Written by Mike Perry

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They can be a coaches best friend and biggest headache at the same time. They are celebrated when they choose their school, then broken down and built back up when the hard work begins. After four years of being the dominant “big man on campus,” they become just another face in the crowd. However, more and more these days, college coaches are depending on them for immediate production.

Freshmen college basketball players have to grow up in a hurry. They must learn how to prioritize their time and achieve an effective balance between education and athletics in order to be productive on the court and in the classroom.

This season the Mid-American Conference had a strong influx of talent as a fair amount of true freshmen stepped right in and became integral parts of their basketball teams. However, a select few were just a cut above the rest of their peers and these are the players SportsTime Ohio has identified as the candidates for MAC Freshman of the Year.

Reese Holliday (Toledo), 6-foot-4, Guard/Forward

Holliday is, perhaps, the most overlooked player in the MAC as he is toiling away for an underachieving Toledo team that has found wins hard to come by. Holliday has been one of the few bright spots for Rockets fans this season. The Kansas City, Kansas product has started all of Toledo’s conference games and has become a go-to player for Rockets head coach Tod Kowalczyk.

Holliday averages 10.5 points per game and leads Toledo, as well as all MAC freshmen, in rebounding with 6.6 per contest. Holliday also hands out 2.0 assists per game and shoots 44 percent from the floor.

In conference action Holliday has actually stepped up his game, scoring 11.6 points and pulling down 7.4 rebounds in contests against MAC foes. Also, while playing over 32 minutes per game, Holliday has committed just 25 total turnovers in conference play.

 

Javon McCrea (Buffalo), 6-foot-6, Forward

McCrea has been an important piece in Buffalo’s surprising season. The physically imposing 245-pound forward leads the conference in field goal percentage at 68.0, and would actually lead the nation if he had six more field goals to his credit. To be listed among the NCAA national leaders in the category a player must average at least five field goals per game. McCrea has 119 in 25 games this season, six shy of the necessary 125. As it stands Leon Powell from Southeast Missouri State leads the nation in field goal percentage at 63.8, 4.2 percentage points worse than McCrea.

McCrea comes off the bench for the Bulls and averages just 21 minutes per game. However, despite the relatively low minutes he averages 10.9 points and a team-leading 6.5 rebounds per contest. He also is listed in the league leaders in steals (14^th at 1.35) and blocks (fourth at 1.69) while also leading the conference in offensive rebounding at 2.81 per game.

Trey Zeigler (Central Michigan), 6-foot-5, Wing

Zeigler was heavily recruited out of Mount Pleasant High School in Michigan, but he eschewed the bigger traditional programs to stay at home and play college ball for his father, CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler. Much was expected from him, and much was delivered. Though he did not throw the Chippewas on his back and lead them to the MAC West title, Zeigler proved that he was worthy of the pre-season hype that placed him on the pre-season MAC All-West team.

He leads all conference freshmen in scoring at 16.7 points per game (third in the conference overall) and is 15^th in the league in rebounding with 5.5 per contest. His 34.3 minutes per game place him seventh in the MAC, his 1.4 steals ninth, his .93 blocks 11^th and his 4.11 defensive rebounds 10^th. In other words, Zeigler contributes to his team in quite a few ways and has basketball sense well beyond his years. He has led the Chippewas in scoring 15 times this season and in rebounding eight times. His coming out party came in just his fourth collegiate game when he scored 21 points, hit 2-of-3 3-pointers, pulled down 10 rebounds, blocked two shots and recorded a steal.

Matt Stainbrook (Western Michigan), 6-foot-9, Center

When Stainbrook decided to head from his home in Bay Village, Ohio to the campus of Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, he immediately became one of the most physically imposing players in the Mid-American Conference. At 6-foot-9, 290 pounds he is a monster in the middle for the Broncos, using his size and strength to dominate his smaller, lighter competition.

Stainbrook has also shown glimpses of decent offensive ability. He averages 8.6 points per game and his 51.3 field goal percentage is eighth in the MAC. Stainbrook also grabs 2.59 offensive rebounds per contest, second in the league, and his 5.9 total rebounds per game places him 13^th in the conference.

Stainbrook has also turned up his game late in the season with WMU slugging it out with Ball State for the West Division title. In his last three conference games Stainbrook, in just 25.6 minutes per contest, has averaged 8.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per contest. A good example of Stainbrook getting the most out of his minutes came in the Broncos’ heartbreaking 74-72 home loss to Kent on Monday. Though he was on the floor for only 14 minutes, Stainbrook scored eight points, pulled down eight rebounds (five offensive) and blocked a pair of shots.

In a conference devoid of big men, Stainbrook should be a valuable member of Western Michigan’s squad for a long time.

Other freshmen who have had solid seasons and will receive some mention for MAC Freshman of the Year are Ball State’s Chris Bond (6-4 Forward), Toledo’s Hayden Humes (6-8 Forward), Central Michigan’s Derek Jackson (6-0 Guard), Ohio’s Nick Kellogg (6-3 Guard), Akron’s Alex Abreau (5-9 Guard) and Western Michigan’s Juwan Howard Jr. (6-6 Forward).

Tomorrow we will look at the candidates for MAC Coach of the Year.