This article is part of our Freshman Haze series.
In this week's Freshman Haze, we travel around the country to look at players who have had a variety of early experiences. We have a few experienced freshmen who redshirted last season and are now playing major minutes for their teams. There are also players for teams that started slowly, but are being helped along by the young ones. Last week, I noted that there were not many small school freshmen, but a few have bubbled up to my attention. We'll get to one playing in our nation's capital for a team that has a talent for producing high-scoring guards.
Oshae Brissett (F) 
The Orange have a modest surprise in the ACC as they have mostly stayed home to win eight of their first nine games. This start would have been impossible without the 6-foot-8 Brissett, who has quickly become the team's leading rebounder and interior scorer. Brissett has four double-doubles and is averaging 13.6 points and 9.2 rebounds. He is trying to fit into the mold of a Syracuse forward by taking 3-pointers, but outside shooting is not his strength. The Canadian native is only hitting 23.7 percent of his long-range shots and is even worse in his last five games (21.4 percent). He will figure out the perimeter eventually, but should probably concentrate on his strengths for now.
Mo Bamba (C) 
Of the high profile big men in this freshman class, Bamba is the most like a traditional center. He does his best work on the defensive end
In this week's Freshman Haze, we travel around the country to look at players who have had a variety of early experiences. We have a few experienced freshmen who redshirted last season and are now playing major minutes for their teams. There are also players for teams that started slowly, but are being helped along by the young ones. Last week, I noted that there were not many small school freshmen, but a few have bubbled up to my attention. We'll get to one playing in our nation's capital for a team that has a talent for producing high-scoring guards.
Oshae Brissett (F)
The Orange have a modest surprise in the ACC as they have mostly stayed home to win eight of their first nine games. This start would have been impossible without the 6-foot-8 Brissett, who has quickly become the team's leading rebounder and interior scorer. Brissett has four double-doubles and is averaging 13.6 points and 9.2 rebounds. He is trying to fit into the mold of a Syracuse forward by taking 3-pointers, but outside shooting is not his strength. The Canadian native is only hitting 23.7 percent of his long-range shots and is even worse in his last five games (21.4 percent). He will figure out the perimeter eventually, but should probably concentrate on his strengths for now.
Mo Bamba (C)
Of the high profile big men in this freshman class, Bamba is the most like a traditional center. He does his best work on the defensive end and is third in the nation at 4.0 blocks per game. In his last three games, the 6-11 center has swatted away 13 shots to better his average. Bamba is also able to contribute on the offensive end with 10.7 points. He even attempts a few 3-point shots each game, but has only converted two of 13 attempts. As promised, Bamba has given coach Shaka Smart's defense a backbone and the team seems to radiate from there.
Hamidou Diallo (G) 
Diallo is considered one of the veterans on the Wildcat squad because he was on campus last season. It is hard to determine what the effect of being on the team but not playing had on the 6-5 guard. He has helped the Wildcats out to an 8-1 start and six straight wins. He opened the season by averaging 16.0 points in his first three games, then he was held to single-digit scoring for three straight games. Diallo has tuned things up a notch in his last three games, producing 20.3 points on 57.5 percent from the field. He is at his best in transition and when attacking the basket, but his game is growing by impressive leaps and bounds.
Marcus Carr (G) 
The Panther season got out to a horrible start as the team dropped four of its first five games, including opening losses to Navy and Montana. One reason the team has been able to win four of its last five is that coach Kevin Stallings has been playing Carr more minutes. The 6-1 guard has averaged 15.4 points in his last five games after putting up just 8.6 points in the first five. Carr leads the team with 3.8 assists and adds 12.0 points. He is hitting 48.1 percent of his 3-pointers and 92.1 percent from the free-throw line. Carr should get more opportunities as the season continues.
Grant Golden (F) 
Golden was the Spiders' backup center for T.J. Cline last year when he collapsed during a December game against Texas Tech. He required heart surgery, but was able to work his way back and is now the team's leading scorer. The 6-10 forward is averaging 15.3 points on 49.1 percent from the field. He had back-to-back 24-point games in the Cayman Islands, but they both came in losses. The Spiders were able to snap a six-game losing streak on Sunday in a makeup for a postponed game against James Madison. This might a learning year for the Spiders, but the future looks good with Golden and De'Monte Buckingham.
Zach Norvell Jr. (G) 
This was supposed to be the year that St. Mary's one-upped the rebuilding Zags. It still may happen, but Gonzaga has been the better team in the non-conference slate and some of that success has to do with the 6-5 Norvell. He only scored in double digits once in his first six games, but kept competing. Eventually, coach Mark Few gave him a larger opportunity (due largely to Corey Kispert's ankle injury), and Norvell has provided 20.0 points, including 10 3-pointers in his last three games. It almost doesn't feel fair that Gonzaga gets to reload with talent like this redshirt freshman, who should be a solid add through WCC play.
R.J. Cole (G) 
The secret to Howard producing guards worthy of fantasy attention is that coach Kevin Nickelberry lets them shoot a lot. It doesn't really matter if they are good shooters, but any basketball player can score if given enough shots. Charles Williams did it last year and now the 6-1 Cole is putting up big numbers. Just don't look at his field goal percentage. You looked? It's ugly, isn't it? Cole is converting just 34.4 percent of his field goals and 30.6 percent of his 3-pointers. On the plus side, he has scored 18.9 points and provided 6.4 assists. As long as your league doesn't count field goal percentage, Cole is a good player to examine.
