February is creeping closer and that means it's just about crunch time for the DII men's basketball season. While some teams are heating up at the right time, these newbies have been solid from opening tip.
Some freshmen are helping their teams climb the national or regional rankings while others are leaving a mark on their respective conferences. Any way you look at it, these DII men's basketball "rookies" look like seasoned veterans halfway through the season.
DII MEN’S BASKETBALL CENTRAL
- Latest Power 10 rankings
- December all-stats starting five
- DII men's basketball programs with the most NCAA DII national championships
- News, stats, rankings and insights
Elyjah Freeman, Lincoln Memorial
The Railsplitters are surging up the national rankings, breaking into the latest Power 10 rankings on krikya18.com. Freeman is a big part of that and isn't simply one of the best freshmen in DII men's basketball, but one of the best players overall. The proof? He was named the NABC national player of the week two weeks ago.
Freeman does a little bit of it all for the Railsplitters. The 6-foot-8 forward is seventh in the SAC with 18.1 points per game. He scores all those points by shooting 62.8 percent from the floor, a top 15 mark in DII. He's also second in his conference in rebounding with 9.0 per game and leads the team in steals. Freeman went to high school in Wellington, Florida, so the fact the Railsplitters were able to land him in Tennessee has clearly been a huge victory.
"Elyjah has a rare combination of size, length and skill," Railsplitters' head coach ;Jeremiah Samarrippas told me. "His versatility on both ends of the floor makes him a perfect fit for our system. He’s an elite rebounder, extremely dynamic in transition, and does a great job of putting pressure on the rim. Elyjah’s offensive efficiency is something that you typically don’t see from a freshman. Defensively he guards multiple positions, has great instincts to get steals or block shots, and is the best rebounder on the floor."
Ethan and Nathan Robertson, The Mercy Wonder Twins
Talk about a dynamic duo. Meet Ethan and Nathan Robertson, twin brothers who are leading Mercy in, well, just about everything. The twins hail from Boston, Massachusetts, and have been a welcomed addition to the East Coast Conference.
Ethan is the bigger of the two, listed at 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, while Nathan is listed at 6-foot-4. Ethan is a forward, while Nathan is a guard, and together, they cause havoc all over the court. Both are top 7 in the conference in scoring — Nathan averages 16.2 points per game, while Nathan chips in 15.5. Ethan leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game, a top 5 mark in the ECC, while Nathan leads the team in steals (1.9 per game) and assists with 4.7 per game, another top 5 mark in the ECC. Ethan has won the ECC Rookie of the Week three times, while Nathan has won it twice, and between the two, Mercy has won the ECC Rookie of the Week award five straight weeks.
Mercy has a long road ahead to be a tournament contender, but is currently in fourth place in the ECC... not bad for the team projected to finish dead last. If the Mustangs can keep the Robertson twins together, they clearly have a strong foundation to build around for next season.
Pace Prosser, Gannon
What happens when the majority of your record-setting DII Men's Elite Eight roster is lost the following season? Well, in order to keep playing as well as Gannon has been, it requires a freshman to step up. In fact, the Golden Knights have a trio of freshmen in Lucas Sekasi, Mason Kemp and Prosser, but it has been Prosser that has really stood out thus far.
If you watch Gannon basketball, you know it scores a lot of points and tries to control the tempo with its high-energy attack. Prosser has fit right in, third on the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game, leading the team in steals with 34 and second on the team to fellow freshman Sekasi with 71 assists. In today's game, having a sniper from downtown surely helps, and Prosser has been that, shooting 43.8 percent from 3 with 42 already made on the season. Gannon is a young team and has a lot of great pieces in place to continue to build around for sustained success.
Evan Ramsey, UVA Wise
The Cavaliers are 11-6 overall and in third place in the SAC. That's quite impressive for a team that had 10 wins all of last year. Ramsey is a large reason why.
