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Lovett is seventh in the conference in assists per game. Photo via St. John’s BBall Twitter.[/caption]
It can be hard for a freshman to make a big impact on any collegiate team right out of the gate.
This season there is no shortage of success on the hardwood for freshmen in the Big East. In one way or another, each team in the conference is getting contributions from their newest members.
At Seton Hall, 6-foot, 2-inch guard Myles Powell is leading the charge. The Trenton, N.J. native is ranked 17th in the conference with 14.8 points per game. He’s also sixth in three-pointers made per game with 2.2.
On a team that is coming off a Big East championship and NCAA Tournament berth, Powell is showing encouraging signs of being able to replace lost firepower such as Isaiah Whitehead. On the team, Powell only sits behind juniors Khadeen Carrington and Desi Rodriguez in scoring.
Elsewhere in the league, other freshmen are making themselves known early in the season.
Justin Patton, a center for Creighton, is 25th in conference scoring and tied for 10th in rebounding. Patton’s dominance in the paint has earned him the most rebounds per game and the fourth most minutes per game on the Bluejay squad.
At Marquette, Sam Hauser is proving to be a multi-tool player as well. At 6-foot, 7-inches, Hauser can play both guard and forward. Currently, he is sitting at fourth on the team in points per game and is tied for second in rebounds per game. His rebounding has also landed him at 19th in the conference for boards per game.
Hauser also shows skill on the perimeter, averaging 2.2 three-pointers per game and is shooting 46.4 percent beyond the arc. Both of those land him in the top-two on Marquette’s stat sheet.
Along with Hauser and Powell, Kamar Baldwin at Butler has shown brilliance from long range so far this season. He has hit six of 11 three-point shots, good enough for a 54.5 percentage and seventh in the conference.
Baldwin is also averaging 2.0 steals per game, which is good for fourth in the conference.
At St. John’s University, two newcomers have burst onto the scene and earned serious minutes for the Red Storm. Marcus LoVett (redshirt freshman) and Shamorie Ponds are both averaging more than 30 minutes per game.
LoVett and Ponds lead the team in scoring with 19.8 and 15.3 points per game, respectively. LoVett is third in the league in scoring and Ponds is tied for 15th.
For Providence and Xavier, two young players have put in good effort in the low post. Kalif Young and Tyrique Jones, who are averging 2.8 and 4.4 rebounds per game, respectively, have made strong contributions for freshmen. Each player is also showing effort on the defensive end up averaging 0.7 blockers per game.
At Georgetown, Jagan Mosely leads the team with 3.3 assists per game, good for 11th in the league.
DePaul and Villanova each have a handful of freshmen on their team, but none so far have made many waves in the conference, although Donte DiVicenzo at Villanova and Brandon Cyrus at DePaul have shown promise.
Being a freshman in the Big East, or any other major conference, comes with ebbs and flows of talent and streaks. Although not all players will keep up their current pace, a majority will. That means the future talent for men’s basketball in the Big East is in good hands.
Kevin Kopf can be reached at kevin.kopf@student.shu.edu.
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