards that can do everything but shoot. He does it all and he’s tough, competitive. I’ve just been really impressed with him.”
Katz: Contenders and Pretenders in the Power Five Conferences
Is Duke for real? How dominant is the Big 12? Andy Katz separates the winners from the wannabes in every power conference to kick off 2026.
5. Kingston Flemings, 6-foot-4 guard, Houston
15.3 points, 4.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 steals, 56.4 FG%, 44.4 3FG%
Coach Sampson has a stellar freshman point guard of his own in Flemings. The five-star prospect out of William J. Brennan High School was somewhat overlooked heading into the season in part because fellow Houston freshmen Chris Cenac Jr. and Isiah Harwell were both ranked higher in the 2025 class, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Flemings stepped up in big games throughout the Cougars’ challenging nonconference slate, displaying the poise and assertiveness of an established vet. As of Jan. 1, the 18-year-old is averaging 22.6 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists against ranked opponents. He leads No. 8 Houston in assists, steals and three-point percentage.
6. Hannes Steinbach, 6-foot-11 forward, Washington
18.1 points, 12.0 rebounds, 58.6 FG%
A former pro in Germany who shined at the FIBA U19 World Cup in July, Steinbach is quietly having a monster freshman season for coach Danny Sprinkle. The projected lottery pick has recorded a double-double in eight of the 10 games he has appeared in (he missed three games in November due to an ankle injury) and ranks second nationally in rebounding.
From the moment he started recruiting Steinbach almost two years ago, Washington assistant coach Andy Hill was convinced that the big man would thrive in a Huskies’ uniform. “(Andy) went over there and saw him last summer and he came back and was like, ‘Coach, we have to get this kid,’” Sprinkle told Hoops HQ. “‘This kid is a perfect fit for us, for Washington, for how you coach.’” Hill was spot on.
7. Keaton Wagler, 6-foot-6 guard, Illinois
15.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 46 FG%, 42.2 3FG%
Wagler didn’t crack the top 100 in the 2025 class (per the 247Sports Composite), but he has been more impactful than nearly every player who got the nod above him. The dynamic wing out of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Kansas was a starter from opening night and currently leads the 10-3 Fighting Illini in scoring.
Amid a difficult four-game stretch in mid-December (No. 20 Tennessee, at Ohio State, No. 23 Nebraska, Missouri), Wagler averaged 20 points, 6 assists and 4.8 rebounds, as Illinois went 3-1. His draft stock has spiked dramatically, with some mocks now placing him in the first round.
8. Koa Peat, 6-foot-8 forward, Arizona
14.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 56.3 FG%
This spot was reserved for one of Arizona’s standout freshmen, and it was a close call between Peat and sharpshooting wing Brayden Burries, who has been on an absolute tear over the past month. But Peat has been the more consistent of the two since the season opener, when he erupted for 30 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists against Florida.
Peat combines tremendous strength with elite footwork and touch around the basket. He is a proven winner — in four years at Perry High School, he led the program to four straight state titles and was named Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year three times — so it’s not surprising that he has helped the Wildcats climb to No. 1 in the AP poll with a perfect 13-0 record.
9. Tounde Yessoufou, 6-foot-5 guard, Baylor
19.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 50.9 FG%
Yessoufou, who broke California’s all-time high school scoring record back in February (it has since been broken again by class of 2026 guard and Missouri commit Jason Crowe Jr.), has continued to get buckets at the college level. He has dropped 28 points in back-to-back outings and reached double figures in every game this season.
But Yessoufou is a lot more than just a high-level scorer, bringing elite defense and rebounding to the table as well. “Basketball wise, obviously he’s got a lot of talent, but what you love is his motor is always running and he’s always competing,” Baylor coach Scott Drew told Hoops HQ. “He’s always playing at 100 percent.”
10. Ebuka Okorie, 6-foot-2 guard, Stanford
21.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 42.7 FG%
A four-star prospect who received limited interest from high-major programs coming out of Brewster Academy, Okorie was initially headed to Harvard before switching his commitment to Stanford. That decision transformed the Cardinal’s outlook for the 2025-26 campaign.
With Okorie running the show, Stanford is off to an 11-3 start. The crafty guard ranks 10th in the country in scoring (third among freshmen) and has dropped at least 25 points in six of 12 outings. He has the 14th highest individual offensive rating on KenPom (121.9), slotting in just behind Caleb Wilson. No freshman has made more shots from the free throw line (84) than Okorie as of Jan. 1.
Meet your guide