Quite literally, may I add. Ramsey, a redshirt-freshmen center, is one of the tallest in the division, listed at 7-foot. He is tied with Freeman with 9.0 rebounds per game, the most among all DII freshmen. He also contributes 12.6 points per game on and impressive 63.4 percent shooting, not all that surprising when you consider how close to the rim he is. That puts him in the top 20 in DII. Ramsey also leads all freshmen in blocks with 1.94 per game. Keep an eye on the young Cavaliers — along with Ramsey, freshman Anderson Cummins also contributes to the scoring with 11.9 points per game on 53 percent field-goal shooting.
Chase Dawson, Mount Olive
Mount Olive has the third-best scoring offense in DII men's basketball, leading its own Conference Carolinas by 13 points per game by dropping 99.2 per night. Dawson — a 6-foot guard out of Durham, North Carolina — is leading the way as the top-scoring freshman in DII men's basketball, averaging 20.4 points per game.
That has Dawson third overall in his conference and 36th overall in DII, which is extremely impressive in a division dominated by juniors, seniors and graduate students this season. Dawson does it quite efficiently, shooting better than 51 percent from the floor this season and 32 percent from 3-point land. He has been playing his best ball of late, seeing his scoring average rise from 18.8 points per game before winter break to north of 20 ever since. That includes a career-high of 36 points on Jan. 15.
Daniel Halldorsson, Southeastern Oklahoma State
Halldorsson, a 6-foot-3 guard from the basketball factory that is Grafarvogur, Iceland, isn't going to help the Savage Storm win a DII championship this season, but he sure has been a nice addition to the team. There have been a mere five triple-doubles in DII men's basketball this year and Halldorsson is coming off the most recent one.
On the season, Halldorsson is averaging 10.1 points per game with 5.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game. Those assists are the most by any freshman in DII this year, top the Great American Conference rankings, and are also fourth overall in DII men's basketball. On Jan. 16, Halldorsson went for 11 points, a career-high 10 rebounds, and 12 assists, giving him the first triple-double in Southeastern Oklahoma State's DII history. He can do it all for the Storm and should be on any and every All-Freshman team at this point.
Cam Lowe, Black Hills State
Black Hills State became a mini RMAC powerhouse for a little bit, winning games in consecutive DII Men's Elite Eights in 2022 and 2023. A lot of the big-name talent has left, but young players, like Lowe, are certainly keeping the Yellow Jackets competitive.
Lowe has been on fire of late, posting three straight double-doubles to give him four on the season. He has seen his scoring average jump nearly one whole point over the past month, averaging 14.4 points per game on 50.3 percent shooting from the floor. The 6-foot-6 swing guard also leads the team in rebounding, posting 7.8 per night, the third most per game in the RMAC. Although they lost to an MSU Denver team in the national rankings conversation, Lowe had arguably the best game of his career going for 23 points and 10 boards, showing he can hang with the best the RMAC has to offer.
Kameron Tinsley, West Liberty
Tinsley has fit in very quickly with his Hilltoppers' teammates. The 6-foot-6 forward has provided valuable minutes off the bench and has even started a pair of games, showing his versatility.
On the season, Tinsley is shooting 47.7 percent while contributing 9.8 of the Hilltoppers' 93.8 points per game. He's tied for the team lead with 4.8 rebounds per game and has 12 steals and six blocks as well while averaging just 21.8 minutes per game. He went for a career-high 20 points on Dec. 7, shooting an impressive 5-for-6 from 3, somewhere he is comfortable as he shoots 40 percent from behind the arc on the season.
One more to watch: Bishop Jones, East Central (OK). Jones is a redshirt freshman and is leading the Tigers in scoring by a wide margin. The 6-foot-6 forward is averaging 19.1 points per game on 68.3 percent shooting, the eighth-best mark in DII. However, Jones has been out of the lineup for two straight games. The Tigers hope he gets healthy and back to it soon.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
