Early in the first half of Georgia Tech's 84-77 upset of North Carolina last week, the Tar Heels led 14-9 when Yellow Jacket freshman Thaddeus Young hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two.
On the other end of the court, Young grabbed a defensive rebound that translated into the tying bucket. The forward added a layup, a jumper and another three to cap off Georgia Tech's 12-0 run, giving the Yellow Jackets a lead they did not surrender all game.
Young's play in Georgia Tech's upset last week was indicative of the growing impact this year's freshman class has had on the ACC, especially as the season has progressed. As evidence of that, Young-who is averaging 14 points a game and is widely considered to be a future NBA lottery pick-did not even make the All-ACC Freshman team.
"It's a banner year for our league," North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said. "But it's a banner year for our freshmen as well."
Along with freshman point guard Javaris Crittenton, Young has been the key to Georgia Tech's recent turnaround, in which the team has won seven of nine and positioned itself for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Although both struggled at times as they got accustomed to the college level, they have developed throughout the season and grown into their roles as team leaders.
"Thaddeus has been getting more comfortable out on the perimeter offensively, moving without the ball and handling the basketball," Yellow Jacket head coach Paul Hewitt said. "Javaris is just learning how to play the position. In high school he was asked to do a lot of scoring, a lot of ball-handling. Now he's got to run our basketball team."
Although it might be the most prominent example, Georgia Tech is not the only program receiving help from first-year players. Williams regularly starts three freshmen for top-seed North Carolina, and Maryland also relies on freshmen Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes to run the point.
With high-profile high school players seeing a more college-like atmosphere while they are still in prep school, it is no surprise that the freshmen are doing better than usual in their first year, Williams said.
"They travel so much as high school players-they're on television sometimes as high school players, they're more mature, more experienced, not in awe of everything," Williams said. "That makes them more ready to play."
Maryland head coach Gary Williams specifically noted how these changes have helped breed reliable young point guards like Crittenton and Vasquez.
"They just come in having to travel all over the place in the summers," Gary Williams said. "Vasquez played internationally before coming to college to play, so I think you see guards with that type of experience."
At the same time, most freshmen still take time to develop into leaders on the court. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who started two freshmen for much of the season, said nothing can prepare an athlete for the rough environment of the ACC.
"We don't have a simulator, like in the military," Krzyzewski said. "It's different when you actually get in there."
The ability to acclimate quickly to the college environment is what separates the freshmen that succeed right away from those that take longer to develop. Hewitt said veteran leadership-the kind that junior Jeremis Smith and senior Mario West have provided for this year's Yellow Jackets-often makes the difference.
Hewitt related a story from Syracuse's 2003 National Championship season, when the Orange were led by freshmen stars Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara.
"That Syracuse team had a couple of veteran guys like Kueth Duany," Hewitt said. "Duany went into the locker room one day and said, 'Listen, we've got to make sure Carmelo Anthony gets shots,' and nobody said a word. When you've got leaders that can basically set everybody straight in terms of what the priorities are, especially offensively, and making sure everybody buys in and does all the little things defensively, then you have a chance to be successful."
The combination of a veteran corps and freshmen stars lifted Syracuse to that national title.
And as the 2007 postseason begins, several ACC teams are hoping to duplicate that formula in the ACC Tournament and beyond.
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