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Message: [QUOTE="Powellfan, post: 4271139, member: 4819"] This statement got me thinking - how many IL Top 25 recruits actually do make an impact as freshmen, and how big is that impact? I looked at the last three seasons, though I will admit it's not the perfect data set. 2020 was obviously a shortened season, 2021 the Ivy League didn't play and 2020 had the Ivy freshmen who didn't play lumped in. Still I think the results are pretty fascinating. In terms of actually seeing playing time, the Top 25 has a pretty good hit rate. Below is the breakdown by season of the % of their team's games the Top 25 played. 2020: 76% 2021: 73% 2022: 75% In terms of % of their team's games started, however, the numbers are a good bit lower. 2020: 46% 2021: 34% 2022: 39% There is an obvious split between production between attackmen and midfield, which isn't surprising. Points per game is below: Attack: 2020: 2.5 2021: 3.0 2022: 2.3 Midfield: 2020: 0.9 2021: 0.6 2022: 1.2 So it might feel really random that I spent time looking this up. But with so many freshmen expected to play prominent roles next year for the Orange, I was curious what our expectations should be? It seems fair to expect Spallina, if he starts next year to have something like 40 points. That would be impressive, Hiltz had 49 his freshmen year. Playing a lot of freshmen at midfield might not be super fruitful, if they are only going average about a point a game. Of course these numbers vary wildly as some players put up huge totals (Graham Bundy averaged a little over 3 points per game in 2020, someone like Reilly Gray at Notre Dame played in 1 game and didn't register a point). So, in regards to Thomson, and Zach's statement, he might be on to something, as 80% of Top 25 attackmen recruits do play as freshmen, and 65% start. I should point out that I assigned positions based on what they were listed on their college roster, I counted hybrid players like Griffin Schutz and Brendan Grimes as midfielders. So it might come down to where the coaches see him as a college player, if it's as an attackmen he looks like he's in good company. If they try and play him at midfield it will be a rockier transition. We will just have to see what Fall Ball brings. [/QUOTE]

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