We here at CBS Sports have once again teamed up with the United States Basketball Writers Association and its Integris Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award, meaning our weekly feature on the best freshman in the country will work hand in hand with the Tisdale committee and the USBWA. The winner of the award will be announced in March, while a ceremony for all USBWA honors will take place in early April.
CBS Sports Freshman of the Week for Feb. 16-22: Rice's Marcus Evans.
He's a really good player you've never heard of, but he's also the guy who's going to turn Rice's program around. Mike Rhoades has landed a special one here. Evans is on his way to a waltz for C-USA Freshman of the Year, and if the Owls were above .500 in the league (6-8, and 11-16 overall), he'd have a realistic shot at Player of the Year.
Evans has won Conference USA's Freshman of the Week honor four straight weeks -- and eight times this season. He's an absolute mid-major stud and slotted at No. 10 in this week's Integris Frosh Watch. He's deserving of cracking the list, averaging 20.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.1 steals. He's only one of three players in the nation (joining Oakland's Kay Felder and Fresno State's Marvelle Harris) to average as many as 20 points, four boards, three dimes and two swipes.
What a start to his career. Evans averaged 29.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 3.0 assists in helping the Owls beat Florida Atlantic and FIU last week. He was 62 percent from the field and went 12 of 13 at the foul line. He had six steals in the FIU game.
Per C-USA, he's the 12th freshman ever to hit 500 points in his first season in the conference.
Evans won the award over two other freshmen who had good weeks: St. John's Kassoum Yakwe (13.5 ppg, 13.0 rpg, 4.0 bpg) and Dartmouth's Evan Beuadreaux (19.0 ppg, 13.5 rpg). But unlike Evans' week, each of those players took a loss.
Below, the top 10 in our Freshman of the Year Watch.
(Quick key for two critical stats listed below: PER = player efficiency rating. ORtg = offensive rating. Explanations for both are in those links. Anything above 30 in PER is exceedingly good; topping 35 is elite. And anything above 120 in ORtg is undeniably great, while cracking 130 is absolutely remarkable.)
| RANK | PLAYER | WAYMAN TISDALE AWARD WATCH |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
BEN SIMMONS | LSU Tigers Stats: 19.4 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 5.0 apg, 30.31 PER, 115.1 ORtg Not gonna give too much on Simmons here, because I'll be writing a column on him and LSU for Wednesday. The Tigers have gone through a melodramatic week, losing at home to Alabama and then playing arguably their worst game of the seaon on Saturday with an 81-65 loss at sub-.500 Tennessee. Simmons had 21/9/8 in that game, the "8" being turnovers. And he was sat the first 4 1/2 minutes over an academic matter. |
| 2 |  |
BRANDON INGRAM | Duke Blue Devils Stats: 17.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 23.71 PER, 113.8 ORtg After playing incredibly well for a six-week stretch, Ingram was finally humbled in Duke's 71-64 loss at Louisville on Saturday. The freshman was held to eight points and five boards -- and had 10 turnovers. Yeah, 10. Kind of wild. But Ingram's still sitting solidly at No. 2. He put up 20 points, 10 rebounds and had just one TO in Duke's 74-73 win at UNC last Wednesday. He's also become a challenger to Ben Simmons for the No. 1 pick, meaning those two will almost certainly wind up being the top two picks in the draft. |
| 3 |  |
HENRY ELLENSON | Marquette Golden Eagles Stats: 16.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 20.73 PER, 101.0 ORtg Marquette (17-10) had just one game in the past seven days, Saturday's home win over DePaul. (He had 14 points and nine rebounds.) Ellenson was fighting for the No. 2 spot most of the season, so now I want to see how he plays in the stretch run for a desperate Marquette club. The Golden Eagles play at Creighton on Wednesday, then get Nova on their home floor on Saturday. It's going to be tough to get both those wins, but if they do and if Ellenson has a big week, it will change the paradigm on MU's season. |
| 4 |  |
JAMAL MURRAY | Kentucky Wildcats Stats: 19.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 40.3 3PT FG%, 21.56 PER, 114.5 ORtg Murray could be in the 3 spot by next week, too. He's practically lived up to expectation, and now he's closing in on averaging 20 points. I still think he forces about two to four shots per game, but overall his ability to get off a shot while coming off screens is among the best in college hoops. He's made 25 of his past 47 shots from beyond the arc! |
| 5 |  |
MALIK BEASLEY | Florida State Seminoles Stats: 16.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 48.1FG%, 22.15 PER, 116.9 ORtg Beasley slides to the 5 spot this week because Jamal Murray keeps climbing. Did you see what my colleague Sam Vecenie did last week? Ranked the top 101 players in the sport. Check it out. Here's his take on Beasley: "Beasley just continues to put in yeoman's work with his polished game. He's fourth in scoring among high-major freshmen behind Ben Simmons, Jamal Murray and Brandon Ingram, scoring 16.7 points per game. His numbers haven't seen any drop-off in ACC play either, as he's still the owner of a 49/40/83 shooting line. He just has a really mature game for a player his age, possessing the ability to change speeds and directions as well as move off-ball and knock down mid-range jumpers." |
Next five up: Dwayne Bacon, Florida State; James Thompson IV, Eastern Michigan; Diamond Stone, Maryland; Dedric Lawson, Memphis; Marcus Evans, Rice.
Freshman statistical leaders in major categories:
Points: Marcus Evans, Rice (20.5)
Rebounds: Ben Simmons, LSU (11.9)
Assists: Joseph Chartouny, Fordham (5.8)
Blocks: Kassoum Yakwe, St. John's (2.81)
Steals: Laquincy Rideau, Gardner-Webb (2.28)
PER: Mike Daum, South Dakota State (32.31)
ORtg (In highest usage block; min. 28 percent of possessions used): Daum (124.7)
Previous winners this season of the CBS Sports Freshman of the Week:
Week 1: Ben Simmons, LSU
Week 2: Tyler Lydon, Syracuse
Week 3: Brandon Ingram, Duke
Week 4: Henry Ellenson, Marquette
Week 5: Dwayne Bacon, Florida State
Week 6: Edmond Sumner, Xavier
Week 7: Diamond Stone, Maryland
Week 8: Brandon Ingram, Duke
Week 9: Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State
Week 10: Henry Ellenson, Marquette
Week 11: Matt Morgan, Cornell
Week 12: Ben Simmons, LSU
Week 13: Nick Emery, BYU
