The nature of college basketball dictates that true freshmen have a massive impact on every season. This one, of course, has been no different.
Today, Rivals explores seven of the most impactful members of the class of 2023 and takes a look back on how they were viewed as prospects a year ago.
The following list is not indicative of draft stock or scoring averages, but rather a subjective collection of the most impactful true freshmen in the country. USC’s Isaiah Collier, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 Rivals150, was left off the list due to the injury that continues to keep him sidelined. A number of other prospects have strong cases to be included, but also just missed the cut.
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Season stats: 14.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 57.9 FG%
High school ranking: No. 7 in the Rivals150
Williams was ranked in the low 70s as a junior in high school but took a massive step forward as a senior and ended up well inside the top 10, rising as high as No. 7 in the final rankings.
The 6-foot-8 Williams was viewed as an athletic slasher with a jumper that was improving rapidly as he concluded his senior season at Arizona's Perry High School. He’s attempting fewer than two 3-pointers a game as a freshman in Boulder but shooting 56.2 percent from the arc nevertheless.
The highest-ranked recruit in Colorado history, Williams was probably a bit under-ranked even at No. 7. Williams chose Colorado over fellow finalist LSU.
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Season stats: 12.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.2 APG
High school ranking: No. 28 in the Rivals150
Rivals was high on Sheppard when he departed Kentucky’s North Laurel High School last year at this time and had him ranked higher than a good chunk of the industry. Still, nobody expected the four-star guard to become one of the top freshmen in the sport and a projected first-round pick upon his arrival in Lexington.
He finished his high school career with a strong showing in the McDonald's All-American Game, where he impressed in practices and made a small but positive impact on the showcase itself.
Sheppard did most of the heavy lifting from a scoring standpoint for his small Kentucky high school, leading some to wonder how his game would translate in the SEC. Those concerns have long been put to bed with prejudice, however. Sheppard, who grew up a massive Wildcat fan, never seriously considered another program.
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Season stats: 14.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.7 APG
High school ranking: No. 13 in the Rivals150
Walter was a five-star prospect for the entirety of his senior season, but he still feels undervalued in the retrospect. The Texas-based star carried the tag of an explosive and impressive volume-scoring guard that needed to cut down on poor shots in order to reach his potential.
Those concerns still linger, as the Baylor freshman isn’t exactly setting the world on fire from an efficiency standpoint, shooting 39 percent from the floor and 35 percent from 3-point range. Still, he leads the Bears in both scoring and ranks third on the roster in rebounds per game.
Walter committed to Baylor relatively early in the cycle, putting an end to his recruitment well before his senior season, souring Texas, Auburn and Alabama in the process.
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Season stats: 12.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.7 APG
High school ranking: No. 12 in the Rivals150
McCain had a massive social media following as a high school prospect and has been an online brand well before he was a budding star at Duke. He was known as one of the more charismatic and personable recruits in the class, but his game started to do the talking for him in his final year as a high schooler, as his ranking shot up from No. 26 to No. 12 during his senior season at California’s Centennial High School.
He was known as a mature and patient guard that understood pace and rarely made poor choices with the ball. He’s long been able to impact games without posting gaudy point totals and has lived up to that part of his reputation as a Blue Devil.
He committed to Duke over Gonzaga just weeks after his junior season, which ended with a state title.
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Season stats: 10.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.3 APG
High school ranking: No. 10 in the Rivals150
Castle was briefly discussed as a possible top-five prospect internally and probably should have been placed there in retrospect. His calling card in high school was his versatility and ability to impact nearly every column in the box score because of his size, three-level scoring ability and motor.
He was ranked in the mid-50s as a sophomore but shot up the list in a hurry on the back of his consistency and physical development. Castle chose the Huskies in November of 2021 and became the highest-ranked recruit of the Dan Hurley era when he did so.
Castle, who hung around the top-20 of the national rankings for most of his high school career, always felt severely under-recruited and chose UConn over finalists Auburn, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.
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Season stats: 15.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 3.9 APG
High school ranking: No. 15 in the Rivals150
Dillingham’s quickness and almost magical ball-handling was his calling card as a high schooler. He was ranked as the No. 15 prospect in the class but didn’t come without concerns. There was some concern about his trajectory when he ditched North Carolina’s Combine Academy to briefly attend Kanye West’s failed Donda Academy as a junior. He then became one of the first truly high-profile signees of the then-unproven Overtime Elite League.
Dillingham maintained his production throughout it all, however, and committed to Kentucky over Auburn, Louisville and USC in June of 2022. There were short-lived rumors concerning Dillingham’s academic eligibility, but those were put to rest when the five-star guard arrived on UK’s campus in June of 2023.
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Season stats: 13.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.8 APG
High school ranking: No. 53 in the Rivals150
Rivals was significantly higher on Mack than the industry at large, in part because of the trajectory he showcased running with the Oakland Soldiers during the summer headed into his senior season. The 6-foot-2 Mack has always played longer than his size thanks to his long arms and began to refine his shot selection late in his career.
He kicked off his senior season with a three-game tear at the preseason Border League that saw him average 30.7 points per game while shooting 45.5 percent from three-point range.
Mack was under-recruited as a high schooler and landed with the Bruins, when he chose Mick Cronin’s squad over finalists Florida State, Oklahoma, UNLV and Sacramento State.
