Every offseason, basketball prognosticators, coaches and even some fans busy themselves poring through rosters, postseason awards and statistics from the previous year, hoping to put together an accurate depiction of how the upcoming basketball season may play out.
But one element is always missing in their research. The newcomer. While most first-year players spend the better part of their basketball season playing with the freshman or junior varsity teams, or even riding the varsity bench, some do make a huge impact on the varsity season.
MaxPreps decided to take a look at which Cornhusker State freshmen are playing more like veterans this winter. And there are some outstanding rookies.
It all starts at St. Mary's, where Gage Hedstrom is having a monster rookie campaign. Not only is the 5-foot-11 guard scoring 18.9 points a contest, he is pulling down 6.9 rebounds, swiping 2.4 enemy passes and dishing out 2.1 assists a night.
Doniphan-Trumbull's Jack Poppe steps in at No. 2 after scoring 15.3 points per game and ripping down 5.8 rebounds while Sawyer Smith of Ogallala sits in the No. 3 spot with 13.4 points, 4.2 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 3.4 steals an outing.
Carson Sieber of Deshler and Fremont's Coriahnn Gallatin round out the Top 5 in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots respectively after posting scoring averages of 11.3 and 16.3 points respectively.
Classes A, C1, C2, D1 and D2 are all represented in this week's Top 10. But that doesn't mean first year players in Class B aren't competing at a high level as well. Norris small forward/power forward Chris Garner leads the way for Nebraska's second largest classification by averaging 10.4 points, 1.1 assist, 5.1 rebounds, 0.3 steals and 0.4 blocked shots.
In order to be considered for this week's Top 10, a player had to post a scoring average of 10 points or more or reach certain criteria in one of the other four statistical categories.
As you look through this week's Top 10, the top line displays the players school as well as their height and position(s) played. Lines two and three are reserved for the player's stat line and their shooting stats respectively. The stat lines used in this week's Top 10 were taken from MaxPreps' statistics database Monday morning.
Nebraska's Top 10 basketball newcomers1.
Gage Hedstrom,
St. Mary's (O'Neill, Neb.)18.9 Points | 2.1 Assists | 6.9 Rebounds | 2.4 Steals | 0.0 Blocked Shots
39 2PM-86 2PA | 14 3PM-27 3PA | 12 FTM-18 FTA | 132 Points
2.
Jack Poppe,
Doniphan-Trumbull (Doniphan, Neb.)15.3 Points | 2.7 Assists | 5.8 Rebounds | 2.8 Steals | 0.8 Blocked Shots
36 2PM-59 2PA | 17 3PM-42 3PA | 23 FTM-28 FTA | 146 Points
3.
Sawyer Smith,
Ogallala (Ogallala, Neb.)13.4 Points | 4.2 Assists | 5.2 Rebounds | 3.4 Steals | 0.0 Blocked Shots
23 2PM-26 2PA | 7 3PM-15 3PA | 0 FTM-0FTA | 67 Points
4.
Carson Sieber,
Deshler (Deshler, Neb.)11.3 Points | 1.0 Assist | 9.3 Rebounds | 0.7 Steals | 0.2 Blocked Shots
30 2PM-50 2PA | 0 3PM-2 3PA | 13 FTM-25 FTA | 73 Points
5.
Coriahnn Gallatin,
Fremont (Fremont, Neb.)16.3 Points | 2.8 Assists | 2.2 Rebounds | 1.0 Steal | 0.1 Blocked Shots
21 2PM-44 2PA | 29 3PM-76 3PA | 18 FTM-26 FTA | 147 Points
6.
Carter Urkoski,
High Plains (Polk, Neb.)6.2 Points | 1.4 Assists | 10.6 Rebounds | 2.0 Steals | 1.6 Blocked Shots
17 2PM-44 2PA | 0 3PM-1 3PA | 18 FTM-32 FTA | 52 Points
7.
Logan Levick,
Garden County (Oshkosh, Neb.)11.7 Points | 1.4 Assists | 6.4 Rebounds | 2.1 Steals | 0.1 Blocked Shots
24 2PM-53 2PA | 6 3PM-18 3PA | 16 FTM-28 FTA | 82 Points
8.
Korbin Werner,
Elkhorn Valley (Tilden, Neb.)8.0 Points | 3.9 Assists | 5.4 Rebounds | 1.9 Steals | 1.1 Blocked Shots
8 2PM-24 2PA | 10 3PM-28 3PA | 10 FTM-17 FTA | 56 Points
9.
Gage Nein,
Bridgeport (Bridgeport, Neb.)11.0 Points | 2.8 Assists | 3.8 Rebounds | 2.2 Steals | 0.0 Blocked Shots
20 2PM-50 2PA | 4 3PM-17 3PA | 14 FTM-20 FTA | 66 Points
10.
Carson McDonald,
McCool Junction (McCool Junction, Neb.)12.2 Points | 2.0 Assists | 2.5 Rebounds | 2.2 Steals | 0.0 Blocked Shots
17 2PM-26 2PA | 13 3PM-36 3PA | 4 FTM-8 FTA | 77 Points
