After last year's teams lost a combined six players to the NBA, Maryland and Duke were aware that they would have to rely on young talent this season.
But while the Blue Devils knew they were bringing in a talented core of freshmen, the Terrapin recruits have surprised the ACC with their solid play, creating a debate on which school has the best first-year players.
Freshman J.J. Redick has been the most effective of anyone on the two teams, averaging 15.4 points per game. While Redick is the clear leader of the bunch, the race among the rest of the newcomers is more muddled.
Nick Carner-Medley has used his strong, 6-foot-7 frame to become Maryland's fifth leading scorer at 6.0 points per game. He scored an efficient eight points in 15 minutes in the previous game against Duke this season.
An athletic swing-man, 6-foot-9 Travis Garrison has perhaps the most potential of the group. He is very quick for his size, and handles the ball with extreme dexterity.
Blue Devil power forward Shelden Williams had nothing but praise for his Terrapin counterpart, saying that he was one of the better, new swingmen in college basketball.
Williams has also made a name for himself. The 6-foot-9 power forward has been dominating at times, scoring 15, 18 and 20 points against Georgetown, Georgia Tech and Virginia, respectively. Inconsistency has plagued the Midwest City, Okla., native, however, as he mustered only three points on the Jan. 18 meeting between Maryland and Duke.
Duke's other inconsistent big man is Shavlik Randolph. The Raleigh native has at times appeared unstoppable, but has complemented this performance with ineffectiveness. He followed his 17 point out-burst against at home versus Virginia with a five point effort against at Maryland.
Perhaps the two most closely matched players in the group are Maryland's Jonathan Gilcrist and Duke's Sean Dockery, who were both among the top-five high school point guards in the nation a year ago. Gilcrist is a two-time Virginia state player of the year, and is averaging four points per game. Though his statistics are unimpressive, the 6-foot-1 Virginia Beach native has played tremendous defense and come up big when needed.
Dockery is averaging just four points a game as well, while also getting one steal a game in 10.9 minutes. Dockery also came up big against Florida State, scoring a layup in the game's final minutes to cut the Seminole lead to one in Duke's 75-70 loss.
Rounding out Duke's freshmen are Lee Melchionni and Michael Thompson. Melchionni is a walk-on, and Thompson has struggled to get minutes. Blue Devil center Casey Sanders, however, said all the contributions from Duke's freshmen have been productive.
"We're able to match anyone in the country as far as depth," the senior said. "The way that Shelden's playing, the way that Shav's played, and even Mike and some of the things he can do as far as getting us ready for games-I don't think there's anybody that bangs as much as Michael Thompson."
Rounding out the rookie class for Maryland is junior Jamar Smith. The 6-foot-9 forward transferred from junior college and is getting 5.2 points per game in his first Division I competition.
Sanders said it bodes well for Duke's potential that none of the Blue Devil rookies are juniors because it will allow them more time to develop at the collegiate level.
"I think we're able to match anyone in the country as far as depth," Sanders said. "I like our class, but I'm biased."
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