The 2025-26 freshman class has been hailed as the most balanced and talented group in recent memory. It’s a cohort so stacked that lottery-pick candidates like Koa Peat and Nate Ament have already fallen out of top-10 freshman rankings, due to the stiff competition.

Now, as we inch toward 2026, the stakes are higher than ever for these players. Still, a few have managed to stand out more. And, by March, one of them will claim the Freshman of the Year hardware

5. Kingston Flemings (Houston Cougars)

One of the Cougars’ most explosive playmakers, Kingston Flemings, thrives in transition and is at his best when the floor opens up. While he’s known primarily for his playmaking, he’s just as comfortable scoring from anywhere on the court. That growth is starting to show in the numbers. A week ago, Flemings ranked fourth among the team’s starters in shot usage when on the floor. Now, he’s up to third and shooting an impressive 58.8% from the field.

He’s started all 12 games he’s appeared in, and while his raw averages, 15.3 points, 4.9 assists, and 48.4% from deep, don’t immediately jump off the page, they tell a different story with context. If his minutes were stretched from 29 to a full 40, those numbers would project closer to 20 points and six assists per game.

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Consistency is still the next step. After a couple of quieter outings against JKST and ND, Flemings has bounced back nicely, putting up 15 and 21 points in his last two games, a sign that he’s finding his rhythm again.

Battorvik puts Flemings 45th on their list of overall college basketball players, taking note of his scoring ability and also being useful in defense, which allows him to make steals (2.2) and create disruptions.

4. Darius Acuff Jr (Arkansas Razorbacks)

Over the first three games of December, Darius Acuff Jr played with a level of control and confidence that turned heads across the college basketball world. The stretch included ranked teams like Louisville and Texas Tech. Yet, Acuff averaged 18.3 points a night, scored efficiently inside by hitting 57% of his shots, and made smart decisions with the ball, coming close to a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

As of now, he is averaging 18.9 points, 6.2 assists, and 3.3 rebounds, with a three-point percentage of 43.8%. Some of his best games came against very tough competition – Duke (21 points), Louisville (10 assists), Houston (27 points). Thanks to that consistent production throughout December and with conference play coming up in January, he’s putting himself firmly in the mix as a real SEC Player of the Year candidate.

Understandably, John Calipari has shown that faith in him, making him start all 12 games he’s played this season, and Darius has never let him down.  EvanMiya ranks Acuff Jr 47th on their list of college basketball player rankings. His BPR (Bayesian Performance Rating), which measures his overall value to the team, stands at 7.12.

3. Caleb Wilson (North Carolina Tar Heels)

Caleb Wilson has found himself being the top scorer for the Tar Heels in 9 out of the 12 games played. He is currently averaging 19.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 55.4 FG%. Battorvik puts him 31st on their men’s college basketball rankings list of top players currently playing college basketball.

Wilson has already built a reputation for playing above the rim. While other players indulge in an awful lot of permutations and combinations, Caleb just does it on the fly, like literally. He states it as candidly as well. “Like if I’m inside, if I’m on the ACC logo, I’m trying to dunk it,” Wilson said.

The forward already has about 38 dunks to his name, and at the rate at which he is currently going, there are still many more to come. If opponents want any chance of containing him, they’ll have to tighten the floor and stop giving him the kind of space he’s been punishing all season.

2. AJ Dybantsa (BYU)

This list would have definitely been incomplete without AJ Dybantsa. The freshman from BYU is already a top prospect for the 2026 NBA draft picks, and what a stellar season he is having at the moment for the Cougars, averaging 23.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 59.1 FG%.

Having AJ on your team makes any coach’s work that much easier, and BYU coach Kevin Young feels exactly the same about the 6’9″ small forward. “Love coaching him, he’s very coachable, does what we ask him to do, just the reads high-level stuff for a kid of his age,” Kevin Young had said about Dybantsa after one of his games, and that easily gives you a basic idea about what a force he is on the court.

When BYU gave up a brutal 21–0 run to close the first half against Clemson, it felt like the Cougars were staring at another uphill battle, their fifth time trailing at the break this season. But the second half quickly turned into the AJ Dybantsa show. He completely flipped the game by either scoring or setting up teammates on 34 of BYU’s 45 points after halftime, per ESPN Research.

That stretch was as dominant as it gets from a freshman. No one else this season has taken over a second half the way Dybantsa did in that comeback win over the Tigers. And if there was any doubt about why he belongs firmly in the second spot, that performance pretty much answered it.

EvanMiya puts Dybantsa 4th on their list with a BPR of 10.59.

1. Cameron Boozer (Duke)

Boozer has separated himself from the pack and remains the frontrunner for both Freshman of the Year and National Player of the Year, even while facing one of the toughest schedules in the country. There have been moments where he has concern among fans in the first halves, going scoreless against Texas, limited to seven points versus Kansas, and held to just two at Michigan State.

However, even in those matchups, his overall impact never dipped. He wrapped up the Texas game with 15 points and 12 boards, followed it up with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists against Kansas, and then dropped 18 points and 15 rebounds at Michigan State. Simply put, when it matters most, no one has been more reliable or dominant.

Boozer takes up the 1st spot on Battorvik, as well as EvanMiya, with a BPR of 13.09, and is already being touted as the no. 1 draft pick next year.

Boozer’s numbers are just as wild as the eye test. He’s putting up 23.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game while shooting an efficient 56.7% from the floor. On top of that, he leads his team in just about everything (scoring, rebounding, assists, and even steals at 1.7 a night).

The basketball DNA clearly runs deep, and he’s taking full advantage of it. So, keep your eyes on Cameron, and even if you don’t plan to, his play has a way of making sure you notice.