OVINTON J'ANTHONY "O.J." MAYO
Photo by Getty Images

FOUR ON THE FLOOR
Four other freshman who will likely make some noise.

KEVIN LOVE -- 6'10", 260 pounds, UCLA. The best high school player from the state of Oregon.

DEANDRE JORDAN -- 7'0", 240 pounds, Texas A&M. The top prospect out of Texas, Jordan averaged 14 rebounds and 7.0 blocked shots as a high school junior.

DERRICK LEWIS -- 6'3", 190 pounds, Texas A&M. Aggie coach Billy Gillispie's second recruiting coup of the year, Lewis was one of the best high school players out of Oklahoma, where he hit 65 three-point shots in his junior year.

ANDREW OGILVY -- 7'0", 240, Vanderbilt. A fundamentally sound big man from Sydney, Australia, Ogilvy is an excellent shot blocker who has the potential to develop into one of the dominant big men in college basketball.

by Gary Cole

The recently instituted agreement between the NBA and the players union has been a boon to college basketball. It mandates that players must be out of high school at least one year before being eligible for the NBA draft. That has provided college basketball with an infusion of talented players who might otherwise have skipped college and gone directly to the pros. And what a difference these players can make -- even if they are only one-year college wonders.

Last year, Ohio State and Texas were significant beneficiaries with Greg Oden and Michael Conley and Longhorn sensation Kevin Durant. So who will be the freshman phenoms of this coming season? Glad you asked. Here's our pick of the top five:

OVINTON J'ANTHONY MAYO - 6'5", 210 pounds, USC - Just call him O.J. A two-time Mr. Basketball of Ohio, O.J. averaged over 37 points, eight rebounds and eight assists per game at North College Hill High School near Cincinnati. He then transferred to Huntington High School in West Virginia before enrolling this summer at USC, where he took two classes and played pickup basketball with current NBA players such as Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd and Sam Cassell.

DERRICK ROSE - 6'4", 195 pounds, Memphis - A high-flyer who played his high school basketball for Chicago Simeon, Derrick is a likely candidate for next year's slam dunk contest. He's blessed with long arms and strong hands, and he is perhaps the most athletic point guard to come into college basketball in the past several years.

ERIC GORDON - 6'4", 205, Indiana - An incredibly gifted shooter, Gordon was completely dominant in his senior season at North Central High in Indianapolis. Gordon originally committed to Bruce Weber and Illinois, but switched to Indiana after former Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson took over the Hoosiers. As a complete player, Gordon is the best of a very good group of incoming freshmen.

JERRYD BAYLESS - 6'4", 205, Arizona - Coach Lute Olson struck it rich by convincing Bayless to stay in state. A native of Phoenix, Bayless averaged over 33 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game in his senior season at St. Mary's High School. This past spring, Bayless led the USA Junior National Select Team to the World Select Team championship.

MICHAEL BEASLEY - 6'9", 235 pounds, Kansas State - Beasley may be the most traveled high school player in America, having attended a total of six different high schools. Beasley also played for the PG Jaguars, one of the most successful AAU youth teams, alongside Kevin Durant and Chris Braswell. Beasley is big, fast and left-handed, and he can play outside or post up in the paint. He nearly followed coach Bob Huggins to West Virginia when Huggins made the switch, but Beasley was convinced to stay at K-State when they hired Dalonte Hill, Beasley's former AAU coach.