Slow Start: Five All-Americans Averaged < 4 PPG in Their Freshman Seasons

In a microwave atmosphere of instant expectations, please be aware that five All-Americans this season failed to generate national headlines in their freshman campaigns by averaging fewer than 4 ppg - Houston's LJ Cryer (3.4 ppg with Baylor in 2020-21), Villanova's Eric Dixon (3 ppg in 2020-21), Memphis' PJ Haggerty (2.8 ppg with TCU in six games in 2022-23), Tennessee's Chaz Lanier (1.7 ppg with North Florida in 10 games in 2020-21) and Wisconsin's John Tonje (3.6 ppg with Colorado State in 2019-20).

Iowa's Kris Murray (0.6 ppg in 2020-21), posting the lowest-ever freshman scoring average for an eventual All-American, isn't the only standout enduring growing pains early in college career. The following alphabetical list of players averaged fewer than three points per game as a freshman before eventually earning All-American acclaim:

Eventual All-American	Pos.	A-A School	Freshman Scoring Average
Cole Aldrich	C	Kansas	2.8 ppg in 2007-08
Lorenzo Charles	F	North Carolina State	2.2 ppg in 1981-82
Rakeem Christmas	F	Syracuse	2.8 ppg in 2011-12
Keith Edmonson	G	Purdue	1.3 ppg in 1978-79
Aaron Gray	C	Pittsburgh	1.7 ppg in 2003-04
Erick Green	G	Virginia Tech	2.6 ppg in 2009-10
Tom Gugliotta	F	North Carolina State	2.7 ppg in 1988-89
Rui Hachimura	F	Gonzaga	2.6 ppg in 2016-17
PJ Haggerty	G	Memphis	2.8 ppg in 2022-23 with TCU
Roy Hamilton	G	UCLA	1.2 ppg in 1975-76
Jeff Jonas	G	Utah	2.8 ppg in 1973-74
Johnny Juzang	G	UCLA	2.9 ppg in 2019-20 with Kentucky
Frank Kaminsky	C-F	Wisconsin	1.8 ppg in 2011-12
Ted Kitchel	F	Indiana	1.7 ppg in 1979-80
Bob Kurland	C	Oklahoma A&M	2.5 ppg in 1942-43
Tom LaGarde	C	North Carolina	2.2 ppg in 1973-74
Jock Landale	C	Saint Mary's	2.1 ppg in 2014-15
Chaz Lanier	G	Tennessee	1.7 ppg in 2020-21 with North Florida
Kenyon Martin	C	Cincinnati	2.8 ppg in 1996-97
Luke Maye	F	North Carolina	1.2 ppg in 2015-16
Kris Murray	F	Iowa	0.6 ppg in 2020-21
John Pilch	G	Wyoming	2.4 ppg in 1946-47
Thomas Robinson	F	Kansas	2.5 ppg in 2009-10
Steve Scheffler	C	Purdue	1.5 ppg in 1986-87
Russ Smith	G	Louisville	2.2 ppg in 2010-11
Earl Tatum	G-F	Marquette	1.5 ppg in 1972-73
Kurt Thomas	F-C	Texas Christian	0.8 ppg in 1990-91
Al Thornton	F	Florida State	2.8 ppg in 2003-04
B.J. Tyler	G	Texas	2.9 ppg in 1989-90 with DePaul
Scottie Wilbekin	G	Florida	2.4 ppg in 2010-11
Jeff Withey	C	Kansas	1.3 ppg in 2009-10

NOTES: Oregon's Wally Borrevik (1.8 ppg in 1940-41), Wisconsin's Gene Englund (2.3 ppg in 1938-39), California's Darrall Imhoff (0.9 ppg in 1957-58), Kansas' Dean Kelley (0.8 in 1950-51), Purdue's Bob Kessler (2.3 ppg in 1933-34), Notre Dame's Leo Klier (2.7 in 1942-43), Oklahoma A&M's Gale McArthur (2.96 ppg in 1948-49), Notre Dame's Bob Rensberger (1.5 ppg in 1940-41) and Stanford's George Yardley (2.9 ppg in 1947-48) averaged fewer than three points per game as sophomores when freshmen weren't eligible to play varsity basketball before becoming All-Americans. . . . Withey originally attended Arizona.