Ranking college basketball’s 50 best newcomers, plus 16 more sleepers

Projecting newcomers — whether they’re freshmen or transfers — has always been an inexact science. In the current era of college basketball, with player movement at an all-time high, it’s even more difficult. Entire rosters are being turned over from one year to the next, with role allocation for many teams entirely unclear entering the season.

Talking to coaches and NBA scouts, monitoring exhibition games, checking out box scores for “secret” scrimmages — it’s all helpful when trying to figure out which newcomers are going to make an immediate impact. And it’s more necessary than ever given the lack of roster continuity.

An annual reminder: This is a ranking solely based on expected impact for this season. It’s not meant to be a mock draft or a rehash of our recruiting, transfer or preseason top 100 rankings. The top four players in the newcomer rankings are indeed the top four players in the 2025 NBA draft rankings and were the top four prospects in the 2024 ESPN 100, but that’s where the similarities end.