On November 11, college basketball finally returned to our televisions, with the Veteran’s Day slate of games concluding with Armed Forces Classic which pitted Arizona against Michigan State, and then Indiana against Kansas.

Arizona and Indiana both came away with wins, which vaulted them up the Associated Press rankings in the following week. They currently rank 16th and 13th respectively, as recent underwhelming performances that resulted in losses to lesser opponents caused the two teams to stumble down the rankings.

The top 5 ranked teams in the country consist of familiar faces, including the defending national champions at number 2. The top 5 in order is: Kentucky, Villanova, North Carolina, Kansas, and Duke. This should come as no surprise, as these blue blood programs have always had a place among the nation’s elites.

However, the major story of the beginning of this season has been the emergence of star freshmen. Contrary to last season, when seniors and upperclassmen ruled the basketball world, this year’s freshmen class is amongst the best of all time.

Kentucky and Duke have starting lineups flooded with talent; between the two teams there are 6 of the top 10 recruits in ESPN’s top 100, with each team having three. For Kentucky, Bam Adebayo, De’Aaron Fox, and Malik Monk have dominated the early competition, leading their team to easy wins over respected teams such as Michigan State, and a number 1 ranking. While Duke is currently ranked 5th, neither only one of their top 10 recruits, Frank Jackson, has played, and Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum, along with 16th overall recruit Marques Bolden, haven’t played yet, as they have all been hindered by injury.

Kentucky and Duke aren’t the only benefactors of this otherworldly freshmen class. Lonzo Ball and Markelle Fultz have made UCLA and Washington respectively must-see TV, while Josh Jackson and Udoka Azubuike are keeping Kansas in the discussion as national contenders, as well as making a strong case that Kansas can win their record 13th consecutive conference title this year.

“Lonzo Ball is my favorite freshman to watch, since he is so diverse in his abilities, and I think the comparisons between him and Jason Kidd are accurate”, West Morris senior Connor Noto said when asked about this year’s freshmen class.

With a great freshman class comes great brevity, as a high percentage of this players are likely to take a crack at the NBA next year, with a lot of them being lottery picks in the NBA Draft come June. We must appreciate these players and the growth right before our eyes for the 30 or so games that we can, before they are poached by the NBA, leaving us only with memories of their sheer greatness.