ACC rookies make their mark

There’s no doubt that Virginia is off to its shakiest start since coach Dave Leitao came aboard prior to the 2005-06 season. UVa, in the midst of a two-week hiatus due to winter exams, sits at 3-3.

However, a silver lining to the team’s struggles has been the play of freshmen Sylven Landesberg and Sammy Zeglinski.

Landesberg and Zeglinski (who is technically a redshirt freshman) are Virginia’s top two scorers, combining to average 32.2 points, more than any other ACC freshman duo.

That’s pretty impressive when you consider that the ACC, as is often the case, has a very talented crop of rookies. A look around the conference, which gobbled up eight of the 24 players who participated in last spring’s McDonald’s All-American Game, confirms that.

North Carolina didn’t exactly need any “Burger Boys” after Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all put their NBA plans on hold and returned to school. But, as usual, the Tar Heels gladly welcomed three of them.

Tyler Zeller, a 7-footer from Indiana, started the first two games of the season while Hansbrough was recovering from a shin injury, but then suffered a wrist injury of his own that shut him down for the season.

That opened the door for former Benedictine (Richmond) standout Ed Davis to get more minutes. Davis, who left Leitao and the Cavaliers at the proverbial altar after his father, former NBA player Terry Davis, steered him toward UNC late in the recruiting process, has looked good.

The 6-foot-8 power forward is averaging 9.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, leaving Wahoo fans to wonder what kind of numbers he would have posted in a Virginia uniform.

“Ed has a lot of post moves, a nice hook and he can block shots,” said Ellington. “I expect him to be able to play a lot of quality minutes for us.”

Larry Drew II, whose father, Larry, was also a former NBA player, is the third member of Tar Heels’ class. The point guard from California, stuck behind Lawson and others, hasn’t played very much but has still managed to notch 27 assists and just 11 turnovers.

“Larry’s just really fast and knows how to lead the team,” Ellington said. “He’s very unselfish, always looking to get teammates involved.”

Just like Drew, Elliot Williams — the jewel of Duke’s recruiting class — is stuck behind a number of talented guards (Nolan Smith, Gerald Henderson, Jon Scheyer and Greg Paulus). The McDonald’s All-American, who chose the Blue Devils over Virginia and hometown Memphis, has averaged just 13.6 minutes.

Meanwhile, big man Miles Plumlee, who also spurned UVa, has averaged only 7.6 minutes.

Arguably, the most impressive freshman in the ACC so far has been Wake Forest’s Al-Farouq Aminu.

“Aminu is terrific — a future pro,” marveled Clemson coach Oliver Purnell.

Aminu, a 6-foot-8, 205-pounder from Georgia, can play almost any position on the court. He’s averaging 12.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 blocks.

“What makes him good is his humbleness,” said Wake Forest senior guard Harvey Hale. “He could miss three in a row but his facial expression will never change, and then he’ll make three and his facial expression will never change because he just keeps playing, and he can score in a variety of ways. He’s like one of those players who you’re like, ‘Wow, he had 20 and 10,’ because he’s not flashy, but he gets the job done.”

If Aminu wasn’t enough of an addition, the Demon Deacons — who arguably had the best class in the conference — also reeled in two of the top big men in 6-foot-10 Tony Woods and 7-foot Ty Walker.

Woods reminds Hale of a young Tyler Hansbrough.

“He’s just so tough and plays so hard,” Hale said. “He’s relentless on the boards and just goes after the ball and finishes with dunks.”

Hale calls Walker, who hasn’t played much yet, “a game-changer.”

“He blocks shots. He gets offensive rebounds and can dunk really well. He’s really athletic.”

Hale is expecting big things from all three freshmen.

“I’m a senior and they’re better than me, but they’re listening to me and that’s something I respect about them and makes me see why they’re good,” he said. “They don’t let anything bother them. They just keep playing and keep playing.”

That’s one of the attributes that Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt likes most about his freshman, 6-foot-5 point guard Iman Shumpert. The Chicago native is averaging 12.7 points, 6.0 assists and 4.2 rebounds.

“He’s interesting because he’s very talented, but also a very intelligent player,” said Hewitt of Shumpert, who Virginia will see in its league opener in Atlanta on Dec. 28. “He’s a terrific defender and plays very hard and very unselfish.”

Leading the way in sheer quantity of recruits was Florida State, which brought in five true freshmen. Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton, by all accounts, also found great quality.

At the top of the list is McDonald’s All-American Chris Singleton, a 6-foot-9 forward who, like Aminu, can play inside and outside. Singleton, from Dunwoody, Ga., has looked solid in the early going, averaging 9.7 points and 8.1 rebounds.

FSU also has a nice post prospect in 7-foot-1 redshirt freshman Solomon Alabi, who chose the Seminoles over Virginia two springs ago. The Nigerian, who boasts a 7-foot-3 wingspan, is averaging 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in nine starts.

Alabi looks like a more beefed-up version of Virginia freshman Assane Sene, who, after sitting out the first three games of the season due to eligibility concerns, will be looking to make a similar impact for UVa.

Meanwhile, 6-foot-11 center John Brandenburg, Virginia’s fourth freshman, has barely gotten off the bench this season.

However, the early contributions of his classmates — Landesberg and Zeglinski — have more than made up for it.