Freshman playing for Sampson

Basketball
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Lots of discussion around Sampson not playing freshman, which isn’t really true. We play freshmen plenty, especially since we have started recruiting more highly touted players. UH has had the luxury of redshirting a handful, thanks to good roster management, but freshmen have gotten starter/rotation minutes from year 1 under Sampson.

In the last 9 seasons, going back to 15/16. 12 freshmen have played at least rotation minutes (top 8 in minutes for the year).

Name (Minutes per game rank)
Tugler(8th), Walker(4th), Sharp(6th), Arceneaux(8th), Walker Jr(8th), Tramon(5th), Mills(6th), Sasser(3rd), Hinton(4th), Fabian(7th), Brooks(8th), Galen Robinson(5th).

Of the 15 that didn’t get minutes as freshmen, 4 redshirted; McFarland, Jefferson, Jwan, Chris Harris.

Most the others (who didn’t see much action as freshmen) were early in the rebuild, prior to getting players like we are now; Ced Alley, Cam Tyson, Kiron Powell, Robbie Armbrester, Mike Adewunmi, Valentine Sangoyomi. That group was simply not good enough to play as a freshman.

A couple of guys who would go on to be standouts who didn’t play much early Shead (12th), JaVier Francis (11th).

Sampson has brought in 7 four-star or better recruits, starting with Hinton. 1 redshirted (McFarland). The 6 that played averaged almost 19 minutes a game.

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Next year might be a little different in that it looks like we’ll have several true freshmen that will command minutes at the same time.

Sampson doesn’t have an aversion to playing freshmen - he has an aversion to losing games because he’s playing freshmen. If the youngsters can get it done, they’ll be on the floor.

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Not many freshman are NBA ready like J. Walker. Mostly they need help adjusting to D1 size and intensity especially the B12. The level of defensive strength, stamina and adjustments does not bode well for incoming freshman to play for CKS. (although with the number of blowouts this team
produces it is easier to make time at the end)

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Talking about Kingston the other day, Galen compared him to Ja Morant, who has a similar frame and athleticism. His said that while working with Bishop will certainly strengthen him, not everyone has to bulk up to be “NBA ready”. Galen has played against those NBA guys, and he’s played against Kingston, so he has a pretty good frame of reference.

Some of these guys coming in are on a different level than previous freshmen. They all have to go through the same adjustment, but some of them will do it faster.

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His baby face is misleading. Video shows that he is pretty well developed for a 17 year old. Excellent body control and balance and plays through contact well

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To get ready to play defense in the B12 it takes size and strength or as Sampson likes to say
“mud in the blood” or “dog in the fight”. Freshman can get there but your not looking to win with freshman, they are an auxiliary.

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This! Every time I see a highlight video, I wonder if it’s from his U12 playing days. But then he dunks it with ease.

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Unless the kid is a 5 star all american and potentially a top 10 pick in the NBA, they are not playing much as freshman.

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