College basketball rankings: Rutgers’ star freshmen Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper living up to early expectations

There’s an ongoing debate about whether schools can truly compete for national championships and other things that matter with teams led by multiple freshmen. One argument against it is the fact that no team has made the Final Four with freshmen as its top-two scorers since Kentucky in 2014.

(Shouts to Julius Randle and James Young!)

Obviously, Duke is trying to snap that trend this season with a team led by five-star freshmen Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel. With less fanfare, Rutgers is attempting the same thing behind Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, the two five-star freshmen who combined for 37 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists in Wednesday’s 74-63 win over Merrimack.

Harper took 12 shots, made five of them and finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Bailey took 15 shots, made nine of them and finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds while showing, possession after possession, why he’s a threat to eventually replace Flagg at the top of 2025 NBA Draft big boards.

Asked about the players he models his game after, Bailey, a 6-foot-10 guard, said some predictable names. “Kevin Durant, Paul George and Jayson Tatum,” Bailey told the assembled media late Wednesday, providing a list of long wings who are comfortable creating shots from the perimeter, which is among Bailey’s biggest strengths. “And I’d say [Tracy McGrady], too. T-Mac. … They create shots and put their teammates in situations that they know they can succeed in — and they [know how to] step up and be a leader.”

The son of two former college basketball players, Bailey’s highlights pass the eye-test.

Bailey is now averaging a team-high 20.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in 31.5 minutes per game. Harper is second on the team at 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 31.0 minutes per game. The Scarlet Knights remain No. 24 in Thursday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Their next game is Sunday against Kennesaw State.

Top 25 And 1 rankings