The first official practices tip off this week, and so begins the marathon to Indianapolis, where the 2026 Final Four will be held. Even after three extremely old teams (Houston, Florida and Auburn) made the Final Four last year, the 2024-25 season was a good reminder that the right freshmen in the right situation can impact winning in a gigantic way.
Florida was the deserving champion, and Houston beat ’em fair and square with a jaw-dropping, late-game comeback, but Duke may very well have been the best team in college basketball last year with five-stars like Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel leading the charge. Maryland had its best season in over a decade thanks to five-star Derik Queen and The Crab Five. UConn (Liam McNeeley), Illinois (Kasparas Jakucionis), Texas (Tre Johnson) and Baylor (VJ Edgecombe) all made the Big Dance with talented freshmen operating as the drink-stirrers.Â
Even though Rutgers’ bet on Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey fizzled, freshmen still undoubtedly matter and some fantastic ones are sauntering into the scene, itching to make big waves.
There are 17 prospects — 15 who played high school basketball in the states and two international products — who earned those illustrious five-star grades from the 247Sports scouting team. Let’s dive into the key burning questions for each five-star prospect.
Editor’s note: USC five-star freshman Alijah Arenas was not included in this exercise after suffering a knee injury in July. He is expected to miss six to eight months and could be out the entire 2025-26 season.
Expected role: Starting guard
Burning college question: Can Kansas find a second scorer to ease the…
..
