That's when all the prophecies about last season's fantastic freshmen came to life for the world to see. Houston's Kingston Flemings erupted for 42 points on the road at Texas Tech. Illinois' Keaton Wagler hit the flow state to eviscerate Purdue for 46 points in the Illini's 88-82 upset win.
It was the most points a visitor had ever scored at the house of horrors that is Mackey Arena. Not to be outdone, future No. 1 NBA Draft pick AJ Dybantsa put his name into the Holy War record books with a 43-burger in BYU's win over hated rival Utah. Three ice-cold, 40-pieces from three special freshmen.
All in a span of six hours on a frigid Saturday. Oh, and Duke's Cameron Boozer and Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr. erupted for 30-plus to lead their squads to road wins, as well, but that day belonged to Wagler, Flemings and Dybantsa. It was the first time in at least 30 years that three freshmen went for at least 40 points on the same day.
That is the history that this new freshman class will have to chase. Grassroots hoop-heads caution that the incoming 2026 recruiting class is down compared to the 2025 iteration that featured all-time talents like Boozer, Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson and was bolstered with Caleb Wilson's UNC blast-off and Wagler's storybook rise from unranked by multiple recruiting services to the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. While the unknown is the best adventure of every freshman class, the diaper dandies who emerge will have earned it.
College basketball's exploding pay-for-play market reeled numerous first-rounders back to school. It has formed serious roadblocks on the depth charts, and the path to playing time will only steepen if the slew of seniors win their court cases against the NCAA for a fifth year of eligibility. Plus, this group of freshmen is quite young.
Numerous players have reclassified up to the Class of 2026 to get to college earlier than ever to start cashing NIL direct deposits. All the fair concerns have created a narrative that the 2027 NBA Draft will be weak. Can this group flip that script?
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