Reranking the top 10 men's basketball Freshman of the Year contenders - ESPN

We've deemed this the best freshman class in recent memory — standout performances by stars such as BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Duke's Cameron Boozer and North Carolina's Caleb Wilson have been the anchors of that theory. But the beauty of this class is that it's full of high-level players who could become household names by the end of March.

Have you heard of Hannes Steinbach, the 6-foot-11 forward from Germany who is averaging a double-double for the Washington Huskies? Keep reading. What about Keaton Wagler, a four-star guard who didn't earn a spot in the SC Next 100 high school recruiting rankings but could play his way into the first round of the 2026 NBA draft? Or Killyan Toure, the Iowa State freshman who is a versatile force for one of the best teams in America?

All three made ESPN's latest ranking of Freshman of the Year candidates, while projected lottery picks such as Arizona's Koa Peat and Tennessee's Nate Ament have fallen out of our top 10 after not playing up to their potential in recent weeks.

With the goal of highlighting freshmen playing the best basketball right now, we've also left out Kansas star and projected No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson, whose injury issues have meant he hasn't met our criteria of participating in at least 50% of his team's games.

Previous rank: 1

Biggest performance so far: 35 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists vs. Arkansas on Nov. 27

Boozer continues to be the clear-cut favorite for Freshman of the Year and National Player of the Year, producing at an incredibly high level against one of the toughest schedules in the country. He has had some lulls in the first halves of some certain games — 0 points vs. Texas, 7 vs. Kansas, 2 at Michigan State — but his dominance when it matters remains