Ken Davis

While Colt McCoy and rest of the Texas football players patiently await the BCS national championship game against Alabama on Jan. 7, the Texas basketball team has an important date of its own on Saturday. That’s when the No. 2 Longhorns play No. 10 North Carolina at the new enormous and excessive Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

The Longhorns are pumped.

“This is a game I’ve dreamed of playing in since I was a little kid, and we’ll treat this like the national championship,” Texas freshman Avery Bradley told reporters earlier this week after the Longhorns improved their record to 9-0 with a 104-42 rout of Texas-Pan American.

Can’t blame Bradley. Think about the opportunities for Texas, playing in front of a huge crowd in Jerry Jones’ palace and the chance to validate that No. 2 ranking with a victory over the defending national champions. And the opportunity is even bigger for Bradley and the other Texas freshmen.

Haven’t heard of Bradley, Jordan Hamilton or J’Covan Brown? Maybe that’s because Kentucky’s John Wall has been dominating the freshman news in college basketball this season. Wall deserves every accolade he has received. He is sensational and he has transformed the Wildcats into a national championship contender almost overnight.

Wall is unique in much the same way that Kevin Durant was special at Texas in 2006-07. When I saw Durant in person, I was convinced he was the best freshman I had ever seen and instantly ranked him among the most talented college basketball players I had ever seen. Last week at Madison Square Garden, when Wall scored 25 points and took command late in the game to lead Kentucky past Connecticut, I was wowed in the same way.

Wall isn’t a better overall player than Durant — yet. Those who want to anoint Wall the greatest freshman point guard ever should be patient and let things develop. Wall’s 39 turnovers are an indication that he still has a lot to learn. But I’ve never seen anyone with the speed to get past five opposing players with such ease. It’s a remarkable thing to witness in person.

Wall will likely be the freshman of the year and depending on how this season plays out he could be college basketball’s player of the year. He’s that good. But let’s give this freshman class a shout out for being better than expected. When the one-and-done era began, the word was this trend would go in cycles and there would be down years. That may be true, but this class isn’t shabby.

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In addition to Wall, Kansas guard Xavier Henry has had a major impact playing for No. 1 Kansas. Henry gets a bigger stage this weekend too as the Jayhawks play an important home game against Michigan. Henry’s biggest scoring games have come against Hofstra (27 points) and LaSalle (31). But he has been very steady, averaging 18 points in just 27 minutes per game.

Wall can burn opponents with is speed. Henry plays with a smoothness usually reserved for upperclassmen. He has demonstrated a solid understanding of his role, the ability to play team basketball and I guarantee you Henry has one of the game's sweetest jump shots.

A popular topic for columnists and bloggers this week has isolated those two and tried to determine why Wall leads Henry in publicity. That’s pretty simple really. Wall has had an opportunity to dazzle on the big stage, in games against North Carolina and UConn. Wall electrified the crowd at Madison Square Garden and that crowd supplied all the energy normally associated with an NCAA tournament or Final Four site. Henry is still awaiting that chance.

But Wall and Henry have set themselves apart in this freshman class. You have to give them credit for doing that.

Henry is playing on a veteran team. Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins were first team All-American selections. Yet Henry has made Kansas a better team. The Jayhawks rolled past LaSalle last week in a game when Collins hit only one field goal. Kansas might have lost that game last year without Henry.

Wall, on the other hand, has to be on the court for the Wildcats to run their offense properly. When he leaves the floor, Kentucky isn’t as good. Kentucky’s staring lineup includes two other freshmen — DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe — and the Wildcats need Wall’s special leadership. 

My favorite thing about Wall and Henry is that they seem to be humble young men. They do not carry themselves with the arrogance or cockiness sometimes associated with young players these days.

“Coach wants me to make plays, so I was just trying to make a basket. I just try to be a point guard,” Wall said after hitting the decisive basket against UConn.

And Henry, after that great debut against Hofstra, said: “I play with the team and they helped me out a lot tonight. I guess it was my time.” Henry answers most every question with “Yes, sir” or “No, mam.” It’s genuine and nice to hear.

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“Xavier has been a model of consistency,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “You don’t see that often with freshmen. He’s maybe taken five or seven [bad] shots all season. . . . If he’s averaging 12 shots a game and getting 18 as a freshman, that’s very efficient.”

At this early stage of the season the list of impressive freshmen would have to include Lance Stephenson at Cincinnati, Brandon Triche at Syracuse, Derrick Favors at Georgia Tech, and Tiny Gallon at Oklahoma. Those are all names you are going to hear throughout the season and into March Madness.

And once we get to the NCAA Tournament, Henry and Wall could be playing the role of Carmelo Anthony, who led Syracuse to the national championship as a freshman. The talented trio of rookies at Texas has that potential as well.

Brown, the team’s third leading scorer with a 12.1 average, was injured and missed the last game for Texas. His status is day-to-day. Bradley is starting to catch fire on offense, averaging 11.0 points after a season-high 18 in his last outing, but his hallmark is his defensive intensity. And Hamilton, a swingman who has fit in well with Damion James and Dexter Pittman up front, is averaging 10.3 points and 4.1 rebounds.

They seem to get better with every outing and by March, the Longhorns could really be special.

“They are playing fearless right now, and I think they have the butterflies out of them,” Pittman said of the Texas rookies. “They are playing like men.”